Ash Management Guide for Private Forest Landowners
Ash Management Guide for Private Forest Landowners
Ash Management Guide for Private Forest Landowners
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Chapter 5The Native PlantCommunitiesFloodplain<strong>Forest</strong> SystemVines:• Wild grapes• Virginia creeper• Canada moonseedHerbaceous plants:• Ostrich fern• Wood nettle• Stinging nettle• Tall coneflower• Honewort• Jewel weed• Carrion-flower• Sweet-scented bedstraw• Side-flowering aster• Ontario aster• Kidney-leaved buttercupGrasses:• Rice cut grass (native)• Virginia wildrye (native)• Reed canary grass (invasive)Terrace and floodplain <strong>for</strong>ests inparticular are not especially diversecommunities. On average, 33 species ofplants are found in 400m 2 . Because ofthe abundance of moist mineral soil, asignificant portion of the flora consistsof germinating plants – many of whichwill not survive <strong>for</strong> long. Thus, the averagenumber of persistent plants is ratherlow, the lowest of any system with ashtrees.Some rare plants and animals aredependent upon floodplain and terrace<strong>for</strong>est habitat in Minnesota.Photo: Fred HarrisWater & Wood: Good & BadRiparian <strong>for</strong>ests provide a long corridor<strong>for</strong> animal habitat and migration.Natural EAB movement will be easiestalong riparian corridors, effectively spreadingit locally at 2-4 miles per year. Riparian<strong>for</strong>ests are important because theyprovide shade to cool streams and normalamounts of fallen trees <strong>for</strong> wood habitatin the water. This is especially importantin sand-bedded streams that lack cobbleand gravel sites <strong>for</strong> spawning, rearing, andinvertebrate attachment. These corridorsalso provide overhead cover.Wood in rivers is a good thing; however,too much wood can cause silt andfine sand to cover spawning and rearingWood jams occur approximatelyevery 300-400 feeton the Rat Root River innorthern Minnesota.Opposite page: Floodplain<strong>Forest</strong> standPhoto: Sandy Verry40