Floristic inventory and dendroecological methods will be used to investigate natural forest disturbance events in secondary mixed hardwood communities on the Cumberland Plateau. This information will provide insights on the role of small-scale natural disturbance events in shaping composition, structure, and function at the individual, population, community, and ecosystem level in mixed hardwood forests. The majority of gap-scale disturbance studies in the eastern United States have focused on old-growth remnants. Due to natural and anthropogenic influences during the 19th and 20th centuries, most forested lands in the eastern United States are comprised of second-growth, mixed hardwood stands. Forest disturbance dynamics likely differ between old-growth remnants and mature second-growth stands. Differences in disturbance characteristics and forest response are attributed to variations in biological diversity, biomass arrangement, and tree-age distribution. The study will be conducted on the Cumberland Plateau, which has been listed as one of the most diverse and endangered ecoregions in the western hemisphere. Unfortunately, information on forest resources and processes on the Cumberland Plateau is lacking. Quantitative ecological information about Cumberland Plateau ecosystems is needed for current wildlife habitat, land management, conservation, and restoration efforts. This research will be the first to specifically address the spatio-temporal patterns of natural gap-scale disturbances and the forest response to these disturbances in secondary mixed hardwood forests on the Cumberland Plateau. The researchers will (1) quantify species composition and stand structure in secondary mixed hardwood forest communities, (2) document the disturbance history and climatic influences on radial growth of trees these communities, and (3) quantify spatio-temporal patterns of gap-scale disturbances and the response of different tree species in these second-growth stands to determine the influence of these events on species composition and structure in mixed hardwood forest stands on the Cumberland Plateau.
Knowledge of stand history and disturbance ecology is important for the proper management of forest resources. This project will quantify natural disturbance dynamics and the influence of disturbance on species diversity on the Cumberland Plateau to aid in current conservation efforts in the region. The results from this project will be shared with local, private, state, and federal management and conservation organizations. Tree-ring data will be contributed to the International Tree-Ring Data Bank and will add much needed information from hardwood tree species in the eastern United States where a data gap exists. The findings of this research will be presented at a number of professional meetings in multiple disciplines and will also be implemented into outreach programs for kindergarten through12th grade students in Tennessee and Alabama.
