A retrospective on anthropogenic forest disturbances: Patterns and response in two Hudson River Valley hardwood stands

Anthropogenic forest disturbance is often associated with the establishment of non-native vascular plant species. The Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site offers an opportunity to examine the response of existing overstory and understory non-native vascular plant populations to a trail system and a recent history of partial cutting in an oak-hickory forest cover type. Overstory, understory and stump data were collected in 2007 at 34 measurement plots in two adjacent hardwood stands. These data were used to determine the type and intensity of past cutting and the response of overstory and understory plant populations to two anthropogenic forest disturbances. These disturbances included: past selective cutting in one stand and a trail system that extends through the entire study area. Interpretation of overstory structure, species composition, stump size and stump decay class led to the deduction that two selective cuts had occurred in one stand within the past 25-30 years, while the adjacent stand had no recent history of cutting. More species of non-native vascular plants were found in the cut stand, however, non-native vascular plant cover did not differ between treatments of cut vs. uncut and trail vs. no trail. Nevertheless, this study indicates that black birch will be the next species to regenerate with partial cutting, not existing overstory species, leaving a forest community of less commercially valuable species.;Keywords. selective cutting, non-native vascular plants, stump decay class, invasive...