In this Experiment, students investigate the inhibitory effects of Eastern Hemlock trees on establishment of neighboring woody plants. Some years ago, one of the faculty in the Biology Department at Hope College noticed that fewer seedlings and saplings of broadleaved woody species seemed to grow beneath the canopies of eastern hemlock trees than beneath the canopies of other species on the Hope College Nature Preserve property. A number of student projects have confirmed this pattern, but none have been successful in determining the mechanism by which Eastern Hemlocks inhibit the other species. Students design experiments to investigate 1) allelopathic effects of hemlock, and 2) non-allelopathic habitat differences (e.g. light availability, soil composition, litter) as explanations for differential seedling distribution.