Source: Natural Areas Journal. 30: 64-72.
Cathedral State Park (CSP) is a 54-ha, old-growth, eastern hemlock-hardwood forest located in the central Appalachian Mountains of WestVirginia. Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) (Adelges tsugae Annand) is an exotic insect that currently threatens eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) in its native range, and was found in CSP in 2002. In 2006, field plots established in 2000 were re-measured to assess adelgid-induced changes to forest structure and species composition. The herbaceous plant community was also measured during the 2006 growing season to describe how the ground flora has changed since it was originally surveyed in 1965. In addition, characteristics of snags and downed dead wood in CSP were compared to published data on 25 old-growth hemlock-hardwood stands in the eastern United States.