American beech trees retain their leaves in the winter, giving successional forests a ghostly appearance. Beeches are abundant in the understory of hardwood forests here; shade-tolerant beeches have regenerated in the lower light levels of maturing forest. Lack of periodic natural fire is another reason that beeches are common where they didn't used to be; fire damages their thin bark, killing young (and old) trees. The dead leaves are shed as the new leaves expand in spring.
