LOWER GREY CLOUD ISLAND FOREST PATCH: A 15 YEAR RECLAMATION MONITORING STUDY

摘要

Reclamation specialists are constantly searching for efficient and effective revegetation methods upon xeric sites. In our investigation, we created a small forest patch, densely packed with woody plants and observed the development (expansion and mortality) of individual plants and groups of plants in the patch for 15 years. The patch has expanded from about 0.046 hectares (0.11 acres) to 0.24 hectares (0.58 acres) in area; while the inner core of trees has only slightly expanded from 0.0333 hectares (0.08 acres) to 0.0475 hectares (0.09 acres) in size. The collective basal area of most tree species has increased but is concentrated in fewer individuals. The basal area growth of some of the inner individuals has nearly halted (less then 2.5 mm (0.1 inches) in dbh over 5 years). In contrast, many surviving edge trees have increased their basal area with some individuals growing more than 1.27 cm (0.5 inches) dbh per year. Box elder (Acer negundo L.) is the only species that has increased in the number of individual trees (dbh >= 10 cm). Siouxland Eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bart. Ex Marsh. "Siouxland") has gone extinct due to mortality caused by whitetailed deer rubbing against the trees. Woody plant seedling recruitment has occurred for northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.), woodbine (Parthenocissus quniquefolia (L.) Planch.), riverbank grape (Vitis riparia Michx.), Eastern red cedar (Juniperus viginiana L.), and common hackberry (Celtis occidentalis L.). A small stand of Kentucky Bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) has formed in the understory of the inner core of the stand. Even though changes in the inner core have been slow, we have observed signs that the core may be beginning to expand and expect to observe tree recruitment and increased diversity over the next 10 years.