8 YEARS CHANGE IN AN OLD TSUGA-CANADENSIS WOODS AFFECTED BY BEECH BARK DISEASE

A 2.02 ha section of an old woods in the Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve, upstate New York, was mapped in 1978 and remapped in 1986. All individuals > 1 m high were located to the nearest 0.1 m. Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr. made up > 59% of total basal area and density both years. Average basal area loss by mortality (0.93%/yr) was less than average growth (1.50%/yr) resulting in increased stand basal area. Especially large increases were measured for Acer saccharum Marsh., A. rubrum L., and Quercus rubra L. Overall and for most species, mortality was very high for small stems, lowest for intermediate-sized stems (11-40 cm dbh), and somewhat higher for the very largest stems. Mortality was aggregated resulting in increasingly regular dispersion patterns of live stems, from 1978 to 1986 and with increasing stem size. Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. continued to decrease due to beech bark disease though at a decreasing rate than earlier, based on past studies in the Huyck Preserve. Maximum Fagus survivorship was for stems 6-10 cm dbh. Where Fagus decreased in importance it was replaced primarily by Tsuga.