Bob: I don't think places like the Porkies, or old growth in the Adirondacks would have looked any different 300 or 400 years ago (or even 1000-3000 years ago) would have looked different than today--except that trees are probably a little taller today. The question is whether they are representative of what the rest of the landscape within their ecological section or subsection would have looked like before it was logged.
Lee At 07:38 PM 11/26/2009, you wrote: >Ed, > >I agree. I wasn't too clear on one point. I certainly wouldn't advocate >comparing current old growth sites to the forests on sites that used to be >old growth. What I meant was if it is old growth now, such as the >Porcupine Mtns State Park, then its appearance now versus the way it >looked in the pre-settlement past may not be very different - or at least >different in a then versus now way. Lee, help! > >Bob > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Edward Frank" <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Sent: Thursday, November 26, 2009 2:45:27 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern >Subject: Re: [ENTS] Historic eastern forest stature > >Bob, > >Excellent overview of the situation. I would like to point out however >that while these are old growth forests that give an example of what once >existed in the eastern United States, that these forests are not >representative of all of the forest types that once existed. They are >examples only of primal forest of the types found in the Adirondacks and >the Catskills. A historical account of the primary hemlock dominated >forest here in the Allegheny Plateau Region of Pennsylvania reads: > > >According to Conrad Weiser in 1737, "The wood is so thick, that for a mile >at a time we could not find a place the size of a hand, where the sunshine >would penetrate, even on the clearest day." >These forests are dissimilar in may ways to those found in the Catskills >and Adirondacks. Similarly there were chestnut dominated forests where >upwards of 90% of the tree basal area were American Chestnut trees. These >forest are also long gone. There are wide variety of forest types that >once covered large areas of the United States that are now all but lost >and are not represented by the forests of the Catskills and Adirondacks. > >I would tend to agree that these remaining sections of forest in the >Adirondacks and the Catskills are better analogues of the former forests >in the eastern United States than the Bialowieza forest of Poland and >Belarus. Bialowieza Forest represents but a single forest type and it >consists of trees native to that region rather than the assemblage found >here in the United States. Smaller old growth patches and sites, like >Cook Forest give the flavor of the variety of the forest types that once >occupied other areas of the eastern United States. Still there is an >uneasy feeling when visiting them of the limited size they encompass, >rather than the immensity of the ancient forests that once covered 90% of >the countryside. There is the feeling of bustling humanity and >civilization just beyond your view. You can only really capture a portion >of the essence of these untrammeled forests if you concentrate on the >scene that surrounds you and the details of the forest, rather than the >context of the forest in relation to the modern landscape. > >Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. > >Ed Frank > > >Check out my new >Blog: ><http://nature-web-network.blogspot.com/>http://nature-web-network.blogspot.com/ > >(and click on some of the ads) > >-- >Eastern Native Tree Society ><http://www.nativetreesociety.org>http://www.nativetreesociety.org >Send email to [email protected] >Visit this group at ><http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en>http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en >To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] > >-- >Eastern Native Tree Society ><http://www.nativetreesociety.org>http://www.nativetreesociety.org >Send email to [email protected] >Visit this group at ><http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en>http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en >To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -- Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]
