Dendroarchaeology reveals influence of early-European settlement on forest disturbance regimes in the Appalachian Mountains, USA

Dendroarchaeological samples archived in historical wooden artifacts can be used to reconstruct forest conditions during European settlement of North America. In this study, we dated and examined tree-ring records of white oak (Quercus alba L.) logs sampled from a kitchen and slave quarters from a historical plantation in western Virginia. The kitchen was constructed from logs harvested after the 1845 growing season. The slave quarters was constructed from logs harvested after the 1864 growing season. White oak establishment in the study area parallels a general pattern of forest expansion into clearings following the depopulation of Native Americans from the eastern United States between 1720 and 1789. Synchronized canopy openings in the 1770s and 1780s could be due to increased tree cutting by European settlers to erect wooded palisades for protection against Native Americans.