ENTS,

On a recent visit to Perrysburg, Ohio I was able to get some "tree time" in
to survey some new areas close to my relatives. Canopy cover was dense but I
was still able to get some reliable heights and at least provide a hint of
what the sites contain. In this post I will discuss Swan Creek Preserve
which is located just outside of Toledo, OH along Swan Creek. This link
provides a good background of the preserve. I was drawn to it because of the
oxbows and recessed topography.

http://www.metroparkstoledo.com/metroparks/swancreek/

I split off from a family outing to the site and bee-lined for trails with
names like "Big Woods Trail" and "Floodplain Trail". The floodplain site was
appropriately named and had a generous population of mature, canopy
occupying sassafras. I regret not measuring the gnarly giants pictured
below- I thought I would return by them on the way out.

Gnarly giants

Detail of large sassafras

Sassafras group

Cottonwood dominated the canopy with silver maple, hackberry, and boxelder
common as well. All the ash were dead from emerald ash borer. The understory
was a mix of exotics and natives but was fairly open and visibility good. I
measured some cottonwoods to slightly over 130'. I was hoping for some tall
silver maples but none were found much over 100' in this section. I next
went to the Big Woods section which was an upland site dominated by white
and northern red oaks ~ 115'. A few bur oaks were scattered in as well as
tuliptree, red maple, and sassafras. Red hickory and American beech were
also scattered but did not reach large or tall sizes. The canopy was so
dense that I only measured a tall sassafras which reached 19.7" DBH X
106.9'. A winter trip will be needed to properly measure the site and
complete a Rucker Index.

Typical forest scene with a 57.1" X 125.3' cottonwood

While surveying the Big Woods site my daughter called me on my cell phone.
In her cute seven-year old voice she stated she was looking at the biggest
tree she had ever seen. She was right, and the riparian site surrounding the
big cottonwood was outstanding! I spent most of my time in the small area
around this tree. Tall silver maples and Freeman maples (Acer X freemanii)
co-dominated with the giant cottonwoods. The wood volume was impressive but
the find of the day was a towering Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra) that
reached 92.7 feet. I had seen saplings everywhere and was on the lookout for
the "mama" tree. Another impressive tree was a 31.1" X 100.8' honeylocust.
The trail crossed the creek on a swinging bridge which was anchored to some
pretty impressive cottonwoods over 15' cbh.

Cora and her find; a 72.4" X 121.7' cottonwood

Super-tall Ohio buckeye 27.4" DBH X 92.7'

40.3" X 128.1' Freeman maple on left, silver on right in water

Swinging bridge anchored to cottonwood

There is a good bit of riparian area left to explore at this site, one that
I will return to next trip.

Site measurements so far:

Continued at: