2013 in Review

I thought it would be good to highlight a few things that happened in 2013, which happened to be an interesting and productive year.  A lot of moisture fell this summer, and plant growth was as good as ever.  Unfortunately/fortunately it was a busy year and I only got a chance to go home once.  As a result, I've been lagging with updates regarding our progress on restoration projects.

In the past, our focus has been primarily on reconstructing/converting overgrown pasture and hayfields to native prairie through burning and overseeding with native species.  This year however we decided to spend a little more time working on our forest ecosystems at Black Cherry Hollow (BCH), which includes all of the land south of White Lake Road.  BCH is primarily forested (and has an abundance of Black Cherry trees) due to years of fire suppression.  Historically, this area was a combination of Oak Openings and Dry-Mesic Southern Forest in the uplands, with Rich Tamarack Swamp and/or Southern Hardwood Swamp in the lowlands (MNFI Natural Communities).

Today, the uplands retain their mature Oak and Hickory canopy in most areas.  However, due to years of fire suppression (fire was a common natural disturbance in this type of forest historically), a dense understory of Red Maple, American Elm, and White Ash has developed in the forest.  With the presence of the Emerald Ash Borer and Dutch Elm Disease pathogen, Red Maple has assumed dominance in the understory and is threatening to convert the forest in the long-term.  The dense shade caused by the abundance of Red Maple in the understory has limited the amount of oak seedlings that are able to grow because oak seedlings need more light to grow and compete with other species.  Historically, the fires that swept through the forest on a regular basis thinned out competing tree species, including Red Maple, and allowed oaks to retain dominance generation after generation.

The lowlands which were historically thought to be Rich Tamarack Swamp (MNFI Presettlement Vegetation Maps), are now a mixture of Emergent Marsh and Southern Shrub-Carr.  This conversion of wetland communities was caused by the construction of Highland Hills Drive which dammed the downstream end of the wetland, causing significant flooding over the past 50+ years.

My trip home (April 18-22) was marked by nice dry weather, which allowed us to work hard.  We were able to do some understory thinning of Red Maple, Elm and Ash in our forests, and conduct prescribed burns at both BCH and Pinefield.  Here are some pics of our work: