COMPARISON OF ECOLOGWCAL CHARACTERiSTiCS OF THREE REMNANT OLD-GROWTH WOODLOTS iN BELMONT COUNTY, OHiO

cohort that has a significant oak component (> 50 percent) and includes mixed mesophytic species, such as yellow-poplar and white ash. All three stands are transitional to a northern hardwood type (sugar maple/American beech). Collins Woods is bounded on two sides by a surface mine highwall (20-60 feet high), and on another side by a reclaimed surface mine. Dysart Woods's stands are surrounded by second-growth hardwood forest and agricultural fields. We sampled trees larger than 2 inches dbh and measured woody regeneration. In addition, we conducted a 100 percent inventory of all large trees in the old-growth cohort. We found all three stands to be remarkably similar. For example, the basal area of trees at Collins Woods was 123.3 feet square/acre as compared to 101.2and 102.5 for the South and North Woods at Dysart Woods. The oak component of the old-growth cohort at Collins Woods was 50.3 percent. For Dysart South and North, oak composition was 61.7 percent and 60.7 percent. Yellow-poplar made up 10.3 percent and 9.8 percent of Dysart South and North and 21 percent of the old-growth cohort at Collins Woods. The average dbh of old-growth trees at Collins Woods was 34.4 inches compared to 33.9 inches and 35.1 inches for the Dysart stands. Collins Woods, like Dysart Woods, had virtually no oak regeneration and the overall diameter distribution indicated a reverse J-shaped curve for all three stands with sugar maple predominating in the smaller diameter classes, and oaks and yellow-poplar in the larger classes. The species diversity of Collins Woods was slightly less than that at Dysart Woods, when expressed as Shannon's H', but about the same in species richness. Measures of health and vigor of the stands were very comparable. The estimated overall mortality rate fo