Relationships between live tree diameter and cavity abundance in a Missouri oak-hickory forest

We quantified relationships between mean dbh of live, dominant and codominant trees, and cavity abundance in an oak-hickory forest in southeast Missouri. Inspection of 3,981 trees >12.7 cm dbh in 107 0.1-ha plots indicated that cavities occurred in 19.9% of all trees. White oak, black oak, scarlet oak, and hickories composed 97% of the sample. Black oak contained the greatest number and frequency of cavities; white oak had the fewest cavities. In general, the proportion of trees with cavities increased as dbh increased, but mean tree dbh per plot explained little of the observed variance in cavity abundance. Correlations between tree diameter and cavity abundance were poor because of the wide variety of factors that affect cavity development in living trees. Differences in cavity occurrence among tree species suggest that black and scarlet oaks should be selected over hickories and white oak when managing for cavity trees.