BUFFALO, NEW YORK—New research suggests that a higher than expected number of fire-tolerant, large-nut-bearing trees such as hickory, chestnut, and oak were present near the sites of Native American villages in Western New York in the early nineteenth century. In contrast, beech and sugar maples, which burn readily in forest fires, appeared in smaller numbers than expected. Steve Tulowiecki, who conducted the study while a student at the University at Buffalo with Chris Larsen, used data on trees that was collected in a survey of Chautauqua County between 1799 and 1814, and mapped it along with temperature, precipitation, and soil conditions, to predict what types of trees would have been growing if environmental conditions were the only variables at work. “Our results contribute to the conversation about how natural or humanized the landscape of America was when Europeans first arrived,” Tulowiecki said in a press release. According to the analysis, as much as 20 percent of the land in modern-day Chautauqua County may have been modified. For more about early New York, go to "The Hidden History of New York's Harbor."