The Forest Habitat of the University of Kansas Natural History ReservationFitch, Henry S. (Henry Sheldon)
History
The Forest Habitat of the University of Kansas Natural History Reservation
Fitch, Henry S. (Henry Sheldon)
Forest reserves -- Kansas; University of Kansas. Natural History Reservation
#Crataegus mollis.#--Red haw occurs over much of the Reservation, both
in woodland and former pastures. The trees are scattered, and are not
dominant, even on small areas. In the woodland, haw usually grows in
the more open situations. Where there are haws in denser woods, they
are usually large and old; seemingly they are survivors from a time
when the woods were more open. Haw is intolerant of shading, and being
of lesser height than any of the climax species, it cannot compete
with them. The present wide distribution of haw on the area is
secondary, resulting from the extensive cutting of the larger trees
and opening up of the woodland. Haw trees are most numerous on south
facing slopes that have grown up into thickets in the last 30 years.
Here its associates are chiefly honey locust, osage orange, dogwood
and elm.
Red haws have been recorded as nest trees of horned owls,
yellow-billed cuckoos, cardinals, and fox squirrels. Cavities in the
trunks are used by downy woodpeckers, titmice, chickadees and
white-footed mice.
#Cercis canadensis.#--Redbud is abundant in some parts of the
woodland. Trees are up to nine inches in diameter and 25 feet high.
They grow chiefly in rich soil on hillsides in moist situations.
Redbud and dogwood are in part complementary in distribution, each
forming an understory in parts of the woodland where the leaf canopy
of larger trees is not too dense. However, redbud is more tolerant of
shade. In general dogwood grows in the drier, more rocky situations
and redbud in better soil and damper sites. In the southeastern part
of the Reservation, on a west facing slope, redbud dominates, with
smaller numbers of elm, blackjack oak, and dogwood.
Several times nests of yellow-billed cuckoos were found in redbuds.
Titmice, chickadees, and red-eyed vireos forage in redbuds on many
occasions. Brown creepers forage on the trunks. Titmice, chickadees,
and downy woodpeckers used cavities in dead or dying redbuds. However,
there is no evidence that this tree is especially attractive to any
kind of vertebrate, or plays an important part in the ecology of the
area.
#Gymnocladus dioica.#--Kentucky coffee-tree is one of the less
important trees on the area but it is widely distributed. In general
it is absent from the denser woods. On limited areas of certain slopes
it is the dominant species. The groves sometimes are in nearly pure
stands. Slope exposure evidently is not the determining factor in the
local distribution as groves have been found on hillsides of varying
exposure. The tree seems to flourish where the forest has been opened
by cutting of the larger trees. Groves are mainly on the more gently
sloping parts of the hillsides, or on the nearly level terrace. There
are few coffee-trees more than 12 inches in trunk diameter. The
largest tree examined was 27 inches.
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