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.