A Summer in the Woods: Part 2

Although Zaleski, Tar Hollow, and Vinton Furnace State Forests are fragmented from each other, they still make up 55,270 acres of combined woodland area - only 8,500 acres short of Ohio's largest state forest, Shawnee, or "the little smokies." As state forests, they are open to forestry practices that - if done sustainably - promote a healthy mosaic of different plant communities undergoing varying levels of ecological succession. This, in combination with natural disturbances and other factors, increases the level of landscape heterogeneity - a phenomenon that is important for increasing habitat suitability for more species. Through the improvement of forestry best practices over time, this triad of forest systems in Southeastern, Ohio has effectively helped conserve biodiversity in these areas and, as a result, the resilience of these social-ecological forest systems has also increased. As a testament to Ohio's improving forests, I would like to take a moment to reminisce of my time with The Ohio State University this summer as a Field Researcher by sharing some of my biological findings along the way. 

Bird Nests

Ground Nesters

From left to right, A) I was lucky enough to encounter a wild turkey nest at the base of a tree (14 eggs); B) I also found multiple black-and-white warbler nests (each with a clutch size of 3 eggs), each interwoven with deer fur and forming a small nest in various woodland habitats ranging from oak-hickory communities to pine plantations - the nest pictured above was parasitized by a brown-headed cowbird pair; C) Eastern towhee nests (each with two or more eggs), intricately laced with either twigs/tendrills or straw, were common as well. D) Interesting enough, I found more ovenbird nests than any other (each with 4 or more eggs), characterized by their cryptic oven-like construction.

Tree Nesters

From left to right, A) this was the only wood thrush nest I found (4 fledglings) located seven feet off the ground. B) My most exciting find was a yellow-billed cuckoo nest (3 rather large eggs) characterized by loose twigs; C) I also found numerous hooded warbler nests (2 fledglings pictured here) in various habitats - mostly early successional Rubus spp. thickets, and D) one least flycatcher nest (one egg and one fledgling pictured above), characterized by location on the very edge of a maple branch - they can do this as they often nest in protected under-stories of heavily forested ares.

Plants

From left to right, some of the plants I encountered range from A)fire pink, B) wild yam, C)American ginseng, D) pink lady's slipper, E) alternate-leaved dogwood, F) swamp milkweed, G) spotted pipsissewa, H) arrowwood viburnum, I) puttyroot orchid, J) mountain laural, K) woodland sunflower, and L) four-leaf milkweed.

Reptiles

Neonate black rat snake (Pantherophis obsoletus) and a male box turtle (Terrapene carolina)

Fungi

From left to right: A) Amanita muscaria, B) Hydenellum pineteicola, C) Artomyces pyxidatus,  D) Thelephora terrestris, E) Craterellus cornucopioides, F) Amanita abrupta, F) Russula spp., F1) Austroboletus betula, F2) Strobilomyces floccopus

Insects and other Wildlife



From left to right, A) chocolate-brown fishing spider, B) barred owl pellet, C) red-spotted purple, D) fritillary butterfly E) unidentified caterpillar, F) Polyphemus and luna moths, G) whippoorwill H) hardwood stump borer beetle, I) oak apple gall, J) unidentified buckeye fungus, K) American toad, L) Red maple spot. 

A Summer in the Woods: Part 1

This summer, I was fortunate to work with a passionate group of students from The Ohio State University on a long-term breeding bird project that aims to model bird populations over space and time in three Southeastern, Ohio state forests: Tar Hollow, Vinton Furnace, and Zaleski. As a plant ecologist, I was charged with the daunting - but exciting - task of learning the songs and calls of over 200 of Ohio's forest birds, enticed by the opportunity to conduct daily vegetation surveys. Although this internship only lasted three months, I filled my journal with enough memories for two posts; this post will focus on my duties and some of the ecological plant communities I came across, and my next post explains some of the biology I encountered walking from site to site.

Vinton Furncace State Experimental Forest (VFSEF) is a familiar place to me; I spent the summer of 2010 as a seasonal Forest Technician with the US Forest Service to conduct field work for research studies that assessed oak and hickory regeneration. The rich biodiversity, historic remnants and rural location are unforgettable, and offer a decent glimpse into pre-settlment Ohio. As part of the Northern Research Station, VFSEF has provided a sustainably managed ecological research breeding ground to the central hardwoods region for over sixty years, fostering seminole clear-cutting, prescribed burning, and oak regeneration research that have aided in best practices that the US Forest Service still use today.  This 12,000 acre forest is also home to the largest bobcat and timber rattlesnake populations in the state, not-to-mention the abundance of rare plants it harbors. 

For this research oppointment, my days began at 4:30am with a dark cup of joe and a quick gear check. My solo, moonlit morning travel to each site provided little excitement with highlights being NPR talk radio and the occasional whippoorwill fluttering away from my headlights. Upon reaching each access point, I broke out my GPS for a headlamp-weilding hike (up to 400m) through damp undergrowth, briars and spider webs to a pre-destined study point in the woods. Each plot greeted me with a loud and constant, melodic chorus of bird chatter reminiscent of a jungle scene.

For this project, the randomly generated study plots took me through meandering paths of rough terrain and varying habitats, each with associations of biological beings that no textbook could teach so well. Distinct habitats stick out like a sore thumb, and help connect the dots of taxonomy and life histories, to community associations and their respective environmental conditions. This post will focus on some of the forested plant communities I explored during this summer, which I classified using Anderson's (1982) classification system that Ohio Divsion of Natural Areas and Preserves (DNAP) uses today, in addition to NatureServe.

River Birch - Maple Floodplain Forest

The river birch - floodplain forest indicated here seems to be - in part - an artifact of past coal mining operations that blanketed Southeastern, Ohio. At this site, river birch (Betula nigra), black willow (Salix nigra), and box elder (Acer negundo) were most dominant, with sphagnum moss and bottonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) throughout. Unlike similar woodland floodplain forests in this region, B. nigra was one of the most dominant species in the overstory most likely due to the added acidity in the soils from Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). Some other species that exist here, and that are indicators of this community type, include American elm (Ulmus americana), tulip poplar (Liriodenron tulipifera), American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), black cherry (Prunus serotina), red maple (Acer rubrum), silver maple (Acer saccharinum), yellow buckeye (Aesculus flava), and white ash (Fraxinus americana).

Beech-Sugar Maple Forest

This site was on the border of being classified as a mixed mesophytic community, although there was a high abundance of American beech (Fagus americana) and sugar maple (A. saccharum) throughout most of this slope (not pictured) - more so than typical mixed mesophytic areas that I've encountered. Beech-Maple forest communities can be classified into three main community types: wet beech, beech-sugar maple, and mixed mesophytic. It becomes more difficult to distinguish communities in the unglaciated portion of the state due to increased landscape complexity from varying topography and substrates. Beatley (1959) noted that beech-maple forests in Vinton county are so similar to mixed mesophytic forests that separating them is not important. Common plants that I found, and that are indicators of this community type, include shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), black walnut (Juglans nigra), white oak (Quercus alba), red oak (Quercus rubra), U. americana, red elm (Ulmus rubra), American basswood (Tilia americana), and F. americana.

Mixed Mesophytic Forest

As mentioned above, a closely associated community to the beech-sugar maple forest community is the mixed mesophytic forest, which is common of north and east-facing slopes and coves. This community is so diverse because it provides conditions for hydric, mesic, and xeric species to interact. In Ohio, L. tulipifera and T. americana provide the best indicators of this community; specifically at this site, we found large A. flava and Q. rubra canopy trees with lush undergrowth. Other species that we found, and that are common to this community type, include Hickories (Carya spp.), A. saccharum, Q. alba, P. serotina, A. rubrum, and F. americana. 

Appalachian Oak Forest

This community differs from typical oak-hickory forests by composing of more than 20% of chestnut oak (Quercus prinus) and scarket oak (Quercus coccinea). This community is most often found on or near over-drained, acidic ridge tops exhibiting xeric conditions. In these specific areas, there are still small American chestnuts (Castanea dentata) growing from stump sprouts. This community differs from other similar communities by lacking A. saccharum and L. tulipifera. Due to the highly desired hardwood produced from this community type, there are no un-cut populations left in Ohio. The picture on the left provides an example of a ridgetop community whereas the picture on the left shows an east facing shoulder with an abundance of blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica) and sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum). Other associates found at these sites, and provide an indication of this community type, are pignut hickory (C. glabra), C. ovata, mockernut hickory (C. tomentosa), Q. alba, Q. coccinea, Q. rubrum, Q. velutina, and A. rubrum. 

Oak-Maple Forest

This site was the most beautiful and undisturbed representation of a true Oak-Maple forest that I've ever encountered. The 50+ DBH American basswood to the left, composition of over 20% sugar maples, white ash and a slough of sizable oak species immediately gave this site away. A community type of the north, oak-hickory forests of this quality only occur in pockets of unglaciated Ohio. Clifton Gorge and Caesar Creek Nature preserves offer good examples of this community. Other species that we found here, and that represent this community type, include bitternut hickory (C. cordiformis), C. glabra, C. ovata, Q. alba, Q. coccinea, Q. prinus, Q. rubra, Q. muehlenbergii, U. rubra, and A. rubrum. 

Oak-Pine Forest

Although the picture on the right represents a red pine (Pinus resinosa) plantation, the picture on the left provides an example of a possible Oak-Pine forest as indicated in Anderson's (1982) classification with more than 20% of the overstory consisting of shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata); however, it is probably a plantation as well. Regardless, VFSEF provides some rather healthy, albeit sparse, examples of Oak-Pine forests represented primarily of pitch pines (Pinus rigida) that are restricted to exposed xeric upland sites. In the above P. echinata site, coniferous forest associates are present such as Lycopodia spp. In addition, an interspersion of oak and hickory species was also found, which further exemplifies what an oak-pine forest should look like.

Disturbed Sites

Zaleski, Tar Hollow, and Vinton Furnace State Forests provide some of the largest unbroken tracts of woodlands in Ohio, and are invaluable to the biological diversity of plants and animals that find refuge there. Although, as state forests, they are susceptible to some level of deforestation to supplement Ohio's multi-billion dollar timber products industry. As a result, various forestry practices such as select and clear-cutting still take place, albeit, using more sustainable best practices - many of which have been refined through research conducted throughout these very forests over the years, especially VFSEF. Thus, these internship experiences have not only offered me a look at the diverse biology and ecology of southeastern, Ohio, but also examples of a successful sustainable forest management plan to enhance the environment, economy, and society.