Site 6 has a lot of diverse vegetation packed into such a small area! We chose to divide our hectare into three stands: west, middle, and east. There is a patchy variation in cover type within each stand, but we lumped them together to delineate only three stands for the sake of clarity.
The stands have distinct vegetation patterns that reflect the changes in topography between the hills on either side of the stream. Each stand has different patterns of soil, water movement, and sunlight that influence the expression of the ecosystem on this site. Therefore, it makes more sense to separate the stands by natural community than by cover type. Cover type would be valuable information for short term commercial management goals, but it is insufficient for the conservation and education mission here at Niquette Bay. The natural community designation for each stand serves as a more holistic description of what is there, why it is that way, and what it will become over time.
The stands have distinct vegetation patterns that reflect the changes in topography between the hills on either side of the stream. Each stand has different patterns of soil, water movement, and sunlight that influence the expression of the ecosystem on this site. Therefore, it makes more sense to separate the stands by natural community than by cover type. Cover type would be valuable information for short term commercial management goals, but it is insufficient for the conservation and education mission here at Niquette Bay. The natural community designation for each stand serves as a more holistic description of what is there, why it is that way, and what it will become over time.
The herbaceous cover in Site 6 is dominated by a variety of ferns as well as some sedges along the streambed. The middle stand has the most dense herbaceous vegetation because there is more moisture and fewer trees to shade the ground. The slopes of the eastern and western stands are growing much less densely because they are drier, shadier, and also susceptible to erosion. There are very few herbaceous species other than ferns on the slopes. There is however a thriving understory of shrubs and hardwood regeneration.
The following table shows merchantable timber volume in boardfeet per hectare for all stands. This is a rough estimate for all trees greater than 6 inches in diameter and disregarding the taper of each trunk. These data represent dominant species composition well for the most part, but the white pine volume may be thrown off by the giant tree in the western stand. The picture following the table is of the largest tree located on the edge of our hectare. It is a huge eastern white pine, standing at 105 ft tall with a DBH of 52.8.
| Species | Total boardfeet per hectare |
| Hemlock | 55.03 |
| Eastern White Pine | 40,981.83 |
| Red Maple | 390.32 |
| Northern Red Oak | 390.82 |
| Paper Birch | 2,356.93 |
| Ash | 1,458.871 |
| Sugar Maple | 640.307 |
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Stand Descriptions:
Western Stand
Cover Type: White Pine
Natural Community: White Pine-Northern Hardwood Forest
The western portion of Site 6 slopes down to the stream and is dominated by white pine. This slope is less steep than the eastern stand but there is more sloping and shaded area because of some small ephemeral streams that have carved out little “hills.” Given the presence of at least one very old pine and some barbed wire in the woods nearby, we infer that this was an agricultural field that was quickly taken over by the pines after abandonment. They continue to thrive on the site, but there is notable hemlock as well as hardwood regeneration in the understory including red maple, basswood, ash, hornbeam, shagbark hickory, and beech. This leads us to call it a White Pine-Northern Hardwood natural community, even in spite of the White Pine cover type. The abundance of hemlock adjacent to this stand might also be cause to classify it as part of a Hemlock-White Pine-Northern Hardwood Forest.
Cover Type: White Pine
Natural Community: White Pine-Northern Hardwood Forest
The western portion of Site 6 slopes down to the stream and is dominated by white pine. This slope is less steep than the eastern stand but there is more sloping and shaded area because of some small ephemeral streams that have carved out little “hills.” Given the presence of at least one very old pine and some barbed wire in the woods nearby, we infer that this was an agricultural field that was quickly taken over by the pines after abandonment. They continue to thrive on the site, but there is notable hemlock as well as hardwood regeneration in the understory including red maple, basswood, ash, hornbeam, shagbark hickory, and beech. This leads us to call it a White Pine-Northern Hardwood natural community, even in spite of the White Pine cover type. The abundance of hemlock adjacent to this stand might also be cause to classify it as part of a Hemlock-White Pine-Northern Hardwood Forest.
Middle Stand
Cover Types: Sugar Maple, Red Maple
Natural Community: Mesic Maple-Ash-Oak-Hickory Forest
Natural Community: Mesic Maple-Ash-Oak-Hickory Forest
Albeit mostly in early stages of succession, the forest structure of this stand is highly variable. There are multiple canopy layers and a rich diversity of species. Rich site indicators including sugar maple, ash, and shagbark hickory are thriving. Hornbeam, grape, striped maple, honeysuckle, and witch hazel make up the understory along with white pine and red maple saplings. The canopy of this stand is much more open than the stands alongside it, mostly composed of red maple, sugar maple, and ash. Other species in include basswood, yellow birch, red oak, American elm, and northern red oak.
This part of the hectare has very moist soil and also gets a lot of sunlight through large gaps in the canopy caused by disturbances in the sandy and unstable soils of the open area around the shifting stream. This makes it an excellent place for plants to grow, even in spite of the slightly acidic soils that limit nutrient availability.
Eastern Stand
Cover Types: Red Maple, White Pine-Nothern Red Oak-Red Maple, Hemlock (on the southern edge)
Natural Community: Beech-Red Maple-Hemlock Northern Hardwood Forest and Rich Northern Hardwood Forest (some overlap)
The eastern stand is steep and clearly prone to erosion and blowdown. The composition of vegetation is pretty patchy, but it is all variations on a theme of Northern Hardwood Forest with trees much same age and with similar light and soil conditions between patches. The eastern border of Site 6 is located in a flat area at the top of the slope. This area has the greatest density of vegetation and displays more characteristics of a Rich Northern Hardwood Forest Natural Community. The steeper parts closer to the streambed are less dense and have fewer rich site indicator species such as sugar maple or ash.
Cover Types: Red Maple, White Pine-Nothern Red Oak-Red Maple, Hemlock (on the southern edge)
Natural Community: Beech-Red Maple-Hemlock Northern Hardwood Forest and Rich Northern Hardwood Forest (some overlap)
The eastern stand is steep and clearly prone to erosion and blowdown. The composition of vegetation is pretty patchy, but it is all variations on a theme of Northern Hardwood Forest with trees much same age and with similar light and soil conditions between patches. The eastern border of Site 6 is located in a flat area at the top of the slope. This area has the greatest density of vegetation and displays more characteristics of a Rich Northern Hardwood Forest Natural Community. The steeper parts closer to the streambed are less dense and have fewer rich site indicator species such as sugar maple or ash.
