Atlantic White Cedar Regeneration in the Great Dismal Swamp Following Hurricane Isabel: 2006 Blackwater Cut Results

The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge began a large-scale salvage logging and cedar restoration project in response to the considerable damage caused by Hurricane Isabel in September 2003. The objectives of this study were to quantify and compare cedar regeneration associated with salvage logged areas and skidder trails in the Blackwater Cut, and adjacent areas not salvaged logged to help guide future site management and additional restoration work. In 2006, permanent plots were established on a 28-ha site within the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Cedar regeneration was quantified within 25-m2 plots and the height of each seedling was measured. Seedling height ranged from 5 to 75 em, however 93 percent of all seedlings surveyed were less than 20 em tall. The number of seedlings within plots varied greatly, from 0 to 77. Mean seedling density in the salvage logged areas, skidder trails and un-salvaged plots were 14,533; 4,400; and 0 stems/ha respectively, compared to 1,006 stems/ha in the pre-Isabel mature forest. These results suggest conditions within the Blackwater Cut have been suitable for the establishment, survival and growth of cedar, but regeneration failed in the unsalvaged areas.

Download this file:

Download this file

Details

Author(s): Robert T. Belcher, Travis R. Comer, Robert B. Atkinson

Publication: The Ecology and Management of Atlantic white-cedar