uid=HFR,o=lter,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org
all
public
read
doi:10.6073/pasta/908c7bd4e446d243eb9e66b573b4fddb
Hurricane Recovery Plots at Harvard Forest 1937-1991
David
Foster
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1171-3762
Steven
Spurr
David
Hibbs
Researcher
Toby
Korsgren
Researcher
Cathy
Mabry
Researcher
2024
English
The New England hurricane of 1938, by destroying many acres of mature and semi-mature forests, initiated new forest associations over a large area. Permanent plots were established across the Harvard Forest in severely damaged stands (many of which were logged subsequent to the hurricane) to assess forest succession. Most of the plots involved successions following the blowdown of white pine on glacial till or outwash soils. From 1940 - 1948, and in 1978 and 1991, tree density and presence/absence of herb and shrub species were tallied. Pioneer species regenerating from seed and advance regeneration of longer-lived species quickly established at the sites; hemlock was the only species successfully regenerating after year 10, and most tree species were present within 2-4 years of the hurricane. By 1978, pioneer species such as gray birch and pin cherry declined or disappeared and red maple, white pine, paper birch and red oak dominated the plots. By 1991, most understory species present before the hurricane had returned, although there was a small group of understory species that apparently were more sensitive to disturbance and did not recover.
hurricane damage
permanent plots
regeneration
vegetation dynamics
LTER controlled vocabulary
disturbance
LTER core area
Harvard Forest
HFR
LTER
USA
HFR default
This dataset is released to the public under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (No Rights Reserved). Please keep the dataset creators informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset should include proper acknowledgement.
Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal
https://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0.html
CC0-1.0
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf040
Harvard Forest. Coordinates based on WGS84 datum.
-72.23
-72.16
+42.55
+42.45
205
420
meter
1937
1991
completed
Information Manager
Harvard Forest
324 North Main Street
Petersham
MA
01366
USA
(978) 724-3302
hf-im@lists.fas.harvard.edu
Harvard Forest
324 North Main Street
Petersham
MA
01366
USA
(978) 724-3302
(978) 724-3595
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu
In 1940, Stephen Spurr established 14 plots, either 0.1 ha (10 of the plots) or 0.025 ha (4 of the plots), across the Prospect Hill, Tom Swamp and Slab City tracts of the Harvard Forest. All 14 plots were measured in the 1940s; 13 of the 14 plots were remeasured in 1978 and 1991, as plot A burned and could not be relocated.
Plot characteristics by soil type and vegetation prior to the hurricane: Glacial till; old-field white pine: Plots A, F, G, H, I, J. Glacial till; immature white pine plantation: Plot B. Glacial till; hardwoods: Plot D. Outwash; white pine and hemlock (described as old-growth by Spurr): Plots C, E, K, L, M. Outwash; selectively cut white pine: Plot N.
Tree density by species was measured in 1940, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1948, 1978, and 1991. Please note that different size criteria for minimum tree size were used in different years; therefore, stem density by species is not directly comparable between sample years. From 1940-1948, all trees were tallied by species and regeneration type (seedling or sprout). Diameters were not recorded and it is not clear if any minimum size criterion was used. In 1978, all tree stems taller than 1.3m were tallied by species, canopy class and diameter. In 1991, all tree stems with a diameter at 1.4m of greater than 1.0 inch were tallied by species and diameter. Trees in the 1937 forest inventory were tallied by species and 1" diameter classes for stems equaling or exceeding 2 inches dbh.
Understory species (shrubs, herbs and ferns) were tallied by presence/absence in 1940, 1948, and 1991. To compare community composition between the pre-and post-hurricane forest, Mabry and Korsgren (1991) matched the permanent plots with their corresponding 1937 vegetation inventory stands by overlaying maps, then used the 1937 plot data as an estimate of the pre-hurricane presence of understory species (understory species were listed for each plot) and presence and abundance of overstory trees. Although the 1937 inventory plots and permanent post-hurricane plots measured the same sites, the plots do not correspond exactly and comparisons should be considered an estimate.
Not all data collected have been transferred to electronic format, but all original paper data sheets are available in the Harvard Forest Archives. Data available electronically include tree density by species for 1937, 1940, 1948, 1978 and 1991 and understory plant presence/absence data by species for 1937, 1940, 1948 and 1991.
Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research
Harvard Forest
324 North Main Street
Petersham
MA
01366
USA
(978) 724-3302
(978) 724-3595
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu
https://ror.org/059cpzx98
pointOfContact
The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program examines ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts.
National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210.
hf040-01-species.csv
species list
hf040-01-species.csv
4020
b2f516618f37283d844ede1dae884a5b
1
\r\n
column
,
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p04/hf040/hf040-01-species.csv
tree_herb
tree or herb
tree or herb
species
species name
species name
code
species code
specis code
134
hf040-02-tree.csv
tree data
hf040-02-tree.csv
24841
c4a8e70c61901e1a27cd95a76902e6b0
1
\r\n
column
,
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p04/hf040/hf040-02-tree.csv
year
year
YYYY
plot
plot letter (B-N), plot location by Harvard Forest Tract and Compartment
B
Prospect Hill I
C
Tom Swamp IX
D
Tom Swamp IV
E
Tom Swamp IV
F
Tom Swamp V
G
Tom Swamp VI
H
Tom Swamp I
I
Tom Swamp I
J
Slab City II
K
Slab City IV
L
Slab City IV
M
Tom Swamp IX
N
Tom Swamp IX
species
species code
ACPE
Acer pensylvanicum
ACRU
Acer rubrum
ACSA
Acer saccharum
BEAL
Betula alleghaniensis
BELE
Betula lenta
BEPA
Betula papyrifera
BEPO
Betula populifolia
CACA
Carpinus caroliniana
CADE
Castanea dentata
CAOV
Carya ovata
FAGR
Fagus grandifolia
FRAM
Fraxus americana
PIST
Pinus strobus
POSSP
Populus species
PRPE
Prunus pensylvanica
PRSE
Prunus serotina
QUAL
Quercus alba
QUBO
Quercus rubra
SALIX
Salix species
TIAM
Tilia americana
TSCA
Tsuga canadensis
ULAM
Tsuga canadensis
count
number of stems per hectare. Please refer to methods on tally criteria for each sample year.
numberPerHectare
0.01
real
NA
missing value
1495
hf040-03-herb.csv
herb data
hf040-03-herb.csv
101675
1565728a24fa8ad849b87eed5241ad4a
1
\r\n
column
,
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p04/hf040/hf040-03-herb.csv
case
case number
case number
year
year
YYYY
plot
plot letter (B-N), plot location by Harvard Forest Tract and Compartment
B
Prospect Hill I
C
Tom Swamp IX
D
Tom Swamp IV
E
Tom Swamp IV
F
Tom Swamp V
G
Tom Swamp VI
H
Tom Swamp I
I
Tom Swamp I
J
Slab City II
K
Slab City IV
L
Slab City IV
M
Tom Swamp IX
N
Tom Swamp IX
species
species code (see species list)
species code
pres_abs
presence or absence
0
absent
1
present
5600
plot
community
long-term measurement