Field Blog Journal 9

Jonathan Levinsohn

Using the data I obtained when I examined the history of my site, I aim to predict the physical and biological future of the Eastlawn cemetery woods. My examination of the history of my site revealed that the lot that contains my site used to be used for both farming and pastoral means during the early 20^th century, though there are not enough data as to determine what was done specifically where the woods are now. These data could be helpful, as the type of land usage before influences the successional pattern, as shown in Farms to Forest: A Naturalist’s Guide. While one could try to back out the use, via looking at what species are there now and looking though the conclusions of Farms to Forest, the book is concerned with the Hopkins Forest and the successional pattern there would be different than at my sight for multiple reasons, chief among them the large amounts of exotic invasive plants at my sight. A photograph from the 1950’s demonstrates that the large Norway maples were planted long ago.

Intuitively, the lack of trees in the middle section (between the river bank and the upper border with the cemetery, seems to a likely candidate for relatively rapid biological change. The lack of plants larger than shrubs presents a potential niche for taller species, though the honeysuckle that populates the area complicates the matter. I might expect a species such as paper birch, a typical early successional species, to be likely to proliferate in this area, as is typical in unmowed fields, but the honeysuckle population would likely prevent this. Honeysuckle develops leaves early and loses them late. This would prevent young birch seedlings from getting the large amount of light that they require to survive. Thus the more likely successional progression would come from the larger trees near the river (mostly sugar and red maple) and the trees nearer to the cemetery (Norway maple, sugar maple, and sumac). There are two possibilities: either the honeysuckle proves to be too successful, and continues to choke out life in this section, and thus preventing the older trees from extending their range and as the older trees die of old age, the honeysuckle takes most of the area, or the larger trees are able to extend their range and out compete the honeysuckle for sunlight in nearby areas once the trees have matured, which would be repeated until the honeysuckle in the center of the woods finally dies out. This, of course, assumes that human impact on the area is minimal, however it is possible that if the honeysuckle started to take over the region near the cemetery humans might intervene as to protect the view (it is no accident that the Norway maple were planted).

Examination of other areas also along the Green River, specifically those older than sections might help suggest what the land might be like in the coming years. The flood plain might gain a Japanese knotweed population (that is found in flood plains on the Hoosic River, just a half-mile down stream), which could take over for the golden rod that currently resides in this area. The area around the Green River near Mount Hope farms, however, is dominated by white pine, at al in this area or anywhere nearby. This casts doubt as to how helpful such comparisons can be even along the same river over a short distance.

Physically, the largest change in the area would be the river straightening out due to erosive forces. This would make the bank next to the flood plain even steeper, likely causing more erosion. The end effect would be a cliff like feature growing taller yearly, though humans might try to avoid this (if it gets large enough), as they have a vested interest in keeping the cemetery and the road running through this stable and relatively untouched. Ultimately, the succession of both the physical landscape and the biological community lies in large part to what humans decide to do. If the area were to be burned as to create a meadow, the succession pattern would differ drastically (reverting to a more traditional pattern) from what is likely to happen.