Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Long-Term Ecological Research In Forest Park: Tracking Urban Impacts To Forest Structure And Productivity, Andrew Addessi, Marion Dresner

ESM Colloquium

Current and historic land use practices as well as exposure to an urban environment can impact forest structure and function. Past and ongoing research in Forest Park, a large urban forest in Portland, Oregon, suggests that mature Douglas-fir (Psuedotsuga meziesii) dominated conifer stands in the more urban end of the park are not developing certain late successional features. Notably, they lack a shade-tolerant conifer understory composed of western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and western red-cedar (Thuja plicata). Here, I present three lines of investigation taken from several 1-hectare permanent long-term ecological research (LTER) plots in Forest Park. First, I investigated whether …