Succession is a term used to describe the course of events in the growth of a new forest. If an open field has been abandoned, numerous plants begin to grow. The first of these plants are prostrate plants, or low growing, flat plants. The reason that these begin to grow first is because their structure enables them to avoid being grazed or eaten by livestock or any other animal. Goldenrod or milkweed are examples of such plants. The prostrate plants make way for the small juniper tree, which creates a sort of protective canopy for other trees to start sprouting. Such trees would be poplars and birches: fast growing trees, which quickly grow and form a dense forest. However, due to the high population, the trees choke out their own light and begin to die off. After these trees begin to die, the climax species begins to grow because these trees are shade tolerant, meaning that they need less sun to grow. Climax trees include hardwoods such as maples, beeches, ashes, and oaks, and a mature forest is formed.

Tree Identification:

The following are trees local to the Indian Brook area.

Turn to the leaf identification page for pictures.

Conifers:

1.a. White Pine

This pine tree’s branches grow in distinctive whirls up the main trunk of the tree. Each whirl represents an approximation of the age of the tree. In looking at the needles, one can see that they grow in clumps of five, the same amount as the number of letters in the word "white."

1.b. Hemlock

The hemlock is a conifer with short, planar needles. The branches contain the green needles in neat rows on either side. The underside of the needles has a whitish coloring to them.

Deciduous:

2.a. Striped Maple

The Striped maple has large leaves with three sharp, jagged lobes. The bark is thin, red-brown to bright green.

2.b. Red Maple

Red maples usually have three lobed leaves with jagged edges of a medium size. It is similar to the striped maple, but smaller leaves.

2.c. Sugar Maple

This tree has five lobed leaves, with smooth edges. The leaves are shaped in an almost box-like form. The bark is dark gray and deeply furrowed on mature trees.

2.d. White Ash

The Ash has 8-10 inch compound leaves with 5-9 leaflets. The leaflets are oblong and obscurely toothed. The bark is thick and gray, with diamond shaped grooves, and is very soft to the touch.

2.e. Red Oak

The red oak has 5-9 inch long leaves with 7-11 pointed lobes that are toothed at the end. The bark is thick and dark, with shallow furrows and wide, flat ridges.

2.f. White Oak

Similar to the red oak, the white oak has round lobed leaves as opposed to pointed. The bark is light, ashy gray with loose plates.

2.g. Poplar

The poplar has broad, oval leaves that are thin and firm. The bark is smooth and green-white colored.

2.h. Basswood

Large, heart-shaped leaves sprout from stout, green to red-gray twigs. Mature trees have thick, dark gray and furrowed bark.

2.i. Beech

The beech tree’s leaves are alternate and oblong, with alternate veins and serrated edges. The bark of the beech is characteristically smooth and gray.

2.j. Black Locust

The leaves are alternate and compound, that are usually dark, blue-green. The bark is red-brown and deeply fissured into large, scaled edges, giving it an almost surreal look.

Site Descriptions:

Site 1:

This area along the east bank is a relatively young forest. The evidence is the young, deciduous trees, and underbrush growing up. In this particular area, there is something that doesn’t quite belong. On the left side of the path, there is a row of black locust trees, which are not native to this area. Behind these trees lies the old foundation of a house. This is evidence enough to say that the trees were planted here by the family, and introduced into the Indian Brook area. Other common trees in this area are poplars, beeches, and ash, but most are red and sugar maples.

Site 2:

Here, a transition from a young deciduous forest with young maples into a conifer area has been made. The underbrush is gone, and the forest is now primarily white pine.

Site 3:

Deciduous trees such as beech, birch, oak, and maple dominate this area. However, in the lower levels, young hemlocks are growing up, wanting to take over the area. Perhaps in a few years this section of forest will be completely changed. Around this area you can see evidence of logging from the scars on the low sections of the tree trunks. Loggers used to drag the huge logs through the pats and they would slide around and smash into the other trees.

Site 4:

This area is a younger forest, and is beginning to transform into a primarily hemlock forest. For the last sites, be on the lookout for oak trees with multiple trees coming out of the same stump area. This is more evidence of logging from years ago, because after an oak has been cut, saplings sprout up from the stump and grow to be large trees.

Site 5:

This is now a primarily conifer and hemlock area, with a few oaks scattered around. The conifers, being acidic, have lowered the pH level of the soil, making it difficult for the deciduous trees to grow. These are ideal conditions for the hemlocks, with sandy soils, moisture, ravines and smooth slopes.

Site 6:

The last site is mostly in a climax state, with large oaks, maples, beeches, and pines. This is the most diverse area in the area, and almost all of the trees mentioned are present.