Succession Forest, Forest Park St. Louis

Succession Forest, forest park St. Louis Missouri

Margot Shafran + Tornike Jashia A48 LAND 560A 01 TREES, SOILS AND SYSTEMS: INTRODUCTION TO ARBORICULTURE

Forest Park

Unlike the rest of the park, the heavily wooded and naturalized Kennedy Forest and the Successional Forest are not intensely programmed for active recreation and park facilities.

Instead, their canopy tree and understory vegetation, tributaries, and steep slopes, are the two primary providers to a naturalized exception and contribute to the diversity of habitat and ecosystem in the Forest Park.

Kennedy Woods

Successional Forest

History of Forest in Forest Park

1904 Worlds Fair UCity City Hall

Brookings Hall

• Pre-western expansion = burning every 10-15 years • Oak Hickory Forest on private estates - Used for cattle grazing and selected harvesting of white oak

- Pre-Forest Park dedication in 1876

• Small portion of forest stand in South West area of current park was used for the Wild Animals Exhibit at the 1904 Worlds Fair - served as a base for the current restoration and expansion of Kennedy Forest

- the rest of the trees were cut down to make way for structures and boulevards( trees estimated to be around 75-300 years old)

• Restoration spearheaded by Audubon Society • Successional Forest: in the early stages of development - once maintained as formal parkland with

Kennedy Woods

mostly mowed turf and planted landscape trees

- in past 30 years, this forest community has been left to grow and evolve in a way similar to the natural process of ecological succession.

Succesional Forest

Nature Reserve Corridors Corridor across Forest Park maintained to provide habitat for wildlife (birds and insects)

Connectivity to the Park

Ecosystem Forests: dominated by trees that form a closed canopy 70’high at maturity with multi-layered understories of shade-tolerant trees, shrubs, vines, ferns, and herbs.

EASTERN SLOPE

Woodlands: more open canopy than forests. Trees are often gnarled and reach less than 70’ at maturity.

Beneath the open understory the ground is covered with a dense growth of forbs, grasses, and sedges.

• Varying ecosystems is the result of topographic and orientation differences that result in various micro climates

LOWLANDS

• Ecosystem Zones:

Uplands (sloped condition, water drainage) and Bottomlands (creek plain, standing water, more flat)

• Varying tree density and canopy caused by and contributes to a dynamic ecosystem condition

WESTERN SLOPE

• Forests play a critical role in protecting water quality, supporting rich biological diversity, maintaining soil productivity, and storing carbon.

Ecosystem

WESTERN SLOPE

Dominant Species: - Acer saccharum, Sugar Maple

LOWLANDS

Dominant Species: - Catalpa speciosa, Catalpa

EASTERN SLOPE

Dominant Species: - Catalpa

Water Management

• Water management plays significant role into the local ecosystem • Surface runoff water from the surrounding areas is gathered and redirected to the artificial swales • These swales act as main feeding sources for the different plant species • Water from a forested landscape is cleaner than any other land use • Movement of water through forest helps to regulate water levels of rivers and standing bodies of water by reducing the rate at which the water moves across the landscape

Indicators of Healthy Ecosystem

Geranium maculatum Wild Geranium Campanula americana American Bellflower

Erythronium albidum White Trout Lily Symphoricarpos orbiculatus Coralberry

Trillium luteum Wood Lily Mertensia virginica Bluebells

Asteriscus maritimus Sea Aster

Significant Tree Species

Acer saccharum Sugar Maple (understory) Sassafrass albidum Sassafrass (edge tree)

Quercus alba White Oak (canopy) Carya Glabra Pignut Hickory (canopy)

Catalpa speciosa Catalpa (bottomlands) Prunus serotina Black Cherry (understory)

Habitat and Fauna • Den trees (live cavity trees) and snags (dead standing trees) with cavities provide wildlife with shelter and habitat for roosting, foraging, nesting, and hiding.

- 89 vertebrate wildlife species in Missouri utilize cavity trees or snags for all or part of their life cycle.

• Deadwood: scattered accross forest floor, partly due to maintenance (clearing paths and roads), partly due to increase windspeed along paths which causes more branches to fall) • Cayotes - not a common sighting, but sometimes make Forest Park their home • Hummingbirds - they have no legs, but small feet sort of stick out of the belly and they land on these tiny twigs holding on with those invisible feet.

• Red Headed Woodpeckers - very common and one of the brightest and most spectacularly colored birds in the park.

Disturbance • Conditions under which the ecosystem disturbances may occur are influenced mostly by humans, climate, weather, and location.

• Disturbances that can be found here may include both stresses and destructive agents as well:

-

invasive species - more likely fire - currently no evidence changes in climate - at some point pollution of the air, water, and soil - at some point timber harvest - no evidence

- real estate development of forest lands - it’s a reserved area

• Fire suppression: causes fuller canopy, resulting in a decrease in sunlight at forest floor - unstable condition because Oak seedlings require sunlight - while less desirable and valuable tree species such as maples, elms, ashes and many non-native species are tolerant of more shaded conditions and often become much more abundant, further reducing oak regeneration

Invasive Species • Trails also provide access to invasives through carriers such as humans on the trails, and birds.

• Honeysuckle, and other invasive plant species, negatively impact native Missouri flora.

• Managed by cutting the vegetation and treating the stems with a dyed chemical, glyphosate, to kill the root system.

• Invasives are often found along the trails where there are openings in the tree canopy providing the opportunity for sunlight allowing seedlings to take root.

• Vinca Minor - this invasive and fast-growing perennial covers a huge portion of the land surface area into the forest

Human Impact • • • • • •

Erosion Squashing of fragile plants Soil compaction Trash accumulation Spreading of invasive species Trails cause fragmentation

Efforts to reduce human impact: - Reduce traditional trails with raised platforms in effort to reduce impact on plants and wildlife

Edges • Mowed lawn at eges - communicates management, provides better view around curved roads • Vulnerable to increased tree failure because of increased windfall • Vulnerable to sun exposure (hard to tell in fall because of leave fall and and colour) • Higher risk of pesk and diease infestation

Management • For many years fires were considered harmful and dangerous in Forest Maintenance and Restoration practices • Result: - invasive

species - loss of biodiversity - reduced ecosystem health and function

• The Tree Master Plan: - Dictates all plantings

- Calls for a diversity of tree species to provide for a balanced ecosystem.

- Trees are planted in the winter when they are approximately 2”in diameter.

• Recommendations from 1995 Master Plan:

- Improve the forest ecosystem and aesthetics while allowing safe recreation and educational use.

- Provide native canopy and other plantings.

- Implement naturalistic, erosion control plantings along intermittent tributaries.

- Consider incorporating area under MODOC’s Kennedy Forest vegetative management and nature trail agreement.

- Remove Carr Lane and replace with a dual path.

Maintenance

Maintenance TREE REMOVAL

TREE PLANTING

• Removal of Invasive Species • Planting Native Species • Removal of understory material (witnessed White Oak and Red Oak, and cleaning up trash and but likely others as well) debris.

Bluebird Houses

• Installed in Forest Park to provide habitat for Missouri State Bird; Bluebird which has been outcompeted by non-native bird species

Calculated Human Interaction Tree Donation

$150 donation to maintain trees $350 dedication of a young tree $500 dedication of a specially established tree

• Donors and recipients receive certificate as well as map of tree location • After 6 months, the donation tag is removed to allow the tree to grow uninhibitedly

TREE PLANTING

• Longterm Statewide monitoring study (effects of climate change, maintenance practices etc.)

Setback from Roadway

• Setback on the eastern side from the adjoining street is intentional

Page Title

Sources

Altman, Sally J., and Weiss, Richard H. Forest Park : The Jewel of St. Louis. 1st ed. St. Louis, Mo.]: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2007. Print.

Forest Park Forever. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

“Missouri Forest Management Guidelines.” Missouri Department of Conservation. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2016.

Saint Louis . Community Development Agency. Forest Park Master Plan. St. Louis, Mo.: Agency?, 1983. Print.

Xiao, Qingfu; McPherson, E. Gregory. 2011. Performance of engineered soil and trees in a parking lot bioswale. Urban Water Journal. 8(4): 241-253.

Tree Stand Improvement or Forest Thinning Tree stand improvement (TSI) is a very common forest management practice used to restore the overall health, species composition and openness of a forested community. During TSI operations, undesirable tree species or poorly formed trees are cut and removed in order to concentrate growth and facilitate health and longevity to the remaining desirable trees, primarily oak and hickory species. The highly nutritious oak acorns and hickory nuts are a valuable food source for many species of birds and mammals. Even the leaves, twigs and sap are utilized for food by many insects and other invertebrates. It is now known that oak species collectively support more than 500 species of butterflies and moths alone, more than any other native plant in the United States. Cavities in the trunk can also provide den, nest and roost sites for many other wildlife species, including raccoons, squirrels, woodpeckers and owls. Oftentimes during a TSI operation, a few standing dead trees (snags) and den trees are left in the forest to support wildlife populations.

Historically, periodic natural disturbances such as fire and prolonged droughts helped maintain Missouri’s forests and woodlands as relatively open oak dominated communities. However, fire suppression, urban development and other human-related disturbances in the modern era have significantly altered tree composition and overall forest structure of much of Missouri’s forested landscape. Within just a few decades, fire suppression alone can lead to an overstocked canopy, resulting in a dramatic decrease in sunlight reaching the forest floor. Ultimately, this is an unstable condition. Oak seedlings require ample sunlight to grow into the forest canopy, while less desirable and valuable tree species such as maples, elms, ashes and many non-native species are tolerant of more shaded conditions and often become much more abundant, further reducing oak regeneration. This modern shift in species composition and structure is clearly evident throughout the forested nature reserves in the park.

Through careful selection during the TSI process, we are providing increased space, light and nutrients to support strong and healthy oak woodlands. To help support and speed up the restoration process in Forest Park, hundreds of oak seedlings (as well as other native forest species) are planted each year. These supplemental plantings will help foster oak regeneration and encourage a sustainable forest system for years to come.