Tree Survey Results - Area 3
Results from area 3:
Sugar Maple………………: 06 (Acer sacharum)
Box Elder……………………: 75 (Acer negundo)
Ash……………………………………: 08 (Fraxinus)
Black Cherry……………: 30 (Prunus serotina)
Hackberry……………………: 15 (Celtis occidentalis)
Tulip Poplar……………: 04 (Liriodendron tulipifera)
Eastern Redbud………: 01 (Cercis canadensis)
Elm……………………………………: 28 (Ulmus)
Oak……………………………………: 02 (Quercus)
Hickory…………………………: 02 (Carya)
Callery Pear……………: 13 (Pyrus calleryana)
Total Area 3……………: 184
Running Total…………: 419
** Where possible, trees were identified to the species level. In some cases (ash, hickory, elm, oak) volunteers were only capable of identification down to the genus.
The most prolific tree in this survey area is the Box Elder (with 75 occurrences). I don't really wish to have a Box Elder mono-culture forest. I'll need to decide what to do when these get a little taller and threaten to shade out some of the less common species like oak. For now, I just need the Box Elder to throw some shade. The entire under-story had been lost to honeysuckle when I started. Box Elder saplings can temporarily fill in for this missing under-story as I continue trying to mimic the composition of a more healthy forest. I'll probably try planting some additional spicebush in this area since it would otherwise fill in with mainly Box Elder. The Callery Pears have already been violently removed.
This image gives an idea of how many Box Elders germinated after honeysuckle removal. There are four naturally occurring box elder that have sprouted in this small area. Box Elder is a fast growing species with a dense canopy. Too many Box Elders is a decent problem to have. It means I'm slowly getting past the problem of too much honeysuckle and garlic mustard. The problem is... I'm trying to accelerate regeneration of a healthy mature forest. A healthy mature forest wouldn't have this many Box Elder. It only makes sense to protect and encourage the small numbers of oaks and hickories I get and to prevent the explosion of Box Elder from shading them all out.
Results from area 4:
Dogwood…………………………: 02 (Cornus florida)
Buckeye…………………………: 02 (Aesculus)
Sugar Maple………………: 19 (Acer sacharum)
Box Elder……………………: 23 (Acer negundo)
Ash……………………………………: 82 (Fraxinus)
Black Cherry……………: 22 (Prunus serotina)
Hackberry……………………: 30 (Celtis occidentalis)
PawPaw……………………………: 01 (Asimina triloba)
American Beech………: 01 (Fagus grandifolia)
Eastern Redbud………: 02 (Cercis canadensis)
Elm……………………………………: 14 (Ulmus)
Oak……………………………………: 01 (Quercus)
Hickory…………………………: 04 (Carya)
Callery Pear……………: 08 (Pyrus calleryana)
Total Area 4……………: 211
Running Total…………: 630
** Where possible, trees were identified to the species level. In some cases (ash, hickory, elm, oak) volunteers were only capable of identification down to the genus.
The most prolific tree in this survey area is the Ash (with 82 occurrences). I was excited to see one Blue Ash among the 82. Blue Ash are said to have some resistance to the Emerald Ash Borer. The remaining 81 Ash trees are mostly (and probably all) white ash. I'm not able to distinguish between white and green but white are much more common here. This area also includes the lone American Beech tree that exists on our lot. There are some beech trees in the woods on the other side of the road. I'm guessing this seedling traveled from over there.
The stars of the show were two Dogwoods (Cornus florida). When we moved here there were a couple mature Dogwoods in the woods at the bottom of our lot. One of them is now gone, the result of the top falling out of a Black Locust directly onto the Dogwood. It's nice to see a couple naturally occurring Dogwoods regenerating in the study area.
Results from area 5:
Dogwood…………………………: 001 (Cornus florida)
Sugar Maple………………: 019 (Acer sacharum)
Box Elder……………………: 007 (Acer negundo)
Ash……………………………………: 184 (Fraxinus)
Black Cherry……………: 004 (Prunus serotina)
Hackberry……………………: 005 (Celtis occidentalis)
PawPaw……………………………: 001 (Celtis occidentalis)
American Beech………: 001 (Celtis occidentalis)
Elm……………………………………: 010 (Ulmus)
Hickory…………………………: 004 (Carya)
Callery Pear……………: 007 (Pyrus calleryana)
Total Area 4……………: 243
Running Total…………: 873
** Where possible, trees were identified to the species level. In some cases (ash, hickory, elm, oak) volunteers were only capable of identification down to the genus.
This survey area is larger than the other four areas. It's also the area with the most shade. This could partially explain the amazing number of Ash seedlings (184!) that have germinated in this area. It could just as easily be the result of large Ash trees that existed in this area prior to the onslaught of the Emerald Ash Borer. I'm going to let these go for now. The reality is... I need the shade of an under-story to make up for the loss of the honeysuckle. I might as well let these Ash trees be the under-story for now. As they grow and threaten species like the lone American Beech in this area, I'll strategically thin them out. I also noted a few Northern Spicebush starting to emerge in this area. A couple years ago I collected a bunch of spicebush seeds and pushed them down into the ground with my thumb. I believe some of those seeds are beginning to germinate. I was excited to see another American Beech in this survey area.
Northern Spicebush seedling.
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