An Ecological Study of Buckeye Lake. 75- 



and one in the center of the island. There were, October, 1910,. 

 eight cottages and five docks. 



Sixteen years ago, Mr. Wells leased the entire island, 

 cleared the center and planted peach trees. His orchard must 

 not have prospered as not one living peach tree remains today. 

 This area is now covered with young forest trees ; Ulmus ameri- 

 cana, Hicoria minima, H. ovata, Fraxinus nigra, F. americana, 

 Tilia americana and others. 



There is a sparse growth of shrubs, Rubus nigrob'accus, 

 Rhus glabra, R. toxicodendron, Vitis vulpina, etc. The herbage- 

 is also poorly developed ; it consists of a thin growth of grass 

 and common weeds which have been frequently mowed and in 

 some places burned. A narrow border of larger trees, remnants 

 of the original forest, surround this central area. On the south 

 and west this forest border is twenty to thirty feet wide; but 

 to the north and east there is sometimes but a single tree, the 

 lawns extending to the water's edge. 



An interrupted zonation of marsh plants occupies the shal- 

 low water and the now exposed mud plain surrounding the 

 island. The marsh is well developed on the west, south and 

 southeast, but has been more or less completely cleared away 

 in the vicinity of the docks on the north, northeast and east 

 sides. 



The island exhibits a striking example of the invasion of 

 plants into new areas, successful ecesis, the resultant succession, 

 the consequent filling of the lake and the upbuilding of new land 

 areas along the margin ; and in the center a secondary succession 

 in a partially denuded area. A detailed floristic study was made 

 of a belt sixty feet broad and extending directly across the island 

 from the southeast to the northwest, from a-a' to b-b' on the 

 map. This belt covers a representative area of the island, in- 

 cluding a section of the well developed marsh on the southeast, 

 and on the northwest the marsh disturbed and reforming; a sec- 

 tion of the oldest forest zone and of the rejuvenated centrat 

 area. 



