Fraxinus Latifolia
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Robert E. Frenkel, Deparlmentof Geography, OregonState Universty, Corval s Oregon97331 and Eric F. Heinitz,Lt, (i.9.), U.S CoastGuard, Marine Inspecton Otfice BaneryPark Building, New York,New York 10004 Compositionand Stru,ctureof OregonAsh (Fraxinuslatifolia) Forest in WilliamL. FinleyNational Wildlife Refuge, Oregon Abstract Ve describetwo 0regon ash(Fruinus latifolia)plant conmuniiies ar William L. Finiey National Wildlife Refugein the central Willamette Valley shich differ in habitar, composition,and structur€.The Ft*inus latifolie/Care' olazprd community type, rirh many young tr€es(arerage core age 59 years)of snall diameter(average l4 cm dbh), has an open understory of scattered C. olnapra patchesand occupiesmoist overflowsites. The nore florisrically rich Fruinus latiftlia./Synphoricarposolbus com nunity type, with large dianete. (average20 cn dbh) and older trees(averase core age 72 )ears),has a rhick shrub understo.y and occupiesbetier drained, but still noist, sites.Both forest comnunity types are young; hoverer, $e C. obnupla conf':rniry has rec€ntly expanded into forner ser prairie with cessationof aboriginal burning and hisloric grazing. lntroduction anaerobicconditions may occur assuggested by gleyingin soil profiles.A brief droughtperiod Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifulia Benth.) ranges ensuesduring the summermonths when soils from northern Washington to the San Bernar, may desiccatefor short periods;bur, exrensrve dino Mountains,California. Forests dominated droughtis not present. by Oregonash are particularly well developedin the interiorvalleys of westernOregon where the Soils of central Willamette Y alleyFrarinus forests are most commonly grouped in the speciesoccupies riparian strips and adjacent Waldo-Bashawassociation, poorly poorlydrained bottom lands.Associated moist drainedsilty clay loams and clays. The principal soil series site trees are lcer macrophyllum,Alnus rubra, related forests Populustrichocarpa, and Salir spp.,while l6ies to the Refugeash is Bashawsilty clay, a deep, poorly drained soil with mont- grandis, Pseudotsugamenziesii, and Quercus morilloniteclays classified as a Typic Pelloxerert. garryana maybe presenton drier sites(Franklin The black,hear,1, silty clay loam surfacelayer and Dyrness1973,Owston in press).Although reachesdepths of between25 and 40 cm. seldomextensive, Fratin&s forestsare prominent Underlyinghorizons are black to verydark gray landscapefeatures, providing a major forestcom- with a layerof silty clayabove clay. When wet, ponent to riparian habitat and benefitting fish, the soil becomesvery stickyand plastic.Upon wildlife,and recreationalresources (Frenkel et drying it cracks and becomes very hard ol l9B5),Surprisingly, characteristics of these (Knezevich1975). forestshave not previouslybeen exarnined. Oneof the bestexamples of Oregonash forest A rnodifiedmaritime climateprevails over the is in William L. Finley NationalWildlife Refuge, WillametteValley with wet, mild wintersand l6 km southof Corvallisin the centralWillamette narm, relativelydry summers,and a slightrain Valley. where Frorinus span. a strip appror- shadoweffect. Representativeclimatic data, imately400 m wideadjacent to Muddy Creekand following the standardizedsystem of Walter and Gray Creek and nearby shallowswales and Lieth (1967),are summarizedin Figure I for overflow lands (Figure 2). The trees are thickly HyslopAgronomy Farrn, Corvallis. Based on pre- draped by foliose lichens Eaerniaprunastri (L.) cipitation and temperaturecriteria, surplus Ach..Ranalina menziesii Tayl.. ( snpacptutina moistureoccurs from Septemberto June. In Ach., and U, sublloridana reflecting moist at- riparianand bottom land habitatstypically oc- mosphericconditions. crpietJ.hy Fraxinus, this surplus is accentuated Vegetationin the Refugeis typicalof the in- by seasonalflooding from Decemberto April and terior valleysof westernOregon (Franklin and by high watertables in earlysummer. Potential Dyrness 1973); several physiognomictypes NorthwestScience. Vol. 61. No. 4. 1987 203 cORVALLIS (69m) 12.5' 1024 mm fsol 200 [rean monthly precrpIalron 100 > 10Omm PeriodoJ 80 relat iv e morstu re .9 = Periodof .g relativ e drou ght 40 0 Mean monthly E precrprraron Mean monthly temperature Month FigureL Clinograph{or HyslopAgronomy tarm, Corvallis,0regon,following the standardizedWalter and Lierh sysren. mappedbv Exler(1982) are generalized in Figure The Frainus latifolia forest is transitionalin 2. Oak woodland,dominated by Quercusgar moisturestatus between oak woodlandand wet ryana, has been describedand classifiedby prairie. Prior to earh settlement,-FrzLainas forests Thilenius(1968) and is the closestof thesetypes fringed almostall watercourses in the Willamette in structureand compositionto the ashforest. Vallev.The GeneralLands 0ffice townshipand Thileniusidentified four oak communitvtypes rangesurvey conducted in the Refugearea in in the interiorvallevs of westernOregon vhich, 1853,documents a 100m widestrip of Frat:inus in orderof increasingmoisture, are: RAas dioer- forestalong Muddy Creek. Survey notes and plat siloba; Amelanchier alnifolia/Symphori.carpos mapsare availableand were examinedat the albus;Prunus ad.um/Symphoricarposalbus; and OregonState Office of the Bureauof LandMan- Corylus cornuta var. californica"/Polystichum agement.Additionally, historic accounts of the munitum.All are regardedas seraland occupy Refugearea and old aerialand groundphoto- well drainedslopes and ridges. graphsshow many of the presentstands more Wet prairie, maintainedas grasslandby limitedin extentthan present. Aboriginal burn- historicfire and grazing,is alsoconsidered seral, ing apparentlykept I'ra:tinusfrom expandingin- b:ur to Fratinus forest (Moir and Mika 1972, to prairie(Habeck 1961, Johannessen et al 1971, Franklinand Dyrnessl9?3, Towle 1982,Marshall Towle 1982).In the late-l9th century,inrense l9B5).These heavily disturbed prairies, dr.rmi- grazingby livestockreplaced fire asa dominant nated by Deschampsia caespitosa,Hordeum influencein the Refugearea (Tovle 1982).Cradu. brachlantherumancl Carex spp.. conlain man) ally, grazing intensitydiminished and, in the alien speciesand bear little structuralresem- early 1960's,ceased altogether (personal com- blanceto ash forest. municationJohn Cornely,Refuge Biologist). 204 Frenkeland Heinitz Figure2. Vegetationof W. L. Finler NationalWildlife Refusegeneralized after Exler(1982) and locationin Oreson. Uncheckedby fire and cattle,ash invaded prairie, the structureand compositionof ,I'nulnzs forests settingthe stagefor the presentvegetation. in the FinleyRefuge? (2) How doesthe distribu- The questionsaddressed in this paper are tion oI Frarina.forest. relale lo the moisture basedon the aboverelationships: (l) What are gradient?(3) What is the relationshipbetween Compositionand Structureof OregonAsh Forest 205 lcroriaas forests anrJ Quercus forests? (4) How ing a Bray'Curtisdissimilarity measure and a doesthe presentdistribution reflect historic prac- flexiblcfusion slratcgy, B - 0.25(Bocsch l9?7, tices of burning and grazing? Kenistonl97B); and TWINSPAN,an rteratrve polytheticdivisive technique based on reciprocal METHODS avcraging(Hill 1979a).Additionally, we analyzed floristicdata with DECORANA,an ordination gain To familiarity with the range in composr- achicvedby dctrcndedcorrcspondence analysis general tion and structure of ash forests, a survev (Hill 1979b).Within-communit,v similarity was was of Fraxinus forest distribution first con- determinedby an abundance'weightedsimilar- ducted throughout the Willamette Valley. In ity ratio (Maarcl et al. l9i8). 1982,l9 standswere selectedin the W. L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge basedon their relative Speciesdiversit,v was analyzed by PRHILL, homogeneityin habitat, composition,srrucrure, an unpublishedcomputer program developed by jackknife and adequacy of stand size. Becauseof its ac- B. C. Smithlhal caiculale. estimates cessibilityand extent, one additional stand was of M. O. Hill's diversit,rnumbers (Hill l9?3, located at The Nature Conservancy Cogswell- Alatalo1981, Heltsche and Forrester1983) for Foster Preservc,l9 km southeastof the Refuge. eachcommunilv typc. By simulation,Heltsche and Forrester have shown that jackknife Circular, 12.6m radius macroplotsof500 m'? estimatesof diversitvpermit comparison of com. werelocated randomly within sclectedstands, one munitiesunder a widevariety of plot sizes.Four macroplot per stand, and the following data measuresof diversity are displayed:mean recorded for livc and dead lrecs: total percent numberof speciesper macroplot;expected total canopy coveri percent canopYcover by species; numberof speciesin a communitytype (No); in- diameter at breast height (dbh) of all trees by verseof Simpson'sdiversity index (NJ; and M. "reproductive" species)5 cm dbh; number of O. Hill's evennessratio (N:/N'). per (stems (5 stems macroplot cm dbh)l number Tree diameterdata weregrouped in 5 cm and dbh of downed dcad wood >5 cm dbh; vigor diameter classesand plotted by frequcncy (vigorous, class impaired, dead);and height and histogramsfor eachmacroplot and subsequent- increment core-ageof two-to-fourof the largest ly aggregatedby communitytype. Basal area and in macroplot. Core.ages diameter ash trees each densitywere determined from measuredtrees in were dcterrnincdin the field with the aid of hand eachplot. An age-sizerelationship, calculated lens. Onl,v in a few caseswerc multiple cores from 60 trees,was used to characterizethe age talFn from lh. samelree. Underotorr',"omp".i. structureof plantcommunity t,vpes. A