of the existence of the forests and their contents have 

 discouraged extensive investigation of this wealth of 

 intriguing life strategies. 



European colonization and subsequent cen- 

 turies of development have progressively so altered 

 the landscape that much of the tree's original habitat 

 was destroyed. Those stands that remain were in 

 many cases protected only by the difficulty and high 

 cost of penetrating the swamps. Cedar wetlands are 

 increasingly encroached upon. They have been 

 logged for their valuable lumber since the first ex- 

 plorers set foot in the New World (Emerson 1981; 

 Frost, unpubl.; Kalm 1753-1761) and have been 

 drained for agriculture for more than two centuries 

 (Frost 1987; Sipple 1971-1972). As areas become 

 more heavily populated, industrial, commercial, and 

 residential uses displace cedar wetlands where they 

 are not protected by law (Laderman et al. 1987; 

 Roman et al. 1987). Cedar peat is being experimen- 

 tally mined as an energy source. 



Despite these multiple incursions, it is clear 

 from the vigor of many stands that, with appropriate 

 protection and, in some cases, aggressive manage- 

 ment, cedars can successfully regenerate, and can 

 repopulate many former cedar sites as well. 



1.2 CLASSIFICATION 



Atlantic white cedar occurs almost ex- 

 clusively with other hydrophytes on hydric soils in 

 wetlands commonly known as swamps and bogs. It 

 is also found, though rarely, near established cedar 

 stands as a colonizer where there are hydrophytes 

 but nonhydric soils. This may occur, for instance, at 

 the margins of new impoundments or excavations 

 where hydric soils have not yet developed. Atlantic 

 white cedar forests may be composed exclusively of 

 an even-aged monospecific stand of close-ranked 

 trees, which is often referred to in the literature as 

 "typical" for C. thyoides. In forests successfully 

 managed for harvest and regeneration, as well as in 

 many natural stands that originated after fire or flood, 

 this is often the picture. However, in many natural or 

 selectively harvested situations, cedars grow in un- 

 even-aged mixed stands which provide a greater 

 diversity of habitats that support a more species-rich 

 fauna and flora. Animal and plant life, and the variety 

 of cedar landscapes they inhabit, are described in 

 Chapters 2, 5, and 7; the known flora and fauna are 

 recorded in Appendixes A and B respectively. 



Under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 (USFWS) classification system (Cowardin et al. 

 1979) (Figures 2, 3), most cedar wetlands key out as: 



SYSTEf\4 Palustrine 

 CLASS Forested Wetland 



SUBCLASS Needle-leaved Evergreen 



DOMINANCE TYPE Chamaecyparis thyoides; in 

 mixed forests, common associates in the canopy are 

 red maple {Acer rubrum), black gum {Nyssa syl- 

 vatica), sweet bay {Magnolia virginiana), and one or 

 more pine species: loblolly {Pinus taeda), white (P. 

 strobus), or pitch pine (P. rigida) 



WATER REGIME Nontidal; Semipermanently or 

 Seasonally Flooded, or Saturated 



WATER CHEMISTRY Fresh-Acid; rarely, Circum- 



neutral 



SOIL Organic; rarely. Mineral 



A detailed classification of various cedar 

 wetlands is presented elsewhere (Laderman, un- 

 publ.). 



Cedar swamps are situated shoreward of 

 lakes, river or stream channels, or estuaries; on river 

 floodplains; in isolated catchments; or on slopes. 

 They may also occur (rarely) on bars or islands in 

 lakes or rivers. Slightly elevated hummocks domi- 

 nated by cedar are often interspersed with water- 

 filled hollows in a repeating pattern that forms a 

 readily identified functionally interrelated landscape. 



1.3 RELATIONSHIP WITH ADJACENT HABITATS 



The USFWS (Cowardin et al. 1979) desig- 

 nates the upland limits of wetlands as (1 ) the bound- 

 ary between land with predominantly hydrophyte 

 cover and land with predominantly mesophytic or 

 xerophytic cover or (2) the boundary between 

 predominantly hydric and nonhydric soil. The lower 

 bounds of wetlands, both riverine and palustrine, lie 

 at 2 m below low water or, if rooted plants grow 

 beyond this depth, the border is at the deepwater 

 edge of tree, shrub, or herbaceous emergent growth. 



In practice, however, consideration of the 

 ecosystem for management must go beyond techni- 

 cally defined borders. Indeed, the adjacent area may 

 be a critical determinant in the structure and function 

 of the entire wetland. The hydrological regime of a 

 cedar wetland is a major determinant of the biota in 

 both lotic (flowing) and lentic (nonflowing) systems. 

 Mature Atlantic white cedars are adapted to a wide 

 range of water depths, but rapid, prolonged change 

 in water depth kills seedlings outright and stresses or 

 kills mature specimens (see Figure 4) (Little 1950; 

 Laderman 1980). In streamside, lakeside, and es- 

 tuarine-border cedar swamps, the depth of water ad- 

 jacent to and contiguous with a wetland is a major 

 controlling influence on the wetland's water regime 

 (Laderman, unpubl.). The impact of cedar wetlands 

 on adjacent biota, hydrology, climate, etc., is at this 

 time a matter of interest, but there are insufficient 

 data for a clear i.'nderstanding of such effects. 



