Oak Regeneration Patterns and Stand Dynamics in Burned and Unburned Forest Stands in Shawnee State Forest, Ohio, USA

The primary goal of this thesis was to compare oak (Quercus spp. L.) regeneration, canopy class distributions, and forest stand dynamics following a glaze ice storm to Quercus spp. regeneration, canopy class distributions, and forest stand dynamics following a severe wildfire in a second-growth oak-hickory forest in southern Ohio. Additionally, tree ring research was used to examine forest disturbance history of the study site from 1930-2001 and to analyze the growth-climate relationship of Quercus spp. Quercus spp. regeneration was higher in the burned stands than in the unburned stands. The dominant canopy trees of both stands were Quercus spp., but the suppressed and intermediate trees were mostly red maple (Acer rubrum L.), tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.), and black gum (Nyssa sylvatica Marshall). Age-diameter data revealed that Quercus spp. has not been able to successfully recruit to an intermediate canopy class since the 1940’s. Growth-climate relationships revealed a temporal decline in the correlation values. This indicated that disturbances and micro-site alterations associated with forest development likely altered the growth-climate relationship.