CHAPTER 2 



REGIONAL OVERVIEW 



2.1 INTRODUCTION 



The aspect of an Atlantic white cedar wet- 

 land is so distinctive that the casual observer may 

 think that ail cedar swamps are similar in physical 

 structure and community composition. This is far 

 from the truth when the cedar is examined over its en- 

 tire range from north to south, from sea level to 

 mountain hollow, from acidic glacial kettle to boggy 

 flatwood or seepage sandhill. 



Cedar wetlands will be most clearly un- 

 derstood by examining what we know of each ex- 

 ample. Therefore, some typical or unusual sites are 

 described below, including those at the farthest ex- 

 tents of the cedar's range, the highest elevation 

 cedar swamp (altitude: 457 m), a domed bog, 

 swamps with a dense great laurel (Rhododendron 

 maximum) understory, floating bog mats with 

 dwarfed trees, a wetland in a deep fracture in 

 bedrock, narrow stream-border Pinelands swamps, 

 millponds, a Carolina bay, a sandhill seepage, and a 

 sandy stream terrace. 



2.2 GLACIATED NORTHEAST 



Atlantic white cedar wetlands dot a 130 km- 

 wide band along the coastal region of the North- 

 eastern United States from the southern extent of 

 glaciation (Figure 10) along New York's Long Island 

 and New Jersey's Hackensack Meadows, north to 

 mid-Maine at 44° north latitude (Figure 11). 

 Chamaecyparis thyoides grows from sea level to 

 457m elevation, but the great majority of stands are 

 found between sea level and 50 m. It is probable that 

 the distribution of the species was always restricted 

 to sites too wet for most other northeastern trees. 

 There is standing water in many northern cedar 

 swamps for half the growing season or longer 

 (Laderman et al. 1987; Golet and Lowry 1987); the 

 soil is primarily organic; and ground water is highly 

 acidic (pH 3.1 -5.5 [Laderman 1980; Golet and Lowry 

 1987]). 



2.2.1 Climatology 



The growing season of Atlantic white cedar 

 in the glaciated northeast ranges from 139 days in 

 Maine to 211 days in northern New Jersey. Sum- 

 mers are relatively cool and wet. Average maximum 

 daily temperatures in July range between 13 and 16 

 °C. The extreme high temperatures, 39 to 41 °C, do 

 not differ from those in the southernmost parts of the 

 cedars' range, although the total degree- days and 

 average temperatures differ markedly. The lowest 

 temperatures in the glaciated cedar wetland area 

 range from -40 °C in Maine to -22 °C in New Jersey 

 Average annual precipitation is between 101 and 119 

 cm (data from Ruffnerand Bair 1981). 



2.2.2 Distribution 



Generally Chamaecyparis decreases in abun- 

 dance with increasing distance from the coast. Low 

 tides and storms reveal cedar stumps buried under 

 saltmarsh peat near the coast from Kittery Point, 

 Maine to New Jersey, evidence of the slow rise of sea 

 level in this region (Redfield and Rubin 1962). Atlan- 

 tic white cedar was far more plentiful in each of these 

 states a few hundred years ago, but there is no 

 evidence that its range ever extended significantly to 

 the west or north of its current extent. 



In New England, Atlantic white cedar is most 

 abundant in southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Is- 

 land, and eastern Connecticut (Golet and Lowry 

 1987; Sorrieand Woolsey 1987; Laderman, unpubl.). 

 Its distribution (Figure 11) appears to be closely re- 

 lated to glacial features such as moraine hollows, gla- 

 cial kettles, or old lake beds. 



There are 1 1 known Chamaecyparis stands 

 in Maine (Eastman, unpubl.; B. Vickery, pers. comm.) 

 and about twice that number in New Hampshire (H. 

 Baldwin, pers. comm.; F Brackley, pers. comm.; R 

 Auger, pers. comm.). In Massachusetts, cedar 

 swamps are found in all but three of the 64 towns in 

 Bristol, Plymouth, and Barnstable (the State's three 

 major southeast counties), and approximately 30 



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