Duke Forest Vistas

Over 7000 acres of mostly forested lands in Durham, Orange, and Alamance Counties, NC, the Duke Forest is owned and managed by Duke University primarily as a teaching and research forest. Additionally, the Forest is managed as an operational, limited revenue-generating forest through sustainable harvest of wood products. The Forest is also managed for public recreation during daylight hours and as a natural heritage and biodiversity preserve. By maintaining a healthy forest ecosystem, both air quality and water quality are enhanced for the residents of nearby cities and towns such as Durham, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough.

New Hope Creek

	New Hope Creek, Korstian Division, Duke Forest Orange Co., NC 6 May 2006
	Same view, 4.5 months later! New Hope Creek, Korstian Division, Duke Forest Orange Co., NC 29 Sep 2006
	Nearby view a year later as the drought becomes extreme in North Carolina
	New Hope Creek, Korstian Division, Duke Forest Orange Co., NC 6 May 2006

New Hope Creek, Korstian Division, Duke Forest

Orange Co., NC
2 June 2003

Succession in the Carolina Piedmont...

	Soon after a disturbance such as a clearcut, grasses like crabgrass and broomsedge (seen well in this photo) and other herbaceous plants like horseweeds and asters appear. Gate 34, Durham Division 8 Jan 2008
	Loblolly Pine trees often quickly take over these fields. Gate 26, Korstian Division 8 Jan 2008
	Loblolly Pine becomes the dominant tree in the forest for several decades. Blackwood Division 8 Jan 2008
	Eventually, hardwoods like sweetgum, tulip tree, and then oaks and hickories succeed the pines. Oosting Tract 8 Jan 2008
	Pines cannot grow under the shade of an established canopy, so the hardwood forest is considered to be the climax plant community in the piedmont. Gate 26, Korstian Division 8 Jan 2008

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Created on ... January 18, 2006 | Updated on ... Dec 24, 2007 | jspippen@duke.edu