Site: Wabikon
Country: USA
Site PI: Robert Howe, Amy Wolf
Data Type:
Availabilty: Approve
About Data: The 25.2 ha Wabikon Forest Dynamics Plot (WFDP) is located within the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in northeastern Wisconsin, approximately 13.7 km east of Crandon, WI, USA (latitude 45.5546°, longitude ?88.7945°). Mesic northern hardwoods occupy most of the plot, dominated by sugar maple (Acer saccharum), basswood (Tilia americana), white ash (Fraxinus americana), ironwood/eastern hop hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis). The WabikonLake area, including the plot, was logged during the early 1900s, but the understory today is very high quality.Logging resulted in a reduction in the forest’s conifer component, especially eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). White spruce (Picea glauca), a native conifer, was planted in the northeastern part of the site during the 1930s. The WFDP today is representative of more than a million hectares of commercially important hardwood forests in the western Laurentian Great Lakes region of North America. An area of 447 ha, including the plot and nearby lowlands, was designated as a Wisconsin State Natural Area in 2007. The WFDP occurs in a postglacial landscape of hummocks and eskers, with well-drained silt and sandy loam soils in the uplands. The edge of a lowland conifer swamp dominated by northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis)extends into the northeastern corner of the plot. The mean elevation of the WFDP is 498 m, ranging from 488 to 514 m. The climate (recorded at the Laona Weather Station, 5.4 km from the plot center) is highly seasonal, with mean daily maximum/minimum temperatures of 26.3/12.7 °C in July and 6.0/15.5°C in January. Mean annual precipitation over the course of the study period was 878.4 mm, with an average of 21.0 mm during January (mostly snow) and 92.8 mm during July. Research at the WFDP plot is led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service. The WFDP was established in 2008 and initially surveyed during 2008 and 2009. The plot was subsequently censused in 2013 and 2018. Over 64,300 stems of 38 species have been recorded during the three censuses. Three tree species: sugar maple, white ash, and eastern hop hornbeam, comprise ~66% of all individuals. The ten most common tree species (?1 cm diameter) represent ~95% of all censused stems.