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Intro to Trees: SW Ohio’s Old Growth Forests Outline • Our Geologic History • Eastern Deciduous Forests – Forest Layers – Forest Types – Old Growth • Features of the Krippendorf Forest – Horticultural Legacy – Defining Species • Challenges to our forest today – Invasive Species A Forest over A Sea Geologic History • Bedrock Formation – Ordovician Seas – 450,000,000 ya – Sedimentary – Limestone & Shale • Tectonic Plates – North American Plate moves north • Uplift – Cincinnati Arch • Lexington Peneplane • Pleistocene Glaciation – 2,000,000 ya Glacial Periods in SW Ohio • Pre-Illinoian Glacier – About 1,000,000 ya • Illinoian Glacier – 250,000 ya • Wisconsian Glacier – 70,000-19,500 ya Note: Kansan Glacier ( 2M ya) did not reach SW Ohio Glacial Deposits • Glacial Till – Sand, gravel, soil, erratics carried by glacier • Glacial Outwash – Carried by melt waters – Sorted by size when deposited Ohio Soils Divided mainly into those topsoils resultant from glacial activity and those not impacted Ohio Surface Water Primarily small streams low to mid-gradient rivers and oxbows. Few natural lakes. Cincinnati Bioregion 4 Ecoregions Defined by: – Geology – Topography – Climate – Hydrology – Soil type – Vegetation – Wildlife – Land Use Pre-Wisconsinan Drift Plains Eco-region -Illinoian deposits -Drift – material of glacial origin (till, lake sediments, gravel, sand, loess) -generally flat landscape -poor drainage (due to young age) -Swamp Forest – Pin Oaks Loess – wind blown glacial silt Ohio Vegetation Ohio 1803 Ohio 1903 Ohio 2003 Forest Layers • Canopy • Understory – SubCanopy – Shrub Layer • Forest Floor – Herbs and Vines Forest Types Beech-Maple Mixed Mesophytic (Mesic) Oak-Hickory Bottomland Hardwood Beech-Maple Forest • Beech-Maple forests once covered much of Ohio, including parts of Hamilton and Clermont counties. • Abundance of beech and (sugar) maple trees (in some cases up to 90% of the trees are of these two species). Beech-Maple Forest Mixed Mesophytic (Mesic) Forest • on well-drained soil, usually a loam. • a high species diversity of trees and other plants • generally appear lush. • Most of the Eastern Deciduous Forest can be described as Mesic. Mixed Mesophytic (Mesic) Forest Oak-Hickory Forest A forest of nut producing trees: various species of oak, hickory, formerly chestnut (now surviving only as understory sprouts). • Understory of flowering dogwood, sassafras, hackberry, hawthorn. • The shrub layer is distinct, dominated by species characteristic of acidic soils; blueberries, huckleberries, and laurels. Some shrubs are evergreen. Oak-Hickory Forest Bottomland Hardwood Forest • Also known as Riverine Forests - moist sites along rivers and floodplains. Spring flooding may be an annual occurrence • Box Elder, Sycamore, Cottonwoods, Silver and Red Maple occur. • Some invasion by oak, hickory forest species. • Open spaces allow herb growth in though cover may be minimal throughout a large portion of the year. Bottomland Hardwood Forest Forest Succession • • • Field or forest opening Colonization by herbaceous plants Early successional shrubs & trees – – • Deciduous trees – – – • Shrub spp Red Cedar & Black Locust Mid successional Young Forest Mature Forest Old Growth Forest Old Growth Forest • Many old trees – greater than 150 years • All age classes • Standing deadwood • Prevalence of fallen trees • High species diversity in all forest layers • Deep top soil with rich humus layer • No signs of human influence Forest Layers • Canopy • Understory – SubCanopy – Shrub Layer • Herbs and Vines Sub-canopy • • • • • Paw Paw Dogwood Buckeye Sassafras Redbud Paw Paw Dogwood Buckeye Sassafras Redbud Shrub Layer • • • • • Spicebush Service Berry Bladdernut Leatherwood Buttonbush Spicebush Service Berry Bladdernut Leatherwood Buttonbush Common invasive species • • • • • • • • • • • Amur Honeysuckle Lesser Celandine Garlic Mustard Multiflora Rose Wisteria Purple Loosestrife Autumn Olive Burning Bush (euonymus) Wintercreeper (euonymus) English Ivy Asian Bittersweet Amur Honeysuckle Garlic Mustard Lesser Celandine Autumn Olive Burning Bush (Euonymus) Wintercreeper (Euonymus) English Ivy Asian Bittersweet
