Site Report: Oxbow Pedestrian Trail
Prepared by Julia Moore, Lisa Nehring, Kevin Bennett, and Drew Mealor
Location and Topography
This site is located on Cool Street in Waterville, ME along the Messalonskee stream
at 44 32'45.49", -69 38'30.08. Sampling was done just off of the Oxbow Pedestrian
Trail. The topgraphy is level with little to no aspect.
Figure 1: Trail map of Oxbow Pedestrian Trail. Arrow indicates area where
sampling was done off of the trail.
Soils
As the Messalonskee stream cut away at the bank of this area, the rushing water
created a curving oxbow shape and left behind nutrient rich soil on a level gradient.
The total depth of the soil obtained by soil corers was 25-35 cm. The organic layer
is <1 cm. The A, B and E layers were 10 cm, 12-15 cm, and <2 cm respectively. The
parent material is alluvial deposits from the Messalonksee stream. This has turned
into silty clay loam soil, with a pH of 5.5 in the A layer and a pH of 6.0 in the B layer.
In comparison to other regions, this soil’s nutrients provide a markedly good
environment for many species, both native and invasive.
Woody Plants
Almost a third of the trees recorded in our plots were white ash. While many of the
trees along the stream were wet site indicators, such as the silver maple, willow, and
American elm, the plots were taken more than 10 meters from the stream bank.
Therefore, most of the trees recorded were moist/mesic soil preferring trees such as
Tilia americana, Acer saccharum, and Quercus macrocarpa or generalists, such as
Acer rubrum, Pinus strobus, and Fagus grandifolia. The relative dominance of Pinus
strobus was greatly inflated by a large tree with a diameter of over 60 cm.
The Pinus strobus in the forest seem to be around 25-35 years old. However, there
was a very large Robinia pseudoacacia that, given its shade intolerant nature, points
to an older age. For the most part, the forest appeared to be in early to moderate
successional stages. Most of the other trees making up the canopy were gap phase
hardwoods and Pinus strobus. The understory consisted mostly of Fagus grandifolia
and young Acer spp. The ground cover consisted almost entirely of invasive
introduced species such as bittersweet and honeysuckle. The bittersweet especially
seems to becoming a problem, as it is already killed many trees in the area. The
forest can support 1,150 trees > 10cm/ hectare, with a basal area of 228 m2/
hectare.
Table 1. The relative density, relative dominance, relative frequency, and
importance values for trees >10 cm dbh found in four 25m2 plots near the Oxbow
Pedestrian Trail in Waterville, Maine.
F. americana
P. strobus
A. rubrum
U. americana
T. americana
A. saccharum
Q. macrocarpa
A. platanoides
F. grandifolia
R. pseudoacacia
Malus sp.
Rel den.
Rel dom.
Rel freq.
I.V.
0.361
0.427
0.167
0.955
0.056
0.447
0.056
0.558
0.167
0.011
0.111
0.289
0.083
0.033
0.167
0.283
0.056
0.041
0.111
0.208
0.083
0.007
0.111
0.202
0.056
0.008
0.056
0.119
0.056
0.004
0.056
0.115
0.028
0.013
0.056
0.096
0.028
0.008
0.056
0.092
0.028
0.004
0.056
0.085
Land use/ disturbance/ future prospects
Because of the relatively young age of the trees and the proximity to the town, it is
likely that the land was initially cleared for fire wood and agriculture but was set
aside as conservation land ~50 years ago.
The Oxbow is a disturbed site with high-nutrient soil, making it the perfect
environment for invasive species. The Oriental bittersweet is taking over the forest.
It girdles the trees, deprives them of sunlight, and eventually reaches the canopy,
bringing the trees down from its weight. Additionally, the Oxbow Pedestrian Trail is
a designated recreational area in the middle of a town, leading to environmental
impacts such as litter and soil compaction.
In the future, the only natural change that is likely to occur will be due to the
Messalonskee stream changing its course. It is also possible that more shadetolerant trees will eventually grow to replace the hardwoods that are dominant
now. As mentioned above, invasive species may also change the forest composition
and structure.
Authors
Julia and Lisa prepared the PowerPoint presentation, as well as the topography and
soils sections of the write-up. Kevin and Drew prepared the importance values and
related statistical data, as well as the woody plants and land use/disturbance/future
prospects sections of the write-up. The photos used in the PowerPoint are by Julia.
Prof. Stone edited the final draft.