A beech-maple forest is a climax mesic closed canopy hardwood forest.[1] It is primarily composed of American Beech and Sugar Maple trees which co-dominate the forest and which are the pinnacle of plant succession in their range.[2][3] A form of this forest was the most common forest type in the Northeastern United States when it was settled and remains widespread but scattered today.
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Description
The canopy is dominated by the beech and maple trees, providing little light to the understory with a resulting lack of shrubs. Two exceptions are the Witch-hazel and alderleaf viburnum shrubs.[4] The ground cover includes herbs and spring ephemerals which are able to bloom before the canopy returns.[5] There are also a large number of beech and maple tree seedlings which grow rapidly when windthrow or other breaks in the canopy occur. There are variants of this type which include hemlock or red spruce in smaller densities.[4]
They are often found on flat or rolling terrain in a variety of moist, but not wet soils with high levels of organic matter.[4][6] They thrive in glacial till from the Wisconsin glaciation[7]. Typically, in sandy soils, the maple is more common while in soils that have more clay in them, the beech is more dominant.[2] There must be a fairly high level of precipitation.[8]
These forests are the result of plant succession, a long progression of different plant species over centuries. One possible sere is from bare ground, it would start with weeds, then shrubs, weedy trees (eg: mulberry), then coniferous trees (eg: Juniper) and additional types such as ash lead to a mixed mesophytic forest. Eventually, a Oak-hickory forest develops. If the conditions allow, the final climax community for several different seres[9] is the beech-maple community.[10] Even in a climax community dominated by two types of trees, there can be many different species of trees on the edges of the forest, in windthrow gaps or in microclimates.[11]
Until about a century ago the Eastern deciduous forest climax community included a large number of American chestnut (Castanea dentata) trees, particularly in its southern expanses; it was estimated that half the value of mature eastern forest timber stands would be chestnuts, largely because they produced valuable wood, but also because they produced large quantities of edible nuts, which fed humans, livestock, and wildlife.[12] The chestnut blight (introduced ca. 1904) resulted in the near-extinction of the American chestnut, and its elimination as an important constituent of the forest.[13]
Distribution
The range of the beech-maple forest type extends from the Atlantic coast west to Minnesota and from southern Canada south to Virginia and Tennessee.[4] It is widespread in New York[4] and was an important component of the original vegetation of northeastern Ohio.[14] Instances of a beech-maple forest can be found at altitudes of 320 feet (98 m) to 3,900 feet (1,200 m).[4]
See also
References
- ^ Eco Succession
- ^ a b Gates, Frank C (March 27–April 20 1912). "The Vegetation of the Region in the Vicinity of Douglas Lake, Cheboygan County, Michigan, 1911" (in English). Annual Report of the Michigan Academy of Science (University of Michigan: Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters) 14th: 71–75, 104. http://books.google.com/books?id=XafPza8qsCgC&printsec=titlepage#PPA104,M1. Retrieved December 11, 2008.
- ^ Perinton Natural History page describing Harts Woods, a National Natural Landmark beech maple forest
- ^ a b c d e f New York Natural Heritage Program Conservation Guide Beech-Maple Mesic Forest
- ^ Lake Erie Allegheny Partnership for Biodiversity
- ^ Michigan Natural Features Inventory
- ^ Bio440 lecture notes Bette A. Loiselle
- ^ Study of the North-facing Slope of the Grand Valley State University Ravines
- ^ Changes in the Community, Bio 3300 Dr. John B. Pascarella, Valdosta State University.
- ^ http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Courses/bio303/succession.htm Plant Succession Course description]
- ^ Neonaturalist Natural Communities
- ^ Judy C. Treadwell, American chestnut history, 1996. Accessed 2008.12.12.
- ^ Gary J. Griffin, Impact of American chestnut blight on forest communities, 2007. Accessed 2008.12.12.
- ^ The Vegetative Composition of a Beech-Maple Climax Forest in the Glaciated Plateau of Northeastern Ohio, William H. Schlesinger
External links
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