Influence of an old field/forest edge on a northeastern United States deciduous forest understory community

We examined edge effects within a forest along old field boundaries in a mi xed deciduous/hemlock forest community in upstate New York. Species composi tion and community structure of both forest understory and treefall gap veg etation were analyzed in two ways: first, we used belt transects to quantif y changes in the understory community with distance from the forest edge, a nd second, we compared species composition of treefall gaps both near and d istant from the edge. Exotic species and locally rare species were signific antly more abundant at the forest edges than in the forest interior, while tree seedlings were less common at the forest edge. Species composition of treefall gaps near the old field/forest edge differed from composition of t reefall gaps in the forest interior during most of the growing season. Tree fall gaps at the forest edge, as a group, were compositionally more heterog eneous than treefall gaps distant from the edge.