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
#Cornus Drummondi.#--This dogwood is the most abundant tree on the
area. However, it scarcely reaches the size of a tree. Most mature
examples are 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches in trunk diameter, and rarely more
than twelve feet high. Dogwood grows in greatest abundance on dry
rocky slopes where other trees are scarce. In small areas it may be
the dominant tree, often closely associated with chinquapin oak and
red elm. In parts of the woodland where there are larger trees,
dogwood may form an understory, its development depending largely on
the amount of light passing through the upper leaf canopy. Where the
canopy is dense and nearly continuous, dogwood tends to be eliminated
by shading. In some situations where forest has recently closed in,
most of the dogwoods are dead or dying. Especially on formerly
cut-over north slopes, where oak and hickory have sprung up in a dense
stand 20 feet high, with a thick canopy, most of the dogwoods have
been eliminated.
On the remaining hillside prairie near the northwest corner of the
Reservation, dogwood is the most prominent of the trees and shrubs
encroaching onto the area since it has been protected from fire--a
period of approximately 20 years. There are dense thickets of dogwood
along the borders of the prairie and the woodland edge.
The white-eyed vireo and Bell vireo both forage and nest in thickets
of dogwood and other shrubs.
#Fraxinus americana.#--White ash is localized on the Reservation and
most of the mature trees are within an area of perhaps three acres on
a steep slope of northwest exposure. Several of the largest trees,
well over a foot in trunk diameter, grow at the lower limestone
outcrop. Ash is most abundant at this level and at the terrace just
below it. On the one slope where it is concentrated, ash is one of the
most common trees, growing in association with American elm, chestnut
oak, black oak, and shagbark hickory. This area is one of the most
mesic on the Reservation. The soil is usually damp, with thick leaf
litter and rich humus. In hilltop fields, formerly cultivated or
pastured, saplings of white ash are among the most prominent invaders.
The leaves of this tree and especially its saplings, are favorite
foraging places for the tree frog. The groves of this tree provide
favorable habitat for the opossum, short-tailed shrew, gray squirrel,
and white-footed mouse. Birds that frequent the same habitat include
the black-capped chickadee, tufted titmouse, blue jay, rose-breasted
grosbeak (_Pheucticus ludovicianus_), yellow-billed cuckoo, red-eyed
vireo, gnatcatcher, hairy woodpecker, Kentucky warbler, and crested
flycatcher (_Myiarchus crinitus_).
[Illustration: PLATE 7
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 7
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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