16 New York State Museum 



careous character to the overlying soils. After lumbering 

 and fire which destroyed much of the humus, the soils 

 were subjected to the leaching effect of heavy rainfall 

 to a degree never experienced in the primeval forest. 

 This has resulted in increased sterility and this process 

 goes hand in hand with the increased acidity of the leafy 

 litter from the second growth hardwood species, due to 

 the more open nature of the woods, permitting the soil 

 to become dried out in periods of intense sunlight instead 

 of decaying into deep fertile humus. 



Thus it comes about that we find in the park area not 

 alone an increase of the light-loving species, as compared 

 with the primeval forest, but also an increase of the 

 species preferring sterile and acid soils. It seems to be 

 also true that those species preferring fertile calcareous 

 soils of the dense or moderately dense primeval forest 

 have been considerably circumscribed in their distribution 

 and abundance and are now frequent only in the ravines 

 and along the lower wooded slopes where much of the 

 fertile soil material leached out from the slopes above 

 has found a temporary resting place. 



Some of the specific examples of the results of lumber- 

 ing upon the flora of the region is the increase in the 

 abundance of certain ferns, grasses, sedges, goldenrods, 

 asters, brackberries and other smaller groups. The pres- 

 ent survey shows the presence of 43 species of Carex 

 within the park area, exclusive of the adjacent valleys. 

 We can not say with any degree of positiveness that some 

 of these have come into the region since lumbering. A 

 study of some of the semiprimeval areas left shows about 

 the same number of species but in limited abundance. 

 It seems probable, therefore, that most of these species 

 were always here but very limited in distribution and 

 abundance. It is mainly these groups of species, with many 



