Species Importance within a Virgin and a Timbered Beech-Maple Forest Ecosystem

Abstract

A virgin forest, Hueston Woods in southwestern Ohio, and a selectivelycut forest, Lewis Woods in east central Indiana, were sampled by a modified pointquarter method in order to evaluate the impact of timbering on community structure. Timbering occurred in Lewis Woods in 1910, 1935, and 1955. Importance values were computed for each species encountered (> 1 inch diameter breast height) within each study area in order to determine the timbering impact on community structure. Hueston Woods was clearly dominated by sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia) with importance values of 132.6 and 117.3, respectively. Lewis Woods was characterized by a more even importance distribution patterns, although sugar maple and American beech were still found to be of greatest importance with values of 120.8 and 76.8, respectively. Sixteen species were encountered in Lewis Woods as compared to 13 species for Hueston Woods. The significance of these differences is discussed.