> > >Am I to read this right. The amount of Forest Land is increasing in NYS? > > > >Jim Maguire > >[log in to unmask] > Here are some references to specific studies of reforestation in York State during the last century. While they deal with Central New York they should give some idea of the general pattern. Thanks to Dr. Sana Gardescu of Cornell University for digging these up. -------- (n.b. 1. we used 1900 as an arbitrary date, since it is unclear from the agricultural census data which decade of the late 1800s was the actual peak in clearing, and the first aerial photos in this area are from 1936-1938. 2. our definition of "forest" in 1938 and 1980 includes forested woodlots, swamps, and also successional old fields with abundant emergent trees that were not yet closed canopy stands) Smith, B. E., P. L. Marks, & S. Gardescu. 1993. Two hundred years of forest cover changes in Tompkins County, New York. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 120: 229-247. ABSTRACT: The amount of land in forest within Tompkins County from the time of European settlement (1790) to the present was determined from land survey records, aerial photographs, and field reconnaissance. Forest cover in Tompkins County dropped from almost 100% in 1790 to 19% by 1900, then increased to 28% by 1938 and over 50% in 1980. Thus over half of the forest in Tompkins County today is post-agricultural. The number, size, shape, and distribution of forest stands within the landscape changed during a century of conversion of agricultural to forested lands. From 1900 to 1980, there was more forest in the southern part of the county, where the topography is hillier and soils are more acidic. For a portion of the county with extensive clearing for agriculture, the Ludlowville quadrangle, we mapped the outline of all forest stands present in 1900, 1938, and 1980. Post-agricultural forest developed predominantly on the steeper lakeside and streamside slopes rather than on the flatter uplands. Throughout the period 1900-1980 the majority of the forest stands were quite small, <10 ha in area. The distance from random points in forest to the nearest edge of the stand was often less than 50 m, except for some extensive stands on the slopes in 1980. The development of forest on former agricultural lands has resulted in the coalescence of stands, and the degree of fragmentation and isolation of forest stands in the Ludlowville quadrangle of Tompkins County is much reduced today compared to 1900. ---------- (n.b. forest "islands" here means stands separated by open land) Nyland, R.D., W.C. Zipperer and D.B. Hill. 1986. The development of forest islands in exurban central New York State. Landscape & Urban Planning 13:111-123. ABSTRACT: Onondaga County in central New York State was extensively cleared for agricultural use, so that by 1930 only 8% of the area maintained small and highly fragmented forest islands. Subsequent natural re-forestation in exurban parts of the county increased the forest cover to 40% of the total land area by 1980. New stands formed around many residual forest islands, and natural reforestation often consolidated two or more small parcels previously separated by open fields. At present, some forests cover as much as 3000 ha each, and even-aged stands less than 50 years old make up 80% of the total forest area. These stands are generally less diverse than the residual islands which were never cleared for protracted agricultural use. Sugar maple and white ash predominate in most new forest stands on the better-drained soils. Red maple, elms and white ash are most common on poorly-drained sites. Overall, available data suggest the prevalence of fairly homogeneous structural conditions across most forest stands. Information from resource statistics also indicates that similar conditions may dominate much of the forested area in rural southwestern New York State and even greater areas of Northeastern United States. Development of existing seedling stands and new natural re-forestation should further consolidate the forest cover and bring increased structural homogeneity throughout the region.