Seed Production Survey, 1988-2009, Adirondack Long-Term Ecological Monitoring Program Project No. 26 by Adirondack Ecological Center of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Newcomb, New York, USA

The purpose of this project is to 1) estimate number of seeds per unit
area in a mature northern hardwood/mixed conifer forest stand and 2)
document changes over time in selected tree and shrub seed production. Permanent seed traps were established in 1988 in two forest types.
Seed traps (13.9 L [5 gal] capacity buckets) are installed 0.5 m off
the ground on two metal stakes in the center of each forested plot.
Buckets are open to the tree canopy and have small (< 2cm) holes
near the bottom edges for drainage.  Fifty collection buckets are
placed approximately 30 m (100 feet) apart and distributed along
painted grid lines in the Huntington Wildlife Forest Natural Area.
Twenty-five plots are northern hardwood upland forest (dominated by
sugar maple, American beech and yellow birch with some conifers) and
25 plots are in the mixed hardwood/conifer lakeshore forest type
(dominated by red maple, yellow birch, red spruce and eastern
hemlock). Tree and shrub seeds are collected annually during two
periods: July to November (Fall) and November to July (Spring). The
spring and autumn collections are based on tree species’ seed
phenology. If a bucket was tipped over due to disturbance by a bear or some other
factor, it was censored from the survey for that year. Mice or other
seed predators that were physically found/present in buckets also
resulted in sample censoring. Animal scat or partly-consumed seeds are
not censored, as these may have fallen from the tree canopy during
seed predators’ normal activities.