Inventory and Assessment of Mud Pond Country ParkAaron Gilman, Mitch Maver, William Dunkley, Zac Roy...

Inventory and Assessment of Mud Pond Country Park

FOR 195 Natural Resource Ecology and Assessment II

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Vermont

April 26, 2017

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INTRODUCTION

During the spring of 2017 a group of UVM Forestry, Wildlife, and Natural Resource

Ecology students measured forest conditions across Mud Pond Country Park in Williston, VT as

part of FOR 195: Natural Resource Ecology and Assessment II. The goal of the project was to

set up a long-term measurement plan so that the forest conditions on this property can be

monitored over time. Currently, the primary use of this Town Forest is recreation; however,

there is interest in more active management of this property for multiple benefits in the future,

include forest products. The property was significantly impacted by a windstorm in 2010 and

surveys conducted during this inventory can also serve as an assessment of post-disturbance

structure and recovery in these areas.

METHODS

In order to gather inventory data at Mud Pond Country Park, the property was delineated

into 14 different stands based on dominant vegetation conditions. An initial survey of forest

conditions was done to assess the level of variability in each stand and determine appropriate

sample size. Based on this, one to ten, fixed-radius 1/5th acre plots were randomly located

within each stand (Figure 1). Within each 1/5th acre plot all overstory trees and snags greater

than 5” in diameter were recorded. Three 52.7’ transects were laid out from the plot center at

azimuths of 30°, 150°, and 270°. A nested 1/100th and 1/1000th acre plot was established along

each transect centered on a point 25 feet from plot center for tallying saplings and seedlings,

respectively. Along each transect each

piece of downed woody debris that

exceeded 3” in diameter and crossed each

transect was measured. Additionally, two

dominant trees per plot were selected and

cored for determining site index. Plots

were not sampled in Stands 2 and 3 to

minimize disturbance to neighboring

properties. The following pages contain

two-page summaries of the forest

conditions for each of the sampled stands Figure 1: Plot layout for inventory.

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and associated management recommendations.

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Stand Structure in Mud Pond Country Park, Williston, VT: Stand 1

Aaron Gilman, Mitch Maver, William Dunkley, Zac Roy

Key Findings in Stand 1:

• Dense, uneven-aged stand dominated by eastern hemlock and red maple • Uneven-aged stand with many large diameter trees creating a dense overstory • Potential deeryard and important recreation area

Management Recommendations

• This stand is the main entrance to the park and could also serve as a winter deeryard. Couple this with low present timber value on the stand and a low potential for future timber value and any management for timber may not be worthwhile. We recommend managing for wildlife and recreation in this stand.

Figure 1: Diameter distribution of overstory trees in Stand 1. The “other” category includes black cherry, ironwood, paper birch, quaking aspen, red oak, red pine, sugar maple, white ash, and white pine.

Table 1: Attributes of downed woody debris (DWD) and snags in Stand 1.

DWD Snags

Volume (ft 3/ac) Biomass (t/ac) Avg Diameter (In) Density (#/ac)

746.1 8.08 6.8 7.5

Table 2: Saplings (trees greater than 4.5’ tall and less than 7” DBH) and seedlings (Trees less than 4.5’ tall) in Stand 1 at Mud Pond.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38

Tre

es

pe

r a

cre

Diameter class (in)

eastern hemlock red maple yellow birch other

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Species Saplings (#/ac) Seedlings (#/ac) Eastern Hemlock 1300 500

American Beech 100 0

Red Maple 50 0

Paper Birch 50 0

Yellow Birch 150 0

Ironwood 50 0

Table 3: Richness, diversity, and evenness of the overstory and regeneration layers in Stand 1 at Mud Pond

Layer Richness Diversity (H') Evenness Overstory 9 1.35 0.61 Regeneration 5 1.20 0.75

Saplings

Seedlings 5 0

1.20 0

0.75 0

Site index value for eastern hemlock (base age 50): 60 ft.

Total Live Overstory Biomass of Stand 1= 176.2 tons/acre (Standard error: 305.7 lbs.)

Total Live Overstory Volume of Stand 1= 5967.2 ft3/acre (Standard error 24.4 ft3)

Table 4: Tree overstory density, basal area, DBH, and importance value analyses of Stand 1 species.

Species TPA BA (ft/ac) DBH IV eastern hemlock 127.5 139.5 14.2 111.1 ironwood 2.5 0.6 6.5 51.3 paper birch 7.5 3.8 9.7 104.8 red maple 62.5 48.9 12.0 146.5 red oak 2.5 2.5 13.6 52.1 sugar maple 2.5 18.6 36.9 58.6 white ash 2.5 2.1 12.4 51.9 white pine 2.5 11.3 28.8 55.7 yellow birch 25.0 18.3 11.6 118.1 Total/average 235.0 245.6 13.8

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• Small pole-sized red maple and white pine • High stem density but low basal area • Low quality wildlife habitat • Low timber value • Presence of barberry (invasive species)


• Stand 4 contains little commercial timber value but would benefit from thinning to encourage a future valuable crop. Recreation paths switchback through the stand but timber management should not interfere with the goals of maintaining recreation within the park. Barberry should be removed from the stand as it is an invasive species that will interfere with management goals.

Figure 1: Diameter distribution of overstory trees in Stand 4.


DWD Snags

Volume (ft3/ac) Biomass (t/ac) Avg. DBH (In) Density (#/ac)

188.8 2.0 8.5 70.0

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Tre

es

pe

r a

cre

Diameter class (in.)

black cherry white pine

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Species Saplings (#/ac) Seedling (#/ac)

white ash 300 4000

American elm 0 7000

American beech 100 1000

red maple 600 0

white pine 250 0

black cherry 150 0

vitus 100 0

barberry 0 3000

Table 3: Richness, diversity, and evenness of the overstory and regeneration layers in Stand 4 at Mud Pond.

Layer Richness Diversity (H') Evenness

Overstory 3 0.94 0.85

Regeneration

Saplings

Seedlings

5

3

4

1.20

0.95

1.21

0.75

0.86

0.87

Site index value for white pine, base age 50: 68 ft.

Total Live Overstory Biomass of Stand 4= 94.1 tons/acre

Total Live Overstory Volume of Stand 4= 2451.0 ft3/acre


Species TPA BA (ft/ac) QMD IV black cherry 35.0 18.7 9.9 124.1 red maple 160.0 74.2 9.2 203.0 white pine 85.0 68.9 12.2 173.0 Total/average 280.0 161.8 10.3

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Stand Structure in Mud Pond Country Park, Williston, VT: Stand 5 Lydia Kiewra, Claire Trombley, Louis Bonnet

Main Findings: • Overstory heavily dominated by mature eastern white pine. • Snags are abundant and are mainly eastern white pine with an average DBH of 7.6

inches. • Understory dominated by glossy buckthorn and barberry.

Management Recommendations: • Thinning from below; remove majority of intermediate and overtopped trees. • This will favor the dominant and co-dominant trees that will serve as an extended

shelterwood for regenerating seedlings • This thinning will allow for regeneration of other tree species, and potentially allow for

more diversity within the stand. • Removal of invasive species. Treat as needed throughout removal process (spot spray or

physical removal).

Table 1: Overstory values for all live trees per acre, basal area per acre, average diameter at breast height (quadratic mean diameter (QMD); inches), for Stand 5 at Mud Pond Country Park.

Species TPA BA (ft²/acre) IV DBH (in) eastern white pine 223 103 260 9.2

black cherry 28.3 7.7 116 7.1 red maple 41.7 9.3 55.1 6.4

bigtooth aspen 1.7 2.6 36 16.9 Table 2: Snag stem density (trees per acre), average diameter at breast height (QMD; inches), and species for Stand 5 at Mud Country Park.

Species TPA DBH (in) eastern white pine 100 7.6

paper birch 1.7 10.8

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Figure 1: Diameter distribution of live trees in Stand 5 at Mud Pond Country Park. Table 3: Live tree and coarse woody debris volume (cubic feet per acre) and live tree and coarse woody debris biomass (tons per acre) for Stand 5.

Volume (ft3/ac)

Biomass (t/ac)

Live Trees

SE

CWD

SE Live Trees

SE

CWD

SE

3340 ± 24.2 1013 ± 332 123 ± 0.75 11.2 ± 2.06

Site Index for eastern white pine: 66.5 feet at 50 years

Table 4: Richness, diversity, and evenness of the overstory and regeneration layers in Stand 5 at Mud Pond Country Park (derived from plot level averages)



Sapling 8 1.76 0.85

Seedling 6 1.11 0.52

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Table 5: Number of seedlings per acre in Stand 5 by species.

Species Seedlings/ac common buckthorn 5556

barberry spp. 2222 red maple 2000

choke cherry 1000 rubus spp. 889

alternate-leaf dogwood 667 black cherry 667

honeysuckle (non-native) 666 white ash 556

glossy buckthorn 333 oriental bittersweet 333

elm spp. 222 sugar maple 111

eastern white pine 111

Table 6: Number of saplings per acre in Stand 5 by species.

Species Saplings/ac glossy buckthorn 3300

white ash 1267 sugar maple 1000

American beech 833 common buckthorn 800

striped maple 800 bitternut hickory 100

alternate-leaf dogwood 100 boxelder 100 elm spp. 33

eastern white pine 23 red maple 13

yellow birch 2

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Stand Structure in Mud Pond Country Park: Stand 6 Hayden Smith, Jack Leonard, Dylan Leath

Key Findings in Stand 6: • A wind event in 2010 has resulted in a high level of disturbance in this stand and

consequently fairly open conditions • High density of downed woody debris and snags indicative of good wildlife habitat • Strong presence of American beech and striped maple in the understory with a fair

amount of sugar maple regeneration • Moderate proportion of invasive species in the understory (common and glossy

buckthorn) Management Recommendations:

• Cut and chemically treat stumps of common and glossy buckthorn in the understory to reduce the density of invasive species and improve growing conditions for regenerating species such as sugar maple

• Aside from the chemical treatment, take a fairly passive management approach moving forward as this stand does not have a well-stocked canopy layer after the wind event and needs to regenerate Consider:

1. monitoring/protecting rare species in the overstory such as eastern white cedar, and maintaining uncommon understory saplings such as yellow birch in order to promote stand biodiversity moving forward

2. Maintaining early successional trees such as bigtooth and quaking aspen as potential “wildlife trees” in the future (cavities)

3. Leaving large aggregations of dwd as wildlife habitat

Figure 1. Diameter Distribution of overstory trees in Stand 6.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30

Tre

es

pe

r A

cre

Diameter Class (in)

white pine red maple black cherry red pine paper birch Other

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Table 1. Attributes of downed woody debris (DWD) and snags in Stand 6 at Mud Pond Country Park.

DWD Snags

Volume (ft3/ac) Biomass (tons/acre) Density (#/acre) 2257 23 42

Table 2. Seedlings and Saplings in Stand 6 at Mud Pond Country Park. Species Seedlings (#/acre) Saplings (#/acre) American beech 579 426 bitternut hickory 0 19 black birch 0 43 common buckthorn 145 28 dogwood spp. 96 53 glossy buckthorn 145 14 ironwood 0 43 pin cherry 121 142 quaking aspen 145 114 red maple 313 133 red oak 145 133 rubus spp. 5305 76 striped maple 603 319 sugar maple 482 198 white ash 193 86 yellow birch 0 12

Table 3. Richness, diversity and evenness in Stand 6 at Mud Pond Country Park. Layer Richness Diversity (H') Evenness Overstory 13 0.73 0.55 Seedlings 12 0.72 0.58 Saplings 16 1.46 0.85

Site Index of Stand 6: 67 feet for white pine at age 50

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Table 4. Tree overstory density, basal area, importance value, and DBH analysis of Stand 6 species.

Species TPA BA (ft²/ac) IV DBH (in) white pine 115 113.3 244 12.6 sugar maple 3 5.1 33.6 17.9 red maple 12 13.2 73.2 13.7 striped maple 1 1.9 16.0 22.3 paper birch 7 6.5 51.5 12.6 yellow birch 1 3.2 16.8 28.6 beech 1 3.8 17.6 22.2 black cherry 8 3.4 50.0 8.1 red pine 7 4.8 50.4 10.9 bigtooth aspen 1 0.1 14.8 5.2 quaking aspen 1 0.3 15.0 9.3 white cedar 1 2.0 16.0 22.5 red oak 1 0.2 14.8 6.5

Table 5. Total volume and biomass of overstory trees in Stand 6. Volume (ft3/acre) Biomass (tons/acre)

3377 ± 597 35.5 ± 4.96

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Stand Structure in Mud Pond Country Park, Williston, VT: Stand 7 Vincent Reichheld, Colin McPhillips, Nina McDonnell

Summary

• This stand includes a large area of white pine windthrow resulting from a storm in 2010. • The overstory is composed of white pine and mixed hardwoods (red oak, red maple, paper birch, etc.). • Most conifers fall into the 10-inch to 22-inch diameter classes, and hardwoods the 8-inch to 14-inch classes. • There is a large amount of regeneration in blowdown areas including pin cherry, maples, beech and white pine.

Recommendations To prioritize wildlife habitat and timber production, we recommend cutting much of the low quality overstory white pine and hardwoods, leaving at least ten trees per acre with good form or significant wildlife value to serve as reserves, otherwise maximizing growing space for early successional habitat. The large amount of downed woody debris should be left as intact as possible, as it provides valuable habitat for wildlife. By cutting some of the overstory trees and allowing for more light in the stand, the regenerating understory will flourish and provide excellent early successional habitat. As the new stand develops, we recommend timber stand improvement or crop tree release be considered in the coming decades in order to ensure the presence of high quality trees in the future. From a recreational perspective, trails through this stand would be excellent for viewing wildlife. Inventory

Average site index (Pinus strobus- 50 years)- 65.1 feet Table 1: Shannon index (unitless), richness (number of species) and evenness (0 to 1) of seedlings (<4.5 ft), saplings (<7in DBH) and overstory trees in MPCP- Stand 7

Seedlings Saplings Overstory Shannon Index 0.12 0.95 1.19 Richness 4 13 12 Evenness 0.08 0.37 0.48

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Table 2: Density (TPA) of seedlings, saplings and overstory trees in MPCP- Stand 7 by species Density Species Seedlings Saplings Overstory American beech 111 25 1 beaked hazelnut 6 black birch 6 pin cherry 89 red maple 56 18 red spruce 6 serviceberry 3 striped maple 28 25 sugar maple 28 39 3 white pine 28 6 39 witch hazel 3 yellow birch 8 1 black cherry 3 eastern hemlock 1 eastern hophornbeam 2 paper birch 7 red oak 7 northern whitecedar 1 white ash 2

Table 3: Mean and standard error (SE) for volume (ft3/acre) and biomass (tons/acre) of coarse woody debris in MPCP- Stand 7

Volume Biomass Mean 2,754 25.5 SE 703 5.7

Table 4: Mean and standard error (SE) of trees per acre (TPA), basal area (BA; ft2/acre), quadratic mean diameter (QMD; inches), volume (ft3/acre) and biomass (tons/acre) for living trees >7 inches DBH in MPCP-Stand 7

TPA BA QMD Volume Biomass Mean 82 100.7 15.4 3,218 62.4

SE 17 18.8 0.5 561 10.9

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Figure 1: Diameter distribution of trees by species in MPCP- Stand 7. “Other” includes beech, black cherry, hemlock, ironwood, sugar maple, whitecedar, white ash and yellow birch. Table 5: Importance values1 by species in MPCP-Stand 7

Species Importance Value American beech 35

black cherry 38 eastern hemlock 18

eastern hophornbeam 19 paper birch 80

red maple 139 red oak 63

sugar maple 22 northern whitecedar 18

white ash 20 eastern white pine 214

yellow birch 18 1product of frequency, abundance and dominance

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• Mature old-field white pine stand with potential sugar maple emerging • Low quality wildlife habitat • Low timber value


• This stand would benefit from the harvesting of large white pines to create optimal growth conditions for sugar maple currently present in the understory. Much of the pine is not of the highest sawtimber value, however the stand would greatly benefit from a harvest. Recreation paths switchback through the stand but timber management should not interfere with the goals of maintaining recreation within the park.

Figure 1: Diameter distribution of overstory trees in Stand 9.


DWD Snags

Volume (ft 3/ac) Biomass (t/ac) Avg. DBH (in) Density (#/ac)

731.8 8.6 12.0 20.0

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

Tre

es

pe

r a

cre

Diameter class (in.)

black cherry bitternut hickory ironwood white ash white pine

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Species Saplings (#/ac) Seedling (#/ac)

sugar maple 150 3000

red maple 50 0

ironwood 50 0

Table 3: Richness, diversity, and evenness of the overstory and regeneration layers in Stand 9 at Mud Pond.



Regeneration

Saplings

Seedlings

5 1.20

1.20

0

0.75

0.75

0

Site index value for white pine, base age 50: 59 ft.

Total Live Overstory Biomass of Stand 9= 105.5 tons/acre

Total Live Overstory Volume of Stand 9= 2930.2 ft3/acre


Species TPA BA (ft/ac) QMD IV

black cherry 5.0 4.8 13.2 106.9

bitternut hickory 5.0 1.7 8.0 105.2

ironwood 5.0 1.4 7.1 104.9

red maple 5.0 3.4 11.2 106.1

red oak 5.0 1.3 7.0 104.9

white ash 5.0 5.8 14.6 107.5

white pine 90.0 158.3 18.0 264.6

Total/average 120.0 176.8 16.4

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Stand Structure in Mud Pond Country Park, Williston, VT: Stand 10 Lydia Kiewra, Claire Trombley, Louis Bonnet

Main Findings: • Overstory is dominated by bigtooth aspen, red maple, eastern white pine, and northern

red oak. • Snags are primarily white ash with an average 16.2 inch DBH and eastern white pine

with an average 10.3 inch DBH. • Sugar maple and American beech regeneration in understory.

Management Recommendations: • Promote regeneration of sugar maple. • Remove beech seedlings to allow for sugar maple regeneration (spot spray, manual

removal). • Implement a Timber Stand Improvement which will favor the dominant and co-dominant

trees • Thinnings will be low intensity. • Removed trees (if valuable) can be sold

Table 1: Overstory density (trees per acre), basal area per acre, importance value (IV, unitless), and average diameter at breast height (quadratic mean diameter (QMD); inches), for Stand 10 at Mud Pond Country Park.

Species TPA BA (ft²/acre) IV DBH (in) bigtooth aspen 25 12.7 162 9.6

paper birch 5 3.7 116 11.7 red maple 25 10.6 156 8.8

eastern white pine 15 4 128 7 northern red oak 15 6.1 133 8.6

sugar maple 5 8.7 1250 17.9 Table 2: Snag trees per acre, average diameter at breast height (inches), and species for Stand 10 at Mud Pond Country Park.

Species TPA DBH paper birch 5 9.3

eastern white pine 10 10.3 white ash 5 16.2

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Figure 1: Diameter distribution of live trees in Stand 10 at Mud Pond Country Park. Table 3: Live tree and coarse woody debris volume and live tree and coarse woody debris biomass for Stand 10. Mean is reported with no standard error because there was only one plot in Stand 10.

Volume (ft³/ac) Biomass (t/ac)

Live Trees CWD Live Trees CWD

2,980 864 106 5.4

Site Index for eastern white pine: 51 feet at 50 years Table 4: Richness, diversity, and evenness of the overstory and regeneration layer in Stand 10 at Mud Pond Country Park.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32

Tre

es p

er a

cre

DBH Class (inches)

bigtooth aspen paper birch red maple white pine red oak sugar maple



Sapling 2 0.67 0.97

Seedling 4 1.26 0.91

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Table 5: Number of seedlings per acre for Stand 10 by species.

Table 6: Number of saplings per acre for Stand 10 by species.

Species Seedlings/ac

common buckthorn 5556 barberry spp. 2222

red maple 2000 choke cherry 1000 rubus spp. 889

alternate-leaf dogwood 667 black cherry 667

honeysuckle (non-native) 666 white ash 556

glossy buckthorn 333 oriental bittersweet 333

elm spp. 222 sugar maple 111

eastern white pine 111

Species Saplings/ac

glossy buckthorn 3300 white ash 1267

sugar maple 1000 American beech 833

common buckthorn 800 striped maple 800

eastern white pine 422 bitternut hickory 100

alternate-leaf dogwood 100 boxelder 100 red maple 89 elm spp. 33

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Stand Structure in Mud Pond Country Park, Williston, VT: Stand 11 Owen Dumais, Cloe Murphy, Chris Faherty

Key Findings:

● Moderately dense stand made up primarily of white pine, red pine, and sugar maple ● Large number of ironwood, white pine, and white ash in the understory ● White pine was the most prominent species in each DBH class

Management Recommendations: Due to a budding hardwood understory, the best course of action may be to increase timber production in this stand, primarily through the removal of white pine over time. By harvesting white pine, it will allow for red maple and more white pine seedlings to grow, promoting the site quality. With a strong presence of white pine in the understory, future timber harvests will also be possible.

Figure 1: White pine stocking guide. Forest is currently at B-line and we recommend thinning back to this level once stand has growth to part way between A and B lines.

Figure 2: Diameter distribution of overstory trees in Stand 11.. BC= black cherry, BE= boxelder, PB= paper birch, RM= red maple, RP= red pine, SM= sugar maple, YB= yellow birch, WP= white pine

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Table 1: Seedling and Sapling Density in Stand 11 at Mud Pond.

Species Seedlings (#/acre) Saplings (#/acre)

Red Maple 0 233

Ironwood 1,670 200

American Beech 334 466

Sugar Maple 0 67

Yellow Birch 0 33

Black Cherry 0 33

White Pine 668 0

Barberry 0 33

White Ash 3,340 67

Table 2: Species richness, diversity, and evenness in Stand 11 at Mud Pond.


Overstory 9 1.6 0.7

Seedlings 4 1.1 0.8

Saplings 10 1.9 0.8

Table 3: Live tree volume and biomass with standard deviations in Stand 11 at Mud Pond.

Volume (ft3/acre) Standard Deviation Biomass (tons/acre) Standard Deviation

1869.2 646.6 97.1 16.5

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Table 4: Tree overstory density, basal area, importance value, and quadratic mean DBH by species in Stand 11 at Mud Pond. Importance value is based on relative density, frequency, and basal area for a given species.

Species TPA BA (ft2/ac) IV DBH (in)

Boxelder 5 1.6 5.4 6.3

Paper Birch 5 1.8 6.4 11.6

Red Maple 25 22.0 44.6 10.9

Sugar Maple 30 21.0 31.6 12

White Pine 82.5 55.2 94.8 12

Yellow Birch 7.5 5.5 6.9 7.9

Black Cherry 7.5 5.9 10.7 8.5

Red Pine 37.5 20.6 38.4 10.4

Total 200 133.5 10

Table 5: Attributes of DWD and Snags in Stand 11 at Mud Pond.

DWD Snags

Volume (ft3/ac) Biomass (tons/acre)

DBH (in) Density (#/acre)

261.90 3.00 8.16 45.00

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Stand Structure in Mud Pond Country Park, Williston, VT: Stand 12 Owen Dumais, Cloe Murphy, Chris Faherty

Key Findings:

● Low density overstory made up primarily of hardwoods ● Dense understory, primarily composed of sugar maple ● Little to no downed woody debris in the stand. The stand is in the stem exclusion phase. ● Many trees in the stand fall within the 7 inch DBH class

Management Recommendations: Because of the high number of sugar maples in the understory, the best course of action is to thin the stand in order to give the crop trees (sugar maples) space to grow. Once the seedlings mature the stand will be optimal for sugaring. Due to the lack of sugar maples in the overstory currently, the stand will be best managed by thinning.

Figure 1: Diameter distribution of overstory trees in Stand 12 at Mud Pond. BC=Black Cherry, RM=Red Maple, WP=White Pine Table 1: Seedling and Sapling Density in Stand 12 at Mud Pond

Stand 12

Seedlings (#/acre) Saplings (#/acre)

Sugar Maple 10,020 1,799

American Beech 0 0

White Ash 2,004 200

White Pine 0 300

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Table 2: Species richness, diversity, and evenness in the overstory and regeneration layers in Stand 12 at Mud Pond.


Overstory 5 1.3 0.8

Seedlings 3 0.7 0.7

Saplings 5 1.3 0.8

Table 3: Live tree volume and biomass with standard deviations in Stand 11 at Mud Pond.

Volume (ft3/acre) Standard Deviation Biomass (tons/acre) Standard Deviation

1284.0 237.0 64.0 10.5

Table 4: Tree overstory density, basal area, importance value, and quadratic mean DBH by species in Stand 12 at Mud Pond. Importance value is based on relative density, frequency, and basal area for a given species.

Species TPA BA (ft2/ac) IV DBH (in)

Aspen 12.5 9.3 31 11.3

Ash 2.5 0.7 6.5 7

Black Cherry 5 1.8 20.7 8.2

Red Maple 37.5 35.2 116.8 12.3

White Pine 22.5 43.9 146.4 17.7

Total 80 90.9 11.3

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Table 5: Attributes of downed woody debris (DWD) and snags in Stand 12 at Mud Pond.

DWD Snags

Volume (ft3/acre) Biomass (tons/acre)

DBH (in) Density

0 0 11.9 12.5

28


Matt O’Donnell, James King, Hank Brandeis

Key findings in Stand 13:

● White pine dominated overstory ● Lower amounts of blow down compared to the rest of forest ● High density of live trees

Management recommendations:

High scores on the site index as well as little blowdown makes this stand good for managing white pine, potentially for timber production.

Table 1. Overstory tree density, basal area, importance value, and average diameter at breast height (QMD) by species in Stand 13 of Mud Pond Country Park.

Species TPA BA (ft 2/ac) IV QMD (in)

Sugar maple 50 19.8 136.7 12.1

Eastern white pine 95 88.0 206.5 18.4

Red oak 5 0.8 52.8 7.5

Paper birch 25 10.8 119.0 12.6

Red maple 45 17.1 82.5 11.8

American beech 5 0.5 52.6 6.1

Table 2.Trees per acre, basal area, volume, and biomass of living overstory trees in Stand 13 of Mud Pond Country Park.

TPA BA (ft 2/ac) Volume (ft3/ac) Biomass (tons/ac)

225 137.0 5624.9 88.4

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Figure 1. Diameter distribution of overstory trees of Stand 13 at Mud Pond Country Park

Legend: SM = sugar maple, RO = northern red oak, RM = red maple, PB = paper birch, EWP = eastern white pine.

Table 3. Seedlings and saplings in Stand 13 at Mud Pond Country Park.



Eastern white pine 0 950

Red oak 0 150

Witch hazel 0 300

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Table 4. Richness, diversity, and evenness of the overstory and regeneration layers in Stand 13 at Mud Pond Country Park.

Layer Richness Diversity (H’) Evenness


Saplings 4 0.98 0.71

Seedlings 1 - -


DWD Snags

Volume (ft3/ac ) Biomass (t/ac) Density (#/ac) Avg. DBH (in)

984.8 8.2 27.5 9.4

31

Stand Structure in Mud Pond Country Park: Stand 14

Crew: Matt O’Donnell, James King, Hank Brandeis

Key findings Stand 14:

● Maple dominated overstory ● Low amount of blowdown ● High site index values ● With a quadratic mean diameter over 10 inches for both red and sugar maples as well as the two

species having the first and second highest trees per acre and basal area values, this stand has a good potential for sugaring

Management recommendations:

● Thin forest of non-maple spp. to increase vigor of red and sugar maple in stand ● Set up tubing away from trail to minimize recreational impacts ● Tap all trees over 10 in. DBH and tap any tree over 20 in DBH twice

Table 1. Overstory tree density, basal area, importance value, and average diameter at breast height (QMD) by species in Stand 14 of Mud Pond Country Park.

Species TPA BA (ft 2/ac) IV QMD (in)

Sugar maple 85 33.5 159.6 12.4

Eastern white pine 20 8.6 114.7 12.8

Red oak 15 7.8 112.3 13.8

Red maple 145 49.8 195.2 11.4

American beech 5 0.7 52.3 10.3

Black cherry 10 5.0 58.0 13.6

Aspen 5 2.9 54.4 14.7

Larch 5 1.9 53.4 11.8

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Table 2. Trees per acre, basal area, volume, and biomass of living overstory trees in Stand 14 of Mud Pond Country Park.

TPA BA (ft 2/ac) Volume (ft3/ac) Biomass (tons/ac)

290 110.3 3493.9 76.9

Figure 1. Diameter Distribution of overstory trees in Stand 14 at Mud Pond Country Park.

Legend: Larch = larch spp., EWP = eastern white pine, BC = black cherry, RM = red maple, SM = sugar maple, ASPEN = bigtooth aspen, AB = American beech.

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Table 3. Seedlings and Saplings in Stand 14 at Mud Pond Country Park.



Beaked hazelnut 167 383

Buckthorn 83 267

Choke cherry 0 83

Dogwood spp. 0 33

Eastern white pine 250 83

Musclewood 0 50

Northern red oak 0 50

Paper birch 0 17

Red maple 83 83

Sugar maple 0 117

Table 4. Richness, diversity, and evenness of the overstory and regeneration layers in Stand 14 at Mud Pond Country Park.

Layer Richness Diversity (H’) Evenness


Saplings 14 2.06 0.78

Seedlings 9 1.41 0.64

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DWD Snags

Volume (ft3/ac ) Biomass (t/ac) Density (#/ac) Avg. DBH (in)

443.6 6.6 15 11.7

Inventory and Assessment of Mud Pond Country ParkAaron Gilman, Mitch Maver, William Dunkley, Zac Roy...

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