314 



NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



^1897 'a List of the Birds of Maine. 



Univ. of Me. Bui. 3. 

 Rand, E. L., and Rcdfield, J- H 



189-1 Flora of Mount Desert, Maine. 

 Smith, E. S. C, and Avery, M. H 



1922 A Bibliography for Mount 



Ktaadn. Appalachia, XV. 



334-340. 

 Revised and extended, 

 1924. Appalachia XVIII, 59, 70. 

 Tarr, R. S. 



1900. Glaciation of Mount Ktaadn 



Maine. Bui. Geol. Soc. Am., 



11, 433-448. 



B. States, Chiefly Deciduous Forest 



Nearly all these states here included 

 contain some coniferous forest either 

 on the high mountains, or in their 

 northern reaches; or mixed coniferous 

 and deciduous forest on rock outcrops 

 and shallow soil, or on low lands where 

 hemlock and white pine are sometimes 

 found. The states north of the Ohio 

 River include small areas of prairie in 

 the form of local patches in dried up 

 marshes, on west sloping river bluffs 

 and similar situations. 



1. NEW HAMPSHIRE 



By K. W. Woodward and C. F. Jackson 

 i. general conditions 

 1. Physiographic regions 



New Hampshire is diflScult to describe 

 briefly in its physical aspect. Perhaps 

 the most striking single feature is the 

 White Mountain region, but even this 

 is not isolated. It is merely the culmi- 

 nation of a series of elevated ridges. 

 There are high points on all sides of it. 



While the Connecticut River is the 

 largest and longest stream in the state 

 its valley is a comparatively narrow one. 

 The Merrimac River has a wider water- 

 shed even though it is only about half 

 as long. In addition to these two 

 principal streams, portions of the basins 

 of the Androscoggin, Saco, and Salmon 

 Falls Rivers are included in the eastern 

 portion of the state although all three 

 streams receive most of their waters 

 from Maine. 



This diversity of conditions gives 

 throughout the comparatively limited 

 area of the state a great variety of topog- 

 raphy; No one of the 10 counties 

 is exclusively valley, mountain or hill 

 country. Each has all three kinds. 



S. Plan and Animal communities 



a. Plant communities. While there 

 are in each county level valley floors 

 susceptible of easy tillage the general 

 character of the state is hilly. Two- 

 thirds of the land surface is either too 

 steep or too rocky to be cultivated 

 cheaply. Hence the dominant plant 

 communities are forest types. In the 

 valleys and the comparatively low 

 southeastern section white pine is the 

 most valuable tree species and probably 

 the most abundant numerically. Above 

 the white pine region, on the hills and 

 lower mountain slopes this species 

 (Pinus strobus) gives way to the north- 

 ern hardwood zone in which beech, 

 birch (two or three species) and sugar 

 maple are the characteristic species. 

 The higher mountains are covered with 

 stands of spruce (Picea rubra) and 

 balsam fir {Abies halsamea). Timber 

 line occurs at about 4500 ft. above sea- 

 level. 



The distribution of these three main 

 forest types is as follows: 



White pine, sea-level to 1000 ft.; 

 northern hardwoods 1000 to 2500 ft.; 

 red spruce 2500 to 4500 ft.; treeless 4500 

 ft. to top. 



b. Animal communities. Except for 

 the animals peculiar to the alpine 

 summits there is very little difference 

 in the fauna. For the most part the 

 vertebrates found in one part of the 

 state occur in every other part so far 

 as man's activities permit. Inverte- 

 brates are naturally more localized. 



II. PRESENT BIOTIC CONDITIONS 



There is little difference between the 

 present flora and fauna of this area and 

 that of pre-colonial New Hampshire. 

 The invertebrates are characteristic of 



