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From forest to city: Plant community change in northeast Ohio from 1800 to 2014
Author(s) -
Flinn Kathryn M.,
Mahany Tylor P.,
Hausman Constance E.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of vegetation science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1654-1103
pISSN - 1100-9233
DOI - 10.1111/jvs.12621
Subject(s) - ruderal species , geography , ordination , plant community , tilia , ecology , dominance (genetics) , climate change , habitat , forestry , species richness , biology , pollen , biochemistry , gene
Questions This study compares the extent of habitat types, species composition of plant communities and abundance of individual tree species in northeast Ohio between 1800 and 2014. This comparison allows us to test hypotheses about the drivers of community change, including climate change, fire suppression and disturbance frequency, and to evaluate the impact of urbanization on biotic homogenization. Location Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA . Methods Ranked timber observations from early land surveys were compared with vegetation plots throughout the Cleveland Metroparks system. We used ordination, cluster analysis and indicator species analysis to compare plant communities in the two time periods. We tested whether differences in species frequency and dominance from 1800 to 2014 depended on climate, fire and shade tolerance and life‐history strategy. Results In 1800, 94% of Cuyahoga County was forested, 5% wetlands and <1% open oak woods. Most forests in 1800 were dominated by Fagus grandifolia (47%), Quercus (28%) or Acer (11%). At the community level, the largest changes from 1800 to 2014 were decreases in communities dominated by F. grandifolia and Quercus and an increase in communities dominated by Acer . Fagus grandifolia , Castanea dentata , Tilia americana and Carya decreased in frequency, and Acer , Prunus serotina and Ulmus increased. The best predictor of changes in frequency was life history; species with a ruderal strategy tended to increase. Climate, fire and shade tolerance did not predict changes in frequency. Plant communities in 2014 vegetation plots were more similar to each other than plant communities on the 1800 survey lines. Conclusions The urbanization of northeast Ohio led to regionally homogenous vegetation and plant communities in which ruderal species are frequent and dominant.