Ecology of Red Maple Swamps in the Glaciated Northeast: A ...

Key:
Zone I:
Zone II:
Zone ill:
Zone IV:
Zone V:
Southern New England Upland, Seaboard Lowland, and Coastal Plain
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Great Lakes and Glaciated Allegheny Plateau
i v l
Fig. 3.10. Zones depicting variation in floristic composition and relative abundance of red maple swamps in the
glaciated Northeast.
the species' geographic range. Characteristic species
for each zone are described below.
Two special types of swamps that may be found
in more than one floristic zone are calcareous
swamps and transitional swamps. These are
briefly described following the descriptions of
zones.
Zone I. Southern New England Upland,
Seabuard Lowland, and Coastal Plain
Red maple swamps are most abundant in zone
I, which includes Rhode Island, Connecticut, all of
Massachusetts except for the Berkshire Wills,
southern New Hampshire, southeastern Vermont,
southern Maine, Long Island and a small part of
the southeastern section of New York State, and
northern New Jersey (Fig. 3.10). The abundance
of these wetlands peaks in southern New England
east of the Connecticut River valley and in New
Jersey; they are somewhat less abundant to the
north and west. GIaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine
deposits underlie the most extensive red maple
swamps in this zone. Hillside seeps and swamps
in isolated kettles and along drainageways in till
landscapes are usually smaller than swamps in
stratified drift, but they are far more numerous.
The white pine-hemlock-hardwood forest predominates
in upland habitats throughout zone 1,
except for southern areas Fig. 1.3).
Red maple o&n occurs in nearly pure stands
in zone I. Common associates throughout this
zone include yellow birch (Betula alleghanknsis),
black gum, white ash, eastern white pine, American
elm, and eastern hemlock (Table 3.3). In
southern New England, northern New Jersey, and