Tree Diversity in and Around Miami's Campus

This topic submitted by Dan, Bill, Gillian, Brian ( jameswt@muohio.edu, browerdc@muohio.edu, alexanb1@muohio.edu, klassgm@muohio.edu ) on 10/24/05. [Section: McCollum]

Natural Systems 1 Syllabus---Western Program---Miami University

Long before Miami UniversityÕs campus existed, this area was once a large connected forest area. As settlers came, the forested areas soon began to decrease (Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry). In and around MiamiÕs campus there are several unique forested regions, some, like the old growth forests of Hueston Woods, have been developing, undisturbed, for over two hundred years. Others, like Pfeffer Park, are more recent to the region, developing over the past forty years (Taylor, 2003). As we recognize that we live, work, and study in such close proximity to these forests, we are driven to inquiry. What do we really know about what the forested regions we live so close too? What did these forested regions look like one hundred years or more ago, and what does a less mature forest look like? We were motivated to discover what a forestÕs species composition looked like in the past in the Miami Valley and what do younger, less mature, forested areas look like. Are they even different at all? In trying to ascertain this information we needed to positively identify tree species in the area as well as obtain the ages of each tree as to better grasp the age of the particular forested region. We chose to look at Hueston Woods, Peffar Woods, and Western Wood.

We predicted that older woods would have more tree diversity than younger forests because they have had more time to grow and diversify. Similar information was found in research conducted by the National Western Forest Alliance.

The difference between new growth and old growth forests lies in the undisrupted growing cycles of the organisms found in the old growth forests. A forest is a living system of constant birth, death, growth, and decay. Different forests may appear to be similar, and without change from year to year. In actuality, many different cycles are at work day and night in a natural forest. (National Forest Policy Statement, Commonwealth of Australia, 1992). The fact that these cycles have been able to live undisrupted for hundreds of years in old growth forests, may create a difference in the types of species recorded in the different forest areas we will be testing.

There are many different disturbances that may alter the growth cycles in forest ecosystems. Among these that may be common in Ohio are habitat clearing or modification for farming or municipal development, chemical pollution from agricultural run-off, industrial pollution, introduced flora and fauna, global climate change, and disease (Western Australian Forest Alliance). Harmed or damaged forest areas can be replanted; however the same level of biodiversity will take hundreds of years to regain. The structural diversity of the different trees found in an old growth forest, create many different habitats for a diverse range of species.

Forest ecosystems provide many different services which help to ensure the ongoing health and stability of the environment. Some of these services include the maintenance of water cycles, climate regulation, soil production and fertility and protection from erosion, nutrient storage and cycling, and pollutant breakdown and storage. Biodiversity forest areas may also serve as potential sources for genetic material for new drugs and food crops (Western Australian Forest Alliance). Thus, it is essential that we understand the forest areas surrounding us and show concern with the way they are treated.

We have found three local forest ecosystems that will give us the best understanding of what new and old growth forests look like. Hueston Woods has been around since 1797. According to the department of Natural Resources and Preserves, Hueston Woods has been through battles, harsh weather, and even the threat of being cut down to be used as farm land. Matthew Hueston was part of the family that the forest was named after, and was very good at converting forest into farm land. Hueston Woods is a 200 acre area that supposedly was too rugged to convert into farm land. ÒFortunately, the ÒBig Woods,Ó as it was called but the family was sold to Morris Taylor, a local banker who recognized its scientific and educational value. According to the Division of Natural Areas and Preserves Hueston Woods was bought by the state of Ohio as a forest park. In 1967 the forest was declared a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service. Finally in 1973 it was dedicated as an Ohio State Nature Preserve. Now we look at this forest as a remnant of what once was a beautiful beech-maple forest (Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, Div. of Natural Areas and Preserves).

Hueston Woods has been around since 1797. According to the department of Natural Resources and Preserves, Hueston woods has been through battles, harsh weather, and even the threat of being cut down to be used as farm land. Hueston Woods is a 200 acre area that supposedly was too rugged to convert into farm land. Fortunately, the ÒBig Woods,Ó as it was called by the family, was sold to Morris Taylor, a local banker who recognized its scientific and educational value (www.dnr.state.oh.us/dnap/location/hueston_woods.html ). According to the Division of Natural Areas and Preserves Hueston woods was bought by the state of Ohio as a forest park. In 1967 the forest was declared a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service. Finally in 1973 it was dedicated as an Ohio State Nature Preserve. Now we look at this forest as a remnant of what once was and still is a beautiful beech-maple old-growth forest.

Peffar Woods was once 80 acres of pasture and farmland. Peffar Woods was bought in two different section in 1955 and 1966 by Miami University (Taylor,2003). From those dates onward the land was no longer farmed and left unattended, allowing time for forested regions to develop. Peffar Woods is a fairly young forest area in the Miami Valley.

Western Woods has been an integral and prominent feature of Western College throughout the decades. Today it is a mapped forest and is part of a guided walking tour of Western Campus (Taylor, 2003).

As we collect our data, we will gain an understanding of the differences between new growth and old growth forests. We hope in doing so that we might better relate to the wooded environment we currently inhabit by more fully understanding what its past held and how it currently is progressing.

AUTHOR. DATE. TITLE. SOURCE.
Relevance

Browne, D.J. 1846. The Trees of America: native and foreign, pictorially and botanically delineated, and scientifically and popularly described New York.
This book will help us with pictures of the trees around here and also tell us the native and foreign trees around here.

Christian, Rochelle. Interactive effects of alinity on photoprotection in acclimated seedlings of two sympatric mangroves.
From this article, we are able to view how an extensive study is done to compare two different forest areas and different ways to display and study data.

Dixon, A. F. G. 2005. Insect Herbivore-Host Dynamics: tree dwelling aphids. New York, Cambridge University Press.
This book will give us a good idea of what goes on in the trees to see what affects the activity make on the tree.

Dockum, Clearence Russel. 1931. Native Trees of Southwestern Ohio. Miami University
Department of Botany.
This book will tell the native trees around Ohio which will come into handy for our research project.

Prides, George A. 1988. Eastern Trees. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY.
This field guide can be taken with us to help us identify trees.

Richter, Conrad. 1947. The Trees. New York, A.A. Knopf.
This book will help us identify trees and give information on them.

Scarano, F.R. Physiological synecology of tree species in relation to geographic distribution and acophysiological parameters at the Atlantic forest periphery in Brazil; an overview.
This article gave us an insight to forest and tree growth tendencies in different types of forests

Symonds, George. 1958. The Tree Identification Book; a new method for the practical identification and recognition of trees. Wellington Dillingham. New York, M. Barrows.
This will help us to identify the trees found in the different forests.

Trelease, William. 1924. The American oaks. Washington, Government Print Off.
This will give us a good idea about the oaks around this are.

Ellul, Riata. 2001. www.highlands.vic.edu.au/trees/amazing/idtrees.htm. State of Victoria.
This site provides an overview to tree characteristics.

Taylor, Dr. Douglas H. 2003. Trails. http://www.units.muohio.edu/naturalareas/trails/.

Tree Help Ltd. 2005. www.elmcare.com/trees/types_of_trees.htm. Tree Help Ltd.
This site defines the parts of trees and their functions.

Pakenham, T 2005. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree. Wikipedia.org.
This site helps us better understand how to measure the trees.

International Society of Arboriculture. 2005. http://phytosphere.com/treeord/
ordprt3b.htm#Stratofied%20sampling. International Society of Arboriculture
This site gives us advice on how to sample our forests.

Tree Help Ltd. 2005.www.elmcare.com/trees/important_facts.htm Tree Help Ltd.
This site defines the parts of trees and their functions.
This site gave us facts about certain trees.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2005. www.fs.fed.us. U.S. Department of Agriculture
This site gives us an interesting view of what OhioÕs landscape looked like prior to settlement.

Ohio Department of Natural Resouces. 2005. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/
forestry/history/history.htm. Ohio Department of Natural Resouces.
This site also gives us an interesting view of what OhioÕs landscape looked like prior to settlement.

Margrets, Dee. 2005. http://www.schools.wafa.org.au/whatis.htm. Western Australian Forest Alliance.
In this site was a description of old growth forests and the benefits that are associated with their structural and biodiversity.

1.
Search: Trees/Age/Species
Results: 1
Type: Article
Title: Accurately ageing trees and examining their height-growth rates: implication for interpreting forest dynamics
Summary/Relation to Subject:
This article focuses primarily on tree age and growth rates. Although the primary source for finding this information is by coring the tree, it offers interesting insight in to potential problems with guessing tree age by the circumference and/or radius of the trunk. This relates to our initial ideas of having a research topic that might relate to old and new growth forests on MiamiÕs campus. Although one might assume that this source is not relevant, on the contrary it sets us up to look in new directions and reevaluate our previous assumptions about tree age.
2.
Search: Trees/Species/Ohio
Results: 20
Type: Article
Title: A non-invasive method for reconstructing the relative mortality rates of trees in mixed-age, mixed-species forests
Summary/ Relation to Subject:
This article, like the last, focuses on tree age. It is in regards to more the life span of the tree(s) but it offers the Ònon-invasiveÓ aspect that the previous article lacked. It suggests comparing the rings and or diameter of dead trees to those of living ones of the same species and therefore more accurately determining the age of the tree. This could be possibly helpful in guessing the age of trees or the average age of a particular forest without harming any trees.
3.
Search: Trees/Ohio
Results: 108
Type: Article
Title: Description of vegetation of the Oak Openings of northwestern Ohio at the time of Euro-American settlement
Summary/Relation to Subject:
This piece looks as early accounts of those looking at OhioÕs forests. It talks of the most common species and gives an accurate account of trees from that time. This could be very useful to our group as we are looking at old growth forests and as we might look at the most common species in the region. Also if we do an analysis of the change in forest appearance in the region, this data could be very helpful. Although this is an older source, it appeared in a journal in 2004.
4.
Search: Tree/Identification
Results: 3
Type: Book
Title: The tree identification book; a new method for the practical identification and recognition of trees
Summary/Relation to Subject:
This book offers a complete guide to identifying tree types by their appearance. Its step by step analysis allows the user to systematically identify the kind of tree that they are observing. This book will be an invaluable resource when it comes to positively identifying trees in their natural habitat. We will need this when we observe the types of trees that are present in certain predetermined regions.
5.
Search: N/A
Results: N/A
Type: Reference Book
Title: Oak
Summary/Relation to Subject:
This piece on the oak tree talks about basic oak divisions and characteristics. It is a broad overview of different species and where they are generally found. This will be very useful considering oaks are possibly one of the most prevalent species on MiamiÕs campus. Also, depending on what other information other group memberÕs recovered, finding the most prevalent tree species on the campus could be a back up concept in which case the oak would most likely be a major contender ( and possibly a tighter focus than other ideas thus far suggested in the group).

Week 9: Packets Due
Weekend 9: Mark and identify trees in forest 1
Week 10: Class helps identify trees in forest 1
Weekend 10: Mark and identify trees in forest 2
Week 11: We identiry trees in forest 2
Weekend 11: Mark and identify trees in forest 2
Week 12: We identify trees in forest 3

We Used:
-Field guides to identify trees
-Metric tape measures to mark off transects
-Classmates to help identify trees
-String tape to mark trees that will be recording the tree analysis
-Log spreadsheets to record data

We collected data in three different forest areas on campus: Phefar Park, Heuston Woods, and Western Wood. We took 4 transects (a fixed path that one moves along and collects data) in each wood. Trees taller than 2.5 meters (we wished to only measure established trees which we distinguished as ≥ 2.5 meters) in our 5 meter by 30 meter transects were identified and recorded by species on our log sheets. We randomly selected our transects by arbitrarily choosing a starting point in the inner forest (the center of the forest that did not include the forestÕs edge) along a walking path in each forest. We then ÒcutÓ transects every 20 meters, perpendicular to the trail, to both the left and to the right. We had our Natural Systems class help us identify trees in Western Wood. We laid out our transects and marked each tree to be identified by tagging it with orange, string, tape. We then had the class identify the trees and write the name of the species on piece of tape. We later returned and collected the tape, recording the species on our log sheet.

Data Table:

Location Transect Tree Species

Next Article
Previous Article
Return to the Topic Menu