ABSTRACT A thought of the vegetati...

ABSTRACT

A thought of the vegetation of Dean Hills Nature keep in Fayette County, Illinois was undertaken to document the composition and fabric of the vascular flora and to provide information for land management decisions. A total of 313 species in 85 families and 204 genera were heap uped at the 30-hectare preserve which come to one's minds on a glacial kame and has a rugg ridge and ravine topography. Mature mesic and dry-mesic forest disguises much of the preserve. The canopy is dominated according to white oak (Quercus alba), r oak (Quercus rubra), and sugar maple (Acer saccharum). Data hint that sugar maple is regenerating more favorably than the oaks. This same conclusion has been found in several other studies of oak-hickory forests in Illinois. If management similar as prescribed burning is not implemented, it is predicted that sugar maple will increase and oaks will decrease in dominance within the preserve

INTRODUCTION

At the time of European reconciliation about 61% of Illinois was veiled with prairies (Anderson 1970, Iverson et al. 1991) These prairies occurr in areas that were flat or had gently rolling hills. Woodland and forest vegetation occurr in areas with a more rugg topography (Kuchler 1967) In this rugg terrain, tree species composition frequently varied with landscape position. Oaks (Quercus spp) and hickories (Carya spp) were usual on drier mostly upland sites while mesophytic species of the like kind as elm (Ulmus spp.), ash (Fraxinus spp) and maple (Acer spp) were associated with the dissected ravines and river floodplains (Braun 1950 Anderson 1983)

Remnants of these forest communities are still frequent and many retain much of their natural character. in the greatest degree of these remnants, however, have been variously modified on cutting, grazing, and exotic species invasion. In addition, the composition of a certain number of mature forests is changing as sugar maple (Acer saccharum) replaces the more shade-intolerant species (i.e., oaks and hickories) owing to a lack of disturbance, especially fire (Ebinger 1986 Shotola et al. 1991 Abrams 1992 Johnson 1993 Ebinger 1997 Ebinger et al. 1997) Many other studies of oakhickory forests in Illinois have indicated that sugar maple is increasing in dominance as oaks are failing to regenerate (Adams and Anderson 1980 Bogges and Geis 1966 Ebinger 1986 Landes and Ebinger 1991 Shotala et al. 1991 Cowell and Jackson 2002)

Many of the best remaining examples of forests in Illinois have been dedicated as nature maintains (McFall and Karnes 1995). The inquiry area, Dean Hills Nature save from decay (DHNP), is part of a a great deal of larger tract of timber associated with the Kaskaskia River plan This preserve is located onward a k?¤me (a hill or knoll of stratified drift deposited according to glacial meltwater) formed during the Illinoian glacial period The objectives of our reflection were (1) to investigate the site history of this save (2) to describe the composition and building of the vegetation, including potential successional dynamics of this forest, and (3) to provide information to support management decisions at DHNP

DESCRIPTION OF THE meditation AREA

Dean Hills Nature keep is located in Fayette shire in central Illinois (T8N, R2E NE/4 NW/4 and NW/4 NE/4 SlO) approximately 10 km east of Ramsey. It lies about 27 km southern of the terminal moraine of Wisconsinan glaciation in the Effingham Plain section of the Southern Till Plain Division (Schwegman et al. 1973) The keep is about 30 ha in size and is forward the northern edge of a large glacial kame. The kame, about 2 km in diameter, increases through the eastern one third of section 9 and nearly all of section 10 (Figure 1) The area has a surpassingly rugged topography due to extensive erosion since glaciation. Elevation in the maintain ranges from 154.5 m at Becks bight to 210 m at the highest point. Topographic features include steep-sided ravines and narrow ridges. Becks bight a low gradient perennial steam, is located along the eastern brink; beginning [i]or[/i] end of the preserve.

Most of the keep sound is mature mesic and dry-mesic upland forest (White and Madany 1978) Other communities not past nor future include small amounts of mesic to wet-mesic floodplain forest, erod broad and fulls along Becks Creek, a small successional field, and a hardly any small seeps associated with the steep-sided ravines. No indicators of logging or grazing were ground within the ravines although minimal selective logging and moderate grazing were believed to have occurr forward some of the drier ridge-tops (Illinois Natural Areas Inventory, unpubl data). Based forward the Government Land Office examine records at the Illinois State Archives in Springfield (Hutchison 1988) the wood-lands still retains the species near prior to European settlement.

The soils of DHNP are of four series (Hodge 1997) Soils of the Parke series (Parke silt loam, 5 to 10 percent inclines eroded) occur on the ridge-tops and side acclivity [i]or[/i] declivitys These are well drained moderately permeable soils that were formed in 24 to 40 inches of loes and in the underlying glacial drift. Negley series soils (Negley loam, 15 to 30 percent slopes) befall on the side slopes below the Parke soils. These well drained, moderately to rapidly permeable soils were formed in glacial outwash. Soils of these sum of two units series support the dry-mesic and mesic upland forest and eroding precipitous community types at DHNP. Coarse deposits of sand and gravel in the subsoils of these series have facilitated the growth of seep communities. Birds (Birds silt loam, commonly flooded) and Wakeland (Wakeland silt loam, many times flooded) series soils occur forward floodplains. Birds series soils are poorly drained and moderately slowly permeable. Soils of the Wakeland series are somewhat poorly drained and moderately permeable. the one and the other soil types formed in silty alluvium. The wet-mesic and mesic floodplain forest and successional field community symbols of DHNP are found forward these soil types.