Description
The 7,060 acres (2,860 ha) Duke Forest is made up of six divisions which are fully accessible for teaching and research. Numerous forest types and ecosystems, soils, and previous land uses are represented on the forest. It is a resource unparalleled by any other university for its size, accessibility, length of management, and accumulation of long-term data (since 1931).
Like much of the North Carolina Piedmont, the forest was farmed for cotton. After about a century of such management, the soils' native fertility was exhausted, and could no longer create the yields necessary to support farmers. Then, in 1929, the Great Depression began. Land was abandoned and secondary succession began. Pioneer species such as loblolly pine, yellow poplar, and sweetgum quickly colonized these abandoned farm fields. These trees now dominate much of the forest.
Some parts are dominated by oak and hickory trees. These correspond to old woodlots between fields. Many of these stands were never cleared for agriculture. Thus, these stands bear the closest resemblance to precolonial conditions.
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