Land Use History Effects In Mixed Pine - Hardwood Forests at Fort Benning1

Abstract Over decades, and especially on public lands subject to multiple uses, land use activities can affect forest composition or structure. We asked if current ground layer vegetation composition or stand structure (canopy openness, tree density, plus depth of the soil A layer) in 32 mixed pine-hardwood forest stands at Fort Benning, GA, reflects military use or fire frequency over the last 20 years. The 32 stands, half on sandy and half on clayey soil, were assigned to two military use categories (heavier, open to tracked vehicles, or lighter, with dismounted infantry training) and three fire frequency (# fires/20 yr) categories [low (0–2 fires), medium (3–4 fires), and high (5–6 fires)]. Ordination reflected abundance of grass and legume species, the proportion of pine in the canopy, canopy openness, and tree density and age; it revealed a relatively stronger influence of military land use and canopy composition, and weaker influence of fire frequency (over the past 20 years), on ground layer vegeta...