Permanent Plots at Pisgah State Forest in Winchester NH since 1984

There are relatively few studies that have examined forest structure and composition both before and after a catastrophic wind disturbance has altered the forest. On a twenty acre parcel of old-growth forest located in the Pisgah State Forest in southwest New Hampshire, the collection of a long term data set from 1907-1995 has made it possible to consider how the hurricane of 1938 altered forest structure, species composition, and subsequent forest development in the stand. Various types of information were gathered throughout the century that allowed the quantification of forest structure and composition: species identification, diameter measurements, tree status (living or dead), tree cores, and individual tree growth and mortality have recently been tracked.