lf, and is acting as if there had never been a disturbance. After the initial disturbance the forest grew, and is now is full of different species that are favoring the non disturbed land.The eastern hemlock is a poor colonizer of disturbed areas, its seedling establishes will in the forest understory and is very shade tolerant. These qualities are characteristic of an area that hasn’t received any disturbances and since the hemlock is the most abundant in College Woods this supports the conclusion that the forest is act as if there has not been a recent disturbance, otherwise the hemlock would not be thriving as it is.The second most abundant species in College Woods was found to be Black Birch. This species establishes itself in small canopy gaps left open by the hemlocks. Also the black birch is intermediate in shade tolerance, which is perfect with the dominance of hemlock creating intermediate shading of the understory.The American beech is “the most shade tolerant northern deciduous tree”, seedling can establish in the understory, and it is also a poor colonizer of disturbed areas. The American Beech is the third most abundant in College Woods, which also supports the suggestion that there hasn’t been any recent disturbances. It is establishing itself under the shad of the hemlock and black birch, and wouldn’t be well established at all if the area were disturbed.Red Oak establishes itself in canopy gaps and is only an intermediate shade tolerater. Since most of the unshaded understory is now taken up by hemlock, birch and beech, this red oak is having a hard time establishing itself and that is why it is of low abundance (4th, 6 stems) in College Woods.Finally, White Pine need direct sunlight, and thrives best where disturbances have been present. In College Woods only one white pine was found and was an adult supporting the conclusion that there has not been any recent disturbances, other wise the w...
