Oak forest

[2] The forests are commonly found around the Appalachian Mountains and neighboring areas in the Midwest United States.

[4][1] This plant life is often credited with assisting in maintaining air, soil, and water quality as well as playing a major role in biodiversity of different state regions.

[3] Oak forests are susceptible to a shift in the tree demography, with greater abundances of shade-tolerant and fire-sensitive species, such as red maple (Acer rubrum), sugar maple (A. saccharum), American beech (Fagus grandifolia) and hickory (Carya spp.).

[6] To combat this, the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve attempted controlled fires to burn off leaf litter of competing non-oaks without harming mature trees to encourage oak seed growth.

[6] Deer browse is also combatted by the organization with tall deer fences being installed in 10-acre sections of oak forests, promoting the growth of tall oak seedlings regularly and is now encourage by the National Park Service to forest managers having to handle similar issues.