SEEING THE FOREST THROUGH ITS TREES

A Continuing Series by Larry Ely

A tiny seed lands on the forest floor, and with proper conditions it may become a giant of the forest and live as long as four hundred years. 

Can you see a forest by looking at its individual trees? This upcoming periodic Small Things series will help you to do so by looking at the life and history of the dominant tree species occurring in our Mahoosuc Region forests. We live within a unique transition forest where the far northern boreal forest begins to mix with the deciduous forest to the south. 

Our forests range from low elevation bottomlands to the summits of 3,000-foot to more than 4,000-foot mountains with boreal species more often seen far to the north. The deciduous trees and less cold-hardy softwood species dominating the lower elevation bottomlands begin to decline as elevation increases. 

The Nature Conservancy (“TNC”) has identified our forests as most resilient or more resilient to climate change within the ecoregion due to this very diverse forest landscape and to our more northerly latitude. 

The forest species and composition of a forest are generally influenced by bedrock type and resultant soils, climate, elevation, and aspect. Aspect refers to the abundance of sunlight available, such as on a south facing slope or the reduced sunlight available on a north facing slope. Even with a high climate resiliency designation from TNC, a significant change in rising temperatures over the last century and even faster rising winter temperatures will likely result in significant species change within our forests over the next century.

The casual observer of a forest may just see a jumble of trees and be able only to discern the difference between the deciduous hardwoods that drop leaves each fall and the mixed softwoods with year-round retention of needles. Such a view misses a huge diversity of species, each adapted to its own unique habitat needs. 

Forests are dynamic, and there is always a battle among species and individual trees for their share of available nutrients, sunlight, and water. While there is this constant battle for resources, there is also often cooperation among their fellow species and other tree species, especially with shared mycorrhizal fungi and structural canopy support against wind-throw. 

Our Mahoosuc Region forests are generally dominated by eight common species of conifer/softwoods and another eleven species of deciduous hardwoods. While that may seem like a lot of tree species to learn about, the southern Appalachian forests often contain as many as 100 different tree species. 

Each episode of this recurring series will look at one of our dominant tree species, examining its history and habitat needs and why it is found in the locations where it is most often found. Its life history will tell us where it fits into the web of forest succession and what other species might be found to grow in association with it. As  readers learn about each of these unique tree species, they should become aware of the ever-changing dynamics of the forest around them and begin to see the forest as a whole. While not intended as a guide to tree identification, this series should be helpful in making tree identifications. 

We will start the series in a future issue with my own favorite, the eastern hemlock. 

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About the Author

Small Things was delighted when regular contributor Larry Ely approached us with the idea of a series, “Seeing the Forest Through its Trees.” In this series Larry - along with the help of foresters Katie Stuart and Gail Wigler - helps us understand more about individual tree species that make up the unique and complex forest ecosystem we enjoy in the Mahoosuc Region. Here’s a bit more about Larry and those who are helping him bring us this series.

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Larry Ely became interested in forest dynamics and individual tree species after he and his wife Ginger Lawson purchased their 145-acre property, First Mountain Forest, in Shelburne, New Hampshire, over thirty years ago. Through their careful management, the forest has recovered from a poorly managed timber harvest in the late 1980s and is now protected under a donated “forever wild” restricted conservation easement granted to Mahoosuc Land Trust (“MLT”). The multiple, diverse forest stands on the mountain’s steep slopes will remain forever free from future timber harvests, allowing natural succession to proceed under a watchful eye.

Larry and Ginger have each served multiple terms on MLT’s Board of Directors and are volunteer stewards for much of the MLT Shelburne Riverlands along the state border on both sides of the Androscoggin River.

Also contributing to this series are foresters Katie Stuart, a current MLT board member and retired Androscoggin District Ranger for the White Mountain National Forest, and current U.S. Forest Service forester and MLT volunteer Gail Wigler. They provide technical review and information on how forestry practices might affect individual tree species in our forests.