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There are 25 hardwood (H, plot #944-968) and 25 mixed hardwood/conifer (M, plot #934-943 and 969-983) sites in the Natural Area, a 350+ year old unmanaged forest site located west of Catlin Lake on Huntington Wildlife Forest, SUNY ESF. Fifty 5-gallon buckets were sampled approximately every six months. A bucket was censored if it had been knocked down or tipped over more than 45 degrees at any point during that time. Biologists checked buckets occasionally throughout the sampling period but did not collect seeds until July or November.

All leaves, sticks, seeds and other materials were collected from buckets and placed in either sturdy paper bags or plastic bags. Sample bags were labeled with plot number, date, and site name. A note was made if a bucket was tipped, damaged/inoperable or missing (these samples were censored). Samples were air-dried in the bags, open and standing up, in a rodent-proof room for 2-14 days depending on moisture content of the leaf litter. For each sample, full or partial seeds (e.g., conifer seed wings) were extracted from the leaf litter after being spread on a large, white sheet of paper illuminated by a bright lamp. Seeds were sorted by species or type and counted (see Data Table below for species information). Species codes are based on common names. Seeds were compared to the seed collection in the herbarium.

For tree species other than beech and sugar maple, total seeds were counted but not viability in collections #1-36 (2006). Starting with collection #37 (2006), all conifer seeds were sorted by species and seed viability/completeness was recorded for American beech, sugar maple, red maple, red spruce and white ash (“XXXX_FULL” columns).

Conifer seeds can be difficult to count due to their fragility, similarity, and tendency to be enclosed in the cone. Starting with collection #37 (2006), all conifer seeds are identified to species. For conifer seed identification, beginning with collection #37 (2006), 1 RESP nut/embryo = 1 full seed, but 1 wing with no seed/nut = 1 empty. HEML were counted by the seed/nut only; due to the fragility of wings it was not possible to count number of empty seeds. Before collection #37 (pre-2006), attempts were made to identify conifer seeds but the numbers should be taken as a qualitative assessment. If a cone fell in the bucket in collections #1-36, the biologist could identify species (RESP, EAHE); if not, the conifer seeds were counted in the SP-FI-HE category. Avoid comparing EAHE or RESP numbers prior to 2006 due to this lack of specificity.

For yellow birch, because of seed processing issues (small, fragile, numerous), in 2003 (collections #30 and 31), seeds were not enumerated in the YEBI_total column, but were counted qualitatively as follows: High >50, Medium 10-50, Low <10, None = 0. Starting in collection #32 (2004), >50 seeds is marked as 51 but there may have been more seeds than 51, as the biologist usually stopped counting after 50. Accordingly, some samples contain estimated YEBI seeds; this is noted in the comments by “est.” or “over 50 YEBI.”