Two Hundred Years of Forest Change in the Tensas River Basin Completed
Prescriptions in the forest habitat management plan for Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge are designed to produce a forest once represented in the Tensas Basin. There are several problems with reconstructing original forests. In most areas, conditions have changed since these forests were cut; particularly, hydrology, soils, and climatic conditions.
The Science Issue and Relevance: Prescriptions in the forest habitat management plan for Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge are designed to produce a forest once represented in the Tensas Basin. There are several problems with reconstructing original forests. In most areas, conditions have changed since these forests were cut; particularly, hydrology, soils, and climatic conditions. Thus, the original climax condition or forest type may no longer be duplicated on a particular area. However, forest types that can no longer be climax on a particular site will have the potential to be climax or near-climax at another site where conditions are now favorable. Because the original condition was optimum for wildlife diversity, management that hastens progress towards a forest with structure and ecosystem values similar to climax or climax-like forest has been proposed as desired stand conditions for the Mississippi Alluvial Valley.
Methodology for Addressing the Issue: The primary goal of this study is to provide a geodatabase and a summary report of reference forest conditions. The secondary goal is to contribute to the understanding of how the forest has changed since time of initial harvest. These data may serve as a baseline for inventory and monitoring as well as guidance for management and restoration practices. Reference forest conditions will be based on reconstruction of spatially-referenced, pre-settlement conditions using 1800’s State Land Office witness tree datasets and field notes, pre-harvest timber surveys, and summarized information from archival forestry reports. A geodatabase of historic land use will describe changes to the landscape from the 1810’s through the 2010’s. Maps and archival datasets will be used to delineate logging and agricultural activities. Other historical sources, such as timber harvest records, historical railroad locations, and interpretation of 1938 stereo aerial photography will be integrated into the Tensas River Basin Geodatabase .
Future Steps: Future efforts will include study of the historic distribution of canebrakes, an endangered ecosystem (1995, 2012), and an attempt to determine what contributed to their demise.
Prescriptions in the forest habitat management plan for Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge are designed to produce a forest once represented in the Tensas Basin. There are several problems with reconstructing original forests. In most areas, conditions have changed since these forests were cut; particularly, hydrology, soils, and climatic conditions.
The Science Issue and Relevance: Prescriptions in the forest habitat management plan for Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge are designed to produce a forest once represented in the Tensas Basin. There are several problems with reconstructing original forests. In most areas, conditions have changed since these forests were cut; particularly, hydrology, soils, and climatic conditions. Thus, the original climax condition or forest type may no longer be duplicated on a particular area. However, forest types that can no longer be climax on a particular site will have the potential to be climax or near-climax at another site where conditions are now favorable. Because the original condition was optimum for wildlife diversity, management that hastens progress towards a forest with structure and ecosystem values similar to climax or climax-like forest has been proposed as desired stand conditions for the Mississippi Alluvial Valley.
Methodology for Addressing the Issue: The primary goal of this study is to provide a geodatabase and a summary report of reference forest conditions. The secondary goal is to contribute to the understanding of how the forest has changed since time of initial harvest. These data may serve as a baseline for inventory and monitoring as well as guidance for management and restoration practices. Reference forest conditions will be based on reconstruction of spatially-referenced, pre-settlement conditions using 1800’s State Land Office witness tree datasets and field notes, pre-harvest timber surveys, and summarized information from archival forestry reports. A geodatabase of historic land use will describe changes to the landscape from the 1810’s through the 2010’s. Maps and archival datasets will be used to delineate logging and agricultural activities. Other historical sources, such as timber harvest records, historical railroad locations, and interpretation of 1938 stereo aerial photography will be integrated into the Tensas River Basin Geodatabase .
Future Steps: Future efforts will include study of the historic distribution of canebrakes, an endangered ecosystem (1995, 2012), and an attempt to determine what contributed to their demise.