Site 8 is very diverse in vegetation. There are at least a dozen species of woody plant, plus several species of herbaceous plants. In the lower area of our site, near the stream, there is a variety of herbaceous plants, small birches, and the occasional large tree, including an American Elm. On the slope, vegetation consists primarily of larger birch and beech. The top of the slope consists of mixed hardwood forest (Red Oak, Red Maple, Beech) and a few coniferous trees (White Pine, Eastern Hemlock).
On top of the slope in the Pine-Oak-Maple zone and at the bottom of the slope in the Riperian vegetation, dead standing trees were mostly decay level 1. This means most dead standing trees had died within the last 5 years. On the slope in the Birch-Beech zone, about half of the dead stands were decay level 1, while most of the rest were decay level two. Fallen woody debris consisted mostly of trees averaging 3 to 7 inches in diameter.
Cover Types
There were three main cover types at our site, as you can see on the Google Map below. The first is the riparian vegetation. This zone is found on both sides of the stream for several meters. Then there is the Pine-Oak-Maple forest. This successional forest is in transition. When the land was disturbed, Eastern White Pine pioneered the land and created a canopy. Now, the pines are massive and old, and when they die off they will be replaced with Oaks and Maples which are dominating the lower canopy and understory. Finally, the slope was characterized by Birch-Beech cover. From conversations with other groups, we found that the cover types on our site were typical of surrounding areas, which seem to consist of an increasingly hardwood population.
View Niquette Bay Site 8 Vegetation in a larger map
Woody Plants
Common species of woody plants on our site include:
Bitternut Hickory(Carya cordiformis)
Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)
Striped Maple(Acer pennsylvanicum)
Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
White Oak(Quercus alba)
Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)
Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis)
American Elm (Ulmus americana)
Eatern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
Volume of Woody Plants (in board feet)
Volume in board feet is measured by taking circular plots with a radius of 5m. Board feet are measured as one square foot, 1 inch thick. This number is then extrapolated from our measurements to find an appropriate estimate in our site. We did random sampling, so there is a chance that our five measurement plots are not entirely representative of the forest.
Tree Species | Board feet found within plots | Estimated board feet for hectare |
Red Oak | 1,195.93 | 298,898.25 |
White Oak | 198.65 | 4,966.25 |
Red Maple | 48,863.805 | 1,221,595.125 |
Striped Maple | 99.2 | 2,480 |
Sugar Maple | 91.4 | 2,285 |
Paper Birch | 6,750 | 168,766.25 |
Yellow Birch | 289.8 | 7,245 |
American Elm | 29,025.1 | 725,627.5 |
Eastern White Pine | 103,578 | 2,589,450 |
Eastern Hemlock | 1,016.4 | 25,410 |
Bitternut Hickory | 9,316.775 | 232,919.375 |
Common Herbaceous Plants
Common Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)- A riparian hollow stemmed herbaceous plant found along many streams and rivers in VT (Illinoiswildflowers.info).
Interrupted Fern (Osmunda claytoniana)- Looks like dead caterpillars are furled around the stem. These are the fertile leaflets, the green leaflets are sterile. Found mostly in the riparian areas of our site. (CT Botanical Society)
Christmas Fern (Polystichum achrostichoides)
Evergreen, easy to identify, used to be used for Christmas decorations. Found all over our site, especially noticeable in woodland area where there are fewer herbaceous plants.
Coarse Woody Material Evaluation Methods
Intersect lines were measured using a 50 meter tape measure. The diameter of coarse woody material covered by the tape was measured. Snags were counted, their DBH measured with tape, their heights with the clinometer, and they were classified according to a numeric code in order of their degradation.
Vegetation Evaluation Methods
Vegetation surveys were done by using a 5 meter long rope. Plots were made with a 5 meter radius. All woody plants inside the plot were measured for Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) using a DBH tape. Tree heights were measured until the there was no longer merchantable timber (less than 6" diameter) using a clinometer. Sample areas were selected at random within each stand.
Raw Data
Live Tree Analysis
