| Inwood Hill is geomorphically made of two main ridges which parallel the Hudson River with a valley (clove) between the ridges. Four locations were selected for study: Valley-Clove forest, East Ridge and slopes forest, Ridge Tops (east and west) forests, and the West Ridge and slopes forest. There were 77 species (n=4070 woody stems including trees, shrubs and vines) identified in 51 genera and 28 families in 45 10 X 10 m2 quadrats. The 12 top taxa were weighted by their importance value (IV), which included basal area, percent of quadrat representation, and number of stems assigned to each species. The findings revealed Quercus rubra (n=121) (IV = 48.69%) as the top ecologically dominant species out of all woody taxa. Liriodendron tulipifera (n=34) (IV = 25.55%) ranked second, and Lindera benzoin (n=760) (IV = 23.75%), ranked third. Following were Viburnum acerifolium (n=618) (IV = 19.07%), Prunus serotina (n=286) (IV = 15.15%), and Lonicera maackii (n=269) (IV = 9.78%). Quercus rubra (n=121) (IV = 60.13%) was the top dominant out of 44 tree species, with a collectively combined basal area of 23.09 m2 (230973 cm2), and 78% quadrat representation. Of the 77 woody species, 50 were native, 10 were nonnative, and 17 were invasive. The top 3 invasive species were Lonicera maackii (n=269), Rosa multiflora (n=186), and Celastrus orbiculatus (n=181). Herbaceous taxa (n=2842), in 45 2 x 2 m2 quadrats, represented 96 species in 76 genera and 41 families.;Human use and abuse, along with fire and vandalism, have taken their toll on Inwood Hill. Where these fires have occurred, hundreds of small seedlings of Prunus serotina have taken root, perhaps indicating the forest composition of the future. Inwood Hill is very much a forest in transition, particularly on the West Ridge. The Valley-Clove seems not to have changed since Loeb (1986) and Graves (1930) reported their findings. However, there is a dearth of saplings for Liriodendron tulipifera, the dominant canopy tree, as there is for Betula lenta and understory tree, Cornus florida. Also, Rosa multiflora is spreading rather rapidly into the Clove. |
