This research will improve understanding of the dynamics of tree death replacement in old-growth forests. Specific goals are to investigate the species-and size-specific growth and death rates of canopy trees, gap characteristics associated with canopy tree death, vegetation development in gaps, and the dynamics of dead trees. These goals will be met by resampling canopy trees and gap vegetation originally sampled in old-growth forests of the southern Appalachians. The combinations of data sets on growth and mortality will allow turnover in the forests to be studied to a degree impossible elsewhere. These forests are the best example in the eastern United States of forests likely to be in long-term equilibrium in terms of species composition and ecosystem properties. They will serve as a valuable control for interpreting changes in other eastern forests; e.g., determining whether human activity or changing climate is causing more or different changes than usual. This study also will demonstrate how different aspects of species life histories (e.g., canopy longevity versus gap-capturing ability) can result in their coexistence in diverse forests. Findings from the analysis will contribute directly to the knowledge base needed to predict the effects of global change.
