Oak Mortality in Eastern Kentucky

Abstract

Abstract Canopy-tree mortality was assessed from 1985 through 1987 at Robinson Forest in eastern Kentucky. Red oaks, predominantly scarlet oak and black oak, experienced the greatest mortality followed by hickories, white oak, and chestnut oak. Mortality was concentrated in mixed red and whiteoak stands on relatively xeric mid- or upper-slope positions. Mortality was not severe in oak-pine stands on extremely xeric sites. The loss of red oaks in mixed oak stands is typical of the current mortality pattern in the southern Appalachians as well as past mortality associated with regionaldroughts. Mortality will probably continue, and these types of losses should be incorporated into management plans. Treatments to alleviate monetary losses include salvage cuts where feasible and treatments aimed at decreasing the basal area of black and scarlet oaks growing in stands whichare considered at risk. South. J. Appl. For. 13(2):86-91.