This report is from 

THE FOREST SURVEY 

DIViSION OF FQREST ECONOMICS 

Robert Ko Winters ~ Division Chi?f 

E. V. Roberts, In Char~e, Forest Survey 

. ' 
FOREWORD 

The Forest Survey is a Nation- wide activity of the Forest 

Service. The fivefo l d purpose of the Fore st Survey is: (l) to 

make a fie l d inventory of the present suppl y of standing timber; 

(2) to find out how fast this supply is being increased through 

growth; (3) to find out how fast it is being diminished through 

industria l and domestic uses, windfa ll, fire , disease , and other 

causes; (4) to determine the present consumpt i on and the probable 

future trend in requirements for forest products, and ( 5) t o 

interpret and corre l at e these findings wit h ex i sting and anticipated economic conditions as an aid in f ormul ating both private 

and publ i c policies for use of land suitable for forest production. 

The Forest Survey is c onducted in the various regions by 

the forest experiment stat ions of the Forest Service. In Kentucky 

the project was directed by the Central St ates Forest Experiment 

Station with headquarters in Co l umbus, Ohio . 

i 

Proc edur e 

Results 

Figures~ 

C 0 N T E N T S 

lo--Forest Survey regions in Kentucky 

2o--Samp l e plot locations in Kentucky 

3.--Pine 

4 o--Redc edar 

5.--White oak 

6.--Post-oak species 

7 .--B1ack oak 

B.--Red oak 

9.--Hickory 

10.--Ash 

ll.--Ye11ow-poplar 

12.--Sweetgum 

13.~-Beech 

14.--Black wa lnut 

Sc ientific names of the tree species mapped 

iii 

l 

2 

iv 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

ll 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 
~· <: 

Legend 

0 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

Forest Survey Regions 

Western 

Western Coalfield 

Pennyroyal 

Blue Crass 

Cumberl and 

Eastern 

5CALl-5TATUT£: llltL£ 5 

0 10 lO 30 4 0 50 

Fi9ure I.- -Forest Survey regions in Kentucky. 
~~~ 

DI STR I BUTION OF TREE SPECIES IN KEN~ TUCKY 

By 

Lake F, Compton 

- and 

Robert K. Wi nters 

Informat ion on the distributi on and concentrati on of commercial tree species is frequent l y ne eded by for est industry operators, Chambers of ommerce~ railroads, sc ienti sts, and others. 

To meet t his need t he 12 species distr ibution maps in this r epor t 

were compiled from Forest Survey dat a for the s evera l regions i n 

Kentucky (fig. 1). The 12 species were se l ected becaus e of t he i r 

abundance or the ir commerc i a l i mport ance. The maps indicate t he 

approximate range and frequency of t he se species, 

Proc edure 

During the period 1948 to 95 ~ Forest Survey fie l d men 

t a llied trees by species on 2,584 pl ots i n Kent ucky. The appr oxima te location of each pl ot is shown i n f igure 2o These plots wer e 

random! y s e lee t ed from a much larger numbe·r ·of plots that had been 

examined on aerial photographs and c lassified as f orest and, i f 

for est, as saw timber, pole timber , or seed ling and sapling. 

Accordingly, the concentrati on of pl ots in figure 2 i ndicates in 

a genera l way the conc entration of forest area t hroughout the 

St at e . 

On each for est plot~ l/5-acre in area, f i e ld men rec or ded 

the number of trees by species and 2-inch di ameter cla sses. Sawt imber stands (as photo interpreted) were purposely s ampl ed mor e 

heav ily than pole -timber st ands~ and pole--timber stands mor e 

heavily than seedling and sapling stands . lso~ r iver bot toms 

were purpose l y sampled more heav ily than upper slopes. In pre~ 

paring the f ollowing maps only har dwood t rees 11. 0 or more i nc he s 

in diameter were considered. Pine trees 9 . 0 i nches and l arger and 

redcedar trees 5.0 inche s and larger were a lso included . 

The species distribution ma ps ~ figures 3 t hrough 14, show 

t he approx i mate distribution and concentration of trees of various 

species. Each dot on the se maps indicates one or mor e trees of a 

given species (the number is specified on each map )Q In gener a l, 

each dot i s located i n the part of the county in which the t r ee or 

trees were found. On some maps the dots are cons picuously clustered. This clustering is, in part~ due to t he differential sampling referred to above ; t he number of tree s on t he le ss-intensively 

sampled plots wer e i.ncreased by appropriate conversion factors to 

compensate f or the differen·tia ] samp ling. In attempting to plac e 
the dots as near the point of sampling as possible, clusters were 

formed $ This does not mean that the species distribution is 

actually as clustered as it looks. It does mean, however, that 

one or more trees of the species were found at that location . 

Results 

Figures 3 through 14 show that pine species (shortleaf and 

Virginia pine) are for the most part confined to the two survey 

units in the rough to mountainous eastern part of the State. 

Practically no redcedar was found in this area Q With the exception 

of the Kentucky Blue Grass region in the north central part of the 

State, the oaks and hickories are well distributed . Black oak 

appears to be the most abundant species. Ash occurs sparingly 

throughout the State and its distribution pattern indicates that 

it is found in river bottoms. Yellow-poplar is most abundant in 

the eastern and south central part of the State and sweetgum in 

the western part. 

2 
3 

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Fisure 3.-- Distribution of pine in Kentucky. Each dot represents 

four saw-timber t rees measured on Forest Survey plots. 
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Figure 4.--Distribution of redcedar in Kentucky. Each dot represents three sa

pole- size trees measured on Forest Survey plots. 
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Figure 5.--Distribution of white oak in Kentucky. Each dot represen

two saw-timber trees measured on Forest Survey plots. 
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Figure 6.--Distribution of post~oak species in Kentuckye Each dot repre

one saw-timber tree measured on Forest Survey plots. 
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Figure ?.--Distribution of black oak in Kentucky. Each dot represe

two saw-timber trees measured on Forest Survey plots. 
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Figure 8$--Distribution of t0e red oaks in Kentucky. Each dot represe

two saw-timber trees measured on Forest Survey plots. 
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Figure 9.--Distribution of hickory in Kentucky . Each dot r epresent

two saw-timber trees measured on Forest Survey plots. 
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Figure 10.--Distribution of ash in Kentucky . Each dot represents 

one saw-timber tree measured on Forest Survey plots. 
..... 

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Figure 11.--Distribution of yellow-poplar in Kentucky. Each dot represe

two saw-timber trees measured on Forest Survey plots. 
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Figure 12.--Distribution of sweetgum in Kentucky . Each dot represe

two saw-timber trees measured on Forest Survey plots. 
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Figure 13.--Distribution of beech in Kentucky. Each dot represents 

one saw-timber tree measured on Forest Survey plots. 
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Figure 14.--Distribution of black walnut in Kentucky. Each dot represe

one saw-timber tree measured on Forest Survey plots. 
Scient i fic Names of the Tree Species Mapped 

Softwoods 

Pine includes: 

Virginia pine 

Shortleaf pine 

Redcedar 

Hardwoods 

White oak 

Post-oak group includes: 

Post oak 

Swamp white oak 

Swamp chestnut oak 

Overcup oak 

Bur oak 

Ch inquapin oak 

B

~-'A'~ l ack oak includes: 

Bl ack oak 

Scarl et oak 

Red oak i ncludes: 

Northern red oak 

Swamp red oak 

Southern red oak 

Pin oak 

Willow oak 

Water oak 

Shingle oak 

Hickory 

Ash 

Yellow-poplar 

Sweetgum 

Beech 

Bl ack wa lnut 

Pinus virginiana 

Pinus echinata 

J uniperus virginiana 

- Quercus a l ba 

- ~uercus stellata 

- Quercus bicolor 

- Quercus prinus 

- Quercus l yrata 

- Quercus ma croc arpa 

- Quercus mueh l enbergii 

- QJ.tf:p.::cwrr .mam~ 

- Quercus velutina 

- Quer cus coccinea 

- ercus borea l is 

- Quercus f a l cata var . pagodaefolia 

- Quercus falcata 

- Quercus palustris 

- Quercus phellos 

- Quercus nigra 

- Quercus imbricaria 

- Car ya species 

- Fraxinus species 

- Liriodendron tulipifera 

- Liguidambar styraciflua 

- Fagus grandifolia 

- J uglans nigra 

16 
TERRITORY SERVED BY THE 

CENTRAL STATES FOR·EST EXPERIMENT STATION 

FOREST SERVI'CE 

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

IOWA 

0 

0 

MISSOURI 

ll!.LI NO IS 

* C. S. F. E. S. HEADQ.UARTERS 

0 RESEARCH CE~TERS 

!l EXPERIMENTAL . FORESTS