Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 34(4): July 2008 Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2008. 34(4):245–251. 245 A 70-Year History of Arborescent Vegetation of Inwood Park, Manhattan, New York, U.S. Richard Stalter and Dwight Kincaid Abstract. The arborescent vegetation located at three sites within Inwood Park, Manhattan, New York, U.S. was sampled by the quadrat method in October 2004 and May 2005 and compared with the trees present in the same quadrats on a map of trees at Inwood Park prepared by the federal Works Program Administration in 1935. Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) was the dominant tree at the Moist Valley and South Slope sites in 1935 and 2005, whereas oak (Quercus) was the dominant genus at Dry Ridge in 1935 and 2005. Dogwood (Cornus florida) was the dominant subcanopy tree in 1935; it was unimportant in 2005, a victim of dogwood anthracnose. In terms of ecologic dominance, there has been no change in the first ranked genera at these sites in the past 70 years. Mean tree diameter (diameter at breast height) has increased from 32.3 cm (12.9 in) to 41.8 cm (16.7 in). The three sites have experienced a parallel pattern of increase in tree size from 1935 to 2005. Nonnative trees were not important in Inwood Park in 2005. Key Words. Inwood Park; Manhattan; New York City; urban forests. Within the confines of New York City, U.S. there exists natural, woody vegetation that is probably similar to the vegetation ob- served by 17th century Dutch settlers (Greller 1972). Today, most of this natural vegetation persists in municipal parks ad- ministered by the New York City Department of Parks and Rec- reation (Greller 1975; Stalter 1981). During the 1930s, federal money was supplied through the Works Program Administration (WPA) to map, identify, and record the diameter at breast height (dbh at 1.37 m [4.5 ft]) of all trees in Inwood Park. After the completion of the WPA project in 1935, a map with tree identification, location, and dbh data was filed away and forgotten for nearly 40 years (Stalter 1981). The objective of this study was to compare community structure of the trees of Inwood Park as mapped in 1935 with that present in October 2004 through May 2005. METHODS The current study was conducted in Inwood Park (81 ha [200 ac]), located in northwest Manhattan (Figure 1). The quadrat method was used to sample trees presently growing in the park. Only trees with a dbh greater than 7.6 cm (3 in) were selected and measured in this study. Twenty-five 10m×10m(33ft×33 ft) quadrants were established at each of the three sites at Inwood Park: 1) Moist Valley, a forest dominated by Liriodendron tu- lipifera, 40°5225N, 73°5526W; 2) South Slope, a south- facing moist forest dominated by Liriodendron tulipifera, 40°5221N, 73°5526W; and 3) Dry Ridge, a ridge-top domi- nated by oak species, 40°5215N, 73°5522W. The trees pres- ent in the 25 quadrats at each site in October 2004 through May 2005 were mapped on the original 1935 tree map of Inwood Park prepared by the WPA workers during the Great Depression in the United States. Although the purpose of the WPA was to put people to work rather than to pursue forestry, nevertheless, these tree data have historical value for understanding forest change in New York City. Figure 1. Inwood Park, in the northern tip of Manhattan, New York. Color-coded tree planting sites 1991 to 2003 by New York City Parks and Recreation. The geographic distribution of these plantings exceeded the range of our three study sites whose GPS coordinates are given in “Methods.” ©2008 International Society of Arboriculture
July 2008
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