Stadium Woods is an approximately 15-acre wooded section found adjacent to the east side of Lane Stadium on the Virginia Tech campus. It is approximately a rectangle 2000 feet long (running north/south) and 300 feet wide (Figure 1). The area is heavily wooded, with numerous white oak (Quercus alba L.) trees over 36 inches in diameter at breast height (dbh).
The age structure of the area is an unbalanced, uneven-aged stand with a large amount of coarse woody debris and standing snags indicative of old-growth forest (Figure 2 and 3) (Oliver and Larson, 1996). There are approximately 450 trees per acre over 4 inches in dbh. Each acre contains three to five white oak trees over 250 years old, and these large trees make up a significant percentage of the overstory. In all of Stadium Woods, there are 58 white oaks over 3 feet in dbh (two are large standing dead snags).
The mid-story and gaps in the old white oak canopy are composed primarily of rapidly growing black oak (Quercus velutina Lam.), black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.), sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.), and red maple (Acer rubrum L.). The understory is composed of blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium L.), sassafras (Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) Ness.), serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea Michx f.) Fern.), choke cherry (Prunus virginiana L.), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica (Marsh.)), and flowering dogwood (Cornus florida L.). There is also a significant amount of invasive species in the understory, including privet (Ligustrum spp.), oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb.), and multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora Thunb. Ex Murr.). Simpson Index of tree species diversity range from over 0.9 (very high diversity) to 0.4 (low diversity) depending on the location in Stadium Woods. Over 55 species of birds have been documented frequenting Stadium Woods, including many neotropical bird species (survey conducted by New River Valley Bird Club).
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Figure 1. Stadium Woods outlined in red on the Virginia
Tech campus, Blacksburg, Virginia.
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The age structure of the area is an unbalanced, uneven-aged stand with a large amount of coarse woody debris and standing snags indicative of old-growth forest (Figure 2 and 3) (Oliver and Larson, 1996). There are approximately 450 trees per acre over 4 inches in dbh. Each acre contains three to five white oak trees over 250 years old, and these large trees make up a significant percentage of the overstory. In all of Stadium Woods, there are 58 white oaks over 3 feet in dbh (two are large standing dead snags).
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| Figure 2. Diameter distribution of trees greater than 11 inches in Stadium Woods. The distribution found is indicative of an uneven-aged old growth stand. |
The mid-story and gaps in the old white oak canopy are composed primarily of rapidly growing black oak (Quercus velutina Lam.), black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.), sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.), and red maple (Acer rubrum L.). The understory is composed of blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium L.), sassafras (Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) Ness.), serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea Michx f.) Fern.), choke cherry (Prunus virginiana L.), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica (Marsh.)), and flowering dogwood (Cornus florida L.). There is also a significant amount of invasive species in the understory, including privet (Ligustrum spp.), oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb.), and multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora Thunb. Ex Murr.). Simpson Index of tree species diversity range from over 0.9 (very high diversity) to 0.4 (low diversity) depending on the location in Stadium Woods. Over 55 species of birds have been documented frequenting Stadium Woods, including many neotropical bird species (survey conducted by New River Valley Bird Club).
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Figure 3. Views of Stadium Woods. Upper right photo shows Virginia Master
Naturalists at work inventorying the forest.
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