Life History of a Climax Forest in Pisgah State Forest in Winchester NH 1929-1930

Old-growth forest is uncommon across the northeastern United States, as most areas have been historically cleared for agriculture or harvested for timber. This study provides rare direct insight into the overstory and midstory dynamics across a semi-contiguous old-growth landscape in New England. Pisgah State Park in southwestern New Hampshire comprises 5300 ha of Hardwoods-Hemlock-White Pine forest, all but 300 ha of which was cutover by the 1880s. To protect a high-quality, old-growth stand from harvest, Harvard Forest purchased a 10 ha tract (the Harvard Tract) in 1927. In 1929 and 1930, Branch, Daley, and Lotti located and sampled all of the known remaining old-growth stands in the Pisgah area. This included 74 0.04 ha old-growth stands, 14 of which were located the Harvard Tract. They also surveyed 27 0.04 ha stands that had been cut just prior to the study (stump plots), where stumps as well as the remaining overstory trees were recorded. Note that only 61 old-growth plots and 23 stump plots have valid measurements. Species, diameter class, and position (overstory or midstory) were recorded for each tree; cover type, elevation, and location was described for each plot. Dead and downed trees were also recorded.