THE VEGETATION OF MONTAUK 



57 









■% 



Jl 



g^ 



^ 



^^^d 



J* 



i 



.:»^ 



^J^« 



i 





ted4si^5\ 



>r^ '-■*-.■ 



^yte-A^K-'JWRgiWl^' '^ 



mi 



h^^^^^fmE^Z^HiB 











w^m 



j^ 



JHK' 









fl 



P 



f 



1^ 



Figure 20. Wind wrenched specimen of the sour gum {Nyssa sylvatica) with an 

 Osprey's nest. (Photograph by Harrington Moore.) See also figure 17. 



FACTORS OF CONTROL. 

 The Climate. 



The most active determinant in the recent development of the Montauk 

 vegetation appears to be the wind, of which there is a greater movement 

 there than at any other point on the Atlantic coast.* Indeed the wind is 

 so terrific, of such long-continued gale force, that after a few visits one is 

 apt to think that the wind is the only factor controlling the present distribu- 

 tion of the vegetation. 



While there is no weather station at Montauk, the figures for Block 

 Island, which is sufficiently close [16 miles] to warrant the statement that 

 the conditions are about the same, have been studied. An average over 

 a period of years shows that the total wind movement at Montauk (Block 

 Island) is 155,975 miles per year. This is nearly double that of the middle 

 of the Island, the nearest Weather Bureau station for which is New Haven, 

 and which shows an annual wind movement averaging slightly over eighty 

 thousand miles. In other words, the wind blows twice as much at Montauk 



* It should be said that Sandy Hook is a close second to Montauk, perhaps because of 

 the funnel-like action of the Hudson Valley, in conjunction with the normal sea bieezes. 



