Ash Management Guide for Private Forest Landowners

Chapter 5The Native PlantCommunitiesFloodplainForest SystemThe Cerulean warbler hasshown the steepest decline ofany warbler species accordingto the Breeding Bird Survey. Ithas suffered an 83% declineover the last 40 years. Thedecline is attributed, in part, tothe loss of bottomland habitat.WF because organics (non-living materialderived from living organisms) do NOTtend to accumulate on the surface. Thatmeans there is a water flow that deliversincredible amounts of nutrients to the FFsites. To live on an active floodplain, a treemust:• tolerate inundation, root and boleburial by sediments;• resist erosion;• survive wounding from ice floes; and• be able to invade open, fresh-soilhabitats.Common Trees:• Silver maple• Green ash• Black ash (northern MN)• White ash (southern MN only)Occasional Tree:• American elm• Basswood• Box elder• HackberrySilver maple is the tree most adaptedto Minnesota floodplains and it stronglydominates the forest. However, creekPhoto: Greg Lavatybottoms, abandoned terraces, andhigher microsites on the active floodplainapproach WF habitat - and ashdoes well there. Ash seedlings occur in95% of all FF, and ash trees are found in88% of them – indicating that the ashhas good success at recruiting seedlingsto the canopy. Green ash is most common;occurring in 53% of all FF and itcontributes 16% of the trees on average.Black ash is frequent; occurring in 38%of all FF, accounting for about 21% of thetrees on average.In general, black ash is more commonin northern Minnesota and greenash more common in the south. Whiteash is limited to southern Minnesotaand occurs in just trace amounts on FFsites. In addition to silver maple andash, most (95%) floodplain and terraceforests are mixed with some other trees.No Minnesota conifer is tolerantof flooding, and thus you will not findthem in the FF community. Shrubs andsmall trees are essentially absent fromany surface that floods regularly; rathervines are more likely to be found thanare woody understory plants.GLOSSARYmicrosites: A small part ofan ecosystem that differsmarkedly from its immediatesurroundings.conifer: A cone-bearing tree(e.g. pines, firs, spruce, cedars,redwoods, larches etc.).39