Vol. 51—1997 - NorthEastern Weed Science Society

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very gradual process beca e of the age structure of oaks and because black, red, and white oaks have been reported to live for
three to five hundred year. Oaks are most numerous in the largest three size classes, but comprise a small percentage of the two
smaller size classes whic presumably contain the youngest trees (Figure 1). Non-native trees makeup seventy percent of the
smallest size class catego and native trees other than oaks are more numerous than oaks in the smallest two size class
categories.
The most import t factor influencing the tree composition in Jamaica Estates was the initial decision of the developer
to preserve certain trees p esent at the site when the homes were constructed. The presence of the large number of non-native
trees in 1995 and planted rive trees such as Comus florida and Tsuga canadensis represents the personal preference of the
home owner. Survival an growth of trees at this urban site in the future will partially depend on the preference of the home
owner for specific trees., he hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsuga may kill Canadian hemlock, (Tsuga canadensis) in the
future while dogwood an acnose, Discula destructiva, is the agent responsible for dogwood decline." Oak decline may be
hastened if the trees exp .ence two or more consecutive years of defoliotion by the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar.
LITERATURE
CITED
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New Jersey Palisad s. Urban Ecol. 8: 149-164.
Bailey. L.H. 1949.
anual of Cultivated Plants. Macmillan. New York. 1166 pp.
3. Dorney, J.H .. G.H. untenspergen, J.R. Keough and F. Stems. 1984. Composition and structure of an
urban woody plant co unity. Urban Ecol, 8:69-90.
4. Gleason. H.A. and . Cronquist, 1991. Manual of Cultivated Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and
Adjacent Canada. ew York Botanical Garden. New York. 910 pp.
5. Greller, A.M. 1975. Persisting natural vegetation in northern Queens County, New York. Environmental
Conservation 2:61- 9.
6. Harper, R.M. 1917. The native plant population of Northern Queens County, Long Island. Torreya
17: 131-142.
7. Lawson, G.T., G. C ttam, and O. L. Louks. 1972, Structure and primary productivity of two watersheds in
Lake Wingra Basin. U -IBP Eastern Deciduous Biome Report (Mimeo) # 72-98, 51 pp.
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Queens County. Ne York. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 100:313-318.
9. Little. CE. 1995. he Dying of the Trees: The Pandemic in America's Forests. Viking, New York. 275 pp.
10. Schmid. lA. 1975 Urban vegetation - a review and Chicago case study. Res. Pap. 161, Department of
Geography. Univer ity of Chicago. IL. 266 pp.
11. Stalter. R. 1981. thirty-nine year history of the arborescent vegetation of Alley Park, Queens County, New
York. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 108: 485-487.
12. Stalter, R. and J, S rrao. 1983. The impact of defoliation of gypsy moths on the oak forest at Greenbrook
Sanctury, New Je ey. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club. 110: 526-529.
13. Waldron. R.M. an J. R. Dyck. 1979. Trees and shrubs on residential lots in Edmonton, 1973. Inf. Rep. NOR­
X-143, Northern R search Centre. Canadian Forestry Service, Environmenr Canada. 39 pp.