Northern Hardwood Forest Tree Types

Northern hardwood forests have been well sampled in virginia especially in the mount rogers whitetop area of the southern blue ridge and on allegheny mountain in highland county.

Northern hardwood forest tree types. To date 79 plots of this group have been sampled in 18 counties fig. The four dominant canopy species of the hemlock northern hardwood forests are sugar maple acer saccharum beech fagus grandifolia yellow birch betula alleghaniensis and hemlock tsuga canadensis. Sugar maple red maple hemlock basswood and yellow birch are the most common trees in michigan s northern hardwood nh forest. 1 although some of the classified units are better supported by plot data than others.

Later successional trees of the nh type have the ability to reproduce themselves under the shade of the forest canopy. The northern hardwood forest occupies the northern third of the state and extends south at high elevations along the allegheny front. In planning these practices there are many factors to. Hardwood trees usually have broad flat leaves as opposed to coniferous needled or scaled tree foliage another name for a hardwood tree is appropriately broadleaf.

The trees and shrub species of the northern hardwood forest are known for their brilliant fall colors making the regions that contain this forest type popular fall foliage tourist destinations. This forest type is considered the northern extension of the mixed mesophytic deciduous forest. The wood from hardwood trees tends to be harder because the trees grow at a slower rate giving the wood its greater density. This forest type is characterized by a mixture of hardwoods and conifers and usually contains.

It also occurs farther south on north facing slopes and cool moist ravines. Regenerating stands might have 10 000 trees per acre and with natural development at least 98 percent. Typical secondary species are beech black cherry quaking aspen and white ash. Thousands of acres of northern hardwood conifer forests grow on well drained fertile slopes of hillsides in new hampshire typically between 1 500 and 2 500 feet in elevation here sugar maple american beech and yellow birch are the dominant tree species mixed with red maple white ash and patches of hemlock at lower elevations and red spruce and balsam fir at higher elevations.

Northern hardwood forest types can be managed as even or uneven aged stands using a variety of silvicultural practices. Most common hardwoods unlike the conifers or softwood firs spruce and pines hardwood trees have evolved into a broad array of common species. Most but not all hardwoods are deciduous perennial plants which are normally leafless for some time during the year.