| Virgin baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) forests cover only several thousand hectares nation-wide (Stahle et al. 2006). Exploitive logging practices, wetland-drainage, agricultural development, and other activities have largely eradicated this once widespread habitat. The Dagmar Wildlife Management Area (WMA), located near Brinkley, Arkansas, sustains one of the largest and best preserved old-growth cypress forests in the lower Mississippi River Valley. Here, a bottomland forest consisting of almost entirely two tree species, baldcypress and water tupelo ( Nyssa aquatica), buffers Bayou DeView from the surrounding hardwood covered terraces. The recent rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker [ Campephilus principalis (Fitzpatrick et al. 2005)] in the immediate area has justifiably heightened interest in this unique habitat. Although not entirely pristine, the cypress-tupelo forest at the Dagmar WMA should be systematically evaluated to determine the least disturbed parcels of old growth within the property.; This thesis analyzes the age structure and spatial distribution of baldcypress and water tupelo trees at select locations along Bayou DeView at the Dagmar WMA. I contend that three classes of logging disturbance exist within the study area. Most impressive are the small parcels of un-logged old-growth forest, and even more expansive tracts of selectively-cut old growth, that persist within the Dagmar swamp. Locations populated with purely second-growth cypress-tupelo forest appear to be the least prevalent forest class at my study area. I identified logging disturbance at the Dagmar WMA by conducting cross-country surveys in search of cut cypress stumps and evidence of heavy tupelo logging such as stump fields and regenerated stems. Three study sites were established; one within a cohort of old-growth baldcypress trees surrounded by selectively cut tupelo stumps, and two within an un-logged forest tract. Over 400 baldcypress and water tupelo trees growing at these locations were cored for age data. I simultaneously recorded the position and stem diameter of all sampled trees. Core specimen ring counts, combined with diameter measurements and stem maps for the individual sample sites, suggest possible minimum age and spatial characteristics for the two old-growth cypress-tupelo forest classes at the Dagmar WMA. |
