- CHAPTER 1 



INTRODUCTION 



1.1 GENERAL FEATURES 



Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) 

 is geographically restricted to freshwater wetlands in 

 a narrow band along the eastern coastal United 

 States ranging from Maine to Mississippi (Figure 1). 

 Cedar-dominated wetlands are most commonly 

 called cedar swamps or cedar bogs, with a variety of 

 other designations restricted to specific regions 

 (e.g., "spungs" in the Pine Barrens [Moonsammy et 

 al. 1987]; "juniper lights" in the Great Dismal [Kear- 

 ney 1901]; "juniper bogs" throughout the south). 



Distinctive biotic assemblages dominated 

 by Atlantic white cedar grow under conditions too ex- 

 treme for the majority of temperate-dwelling or- 

 ganisms. The shallow, dark, generally acid waters 

 are low in nutrients and are buffered by complex or- 

 ganic acids (e.g., humates, fulvic acids). Surficial 

 deposits beneath cedar forests provide groundwater 

 storage and discharge and recharge areas. Peats 

 adsorb and absorb nutrients and pollutants (Gorham 

 1987), purifying and protecting ground and surface 

 water with which they are in contact. In many 

 regions, cedar wetlands are refugia for species that 

 are rare, endangered, or threatened locally or nation- 

 ally. The swamps form southern pockets for northern 

 species at the geographic limits of their ranges, and 

 similar northern pockets for southern species (Taylor 

 1915; New Jersey Pinelands Commission [NJPC] 

 1980), but many locally common aquatic plants and 

 animals are absent from cedar swamps. 



Many species successful in these extreme 

 environments have evolved unusual strategies for 

 survival. The modest sum of research at the micro- 

 scopic level in Atlantic white cedar wetlands reveals 

 many symbiotic relationships of varying degree, ex- 

 otic pigment combinations, and a range of metabo- 

 lic, morphological, and temporal adaptations 

 (Laderman 1980, 1987). However, the difficulty of 

 gaining entry into cedar swamps, their limited geo- 

 graphic distribution, and a general lack of awareness 



MILES 



100 eoo 

 ' — ' — I 



O 320 



KILOMETCR* 



Figure 1 . Distribution of Chamaecyparis thyoides. 

 Records were compiled from field observations, her- 

 barium records, published sources, and personal 

 communications. Counties in which Atlantic white 

 cedar has been found are inked in black (from Lader- 

 man 1982). 



