Can Clearcutting Reset Successional Trajectories in Upland Oak-Hickory Forests? A Case Study from Mid-Missouri

Securing oak regeneration is a common management challenge in the central and eastern United States. We quantified the abundance of tree species groups in clearcuts in mid-Missouri more than 30 years following harvest to determine differences in species dominance based on aspect (exposed, protected, or ridge sites). Each tree was classified as dominant or suppressed based on its relative contribution to cumulative stand stocking, following concepts of the tree-area relation. Although maples or understory species were the most abundant across all sites, oaks and hickories contributed to more than 60 percent of the dominant stems on the exposed sites. In contrast, oaks and hickories made up less than 25 percent of the dominant stems on protected and ridge sites. Results indicate that clearcutting reset the successional trajectory, from a transition to maple dominance to maintaining oak-hickory dominance, on exposed sites but not on ridge or protected sites.