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

showed a strong preference for depressions in all
four drainage classes sampled: moderately dry,
seepage, moderately flooded, and severely flooded.
Black ash, rough-leaved goldemod (Solidago
patula), marsh blue violet, and marsh fern also
were most common in depressions. Dwarf blackberry
(Rubus pubescens), northern white violet,
and swamp jack-in-the-pulpit occurred with high
frequency in depressions in the moderately dry
drainage class only; in other drainage classes,
these three species either were infrequent or
showed no obvious microsite preferences. Poison
ivy was most common in depressions overall, but
occurred most frequently on mounds in the severely
flooded class.
Six ground-layer species were largely restricted
to mounds; they were partridgeberry, white pine,
blue bead-lily, goldthread, American yew, and
starflower; eastern hemlock, red maple, wild lilyof-the-valley,
teaberry, and knight$ plume moss
(Ptilium crista-castrensis) also showed a preference
for mounds. Only stadlower was relatively
common in drainage classes with high mean water
levels as well as low mean levels. In the moderately
dry class, several of these mound species
showed less fidelity to mounds. Wild lily-of-thevalley,
teaberry, and blue bead-lily in particular
were more common in depressions in the moderately
dry class, but more common on mounds in
the wetter drainage classes. Figure 4.7 shows the
distribution of five common species by microsite
and drainage class.
Microsite preferences for the ground-layer species
highlighted in Paratley and Fahey's (1986)
impatiens biflora
Rubus pubescens
M Dry Seep M Flood S Flood M Dry Se-p M Flood S Flood
Rhus radicans
a,
0
C 70
?
60
60
3
0
O w 50
0
40
.-
U)
c a "
30
2 20 20
a,
a ro
lo
Mitchella repens
Fig. 4.7. Frequency distributions of five
plant species according to microsite
and water regime in a central New
York swamp (after F'aratley and Fahey
1986). Impatiens biflom is grouped
under I. mpensis in Table 3.3.
M Dry Seep M Flood S Flood M Dry Seep M Flood S Flood
Maianthemum canadense
&j Mounds
w
Depressions
0 Intermediate positions
50
U) MDry= Moderately dry
30 S= Seepage site
MFlood= Moderately flooded
20
S~lood= Severely flooded
M Dry Seep M Flood S Flood