Secondary Succession Following Fire in “Tight Holler,” Kentucky

ABSTRACT
Vegetational succession following fire in mature eastern hemlock-mixed mesophytic forests is not well documented. Some qualitative descriptions do exist (Braun, 1950) but little quantitative information is available. Although primary and secondary succession following disturbance by man are generally well understood (i.e. logging, strip mining, agriculture, etc.), our knowledge of succession in virgin forests is limited. Secondary succession following a spatially limited, but moderately severe fire on a virgin mesic ravine slope community in eastern Kentucky is discussed. The vegetational structure, as it exists forty-seven years after the fire, is described quantitatively.