The upper elevations in each watershed are dominated by softwood stands >100 years old, primarily composed of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea L. Mill.).
Vegetation
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At BBWM, both West Bear and
East Bear watersheds have similar vegetation. The upper components
of each watershed are dominated by softwoods that are remnants of the
vegetation that likely dominated all areas of these watersheds prior to
harvesting in the lower elevations. The boundary between the upper
softwood vegetation and mixed and hardwood stands is attributable to
past cutting practices. The lower portions of the watershed are
dominated by northern hardwoods, and there is transitional mixed wood
stands in the mid elevations. The softwood understory is
relatively open while the hardwood understory is highly vegetated and
sometimes quite dense. A vegetative inventory at BBWM is available in Eckhoff and Wiersma (2002) where they
implemented the USDA Forest Service Forest Health Monitoring inventory
system at BBWM.
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The upper elevations in each watershed are dominated by softwood stands >100 years old, primarily composed of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea L. Mill.).
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| Lower elevations are dominated by hardwood stands ~55 years old comprised of American beech (Fagus grandiofolia Ehrh.), yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.), red maple (Acer rubrum L.) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) (Norton et al., 1999). |
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