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BIOTIC COMMUNITIES OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY 



Characteristic biota of the Chesapeake Bay region are defined in 

 terms of typical vegetation, associated animal species and critical 

 environmental factors. 



The ecology of the Chesapeake Bay region has been influenced 

 strongly by the presence of civilized man. But even before the colonists 

 had set foot on the continent, Indians had made their presence known. 

 Fire was an often used tool of the Indians for hunting purposes and 

 clearing land. 



Following colonization by white men, more intensive land clearing 

 occurred during the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries. 

 Lumber was needed for shelter and firewood and the virgin land was so 

 plentiful that a shifting form of agriculture with little care for the 

 soil became prevalent. Tobacco depleted much of the soil of its nutrients 

 and when fields were abandoned, erosion quickly exhausted the topsoil. 

 Then, at the time of the Civil War labor became scarce and much of the 

 previously cultivated land was abandoned. These abandoned fields were 

 invaded by pitch (P. rigida ) and scrub (P_. virginiana) pines. The species 

 are typical pioneer tree species in old field or secondary succession. 



Pine forests, although common, are not the climax vegetation but 

 are dominant due to a history of disturbances including fire, agriculture 

 and lumbering. Braun (1950) indicates that the northern portion of the 

 Coastal Plain should actually be considered an Eastern Oak-Hickory Forest 

 region due to the dominance of oaks ( Quercus spp.) and hickories ( Carya spp.) 

 in the climax communities. 



