Historic tree stand growth on Long Island

Taylor, Matthew; Curry, Brian; Hall, Gregory; Mancinni, Mark; Boucher, Jared; Gerrish, Brett; O'Brien, Timothy; McCracken, Daniel; Pinette, John; Burdick, Kyle; Wiltbank, William; Cole, Darren

Following taken from portions of the report: 'On May 25, 2004 crews completed cruising three tracts of land on Long Island in Blue Hill Bay. All of the cruise lines originated from the Northwest corner of the Dow lot. The purpose of this cruise was to establish vegetation types and species composition for different forest stands on the south end of the island.' 'The purpose of these cruises was to establish the different species compositions and vegetation types within the stands on three separate tracts of land. The group was broken into three crews, designated X, Y, and Z. Each crew was assigned a cruise line, an azimuth on which to take sample plots. Crew X took eight plots across two forest stands on land formerly owned by a Mr. Dow. Crew Y sampled land once owned by a man named Cole and took six plots across two forest stands. A tract known as the Chatto lot was sampled with five plots taken across two stands by Crew Z. Tenth and twentieth acre plots were the sampling sizes used. In the tenth acre plots all trees above five inches DBH were measured. Diameter at Breast Height (DBH), height, and species types were recorded. DBH was recorded with a diameter tape or Biltmore stick; height measurements were estimated. Increment cores were taken to establish a correlation between growth and land use history. The height of the trees that were increment bored was precisely measured with a Haga Altimeter. The radius of the tenth acre plots were 37.2 feet and were established by swinging an arc with a fiberglass tape. Cruise lines were taped with the fiberglass tape to insure accurate spacing. Compasses and Global Positioning System (GPS) units were used to follow assigned azimuths. ' 'Twentieth acre plots were used when the vegetation was deemed to be too dense for a tenth acre plot. Crew X recorded four twentieth acre plots in the spruce/fir woodland on the Dow lot. The Methods for measuring the DBH, height, and increment bore were the same as the tenth acre plots. However a tree fork was used for trees smaller than three inches DBH. The plot radius for twentieth acre plots was 26.3 feet.' 'All data collected were entered into FlexFiber, a program that applies statistics to the samples entered and produces a computer-generated approximation of the timber stocking. Standing dead and fallen timber were not included in the collected data and thus are not included in the printouts. See appendix.' 'We cruised two stands in each lot. By comparing these stands we are able to draw some conclusions. The differences between the lots can be interpreted as evidence of varying land use histories. As people left their properties, different species moved in and grew. These differences are not the same as the variations caused by environmental factors. The reason for these differences is people who own land in the same forest cover type might leave it and have used it differently than other landowners in the same forest cover type. These different land use histories could have resulted in variations not only based on environmental factors but also by land ownership factors. In conclusion, the information we gathered shows that the residents of Long Island used land differently and abandoned the land at different times, resulting in the variations caused not only by environmental influences, but by the land use history as well.' /STUDY LOCATIONS:/ /ISLANDS/Long Island/