Impacts of Early Homestead Abandonment on Forests and Soils at Scotia Barrens, Central Pennsylvania: Implications for Altered and Arrested Vegetation Development

Land-use history is an important determinant of vegetation patterns in many ecosystems world-wide (Foster 1992, Orwig and Abrams 1994, Verheyen et al. 1999, Dahlstrom et al. 2006). Forest composition has been reported to differ between sites following agricultural abandonment compared with nearby unplowed soils (Glitzenstein et al. 1990, Motzkin et al. 1996). Differences have also been reported in soil chemistry and nutrient cycling processes, including higher pH and calcium in cultivated forest and grassland soils (Glatzel 1991, Connell et al. 1995, Verheyen et al. 1999). However, impacts of land-use history on soil chemistry may be less profound in the U.S. than in Europe (Motzkin et al. 1996, Koerner et al. 1997, Flinn et al. 2005). This has been attributed to the comparatively short history of post-European settlement (150–400 years) in the U.S. relative to Europe (5,000+years; Foster 1992). Moreover, there is a relative scarcity of detailed studies on the impacts of land-use history on plant biogeography and soils in the U.S. (Abrams and Hayes 2008).