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

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of the year, the forest floor commonly consists of deep hollows and convex mounds; in swamps that lack surface water entirely or that are flooded only temporarily, nnicrorelief is not as well developed (Ehrenfeld and GuXick 1981). Lowry (1984) took spot elevations at over 700 points in each of six red maple swamps and six Atlantic white cedar swamps in southern %ode Island and determined that microrelief was more highly developed in the cedar swamps, which had significantly higher mean water levels as well. He dso confumed that the extent of microrelief in the red maple swamps was related to water level. Considering all points more than 20 cm above the average level of the depressions to be mounded, he calculated that nearly 75% of the variation in the amount of mounded ground among the six swamps could be explained by differences in the 7-year mean water levels among the sites. Figure 4.5 illustrates pronounced microrelief in a seasonally flooded red maple swamp. How active a role vegetation plays in the development of microrelief is unclear. Initially, the distribution of trees and shrubs in a swamp is determined by the relative wetness of various possible germination sites on the forest floor. Once they are established, those trees that have the ability to develop a compact, elevated root system clearly stand a greater chance of surviving the effects of prolonged high water levels. Root system development thus may increase mound size. Significantly, radial growth of red mqle trees in any given year appears to be directly related to the deviation of that year's average water level from the long-term average. Lowry (1984) demonstrated that, in Rhode Island swamps, growth was greatest in years when water levels were closest to the 7-year mean. This finding suggests that in each swamp there may be an optimal distance, dependingupon water regime and soil characteristics, between the elevation of the average water level and the depth of tree roots. Whether the role of vegetation in microrelief development is active or passive, variation in surface elevation within a swamp maximizes the opportunity for any tree to achieve that optimum position and to maximize its growth. Fig. 4.5. Mound-and-pool microrelief in a seasonally flooded red maple swamp. Swamps with particularly high water levels, such as this one, generally have high mounds and little vegetation growing in the pools. The measuring stick is graduated in ZQ-cm incremenk; the water averages 15-25 cm in depth. The photograph was taken in mid-April.
Influence on Swamp Vegetation Floristic Composition Through its influence on soil aeration (Huenneke 1982; Paratley and Fahey 1986), nutrient availability (Ehrenfeld and Gulick 1981; Paratley and Fahey 1986), and relative litter accumulation (Little 1950; Malecki et al. 1983; Paratley and Fahey 1986), microrelief creates a variety of microhabitats and thus has a major effect on species composition and distribution of swamp flora. Beatty's (1984) research in a sugar maple-Arnerican beech upland forest in eastern New York showed that microrelief may cause local variations in soil acidity and soil temperature as well. Pronounced microrelief allows species with widely differing soil moisture requirements or tolerances to coexist in a limited area in red maple swamps (Bergman 1920; Sampson 1930; Thompson et al. 1968; Huenneke 1982; Paratley and Fahey 1986). Wile mosses, liverworts, and hydrophilic herbs thrive in seasonally flooded or saturated depressions and at the bases of mounds, species unable to tolerate prolonged saturation grsw higher up on the mounds (Niering 1953; Thompson et al. 1968; Paratley and Fahey 1986). Figure 4.6 shows the influence of microrelief on plant distribution in a Rhode Island swamp. Faratley and Fahey (1986) found plant species richness to be positively correlated with microrelief; in fact, they cited high microsite heterogeneity as one of the factors most responsible for the unusually high species richness observed in their central New York study area. Under a given water regime, certain species of plants tend to occur either primarily on mounds or primarily in depressions. However, the microsite preferences of some species may change depending on mound height or on the relative wetness of the depressions. In a detailed analysis of the relation between species distribution and microrelief in a New York swamp with organic soils, Paratley and Fahey (1986) found that five ground-layer plants-including spotted touchme-not, marsh marigold, mosses of the genus Mnium, sensitive fern, and northern bugleweed-
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Technical IIbpg~rt Series U.S. Fish
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Preface In many areas of the glacia
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Acer rubrum (red maple) diagnostic
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Zone 111 . St . Lawrence Valley and
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Fig . 3.7. Red maple swap with unde
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Table 4.5. Flood tolerance of trees
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Chapter I. Introduction Wetland kbr
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Regional Setting throughout the gla
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C-J Spruce-Fa Beech-Birch-Maple Mit
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Fig. 1.4. The range of red maple (a
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~ b 1.5, h fircort~ of Wet landc Ir
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Fig. 22. &~lrit~ve Irtndtici~pe yos
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egional groundwakr table by the roc
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y e~rr~mtrtm~~,irzst ion. Cat~t,inu
Page 31 and 32: inflow^ Outflows OF SWQ SWI Fig. 25
Page 33 and 34: Fig, 23.6,Soasonally flmded red map
Page 35 and 36: Fig. 27. Water levels in six mode I
Page 37 and 38: The duration of soil saturation has
Page 39 and 40: Organic soils are always very poorl
Page 41 and 42: Chapter 3. The Plant Community The
Page 43 and 44: .dar02f 'B Xi? s%u?mma -?sway+xqq p
Page 47 and 48: Community S tructare Red maple swam
Page 49 and 50: suggesta a strong correlation betwe
Page 51 and 52: Table 3.2. Stmtuml chumcteristics o
Page 53 and 54: Table 3.3. Continued. "- -- - Speci
Page 55 and 56: Table __ 3.3. _ Continued ._.lll.__
Page 57 and 58: Table 3.3. Continued. . * - __.. ^.
Page 59 and 60: Zone I II III TV C" Drppnmriad* sp.
Page 61 and 62: on Long Island, pin oak, swamp whit
Page 63 and 64: fern moea (?ki.c&inz &limfulum), an
Page 65 and 66: countered (Table 3.3). The herb lay
Page 67 and 68: ~akareous Seepage Swamps England si
Page 69 and 70: and globeflower are. listed in four
Page 71 and 72: was the most likely reason for diff
Page 73 and 74: kvei fluctuation during the gmwing
Page 75 and 76: Table 4.2. .Rektit.e ~bmchnce w Q)
Page 77 and 78: difficuit to delineate in many inst
Page 79 and 80: in the librature btlx>~ithe moi~ttl
Page 81: Origin. an$ Relationship to Water R
Page 85 and 86: taka wpra-x li)wcir, t raac* df~rla
Page 87 and 88: dwuL 4.3 6.3. C ~ ~ ~ strisk- P C I
Page 89 and 90: Chapter 5. Ecosystem Processes Irr
Page 91 and 92: - 0 2 E E 0l *" C 8 g 00 - c_ m 3 -
Page 93 and 94: Ehnzdoltf (IWj wm mmht~nt, rru@w on
Page 95 and 96: 1976; I">irwia RE& vari iier Vdk 18
Page 97 and 98: Xletritus Exprort and 'sod Chain Su
Page 99: Chapter 6. Wetland Dynamics Most no
Page 102 and 103: since forested wetland is the endpo
Page 104 and 105: kettle bogs, lakes, or large rivers
Page 106 and 107: mmdwakr depression wetlands. Becaus
Page 108 and 109: (Mniotila varia), regularly breed i
Page 110 and 111: EXusbtand arid Eddleman (1Y30) quan
Page 112 and 113: census results. Twenty-five (40%) o
Page 114 and 115: elated to avian richness and abunda
Page 116 and 117: Fig. 7.6. Wood duck (Aix sponsa). T
Page 118 and 119: Table 7.5. Small-mammal communities
Page 120 and 121: ing the latter years of flowage occ
Page 122 and 123: Chapter 8. Values, Impacts, and Man
Page 124 and 125: of the bordering upland. Both studi
Page 126 and 127: Fig. 8.1. ST folia) in pel fer. .bu
Page 128 and 129: Table 8.1. Emrnpks ofgmss loss rate
Page 130 and 131: Fig. 8.3. Southern New England red
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Fig. 8.4. Electric utility lines pa
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e expected to cause more drastic fl
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and enhancement has been a highly c
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y capturing sediment, reducing nutr
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M.R.S.A., Sect. 480.A). Research by
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Broadfoot, W. M., and H. L. Willist
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Fefer, S. I. 1980. me palushe syste
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Jordan, R J. 1978. Glacial geology
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Xew Hampshire Xatural Areas Program
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Ren MAPLE SWAMR 137 Smith, H. 1984.
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Appendix A. Sources of Floristic Da
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Appendix B. Plants of Special Conce
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Appendix B. Continued Species d Car
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Appendix C. Vertebrates That Have B
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Mourning warbler ... Nashville warb
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Appendix D. Vertebrates of Special
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~tnte"and ronsewat ion stat ilu' d
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