BRIDGING THE PAST AND PRESENT: UNDERSTANDING FOREST ECOSYSTEM CHANGE THROUGH HISTORICAL ART
Tomko, Ava, Biological and Health Sciences, Commonwealth University Lock Haven, 301 West Church Street, Lock Haven, PA, 17745, at28612@commonwealthu.edu; Bechtold, Heather, A, Biological and Health Sciences, Commonwealth University Lock Haven, 301 West Church Street, Lock Haven, PA, 17745, hab206@commonwealthu.edu;
Understanding how ecosystems have responded to past disturbances provides valuable insights for predicting future ecological change. Historical ecology often relies on land surveys, sediment cores, and dendrochronology, but artistic paintings remain an underutilized resource. This project investigates how early landscape paintings can inform post-modern forest structure and composition in north-central Pennsylvania.
We focused on areas in the Susquehanna River watershed, which experienced intensive timber harvesting, pest outbreaks, and industrial development during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Artwork of the Susquehanna area included works by A. Wall, G. Hetzel Scapl, and W. Sonnetag. We quantified the presence/absence and frequency of ecological features in 10 selected works from the museum collections at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburg PA. Paintings were systematically analyzed for ecological indicators, including canopy density, tree species diversity, understory presence, and microhabitat features such as cavities, moss, and dead wood.
Statistical comparisons are in-process to evaluate how forest structure has changed from post-modern times, using similar landscape criteria in other studies (Forman & Russell, 1983; Warren et al., 2023) for evaluating historical records in ecology. Our research aim is to highlight how visual records can expand the evidence base for historical ecology. The results will contribute to understanding long-term forest change and inform management of contemporary ecosystems under ongoing disturbance.
forest canopy structure, historical ecology, Susquehanna river, Old growth