Foxcroft Farm: Deciduous Forest Trees

Deciduous Forest Ecosystem Week 2, Thursday Lab Section

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Today in the deciduous forest of Foxcroft farm, I focused on identifying major canopy trees to begin exploring the biodiversity of the ecosystem. Major players included the maple, oaks, hickory, and birch.

The maples have a smooth grey bark when young, that becomes furrowed with age. Bright red buds are already forming, and based on dead leaves on the ground, it looks like they are red maples, Acer rubrum based on the rounded bottom and three points.

The oaks seem to be the most dominant canopy tree. Their bark is similarly furrowed to the mature maples, making them hard to distinguish without leaves. In my observations, the best way to tell the two apart is to notice that dead oak leaves can remain on the branches over the winter, while the maples are completely clear. Based on the pointed leaves on the forest floor, it appears that the forest is dominated by red oak, Quercus rubra.

There are a few smaller birch trees in the stand. They have shreddy bark that peels horizontally and is a fairly shiny grey color. The branches coming off the trunk are relatively thin and wispy compared to the branching of the oak and maple. It is most likely yellow birch, Betula alleghaniensis, since the bark is not white enough to be paper birch.

There were at least two decently sized shagbark hickory trees, Carya ovata, I observed, but they were not as tall as the canopy oaks and maples. They are easily recognized by their extremely shaggy bark that is oriented in thick vertical splinters. The branching also occurred at more perpendicular angles than any of the other species. Surrounding these trees was a lot of thick shells from hickory nuts, and oval leaves which are somewhat similar to the yellow birch and I will need to pay more attention next visit in order to distinguish the two.

These mighty trees may seem to dominant the forest, but they are quite vulnerable to a furry friend that lives in the stream nearby. There is a beaver lodge not far from the stand of trees, and in the clearing many stumps show evidence that they were chewed down by beavers. It looks like birches maples and oaks were most affected, especially those about half a foot to a foot in diameter. This opens up the forest floor for new undergrowth by allowing light to reach the ground, and it also provides dead wood for many types of fungus. That being said, large beaver populations risk chewing down the entire forest, as well as creating dams that flood the ecosystem.

- By James