Title: Sustaining Oak Ecosystems in the Central Hardwood Region: Lessons from the Past--Continuing the History of Disturbance

Author: Dey, Daniel C.; Guyette, Richard P.

Year: 2000

Publication: Trans. 65th No. Amer. Wildl. and Natur. Resour. Conf. p. 170-183

Abstract: Oak savannas, woodlands and forests were dominant ecosystems throughout the central hardwood Region (CHR) before European settlement. Today, only 0.02 percent of the original oak savannas present at the time of European settlement remain, and bottomland hardwood forests have been reduced by 70 to 95 percent depending on the watershed (Nuzzo 1986, Sharitz and Mitsch 1993). This deforestation resulted largely from agriculture development.