The Role of Tulip Poplar in Virginia’s Regenerating Forests 32 views

Forests of the Appalachian region are undergoing structural and compositional shifts following widespread historical land use and subsequent reforestation. These second-growth systems often differ from pre-disturbance forests in both species dominance and vertical structure, with potential consequences for ecosystem function. In this study, I investigated how species composition—particularly the dominance of Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) relative to oak–hickory taxa—influences canopy structural variability in a regenerating montane forest at the University of Virginia’s Morven Sustainability Lab. Using data from 45 forest plots, I quantified canopy structural complexity as the standard deviation of canopy height and evaluated its relationship with species diversity and proportional abundance of dominant taxa. Linear and multiple regression analyses revealed that species diversity was positively associated with canopy structural variability, while Tulip Poplar dominance was consistently negatively associated with variability, indicating a homogenizing effect. In contrast, Quercus abundance showed weak or non-significant relationships with canopy structure. Direct comparisons confirmed a strong negative trend between Tulip Poplar and canopy variability, and Quercus again showed no significant trend. Further analysis yielded no significant trends, but suggests a potential threshold-dependent reduction in canopy complexity at high levels of Tulip Poplar dominance, and that homogenization of canopy structure is driven by within-species dynamics. These findings indicate that Tulip Poplar acts as a key driver of changes in the structure of regenerating forests from the historical norm. As Tulip Poplar becomes increasingly abundant in post-disturbance forests, its influence on canopy architecture may have important implications for carbon dynamics, habitat heterogeneity, and long-term forest resilience.

BS (Bachelor of Science)

Tulip Poplar; Yellow Poplar; Forest Structure; Morven Sustainability Lab; Morven; Liriodendron tulipifera; Ecology; Forest Ecology; Vertical Structure; Quercus; Oak; Reforestation

English

2026-08-18