Retrieving historical forest composition in the southern Appalachian region, United States
Euro‑American settlement brought widespread clearing and fire exclusion, reshaping forests across the eastern United States. Using two historical assessments from 1900–1909 in the southern Appalachians, this study shows that fire‑tolerant oaks and American chestnut comprised 62% of all trees. Today, chestnut is functionally absent due to blight, and oaks have declined to 27%, while red maple has surged from 2.5% to 17% of all trees. Pines, especially eastern white pine, also increased. Historical records reveal frequent surface fires across 80% of the region, but exclusion policies after 1911 accelerated shifts toward fire‑sensitive species. These findings demonstrate that the southern Appalachians followed the same trajectory as other upland eastern forests, with major compositional changes driven by fire suppression, disease and altered disturbance regimes.
Subject Tags
- Forest
- Biodiversity
Abstract
Euro-American settlement entailed comprehensive vegetation clearing and fire exclusion, with attendant decreases in fire-tolerant oak and pine tree species and open conditions throughout the southeastern and central eastern United States. While historical tree data are locked in individual land deeds for part of the eastern United States, two assessments during 1900–1909 provided historical tree composition in the southern Appalachian region, primarily in North Carolina. According to assessments during 1900–1909, fire-tolerant oaks and American chestnut (Castanea dentata) were the dominant species, at about 62 % of all trees for both overlapping study extents. One century later, in current tree surveys, chestnut is no longer functionally present, due to chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica), and oaks have decreased to 27 % of all trees, with chestnut oak (Quercus montana) the most abundant oak at 12 % of all trees. Red maple (Acer rubrum) became the most abundant species (15 % of all trees), with maples increasing from 2.5 % to 17 % of all trees. After red maple and chestnut oak, yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) and sourwood (Oxydendrum arboretum) were the third and fourth most abundant species currently, followed by eastern white pine. Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus; 6.5 % of all current trees) drove the increase in the proportion of pines from 4 % (about 2 % white pines) historically to 11 % in southern Appalachian forests. Despite small fire compartments in mountainous terrain, the historical assessments documented an active fire culture, with evidence of light fire throughout 80 % of the study extent. Frequent surface fire was excluded in the region through land use and an anti-fire campaign, ensuing from national legislation during 1911. Many disturbance factors, such as chestnut blight that resulted in loss of American chestnut, influenced the rate of change by removing historically dominant species, while also modulating fire dynamics and current tree composition. The southern Appalachian region conformed to the same progression from fire-tolerant tree species to fire-sensitive tree species since Euro-American settlement and fire exclusion as most other upland regions in the eastern U.S.
Citation
Hanberry, B. B., & Warwick, J. A. (2025). Retrieving historical forest composition in the southern Appalachian region, United States. Forest Ecology and Management, 596, 123118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123118
TNC Authors
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J. Adam Warwick
Southern Blue Ridge Stewardship Manager, North Carolina
The Nature Conservancy
Email: awarwick@tnc.org