136 
Ohio Biological Survey 
changing topography, may be used as an indication of vertical succession 
in a place bound to pass through those same topographic stages shown in 
the area of the horizontal succession, a beech forest will follow the hvdro- 
phytic association. A beech forest is the climax of the hydrarch succes- 
sion of the upland. 
The beech forest .—A beech woods is sometimes found upon flats 
which are still so wet that swamp herbs are not uncommon. Sometimes 
even, water stands between the trees. But a beech tree in such a situa¬ 
tion, occupies a mound one or two feet above the wetter places (hg. g). 
Fig. 14. An upland beech forest, the pre-erosion climax, near Madeira. 
Thus, its habitat is essentially different from that of the swamp herbs. 
The same feature was noticed by the writer along the C. E. and W. Elec¬ 
tric R. R., in Lorain Co., Ohio, where, in a forest composed chiefly of 
beech and red maple, beech occupies distinctly higher ground, being either 
on low ridges or on individual mounds. 
The mesophytic forest of the upland is composed almost entirely of 
beech (hg. 14 ). Occasionally sugar maple (Acer sacchai urn) and white 
