United States Department of Agriculture Terrestrial Ecosystems Assessment Supplemental Report Wayne National Forest Forest Wayne National Forest Plan Service Forest Revision July 2020 Prepared By: Greg Nowacki (Forest Service - Eastern Region) Lisa Kluesner (Forest Service - Wayne National Forest) Randy Swaty (The Nature Conservancy) Jason Stevens (Forest Service - Eastern Region) Jarel Bartig (Forest Service - Wayne National Forest) Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy (Forest Service - Northern Research Station) Patricia Leopold (Forest Service - Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science) Cornelia Pinchot (Forest Service - Northern Research Station) Sierra Dawkins (Forest Service - Eastern Region) Responsible Official: Forest Supervisor Carrie Gilbert Cover Photo: A scenic vista in the Ironton Unit of the Wayne National Forest. 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Terrestrial Ecosystems Supplemental Report Table of Contents Notable Changes between Draft & Final of this Supplemental Report ................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Use of Ecological Units ............................................................................................................... 4 Use of the Central Appalachians Forest Ecosystems .................................................................. 5 Use of the United States National Vegetation Classification ...................................................... 5 Key Ecological Characteristics ................................................................................................... 6 Southern Unglaciated Allegheny Plateau Section (221E) .......................................................... 7 Geologic Origins and Ecological Conditions ............................................................................. 7 Fire History of Appalachian Ohio ............................................................................................. 13 From Climatic Climax Theory to Disturbance Ecology ............................................................ 15 Ecological Subsections of Southeastern Ohio ........................................................................... 16 Pre-Euro-American Settlement Vegetation ................................................................................ 17 Witness Trees as Pyroindicators ................................................................................................ 21 Ecological Landtype Classes ...................................................................................................... 25 Dry Oak Forest Landtype Class ................................................................................................ 26 Vegetation Composition and Structure ............................................................................................................... 27 Drivers ................................................................................................................................................................ 28 Current Conditions, Stressors, and Connectivity ................................................................................................ 28 Dry-Mesic Mixed Oak Hardwood Forest Landtype Class ........................................................ 33 Vegetation Composition and Structure ............................................................................................................... 34 Drivers ................................................................................................................................................................ 35 Current Conditions, Stressors, and Connectivity ................................................................................................ 35 Rolling Bottomlands Mixed Hardwood Forest Landtype Class ................................................ 40 Vegetation Composition and Structure ............................................................................................................... 41 Drivers ................................................................................................................................................................ 42 Current Conditions, Stressors, and Connectivity ................................................................................................ 42 Rare & Novel Habitats ............................................................................................................... 48 Western Allegheny Plateau Oak Barrens .................................................................................. 49 Appalachian Low-Elevation Mixed Pine/Blue Ridge Blueberry Forest.................................... 49 Appalachian Chestnut Oak-Mixed Oak Forest ......................................................................... 49 Appalachian-Alleghenian Sandstone Dry Cliff Vegetation ....................................................... 50 Northern Mixed Mesophytic Forest........................................................................................... 50 Interior Low Plateau Beech-Maple Forest................................................................................ 51 Interior Plateaus Hemlock-Hardwood Forest ........................................................................... 51 River Birch-Sycamore Small River Floodplain Forest .............................................................. 51 Skunk-cabbage Seepage Meadow ............................................................................................. 51 Pin Oak Mixed Hardwood Depression Forest .......................................................................... 51 Midwest Buttonbush Shrub Swamp ........................................................................................... 52 Reclaimed Grasslands ............................................................................................................... 52 Climate Change ........................................................................................................................... 52 i | Page Terrestrial Ecosystems Supplemental Report Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 56 Glossary ....................................................................................................................................... 57 References .................................................................................................................................... 58 List of Figures Figure 1. The Wayne National Forest in Ohio (one of the 15 National Forest System units in the Eastern Region) and 17-county study area (circled in red above) ................................................................................................................... 2 Figure 2. The 17-county study area (red outline) and Wayne National Forest proclamation boundary (yellow outline) superimposed on Ecological Subsections within the Southern Unglaciated Allegheny Plateau Section (black outline) ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Figure 3. Areal extent of 17-county study area with government ownership patterns mapped ..................................... 4 Figure 4. Ecological subsections overlaid on Ohio bedrock geology