To determine whether different habitats have different sized trees, we measured the diameter at breast height (dbh) of adult trees in three sites at the Holyoke Range in Amherst Massachusetts. The sites included a north slope, south slope and flat area at an area called “The Notch” on the Holyoke range. The dbh of these trees was used to find basal area of the adult trees present in eight replicates. After analyzing the basal area of adult trees it was determined that the average basal area was not that different between the slopes. The species Quercus rubra/velutina was also specifically looked at because of its high density at each site compared to other species. It was predicted that the basal area of this species would be larger on the flat than on either north or south slopes. It was actually found that the north slope have higher average basal area than either the flat of the south slopes. Ultimately, the results did not support the hypothesis that steeper slopes have small trees due to higher mortality rates of of larger trees.
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