The natural area contains the wettest, most poorly 

 drained portion of Van Swamp. It also contains the only- 

 organic deposits deep enough to be mapped by soil scientists 

 as histosols (peat soils) in the Washington County portion 

 of Van Swamp. The rest of Van Swamp (outside the natural 

 area) consists of poorly drained, wet, loamy or sandy 

 mineral soils. 



The peat deposits began forming about 6000-8000 

 years ago when a small stream draining the swamp through 

 a narrow break in the Union Chapel scaup became blocked. 

 Drainage was impeded and a shallow body of water was im- 

 pounded. The peat sediments accumulated both vertically 

 and laterally, filling in the original channel and spreading 

 out over the adjacent flats (Otte, pers. comm. 1982). Since 

 that time the peat has continued to accumulate and now has 

 reached a depth of over 10 feet in places. 



It is easy to envision why the area underlain by these 

 peat deposits has remained in a relatively natural con- 

 dition while adjacent areas within the Van Swamp complex 

 have been drastically altered. The better drained mineral 

 soils of Van Swamp required relatively little investment 

 in equipment and money and were easily converted using 

 modern day technology to tree, farms. The difficulty of 

 draining the peat and the cost of site preparation ef- 

 fectively stopped the tree farms at the margin of the peat 

 fields. The peat, however, did not exclude selective timber 

 operations in this section from the early 1900' s to the pre- 

 sent day. Tramroads were constructed and lumber was hauled 

 out by rail. More recently several logging roads have been 

 constructed and additional cutting undertaken. 



The natural area of Van Swamp is not pristine. All of 

 it has been selectively timbered at least once within the 

 past century. However, at least up to the present day, 

 these disturbances have not seriously affected the natural 

 hydrological and ecological processes which have been going 

 on since pre-settlement times. 



The following paragraphs will describe the present day 

 vegetation assemblages of the remnant Van Swamp wetland 

 system. 



The Nyssa sylvatica var. bi flora/Acer rubrum/Persea 

 borbonia community type (swamp black.gum/red maple/red bay) ; 

 (CT 1) occurs in small, irregularly shaped patches through- 

 out much of the natural area. This community is characterized 

 by a canopy height ranging from 60-80 feet tall, an average 

 canopy trunk diameter (above butt swell) of 14-17 inches, an 

 estimated age of 75 + years, and a distinct three-tiered 



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