Webinar title: Cryptic Old Growth of the Interior Highlands: Woodlands, Glades, Barrens and Succession in the Fire-Suppression Era

Presented by Dr. William Flatley, University of Central Arkansas

Date: November 3, 2026, 1:00 – 2:00 PM (central time)

Register here (required): https://umsystem.zoom.us/meeting/register/6LKv3wVHQwinmj41NL8CUw

Webinar abstract:

What does old growth look like in a landscape shaped by centuries of frequent fire followed by a century of fire suppression? In the Interior Highlands, ecosystems that were never logged or cleared may still look relatively young and substantially different from their past condition due to rapid woody encroachment and canopy closure following fire cessation. In this talk I will present results from dendroecological studies that combine fire history reconstructions with stand age structure, allowing us to track 300+ years of fire occurrence, the timing of fire regime shifts and vegetation change in response to fire suppression. I will discuss studies from old growth shortleaf pine-oak woodlands in the Ouachita Mountains and an old growth glade, barrens, and cedar-oak woodland on the Ozark Plateau. Prior to near-total fire cessation in the early 20^th century, each of these landscapes experienced frequent, predominantly dormant season surface fires with 3-6 year composite mean fire intervals. Following fire suppression in the Ouachita Mountain shortleaf pine-oak woodlands, scattered, large, old shortleaf pines and oaks have been overwhelmed by younger stems. In the Ozarks, formerly open glade and barren habitat was invaded by eastern redcedar and chinquapin oak. The resulting vegetation can be described as “cryptic old growth” – ecosystems where older structures and legacies are obscured by younger, post-fire suppression, woody invasion. These forests are different from the typical old growth of the public’s imagination which are dominated by large and visually impressive trees. However, cryptic old growth retains important ecological legacies, including valuable scientific data on composition, structure, growth patterns and historical disturbance regimes which can serve as guides for landscape scale restoration and prescribed fire management across the region.

Additional resource:

Flatley, W.T., Russell, A.J., Bragg, L.M., Witsell, T. Fire history and tree invasion in an Ozark glade, barrens, and woodland complex. fire ecol 22, 38 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-026-00458-8