Spring Ground Layer Vegetation 50 Years After Harvesting in Northern Hardwood Forests

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Abstract
Ground layer vegetation on 4 .apprx. 50 yr old silviculture research plots at the Upper Peninsula Experimental Forest, Michigan [USA] was surveyed in the spring of 1976. Species composition was typical of northern hardwood forests and similar among plots. The vegetation was denser but less diverse on clear-cut harvest plots than on less severely but more frequently disturbed selection harvest plots. Periodic reharvests on the selection harvest plots promoted development of an intermediate layer of tree seedlings and shrubs that was probably responsible for the differences in ground layer vegetation among harvest methods.