What makes a forest “old-growth”?
What do I mean when I say “old-growth” forest? There are a few characteristics of old-growth that have been identified by forest ecologists such as Ohio University’s Dr. Brian McCarthy, a professor in the plant biology department. The first characteristic is that there are trees of a variety of ages. As giant trees eventually die or are blown over, an opening is left in the forest canopy. This opening allows new seedlings to sprout up in the place of the old tree. This process creates patches of trees that are of a similar age, so there are patches of different ages throughout the forest. When scientists refer to old-growth forest, therefore, they are not speaking simply about a bunch of really old trees. Really big, old trees are certainly part of an old-growth forest, however. More specifically, old-growth forests have a variety of species of trees that are greater than 1 meter in diameter at breast height, or DBH. At Dysart Woods there are red and white oaks, tulip poplars, black ch
