Woody-Plant Succession in an Eastern Nebraska Bluff Forest

Authors

• Douglas E. Borland, University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Thomas B. Bragg, University of Nebraska at Omaha
• David M. Sutherland, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Date of this Version

1989

Document Type

Article

Comments

1989: Transaction of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences XVII: 61--63: Copyright © 1989 Borland, Bragg and Sutherland.

Abstract

Woody plant composition of ridgetop old-fields abandoned at various times since 1800 suggest a successional pattern for an eastern Nebraska bluff forest. Sites abandoned for 24 years were dominated by elm (Ulmus spp.) and rough-leaved dogwood (Comus drummondii). Other sites, abandoned for76 years, were dominated by bitternut hickory (Cwya cordijormis), American linden (Tilia americana), and hop-hombeam (Ostrya virginiana), and those abandoned for 186 years were predominantly bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and hop-hornbeam. Based on species importance values, we conclude that the composition of this forest is still changing.