Vegetation of Dutchess County, New York by Erik Kiviat

Dutchess County, an area approximately 800 square miles between the Hudson River and Connecticut, encompasses varied terrain: the muddy tidal marshes and shallows of the Hudson at the foot of clay bluffs, the low shale, slate and

sandstone hills from Rhinebeck to Wappingers Falls to Millbrook, the gravelly flats around Pine Plains, Freedom Plains, Fishkill Plains, the limestone valleys and ridges of East Fishkill and the Harlem Valley, and the rugged hills of the borders with Putnam County (to the south) and Connecticut. The total plant cover of the county is the "vegetation," and is composed of all individuals of all species of plants present. Vegetation is crucial in providing food, lumber and fuel, creating wildlife habitats, enhancing the aesthetic environment, forming and protecting soils, mod­erating the climate, and buffering the hydrological cycle.

This article was originally commissioned in 1980 by the Dutchess County Department of Planning (DCDP). An edited version will be published with a vegetation map as a chapter in a DCDP book on the natural resources of the county. Eric Gillert and Leila Baroody (DCDP) and Craig Knickerbocker (NYS DEC)made suggestions andprovided information . This is Bard College Field Station-Hudsonia Contribution 38.

144 The Hudson V~lley 'Regional Review, September 1984, Volume I, Number 2

The vegetation is a product of the available plant species (the flora) and the geology, topography, hydrology, climate, wildlife, and past and present human influences, as well as competition between plant species and chance. These factors are reflected in the "plant communities" or recognizable patches of plant cover characterized by one or a few predominant species and more or less repeated from place to place where the influencing factors are similar. For example, the field corn community occurs on many Dutchess farms, and the red oak-chestnut oak community is very common on the county's hills.

I discuss Dutchess vegetation as it is now, tempered by glimpses of the past and educated guesses at the future vegetation. Trees are emphasized because they are better known and playa more obvious role in human ecology. Concepts such as "natural," "potential," "climax" vegetation, and "plant succession" are avoided because they mean different things to people than they do to nature.

Description of the Vegetation

On Cornell University's Land Use and Natural Resources (LUNR) maps, Dutchess County vegetation is classified as follows:

Forest, 34%. Spontaneously forested terrestrial areas in which at least half the acreage is covered with trees over 30 feet tall.

Brushland, 23%. Mostly abandoned agricultural land on which forest is regenerating spontaneously, but ranging from weedy-shrubby fields to areas covered with trees up to 30 feet tall.

Plantations, 7%. Areas of planted trees of any size. Wooded Wetlands, 3%. Swamps dominated by trees. Non-wooded Wetlands, 2%. Marshes and shrub wetlands. Other areas, 31 %. Agriculture, urban, suburban, industrial areas, and large

water bodies. The distribution of land use-vegetation units follows the predominantly

north-south or northeast-southwest elongation of the hills and valleys. Farmland, recently-abandoned farmland, wetlands and cultural develop­ments are mostly in the gentler and deeper-soiled valleys, whereas forest is more prevalent on the steeper and thinner-soiled hills. Many of the largest (and most productive) farms, and the largest wetlands, are on the gentle areas of limestone-like rocks or sand and gravel deposits, for example in the Harlem Valley, and in the regions of Hopewell Junction and Pine Plains. Landscape units are larger in the eastern (east of the Taconic Parkway) and extreme southern (south of Interstate 84) regions of the county where the terrain is steeper, rockier, more acidic-soiled, and less

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amenable to farming or cultural development. Most of the county's over-1000 acre wildland areas occur in the east and extreme south, on crystalline rocks, predominantly schist, gneiss and quartzite. The relationships between geology, topography, soils, and vegetation may be examined by comparing the maps of the county in the DCDP book.

Overall, the impression of Dutchess County is of a half-forested, oak­dominated countryside. However, a closer look reveals considerable detail in the vegetation. The most prevalent plant community types are made up of the characteristic species listed in Table 1 and arranged by "sites" or topographic position as well as land use. A key to sites is shown in Fig. 1. The species listed in Table 1 are arranged in a highly generalized way to represent trends over the county as a whole. Locally, communities on these site/ use types vary with the complex history, geology, present human influence and other factors, comprising a complicated mosaic of plant communities. Because of historic patterns of land ownership and land use, the county is divided into thousands of use-lots separated by existing or former stone walls and other fences. Often, fencelines approximate ecologic boundaries, but many fencelines cut across natural boundaries. Noticeable vegetation differences usually exist across fencelines.

Terrestrial Forests

Three general types of terrestrial sites occupy relatively low, middle, and high positions on the topographic profiles of the county's hills and ridges (Fig. 2). Ecological factors tend to correlate with site positions, especially soil moisture and soil loss or accumulation. Elevation, however, is not the only factor producing vegetation habitats: a sheltered pocket or north­facing ravine at a high elevation may be a "lower slope" or "cove" habitat, whereas a dry thin-soiled rocky knoll or outcrop at a low elevation may be an "upper slope" or "crest" habitat.

Lower slope forests, if they have had sufficient time to develop, are most often mixed hardwoods with or without hemlock or white pine. Sugar maple and red oak are frequently abundant, and locally other oaks, tulip, beech, etc. Diameter-at-breast-height (dbh, measured at 4).2 ft. above ground) of many trees is often over 1 ft. in well-developed lower slope stands. These stands tend to have the largest trees and the greatest variety of tree species. Canopy height is often over 50-60 ft.

Midslope forests are typically oak-dominated (Table 1), most often red oak. Chestnut oak, sugar maple, black birch and other species may be important, and hemlock or white pine are present locally. Trees are usually mostly under I ft. dbh. Tree size and species variety tend to decrease from lower slopes through midslopes to upper slopes.

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Waste ground I Crops, Managed grounds

Pastures, Mowed fields, Rights-of-way

Oldfields, Fencerows

t I Plantations I <U

'" ::l .... Wetlands Waters 0 <U U t:: c<:l

.D .... 2 '" ;0 t:: c<:l

8 ::l

Upper slope

Midslope forests forests

Lower ..c .. t:: <U U

slope forests

<U .... ...... 0

.~ '" t:: ~ .... t::

-.J - Soil Moisture-+ Fig. 1. Approximate division of site/ use types by moisture and degree of human influence.

Upper slope forests are most often predominantly red or chestnut oak. White oak, pignut hickory, red maple, and many other species may be locally important. American chestnut was formerly abundant in upper slope and midslope forests, especially in the east. Upper slope trees are often small, even "stunted" -looking, and almost always under I ft. dbh. Trees are larger and healthier in low spots and pockets of deeper soil, and stunted or less healthy-looking on the more exposed or rocky spots. The canopy may be very open, even savanna-like, or interspersed with clearings containing patches of shrubs or herbaceous (often grassy) vegetation. Areas of nearly-bare soil or rock may occur. Such clearings or savannas are much less common (without special management) in midslope and lower slope habitats. Upper slope forests sometimes resemble oldfields (see below); in fact, they may be thought of as more slow Iy-developing oldfields, as most of the crest sites (together with the rest of the county) were cleared and cultivated or at least pastured during the last century.

Decreased size and density of trees on upper slopes is related to shallow, probably nutrient-poor, soils, exposure to drying winds and rapid tem­perature changes, treading by recreationists on some spots, and fire. Dry exposed crests over about 900 ft. elevation burn more frequently than other Dutchess site types, but the fires are usually light ground fires leaving a mosaic of burned and unburned areas. Charred wood can almost always be found on these sites (distinguished from fungus-blackened wood). The most fireprone crests are on the crystalline rocks of the east and extreme south. These fires are most often human-set at the present time but are a factor to which vegetation and wildlife are adapted.

Hemlock stands have particular aesthetic and wildlife-habitat interest. Hemlock is more common on glacial till or sand soils than on clay soils, and is more common near water or in cool-moist areas; it is rare in the southwest. Young hemlocks are very sensitive to fire and deer browsing, and growth is slow. Frequent (usually small) lower or midslope hemlock stands in the Hudson Valley today seem artifacts of combined lengthy post-agricultural development, human and natural fire protection, and rarity of deer during early growth in the late 1800s-early 1900s. Many hemlock stands and also hardwood stands show a scarcity of seedlings and saplings of the predominant tree species as well as a loss of minor species (e.g. striped maple, Canada yew) from heavy deer browsing. These deer effects are more frequent on large areas where deer hunting is prohibited.

Special soil types may support patches of distinctive forest vegetation. Disturbed sandy soils often abound with black locust, and abandoned gravel pits frequently support colonies of quaking aspen. Clay areas along

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..,. <.0

LOW...--­LESS ...--­GREAT...- -­MORE ...--­HIGH ...---

Lower Slope

soil moisture - - ~ soil depth & fertility - - --..

exposure to wind, sun, etc. - - -. amount of rock at soil surface - - -. fire frequency - - -.

Fig. 2. Site types, relative elevation, and environmental gradients.

HIGH MORE LITTLE

LESS LOW

the Hudson River in northern Dutchess have little hemlock but abundant flowering dogwood and poison-ivy; and areas of clay flows or slumps close to the water support plants tolerant of soil movement. Limestone till soils and outcrops provide habitat for many uncommon secondary species such as roundleaf dogwood, hackberry, and American prickly-ash.

Dutchess County lacks clear elevational vegetation zones although such zones are evident on large mountain masses in the Catskills and Adiron­dacks. Slightly moister and cooler regions of the county, mostly in the east, do support more yellow birch, paper birch, striped maple, and certain other "northern" species. However, the pattern of dry sunny summits and sheltered frost-pocket hollows is the rule, sometimes resembling a "reverse zonation" with "southern" species at higher elevations and "northern" species at lower elevations.

Plantations

Stands of planted trees are numerous but mostly small in area, and comprise pure stands or alternating patches of (usually) conifers. Some planted species are not native (e.g. Norway spruce, European larch) or are rarely found outside of plantations. There is little reproduction of the non-natives. Same-aged and row-planted appearance readily identify plantations. However, occasional apparently-spontaneous white pine stands resemble plantations; these trees probably seeded in heavily during short periods on eroded pastures or fallow fields. A variety of volunteer species may also be found in unmanaged plantations, including white pine and elms.

Brushland

To many, "brush" connotes undesirable vegetation, but these communi­ties are extremely valuable for wildlife habitat and soil protection. Brush­land covers the variety of plant communities with shrub patches, small trees, and coarse herbs predominating, that represent the period of regen­eration between agricultural abandonment and closure of the forest canopy. These "oldfields" are usually about 3-50 years old. Brushland vegetation may not be vertically complex (many-layered) but is usually horizontally diverse (patchy) and composed of a great many species that may occur as scattered individuals, small patches or even large stands.

While some oldfield species arrive as seeds, many probably develop from root systems that have persisted from an earlier forested stage. The develop­ment of new forests from root sprouts or stump sprouts following non­forest land uses suggested the -term "sprout hardwoods" for a type of

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vegetation predominating in Dutchess County and southern New England in general.

Many woody plants spread vegetatively under or along the soil surface, forming "colonies." Root-suckering species are especially important in oldfields and include the sumacs, aspens, gray dogwood and black locust. These species tend to resist cutting, animal damage and fire. Browsing by meadow vole, cottontail, woodchuck and deer is an important species­selective factor in oldfield development.

Red-cedar, gray birch and gray dogwood are perhaps the most "typical" brush land species of Dutchess County. Red-cedar is not always present but is often moderately to very abundant, lending a distinctive part-evergreen character to the vegetation. Red-cedar occurs frequently on eroded acidic soils, but seems to reach its greatest density and vigor on limy soils.

White pine is not such a typical oldfield species here as in southern New England, but does occur where parent trees stood (often old ornamental pines) and is occasionally abundant. Common juniper is not frequent either, with the exception of an area in the northwest seemingly coinciding with the Elizaville thrust block geology. White pine, common juniper and red-cedar are unpalatable to cattle and thus able to survive during late stages of grazing.

Old orchards and fencerows are special types of brushland. Persisting apple trees mingled with spontaneous woody plants are found on many small areas. Fencerows, on the other hand, are linear 5-20 ft. wide plant communities present along fencelines bordering farmfields or young old­fields. Scattered large spreading trees occur in fencerows with more typical brushland plants. Little islands of woody vegetation, often savanna-like, also occur on old farmers' rockpiles.

Rights-of-Way

Corridors of roads, railroads, power lines and other utilities comprise a vegetation habitat more consistent in land use than physiographic site. Though only about 50-300 ft. wide, ROWs comprise a significant acreage. In a sense they are the inverse of fencerows, since ROW communities are usually shorter in stature than adjacent communities.

ROWs are usually mowed, brush-hogged or sprayed with herbicides to keep plants from interfering with use. ROW communities are also exposed to pollutants from vehicles. Depending on soil characteristics, these com­munities vary from near-natural forest to (usually) brushland to low­growing herbs or even nearly-bare soil. Where topsoil has been removed or was never developed (e.g. on railroad causeways in the Hudson River), ROWs resemble waste ground (see below).

lSI

Waste Ground

Sites lacking topsoil include dumps and fills, roadcuts, parking lots, dikes, vacant lots, surface mines, and peripheries of construction or indus­trial sites. Climatic, chemical or mechanical stress and deficiencies of moisture and soil nutrients contribute to simplified vegetation. Waste ground communities resemble oldfields but are smaller, shorter and sparser on the average; areas lacking woody plants and much bare soil are often present. Root-suckering species are often prominent and there is a larger proportion of non-native species in the flora.

Managed Grounds

Intensive management with fertilizer, herbicides, irrigation and pruning create communities of yards, estate grounds, campuses and urban streets. Ornamental trees are interspersed with lawns forming artificial savannas. Stresses such as dry soils, salt, and air pollution as well as management may reduce the number of species that can thrive. Trees are often very large, 1-3+ ft. dbh, and spreading. Non-native trees, shrubs and herbs outnumber natives. Many trees were planted 60-150 years ago and are very large but dying.

Abandoned grounds, quite frequent but usually very small, include overgrown yards and estates as well as older communities of former garden sites or house lots, usually surrounded by forest or brushland. Many planted native or more often non-native trees, shrubs and herbs persist without reproducing, commingled with spontaneous wild species. Telltale patches of day-lily, periwinkle, buckthorn, tree-of-heaven or other orna­mentals of the past identify these sites even after other signs of use are obscured. The entire shore of the Hudson River consists of former and present estate grounds, gardens, dirt roads and trails, and miscellaneous plantings now competing with the returning wild plants.

Mowed fields are maintained on many properties for ornamental pur­poses; in these, grasses and forbs (broad-leaved herbs) partly conceal the repeatedly cut-off woody plant shoots.

Wetlands and Waters

Wet sites occupy a small portion of the county but are significant for recreation, wildlife habitat, and waste assimilation. They vary from perma­nently covered by many feet of water to seasonally flooded to merely damp.

Communities of submerged aquatic plants in lakes, ponds and slow streams usually contain patches of one or a few species (Table 1). Sub-

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merged aquatics grow where the bottom is continuously covered by water but enough light penetrates for photosynthesis, usually one to several feet deep. Many surfaces in this depth range, however, are bare of vascular plants perhaps because of disturbance by waves or animals. Submerged plants are limp-stemmed, and mayor may not have parts that float at the water surface. Floating-leaved plants like water-lilies, or free-floating plants like duckweeds, may also be present. Attached algae or mosses (non­vascular plants) are often important, and plankton (drifting microscopic algae) are present in almost all waters.

Wetlands range from damp and spongy to permanently or intermittently covered by 1-2 ft. of water. Swamps (wooded wetlands) are dominated by trees or shrubs, in Dutchess most often by red maple. Red ash is often important, and American elm was a very important wetland tree before the epidemic of Dutch elm disease in the last two decades. Mixed hardwood swamps seem to be more often associated with moving waters on the floodplains of larger streams, while red maple swamps are associated with little or no flow, and conifer swamps with the most stagnant situations. Conifer swamps are also restricted to either calcareous or highly acidic situations. Silver maple is prominent only in the south on the floodplains of major streams. Shrubs dominate some wetlands, usually smaller and more stagnant areas, though there are exceptions.

Most woody plants in wetlands grow on pedestal-like expanded root­crowns ("hummocks") formed by particular woody species. Hummocks allow the plants sufficient water and air, whatever the water level, and usually develop best where levels fluctuate. Many herbs, and also plants not normally considered wetland species, grow atop woody plant hummocks. Buttonbush is an exceptional wetland shrub that usually grows directly on the swamp floor.

Marshes (herbaceous wetlands) are dominated by non-woody plants, either grasslike (graminoid) plants such as bulrushes, tussock sedge, reed or cattail, or broad-leaved plants (forbs) like purple loosestrife. Marsh vegeta­tion is conspicuously influenced by soil calcium content. Limy (high calcium) soils support all the larger cattail stands, as well as some other very characteristic communities.

Wetlands with peaty (rather than alluvial) soil, and an abundance of sphagnum moss, are usually called "bogs". Small cranberry, leatherleaf, pitcher plant, sundew and cottongrass are typical bog plants, and the conifer swamps mentioned above are really bogs. However, different wet­land floras and communities blend and mix considerably, for example cattail with sphagnum, and one landscape unit may support patches of swamp, marsh and bog interspersed. Dutchess bogs are few, and occur

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either on limy or highly acidic sites. Tidal wetlands and shallows of the Hudson River are affected by twice­

daily, 3-4 ft. tides, but water that is fresh or nearly so. Tideland communities include submerged or floating aquatic plants in subtidal shallows (mostly wild-celery, Eurasian watermilfoil and water-chestnut), patches of spatter­dock and pickerelweed in the lower intertidal zone, large expanses of graminoids or patches of mixed forbs (usually in disturbed areas) in the upper intertidal zone, and sometimes shrub or mixed-hardwood swamps in the upper intertidal zone. Of all our wetland and aquatic vegetation, the Hudson River vegetation is most valuable for fish and wildlife habitat and for waste assimilation.

Beaver and muskrat have important influences on wetland vegetation. Beaver raise water levels for periods of I-several years on a site, cut and girdle many trees and shrubs, and initiate a cycle of vegetation development from forest to pond to marsh or swamp and sometimes back to forest. Muskrats feed selectively on certain plants, especially cattails, and make small clearings in the marsh vegetation which may return to the predomi­nant community after a few years or may be invaded by a completely different community such as shrub or purple loosestrife. Both beaver and muskrat contribute to diversity of plant communities.

History of the Vegetation

Dutchess County was not covered by "virgin" stands of huge trees at the time of European arrival, although large-tree forests could have been present locally. Forests, likely oak-dominated and with white pine com­mon, probably covered 50-75% of the county. Indian use of fire for vegeta­tion management likely restricted sensitive trees such as hemlock to ravines and wetlands. Small and large "fields" existed, some planted to crops, others brushland in various developmental stages following slash-and­burn agriculture or camp and village site use. Fields and villages were mostly along major streams and the Hudson River.

Dutch, German and English settlers in the 1600s-1700s affected vegetation by construction of numerous dams on the streams, widespread logging and clearing for crops and pasture, and introduction of grazing stock. Today's best-developed forests were probably cut once early in the settlement period, and not cut since.

What forests remained in the late 1700s-1800s were cut and recut to produce the charcoal required by the iron industry of the east and extreme south. More than 90% of the land was cleared and planted or grazed some time during the 1800s. Intensive cultivation of wheat caused serious soil erosion on slopes and hilltops, exposing rock which remains so today.

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Wildlife habitat. There is abundant habitat for wildlife species of forest edge and forest interior, as well as wildlife of open lands. Some animals require habitats with particular form or species, or minimum habitat unit size, or interspersion of different specific community types. I discuss wild­life habitats in a separate chapter in the DCDP book.

Tree cavities are a special resource for many birds, small mammals and other animals. Den trees are abundant now as many "overmature" trees remain from old plantings and spontaneous volunteer trees. However, as these over mature trees die, and the "mature" trees that would replace them are cut for lumber, den trees may be in short supply.

Aesthetic values. Landscape mosaics of conifer and hardwood forest, oldfields and farmland, produce some of the county's best-loved rural scenery. Some floral attractions are the blooming of flowering dogwood in May, mountain-laurel in June, purple loosestrife in July and August, and asters and golden-rods in August and September.

Ecological buffer. Vegetation holds soil and contribu tes to soil formation. Plants and soil intercept and slow the movement of runoff water, evening­out peaks and troughs in stream flow. Vegetation also helps to regulate the movement of dissolved substances, absorbing nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, and reducing the accumulation of nutrients in water bodies. Plants and soil filter and absorb cultural wastes, detoxify certain pollutants, and settle dust and sediment from air and water. Vegetation also absorbs noise, and moderates temperatures and wind near the ground. The regenerative capabilities of nature following severe natural or human disturbance are largely due to vegetation, and man's work to restore damaged parts of the landscape also uses plants to a large degree.

Ecological buffer belts-areas of intact vegetation-are especially impor­tant between intensive human land uses and water courses. The buffer capability of vegetation seems proportional to the vegetation mass and complexity, as well as amount of litter and downwood. Vegetation is a more effective buffer during the leafy season (growing season) from the end of April to the beginning of October.

Wetlands are critical buffer areas. Sediments, nutrients and some pol­lutants are filtered out of waters by wetlands. In wetlands, the nutrients are transformed into large and fast-growing masses of plant and animal matter, some of which leaves the wetland and some of which is available to society as food, fiber, etc. With only 5% of the county remaining in wetland vegetation, there is not enough natural water treatment. Thus cultural wastes stimulate the development of nuisance growths of algae and vas­cular plants in creeks, lakes and ponds, and valuable nutrients are lost from the land.

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Future of the Vegetation

Vegetation is dynamic. Some communities may remain more or less stable for many years, but all vegetation changes sooner or later, slowly or suddenly. Vegetation change may be the result of stress or trauma, or the recovery from trauma with the gradual establishment of larger slower­growing plants. Or change may be related to subtle factors such as wet and dry years, conditions required for germination and establishment of seedlings and their survival, fluctuating animal activities, or other factors which tip the balance between competing plant species.

Traumas usually affect small areas of vegetation and produce sudden changes followed by slow or rapid recovery. Fires, windthrow, animal outbreaks, small c1earcuts, and local floods are examples of traumatic events which selectively kill or inhibit certain species and initiate a series of changes progressing from simple to (usually) complex communities on a site. Stresses over large areas, as from pollution, intensified land use, or increased harvest of wood, produce gradual changes which may last until the stress factor is removed-or long afterwards. Local traumas increase diversity of the landscape by producing patches of vegetation in different stages of recovery in a landscape mosaic; large-scale stresses simplify the landscape by decreasing or eliminating sensitive species or whole communities.

Some of the more prevalent factors in vegetation change now are discussed below.

Woodcutting. Cutting for lumber and fuel is increasing. Cutting (except where it accompanies land clearing) is selective rather than c1earcutting. However, selective cutting reduces average size of trees and overall tree biomass. Valuable large hardwoods are cut first for lumber, and high­quality fuel species may be selected for firewood, changing species compo­sition. Woodcutting is approaching the level in Dutchess (if not already there) where more wood is cut than grown annually. Thus we are not just withdrawing the annual interest, so to speak, but reducing the "capital" built up by planting and natural restocking since the late 1800s.

Clearing. Land clearing for residence, commerce and industry combines with the effects of wood harvest to modify Dutchess vegetation. Most cleared land will not support forest for decades or centuries to come, and it is not certain what the relative rates of clearing and reforestation of cleared land are now. Land clearing tends to reduce the average size of forest stands, and remove the sawtimber and forest habitat of the future.

Fire. Most vegetation fires in Dutchess are light ground fires, burning leaf litter, some downwood, aboveground parts of herbs, shrubs and some (particularly smaller) trees, but rarely doing much damage to tree canopies. Vegetation typically regenerates rapidly on these burns. Burns in herba-

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ceous vegetation (fields, ROWs, etc.) are usually scarcely recognizable as burns the following season or even later the same growing season. In woody vegetation, burns are noticeable for few to many years, but many species of shrubs and trees (if top-killed) sprout readily from the base, and sprouts may grow 3 feet or more in one season. Some trees may be root-killed by fire. Red-cedar, white pine, red maple and hemlock are vulnerable, especially when small. Other trees such as oaks and hickories have thick corky bark which tends to protect the underlying tissues, and thus these fire-resistant species are favored in burned areas.

Diseases. Chestnut and American elm have been virtually eliminated as components of the vegetation by disease. During the last 1-2 decades, other important trees have been attacked and reduced in numbers; among them beech, white ash, and sugar maple. In some cases (e.g. white ash, sugar maple) most mortality occurs where trees are stressed by water or nutrient shortages, salt, or mechanical damage as on grounds, roadsides and in parks. Forest interiors are less affected, although beech bark disease seems to be an exception. Whether such declines are temporary or long-term is unknown.

Gypsy moth. Partial or complete defoliation of hardwoods may occur in some areas, usually when caterpillar populations peak at several-year inter­vals. Defoliation is more common on trees lacking sufficient water: during droughts, on dry forest sites, and ornamental trees in dry soil. Trees usually produce new leaves after defoliation but some trees die if heavily grazed for more than 1 season. Outbreaks may reduce forest productivity somewhat in local areas, but there is no evidence of widespread destruction of forests. Selective mortality may even help to diversify the heavily oak-dominated dry ridge forests of the east, as has been suggested for similar forests at the Mohonk Preserve in Ulster County.

Deer. Deer are probably more common in the county now than ever before. Where deer concentrate, heavy browsing on seedlings and twigs, and consumption of acorns, may eliminate reproduction of all but the most unpalatable tree and shrub species. Such areas will eventually show a shift in species composition of the canopy as the larger deer-sensitive species like hemlock and oaks die.

Beaver. Beaver are becoming fairly common at least in the east. Pond construction and feeding kill some of the trees within 50 yards or so of the dam, and a patch of forest is thus replaced by aquatic vegetation and herbs or shrubs. When the beaver leave the site after I-several years, a wetland usually develops and trees may gradually return. The high value of beaver ponds and wetlands for wildlife habitat and hydrological buffering offsets local damage to timber, and beaver activities enhance landscape diversity in

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the long run. Furthermore, fur trapping and "nuisance beaver removal" keep the beaver population below potential.

Weeds. Certain introduced plants proliferate in disturbed areas and gradually replace patches of native vegetation wholly or partly. Invasion of exotics is insignificant in forest but common in herbaceous and some shrubland communities. Purple loosestrife has replaced cattail, sedges and other wetland herbs at many Dutchess County locations. Water-chestnut and Eurasian watermilfoil are very abundant in Hudson River shallows, and are potential invaders of ponds and lakes. Multiflora rose, planted for erosion control and wildlife food, spreads both vegetatively and by bird­disseminated seeds and is difficult to eradicate; it is troublesome in oldfields, pastures and wet meadows. Bell's honeysuckle has spread from ornamental plantings and is very abundant westward in oldfields, wet meadows and open woods.

These "weeds" tend to replace native plants of different growth forms than their own. The weeds, when present in small numbers scattered among native species, increase diversity; but when they dominate entire communities on many sites, diversity of both species and communities is reduced. Exotic species do support wildlife, but native plants in extensive wild communities are necessary to maintain natural numbers of many native animals. All of the weeds mentioned above spread readily and will likely become much more abundant in the near future. Also, new vegeta­tion pests will undoubtedly appear occasionally as new species are intro­duced for ornament and other purposes.

Some plants are "weeds" not by replacing native vegetation, but by other effects that are locally undesirable. Agricultural weeds are familiar. Rag­weed, a hay fever species, proliferates on waste ground and the best control is protection of topsoil. However, pollens from ragweed and other hay fever plants travel long distances and are not controllable. Poison-ivy may be considered a weed along roadsides, trails and grounds; it thrives on sunny disturbed soils, seemingly more so on limy sites. Poison-ivy is an important winter food for birds and mammals. On the other hand, poison-sumac is restricted to wetlands and is rather rare and local in Dutchess.

There is a need for imaginative management techniques for weeds which exploit weaknesses of the species or their potential uses. Weeds could be used for fiber, energy production, and perhaps fodder in some cases. Except where weed problems locally interfere with cultural activities or wildlife habitat, weeds are best left alone. Most non-agricultural weed problems may be prevented by maintenance of a healthy soil-vegetation system.

Wetlands modification. In order to maintain healthy vegetation and associated ecological values, wetlands and waters need a normal circulation

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(quality and quantity) of water, and a protective belt of buffer vegetation on their banks and borders. Most wetlands have fluctuating flows and levels, and stabilizing water levels will reduce wetland productivity. The most ecologically active parts of wetlands are vegetation borders, on the water side and the upland side, as well as borders between plant communities within the wetland. These borders are the most likely to be affected by human activities. Continued threats to wetlands and waters include dump­ing, filling, draining, flooding (damming), pesticide and other toxicant contamination, and removal of adjacent buffer vegetation.

Pollution. Lichens have decreased in abundance and variety in West­chester County and on parts of the Shawangunk Mountains in Ulster County. Lichens on trees are less diverse near the Hudson River than farther east in Dutchess County, and all of these phenomena are probably due to air pollution. Roadside conifers have been injured at many locations in the county, probably by de-icing salt and/or exhaust emissions. Excess nutri­ents from sewage have modified the composition of vegetation in many waterbodies. In the Hudson, some plants have declined or disappeared since the 1930s-40s, including wild-rice, river bulrush, wild-celery and goldenclub; water pollution may be one of several contributing factors. As yet there is no evidence that pollution has affected widespread vegetation dominants such as trees and shrubs, but it is not difficult to guess that acid precipitation, pesticides, or local air emissions have or soon will contribute to the partial replacement of sensitive plant species by heartier ones.

Vegetation as a Commodity and Amenity

The curve of forest development is at a peak in Dutchess County now, with forest extent and biomass having gradually increased since the late 1800s. About half the county is covered by forests and oldfields. But present trends in land clearing and woodcutting suggest a sharp downturn in the near future. It is appropriate to make important management decisions about vegetation now.

We can use and protect Dutchess vegetation at the same time. Natural areas, including some large ones (over 1000 acres), can be set aside to

maintain significant species, communities and ecosystems while these resources are still in good condition. Attention should be paid to rapidly­disappearing types of vegetation such as sand and gravel communities, cattail and conifer wetlands, and large-tree forests.

A county consciousness can act to retain needed areas of buffer vegetation with added benefits of wildlife habitat and scenery. Construction could be sited more on open lands (other things equal) and less in now-forested areas where clearing would be necessary. Developers and builders can leave

160

naturally-plant covered (or restored) buffer belts around construction sites and between disturbances and waters or wetlands.

We can experiment with the direct use of vegetation for treating non­toxic cultural wastes. Plant communities which are valuable for air and water treatment could be created or increased in size: wetlands, shelterbelts, and forests. We can also restore vegetation to damaged areas such as road­cuts, surface mines, and construction sites-planting or encouraging spon­taneous development of native species to resume their ecological functions more quickly. These actions could be stimulated by economic, institutional or public-relations incentives. Practices like these pay for themselves in soil protection, wildlife conservation, pollution control, flood reduction, and aesthetic enhancement.

Where to Study Vegetation

Vegetation is everywhere, but certain plant communities may be seen to advantage in some of the county's public use areas (Fig. 3). CDBowdoin Park (County). Small tidal and non tidal wetlands; mowed fields including one on sand; limy soil communities; beech wood. (Sheafe Rd.) ® Buttercup Sanctuary (National Audubon Society; by permission). Limy pastures and outcrop woods; limy swamps and wet meadows; non-limy oldfields, old orchard and hardwoods. (Rt. 82) ® Cary Arboretum (NY Botanical Garden). Very extensive oldfields and conifer plantations; large stream. (Rt. 44A) 0Clinton Town Recreation Area. Beechwood (W. of Wappinger Cr.); abandoned gravel pits. (Clinton Hollow Rd.) ® Franklin Delano Roosevelt National Historic Site (Federal). Medium size tidemarsh with spatterdock and pickerelweed; mixed hardwood­conifer forest adjoining marsh; hayfields near Rt. 9. ® Norrie State Park. Hardwood forests on shale cliffs over Hudson River; small very sheltered tidemarsh above boat basin. (Rt. 9G) 0Pawling Nature Reserve (The Nature Conservancy). Small crest com­munities; extensive midslope hardwoods; hemlock cove; abandoned beaver flowage (NE). Only over-l 000 acre natural area open to the public. (Quaker Lake Rd.) ®Stony Kill Environmental Education Center (NYS Dept. of Environ­mental Conservation). Agricultural communities; oldfields; hardwood forests; hardwood swamp (with boardwalk and blind). (Rt. 9D) ®Taconic-Hereford State Forest (DEC). Hemlock ravine and abandoned beaver flowage now sedge meadow ("Pond Gut") (SE); extensive hardwood forests; large 1970s burn area (NW). (Taconic Parkway)

161

162

I

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10

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Fig. 3. Some public use areas where vegetation can be observed.

@>Taconic State Park. Large pond with wetlands (Rudd Pond); extensive lower, mid and upper slope forests (mostly hardwoods) on Brace Mountain, with birch-mountain-Iaurel stands and graminoid-shrub crest (N); small acidic sphagnum bogs on ridgetop. @Thompson Pond Preserve (Nature Conservancy). Lower and midslope forests; red-cedar-gray birch oldfield near registry; limy wetland pond with cattail and other communities. (Lake Rd.) ®Tivoli Bays Unique Area (DEC). Lower slope hardwoods, hemlock­hardwoods on clay and till; perennial and intermittent streams; abandoned grounds changing to hardwood forest on Cruger Island; county's largest tidal wetland and shallows complex in North and South Bays (best seen by canoe June-Sep.) and tidal swamp at foot of Cruger Island Rd. (jeep road); railroad ROW waste grounds. (Annandale Rd. or Kidd Lane) @Vassar College Campus and Vassar Farm (private). Managed grounds with many specimen trees (campus); two ponds (Sunset & Vassar Lakes); extensive hay fields and young hardwoods (Farm). (Hooker Ave.) @Ferncliff Forest (Rotary Club of Rhinebeck). Mixed hardwood-conifer forest (with observation tower); small pond. (Mt. Rutsen Rd.) @Nuclear Lake (National Park Service; temporarily closed). Extensive hardwood forests. @Hudson Highlands State Park. Extensive crest communities on Break­neck Ridge and Sugarloaf Mtn., with large areas of midslope foresllower down; abandoned grounds and oilfields on NE slope of Sugarloaf; small woodland pools atop Breakneck; sandy oldfields near Rt. 9D in between. o

Table I

Characteristic plants of major site/ use types. Species listed for a type do not necessarily occur all together in anyone landscape unit, but in various combina­tions. See Table 2 for scientific names. L = local.

Type Canopy

Forests (terresrrial)

Lower slopes Sugar maple Hemlock Red oak Tuliptree Beech Black birch Yellow birch White ash White pine Shagbark hickory

Understory

Striped maple Flowering dogwood American hornbeam Mapleleaf viburnum Spicebush Witch-hazel Virginia creeper Grape

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Type Canopy Understory

Midslopes Red oak Hop hornbeam Black oak Mountain-laurel Chestnut oak Shadbush White oak Witch-hazel Sugar maple Mapleleaf viburnum Hemlock L Bladdernut L Black birch Low blueberry White ash Virginia creeper Red maple Grape Black cherry L Flowering dogwood Paper birch L American chestnut (sprouts) Gray birch L Black locust L Pignut hickory

Upper slopes Red oak Staghorn sumac Chestnut oak Scrub oak White oak Chokecherry Red-cedar Low blueberry White ash Huckleberry Pignut hickory Downy arrowwood L Gray birch L American chestnut (sprouts) Red maple Gray dogwood Sassafras L Witch-hazel Quaking aspen L Mountain-laurel L Pitch pine L Chokeberry Pin cherry L Sweetfern L Shadbush Bush-honeysuckle

Little bluestem Sedges

Plantations Red pine Scotch pine White pine Norway spruce European larch + spontaneous trees & shrubs

Oldfields Gray dogwood Poison-ivy (brushland) Red-cedar Dewberry

Gray birch Blackberry Staghorn sumac Black raspberry Smooth sumac Sweetfern L Multiflora rose Japanese barberry L Bell's honeysuckle L Common juniper L Black locust L Little bluestem White pine L Goldenrods Quaking aspen L Asters Sassafras L + many other species

164

Type Canopy Chokecherry Black cherry Red maple Arrowwood American prickly-ash L

Understory

Waste ground Staghorn sumac Poison-ivy Red-cedar Smooth sumac Tree-of-heaven Bell's honeysuckle L Black locust Japanese honeysuckle Quaking aspen Brambles Cottonwood Bittersweet

False-indigo L Ragweed

+ many other trees, shrubs, herbs

Mowed fields Orchard grass & pastures Timothy

Wetlands (nontidal)

Swamps

Marshes

Red maple Red ash Black ash L American elm Yellow birch L Willows Silver maple L Cottonwood L Sycamore L Tamarack L Swamp white oak L

Sweet vernal grass Other grasses Goldenrods Asters other forbs various woody plants

Willows Alders Spicebush Silky dogwood Red-osier dogwood L Buttonbush High blueberry Swamp azalea Nannyberry Arrowwood Purple loosestrife Cinnamon fern Skunk-cabbage + other herbs

Purple loosestrife Cattails Bulrushes Tussock sedge Other sedges Rushes Reed canary grass Reed

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Type

Ponds etc.

Tidelands (Hudson River)

Canopy Understory

other grasses + scanered woody plants

Red maple Red ash Black ash Various shrubs (woody plants may be absent)

Pondweeds Naiads Waterweed Bladderworts Charophytes Duckweeds White water-lily Yellow water-lily Water-shield

Narrowleaf canail Spanerdock Pickerelweed Reed L Broadleaf arrowhead Arrow arum Doned smart weed River bulrush Wild-rice Rice cutgrass Purple loosestrife Silky dogwood Bunonbush Eurasian watermilfoil Wild-celery Water-chestnut + other herbs & shrubs

Table 2

Common and scientific names of plants mentioned in this chapter (this is not a complete flora). Scientific names follow Gleason & Cronquist's Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada (1963).

Alders Apple Arrowwood Arrowwood, downy Arum, arrow Ash, black Ash, red Ash, white Aspen, quaking

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Alnus rugosa, A. serrulata Pyrus malus Viburnum dentatum V. rafinesquianum Peltandra virginica Fraxinus nigra F. pennsylvanica F. americana Populus tremuloides

Aspens Asters Azalea, swamp · Barberry, Japanese Beech Birch, black Birch, gray Birch, paper Birch, yellow Bittersweet Blackberry Bladdernut Bladderworts Blueberry, high BI ueberry, low Bluestem, little Brambles Buckthorn Bulrush, river Bulrushes Bush-honeysuckle Buttonbush Cattail, narrow leaf Cattails Charophytes Cherry, black Chestnut, American Chokeberry Chokecherry Corn, field Cottongrass Cottonwood Cranberry, small Creeper, Virginia Cutgrass, rice Day-lily Dewberry Dogwood, flowering Dogwood, gray Dogwood, roundleaf Dogwood, silky Dogwood, re-osier Duckweeds Elm, American Elms False-indigo Fern, cinnamon Goldenclub

Populus spp. Aster spp. Rhododendron viscosum Berberis thunbergii Fagus grandifolia Betula lenta B. populifolia B. papyrifera B. lutea Celastrus scan dens Rubus allegheniensis Staphylea trifolia Utricularia spp. Vaccinium corymbosum (or near) V. vacillans, possibly V. angustifolium Andropogon scoparius Rubus spp. Rhamnus cathartica Scirpus fluviatilis Scirpus spp. Diervilla lonicera Cephalanthus occidentale Typha angustifolia Typha spp. Charophyta Prunus serotina Castanea dentata Aronia sp. Prunus pensylvanica Zea mays Eriophorum sp. Populus deltoides Vaccinium OXYcoccos Parthenocissus quinquefolia Leersia oryzoides Hemerocallis fulva Rubus flagellaris Corn us florida C. racemosa C. rugosa C. amomum C. stolonifera Lemnaceae Ulmus americana Ulmus spp. Amorpha fruticosa Osmunda cinnamomea Orontium aquaticum

167

Goldenrods Grape Grass, orchard Grass, reed canary Grass, sweel vernal Grasses Hemlock Hickory, pignul Hickory, shagbark Hickories Honeysuckle, Bell's

Honeysuckle, Japanese Hornbeam, American Hornbeam, hop Huckleberry Juniper, common Larch, European Lealherleaf LOCUSl, black Looseslrife, purple Maple, red Maple, silver Maple, slriped Maple, sugar Mountain-laurel Naiads Nannyberry Oak, black Oak, chestnul Oak, red Oak, scrub Oak, swamp while Oak, while Oaks Periwinkle Pickerelweed Pine, red Pine, pilCh Pine, Scolch Pine, while Plant, pilcher Poison-ivy Pond weeds Prickly-ash, American Ragweed Red-cedar Reed

168

Solidago spp. Vitis sp. Dactylis glomerata Phalaris arundinacea Anthoxanthum odoratum Gramineae spp. Tsuga canadensis Carya glabra C.ovata Carya spp. Lonicera x bella (hybrid swarm of L. morrowi & L. tatarica) L. japonica Carpinus caroliniana Ostrya virginiana Gaylussacia baccata Juniperus communis Larix decidua Chamaedaphne calyculata Robinia pseudoacacia Lythrum salicaria Acer rub rum A. saccharinum A. pensylvanicum A. saccharum Kalmia latifolia Najas spp. Viburnum lentago Quercus velutina Q. prinus Q. borealis Q. ilicifolia Q. bicolor Q. alba Quercus spp. Vinca minor Pontederia cordata Pinus resinosa P. rigida P. sylvestris P. strobus Sarracenia purpurea Rhus radicans Potamogeton spp. Zanthoxylum americanum Ambrosia artemisiifolia Juniperus virginiana Phragmites communis

Rose, multiflora Rush, soft Rushes Sassafras Sedge, tussock Sedges Shadbush Skunk-cabbage Smart weed, dotted Spatterdock Spicebush Sundew, roundleaf Sumac, poison Sumac, smooth Sumac, staghorn Sweetfern Sycamore Tamarack Timothy Tree-of-heaven Tuliptree Viburnum, mapleleaf Water-chestnut Water-lily, white Water-lily, yellow Water-shield Watermilfoil, European Waterweed Wild-celery Wild-rice Willows Witch-hazel Yew, Canada

Rosa multiflora Juncus effusus Juncus spp. Sassafras albidum Carex stricta Carex spp. Amelanchier arborea Symplocarpus foetidus Polygonum punctatum Nuphar advena Lindera benzoin Drosera rotundifolia Rhus vernix R. glabra R. typhina Myrica asplenifolia Platanus occidentalis Larix laricina Phleum pratense Ailanthus altissima Liriodendron tulipifera Viburnum acerifolium Trapa natans Nymphaea odorata Nuphar variegatum Brasenia schreberi Myriophyllum spicatum Anacharis canadensis Vallisneria americana Zizania aquatica Salix spp. Hamamelis virginiana Taxus canadensis

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Boonin, S.E., A.E. Huessener & L.A. Loza under direction of L.N. Halfen. nd. An ecological evaluation of Whaley Lake, Dutchess County, New York. 63 p. unpub!. rept, Bio!. Dept., Vassar College.-Submerged aquatic flora, trees at edge but not emergents; copy at DC Coop. Ext.

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Brace, J.P. 1822. List of plants growing spontaneously in Litchfield and its vicinity. Amer. J. Sci. 4:69-86, 292-309.-Not seen; Litchfield Co. Ct.

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Cope, J.A. 1929. Concerning black locust in New York. J. For. 27:825-831.-0Idest mainland plantation in T. Washington; abundance of volunteer growth all around Poughkeepsie.

Cope, J.A. 1938. Further notes on shipmast locust. J. For. 36: 812-813. Damman, A. W. H. & B. Kershner. 1977. Floristic composition and topographical distribution

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Egler, F.E. 1940. Berkshire Plateau vegetation, Massachusetts. Ecol. Monogr. 10(2):145-192. Egler, F.E. 1977. The nature of vegetation. Its management and mismanagement. Aton Forest ,

Norfolk Ct. 527 p.-General; very thought-provoking. Egler, F.E. & W. Niering. 1970? Lucius Pond Ordway Preserve-Devil's Den, 1967-1968. III.

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Feeley-Connor, B. 1978. The ecology of corti colo us lichens in northern Dutchess County, New York. Unpubl. Senior Project (AB thesis), Bard College, Annandale NY. 41 p. -Bark lichens; diversity increases from W to E; also data on host tree communities.

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170

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(II): 129-132. -Stony Creek to Cruger lsI.; description of very well-developed forest, since logged twice, rich in snails.

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173