Flambeau Forest Blowdown

Abstract

On July 4,1977, the 160 acre Flambeau River Forest Scientific Area was struck by a downburst of hurricane proportions (Fujita 1977) which destroyed most of the preserve. This stand had been one of the few relatively untouched old growth northern hardwood forest stands in the Upper Great Lakes region. Hemlock, yellow birch, and sugar maple are the dominant canopy tree species. The vegetation of this stand had been studied in 1967 (Anderson 1968) and 1973 (Anderson unpublished). Thus, the Flambeau River Forest Scientific Area in northern Wisconsin provides a unique opportunity to examine the changes following large scale disturbance in a stand of known composition. The purpose of our work was to quantify the extent of destruction from the 1977 blowdown and examine the reestablishment of woody species in a naturally disturbed northern hardwood forest stand.