Woody Vegetation of a Mesic Sand-Forest in Mason County, Illinois

An inventory was completed of the woody vegetation of a 6.5 hectare section of a mesic sand-forest near Forest City, Mason County, Illinois. This forest, which is located on stabilized sand dunes in the Illinois River Section of the Illinois River and Mississippi River Sand Areas Division, has a stand composition of 247.5 stems/ha (above 10 cm dbh.), and a basal area of 16.1 sq. m/ha. A total of 21 woody species are present on the site with Black oak comprising 84% of the Basal area and 61% of the total individuals, and having an importance value of 144.9. Black oak is ranked second in number of tree seedlings, but only fifth in number of saplings. Black hickory is second in importance with an IV of 22.6 and comprising 16% of the individuals and 6% of the basal area on the site. Black hickory ranks first in number of tree seedlings and saplings and is evenly distributed throughout the site. Blackjack oak and mockernut hickory are third and fourth in importance with IV\u27s of 15.0 and 10.9, respectively. Blackjack oak has relatively few seedlings and saplings, when compared to black oak and black hickory, and has a clumped distribution, being limited to the margins of several small openings in the woods. The low number of seedlings and saplings and its low importance value, indicates that mockernut hickory is of minor importance in the overstory canopy. The understory shrubs and vines strata is composed of 11 species, five of which are of major importance. The five important species include, poison ivy, fragrant sumac, prickly ash, gray dogwood and gooseberry, in order of importance. All of these species are indicative of mesic sand-forests. The overstory canopy composition, as well as, the seedling and sapling compositions and densities, all indicate that this woods represents a relatively high quality example of a mesic oak-hickory sand-forest associated with the stabilized dunes of the sand areas of central Illinois