NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



395 



nws), Virginia deer (Odocoileus virginia- 

 nws), and opossum (Didelphis vir- 

 giniana) . 



Common birds were : passenger pigeon, 

 quail, partridge, wild turkey, egret; 

 common reptiles; rattlesnake, copper- 

 head (Agkistrodon mokasen}, and spade 

 foot (Scaphiopus h. holbrookii), in addi- 

 tion to common frogs, toads and other 

 amphibians. 



The southeastern area of the state was 

 covered principally by pitch pine and 

 shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata}, with 

 southern white cedar (Chamaecyparis 

 thyoides} in the very numerous cedar 

 swamps which are characteristic of the 

 region. The fauna was much as found 

 in the northwestern area with the excep- 

 tion of copperheads and northern hare, 

 with fewer beaver, bear, and otter, but 

 with deer much more abundant. 



Many changes have occured in this 

 state since the coming of the white man. 

 Nearness to large cities and ease of 

 access made it inevitable that the re- 

 sources of the state should be heavily 

 drawn upon. Ruthless exploitation and 

 many forest fires have removed the 

 virgin vegetation, save for a few small 

 plots, which though much modified still 

 bear virgin trees. Second growth hard- 

 woods, comprising 750,000 acres (f of 

 the total forest area) are found in the 

 northwestern area, while second growth 

 conifers cover some 1,240,000 acres of 

 the central southeastern area. Pitch 

 and shortleaf pine occupy nearly one- 

 half of this region, oak and other hard- 

 woods one-quarter, brush land and 

 burned areas extend over the remaining 

 quarter, with about 4 per cent of the 

 total in southern white cedar swamps. 



The original fauna has been greatly 

 reduced by hunters, the inroads of 

 civilization, and by forest fires. In 

 parts of the state, bear and otter still 

 are occasionally seen, while in the south- 

 ern part deer are plentiful. The snow- 

 shoe hare, water hen, wild turkey, pas- 

 senger pigeon, and lynx have dis- 

 appeared. 



The coastal belt, beginning at the 

 Metedeconk River at the head of Bar- 



negat Bay, and running south to Cape 

 May and northward along Delaware 

 Bay, contains some areas which are less 

 modified from the original than any 

 other portions of the state. Level salt 

 marshes, flooded during spring tides, 

 border the tidal areas. These are 

 covered with dense growths of sedge 

 grass, Spartina, with here and there 

 patches of Salicornia, and salt grass. 

 The bottoms of the shallow estuaries 

 are for the most part covered by exten- 

 sive growth of eel grass (Zostera marina} ; 

 ditch grass (Ruppia maritima) becomes 

 abundant in the mouths of the brackish 

 water streams which enter these bays. 

 Luxuriant growth of numerous marine 

 algae cover much of the bottom and line 

 the shores of the estuaries; these include 

 Ulva, Enteromorpha, Egardhiella, Cysto- 

 seira, Porphyra, with many less abun- 

 dant species. The fauna is that charac- 

 teristic of muddy bottoms and sandy 

 beaches. 



Pollution 



The chief rivers of the state, except 

 the largest, the Mullica River, and the 

 Great Egg Harbor, Tuckahoe Rivers, 

 and the Maurice River, are all grossly 

 polluted. The lower portions of the 

 Passaic, the Hackensack, and the Rari- 

 tan Rivers, are little better than open 

 sewers. Twenty years ago shad, her- 

 ring and other fish ascended these 

 streams in quantity, but none are found 

 now. Many of the smaller streams of 

 the state, notably those connected with 

 public water works, are free from pollu- 

 tion and contain trout and other game 

 fish. Barnegat Bay, and most of the 

 estuaries north of Atlantic City, to- 

 gether with the streams entering them 

 are largely unpolluted, and save for 

 first and second cuttings of the south- 

 ern white cedar in the swamps present 

 in a few spots conditions which are but 

 little modified from the original. 



Preserves 



State owned forest preserves, eight in 

 number, comprise about 57,134 acres, 

 with a possible additional 33,000 acres 



