COMMUNITY ECOLOGY OF THE NEW ENGLAND LANDSCAPE (ESC 550)
FALL 2013
3 CREDITS
Instructors:
Jeff Littleton, sections B, C
Peter Palmiotto, section D
Rachel Thiet, section A
Course TAs: Caity Stuart and Lindsay St Pierre
All of us are available in Antioch Gmail, and our office hours are by appointment.
COURSE CONTENT
In this course, we will examine the ecological dynamics of central New England's plant
communities. We will visit a diverse array of communities in which we will study the
impact of topography, substrate, and disturbance history on plant community
development and composition. Content will include the glacial and cultural history of
New England, soil formation and development, and ecological theory including
dominance, diversity, co-evolution, niche structuring, and succession. Students will
develop skills to interpret community composition and structure both qualitatively
through "reading the landscape" and quantitatively through plant community sampling
and inventory techniques. Students will also develop skills in plant identification, the use
of eco-indicator species, and soil interpretation.
Along with creating a foundation in community ecology, this course also acquaints
students with the Monadnock region to help promote a sense of place. The content and
skills developed through this course can be transferred to any region of the world to
unravel its natural and cultural history and its unique story of place.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Identify the common trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants of central New England.
2. Explain the successional patterns of central New England’s forests and wetlands.
3. Conduct plant community plot and point sampling.
4. Analyze and present quantitative data derived from plant community sampling.
5. Demonstrate hypothesis-testing skills.
6. Interpret the reason(s) for changes in forest community composition and structure.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
CLASS ATTENDANCE: Since so much of the course instruction takes place in the field,
it is not possible for you to master the material if you miss class. If you must miss a class,
notify your instructor beforehand, and within two weeks of missing the class, make
arrangements to have a classmate, Caity, or Lindsay tour you through the site. Then,
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within one week of visiting the site, you should submit an outline of the communities
visited, including dynamics specific to each community. Note: Antioch University policy
holds that three missed classes may constitute no credit for the course; therefore, make
every effort to attend all class meetings and discuss missed classes with me immediately.
PLANT SPECIES LIST: Due September 27
At any field site of your choice that has two distinct, adjacent plant communities, compile
a list of all plant species. Using taxonomic keys and the species lists provided in our
course resources, identify all the woody plants and denote eco-indicators and
generalists. If you can’t key out a particular plant, press a specimen, including a good
portion of the stem and a number of leaves, and bring it to your course instructor or TA to
help identify it. For each plant species, identify its family, genus, and specific epithet
(format is provided in the Sakai Resources folder under Other Documents). Although not
required, we encourage you to include herbaceous plants on your list, so you can learn
and use them to interpret community dynamics for your course assignments. The use of
Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide will help a lot if you wish to add herbaceous plants to
your list.
DATA LAB: Due October 11
The week of October 4, we will provide you with a brief laboratory assignment, which
you will complete independently and hand in on October 11.
OBSERVATION PAPERS: Due October 4, October 25, and November 22
To develop interpretive skills, you will make field observations about the composition
and structure of two distinct, adjacent plant communities, and explain the reasons for
these changes with respect to topography, substrate, and/or disturbance history. For each
of the three observation paper assignments, you will choose a different set of adjacent
sites to interpret. The first field visit can be conducted with a partner, but each of you will
submit your own writing and interpretation of the adjacent sites; you will complete the
other two field visits and papers individually. The third observation paper will have a
quantitative data collection and analysis component. Each observation paper should be
two to four pages and double-spaced. We have posted example observation papers in the
Sakai Resources folder under Observation Papers Help. Be sure to read those materials
before doing your first observation paper.
PLOT SAMPLING PROJECT: Due November 8
Individually or in groups of 2-3 students, you will quantitatively sample two distinct,
adjacent plant communities that differ due to changes in just one of the following:
topography, substrate, or disturbance history. Data will be collected outside of scheduled
class time, and you and/or your group will describe, summarize, and interpret your data
in a scientific paper consisting of Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and
References sections (Plot Sampling protocol and scientific paper format is provided in
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Sakai Resources folder under Plot Sampling Project Materials). If you work as an
individual, you will hand in one paper; if you work as a group, you will submit one paper
that will be written collaboratively.
POINT SAMPLING PROJECT: Due December 13
In groups of 3-4 students, you will sample a parcel of land that is between 15-30 acres in
size and has at least three distinct, adjacent plant communities. Data will be collected
outside of scheduled class time using Bitterlich prisms. You will map the communities
and present your qualitative and quantitative findings in a 30-35 minute class presentation
during the last class periods on December 6 and 13. The focus of the presentation will be
to explain why the communities occur where they do using the qualitative and
quantitative interpretive skills you developed throughout the semester (Point Sampling
protocol is found in Sakai Resources folder under Point Sampling Project Materials).
TEXTS
Required
Sperduto, Dan and Ben Kimball. 2011. The Nature of New Hampshire: Natural
Communities of the Granite State. University of New Hampshire Press. Durham, NH.
Wessels, Tom. 1997. Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New
England. The Countryman Press. Woodstock, VT.
Strongly suggested
Wojtech, Michael. 2011. Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast. University Press
of New England. Lebanon, NH.
Optional
Jorgensen, Neil. 1978. A Sierra Club Naturalist’s Guide to Southern New England.
Sierra Club Books. San Francisco. (Great guide for people living in CT, RI, and Eastern
MA)
Marchand, Peter. 1987. North Woods. Appalachian Mountain Club Press. Boston. (Great
guide for people living in northern VT, NH, ME, or mountainous regions of the
Northeast)
Newcomb, Lawrence. 1977. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Little, Brown, and Company.
Boston.
Petrides, George. 1958. A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Boston.
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RESERVE READINGS
Abrams, M. D. 2001. Eastern white pine versatility in the presettlement forest.
Bioscience 51:967-979. OHIO LINK
Boose, E. R., K. E. Chamberlin, and D. R. Foster. 2001. Landscape and regional impacts
of hurricanes in New England. Ecological Monographs 71:27-48. JSTOR
Cogbill, C. V., J. Burk, and G. Motzkin. 2002. The forests of presettlement New England,
USA: spatial and compositional patterns based on town proprietor surveys. Journal of
Biogeography 29:1279-1304. OHIO LINK
Foster, D. R. 1988. Disturbance history, community organization and vegetation
dynamics of the old-growth Pisgah forest, south-western New Hampshire, U.S.A. Journal
of Ecology 76:105-134. JSTOR
Henry, J. D., and J. M. A. Swan. 1974. Reconstructing forest history from live and dead
plant material: an approach to the study of forest succession in southwest New
Hampshire. Ecology 55:772-783. JSTOR
Schwarz, P. A., T. J. Fahey, C. W. Martin, T. G. Siccama, and A. Bailey. 2001. Structure
and composition of three northern hardwood-conifer forests with differing disturbance
histories. Forest Ecology and Management 144:201-212. OHIO LINK
Tyrrell, L. E., and T. R. Crow. 1994. Structural characteristics of old-growth hemlockhardwood forests in relation to age. Ecology 75:370-386. JSTOR
Wessels, Tom. 2001. Chapter 3. The Granite Landscape: A Natural History of America’s
Mountain Domes from Acadia to Yosemite. The Countryman Press. Woodstock, VT.
COURSE FOLDER
Whitney, G. G., and D. R. Foster. 1988. Overstorey composition and age as determinants
of the understorey flora of woods of central New England. Journal of Ecology 76:867876. JSTOR
TREE IDENTIFICATION AND ECOLOGY WEBSITES
Burns, Russell M., and Barbara H. Honkala. 1990. Silvics of North America: 1. Conifers;
2. Hardwoods. Agriculture Handbook 654. U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Wash., DC. vol.2,
877 p. http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/table_of_contents.htm.
August 21, 2012/. Government web page that provides ecological descriptions of woody
tree species.
Forest Biology and Dendrology Educational Site at Virginia Tech.
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro. August 21, 2012. Virginia Tech web page for plant
identification courses. Excellent pictures and information.
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The USDA Plants database: http://plants.usda.gov/java/ August 21, 2012.
An excellent site for general information about a wide range of species. This is a good
site for the latest information on taxonomy and wetlands classification.
NH Natural Heritage Bureau: http://www.nhdfl.org/about-forests-andlands/bureaus/natural-heritage-bureau/. This is a wonderful site that describes many
various plant communities in NH, and it includes photos.
PLANT COMMUNITY REFERENCES
Natural Community references:
New Hampshire
Sperduto, D.D. and Kimball, K. 2011. The Nature of New Hampshire: Natural
Communities of the Granite State.
Sperduto, D.D. and Nichols, W.E. 2004. Natural Communities of New Hampshire. New
Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau and the Nature Conservancy.
http://ceinfo.unh.edu/Forestry/Docs/NCform.pdf. December 27, 2011
New York
http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/29392.html. December 27, 2011
Massachusetts
http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/natural_communities/natural_communities.htm
December 27, 2011
Vermont
Thompson, E. and Sorenson, E. 2000. Wetland, Woodland, Wildland: A Guide to the
Natural Communities of Vermont. University Press of New England. Hanover, NH.
SAKAI
We will use Sakai to post project instructions, example assignments, and other
resources. Please submit your course assignments in hard copy to facilitate timely return
of comments; do not submit papers via email unless you have my permission.
CLASS SCHEDULE
Aug 30
Course overview, introduction to the Pleistocene glaciations of New England and the
substrates and topographic features left by the Laurentide Ice Sheet, introduction to soils
Readings:
The Nature of New Hampshire pp. 1-36
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Reading the Forested Landscape (entire book)
Sept 6
*Field excursion to examine glacial erosional and depositional features, interpreting soils
in Putney
Readings:
The Nature of New Hampshire pp. 238-247, 265-274
Cogbill et al. 2002 (OHIO LINK)
Sept 13
Introduction to community ecology including dominance, diversity, co-evolution, and
niche structuring; introduction to plant ID and taxonomic keys (Palmiotto lecture)
Sept 20
Plot sampling protocol at Robin Hood Park (Thiet instructor)
Readings:
Abrams 2001 (OHIO LINK)
Schwarz et al. 2001 (OHIO LINK)
Daubenmire protocol (Sakai Resources Plot Sampling Project Materials)
Sept 27
Field excursion to calcium rich alluvial and upland communities at Warwick Preserve,
with special attention to rich-site eco-indicators (Palmiotto instructor)
Readings:
The Nature of New Hampshire pp. 85-92, 96-103, 133-140
Whitney and Foster 1988 (JSTOR)
Plant species list due
Oct 4
Plant community sampling and inventory techniques, use of Bitterlich prisms at the
Horatio Colony Preserve
Readings:
Point inventory protocol (Sakai Resources Point Sampling Project
materials)
Observation paper 1 due
Oct 11
Introduction to ecological succession including primary succession of hydrachs and
xerarchs (Thiet lecture)
Readings:
The Nature of New Hampshire pp. 69-75, 141-236
Wessels 2001, Chapter 3: Succession (Sakai Resources Other Documents)
Henry and Swan 1974 (JSTOR)
Hypothetical diagram of Point Sampling Protocol due; Data lab due
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Oct 18
Field excursion to examine plant communities on outwash sands at the airport, with
special attention to acidic-sited eco-indicators
Oct 25
Field excursion to Goose Pond to examine disturbance history
Readings:
The Nature of New Hampshire pp. 113-121
Boose et al. 2001 (JSTOR)
Observation paper 2 due
Nov 1
*Field excursion to Dummerson Black Mountain (Thiet instructor)
Readings:
The Nature of New Hampshire pp. 123-127, 180-193
Nov 8
*Field excursion to Vernon Black Gum swamp (Palmiotto instructor)
Readings:
The Nature of New Hampshire pp. 127-131
Plot Sampling Project report due
Nov 15
*Field excursion to Pisgah State Park
Readings:
Foster 1988 (JSTOR)
Tyrrell and Crow 1994 (JSTOR)
Nov 22
*Field excursion to Mt. Wantastiquet and Madame Sherri Forest
Observation paper 3 due
Nov 29
Thanksgiving break
Dec 6
In-class preparation for Point Sampling Project presentations
Dec 13
Presentations of Point Sampling Project, course wrap-up and evaluations!
Point Sampling Project group presentation due
DIRECTIONS TO FIELD EXCURSIONS
Field excursions indicated above by an asterisk (*) will not meet at Antioch; rather, we
will meet at the field site. Directions to each of these sites are below; please try to
carpool. For field excursions to Horatio Colony, Goose Pond, Robinhood Park, the
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airport, and Warwick Preserve we will meet at Antioch and carpool from there.
PUTNEY (40 MINUTES FROM ANTIOCH): The class will meet at the Putney Central
School outdoor pool. To get to the school take interstate 91 North to exit 4, turn left off
the ramp, and follow Route 5 into the center of Putney. After traveling through the center
of Putney, turn left off of Route 5 between the Putney General Store and the Tavern.
Drive about a mile and the Central School will be on the right. Turn right down the dirt
driveway, travel past the school building on your left, and park in the large parking lot
behind the school.
VERNON BLACK GUM SWAMP (25 MINUTES FROM ANTIOCH): We will meet at
the Hannaford shopping plaza in north Brattleboro and then car pool from there. To get to
the shopping plaza take Route 9 West into Vermont. After crossing the CT River, enter
the roundabout at Route 5 and travel 270 degrees through the roundabout, exiting the
roundabout onto Route 5 South (also called Putney Road). The Hannaford plaza is two
traffic lights down on the right. Park in the lot close to the road. Note: If you miss us at
the shopping plaza, drive into downtown Brattleboro and get on Route 142 South. You
will pass the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon. About a mile south of the
plant, turn right onto Pond Road. Drive about a mile and turn right onto Huckle Hill
Road. Drive up Huckle Hill Road and turn right onto Basin Road. Park in the parking
area at the end of Basin Road and hike up the Red Loop until you meet the class.
DUMMERSTON BLACK MOUNTAIN (25 MINUTES FROM ANTIOCH): To get to
the Hannaford shopping plaza take Route 9 West into Vermont. After crossing the CT
River, enter the roundabout at Route 5 and travel 270 degrees through the roundabout,
exiting the roundabout onto Route 5 South (also called Putney Road). The Hannaford
plaza is two traffic lights down on the right. Park in the lot close to the road. Note: If you
miss us at the shopping plaza, head north from the plaza toward the roundabout and take
your first left at the light onto Black Mountain Road (if you hit the roundabout, you’ve
gone too far). Folllow Black Mountain Road with all of its turns until you see a bunch of
vehicles parked on the left side of the road at a trailhead marked by a sign for Black
Mountain. Follow the woods road behind the wooden gate up Black Mountain, staying on
the main trail/woods road, until you meet the class.
PISGAH (25 MINUTES FROM ANTIOCH): We will meet at the Kilburn Pond
Trailhead. To get there take Route 9 West to Route 63 South. Turn left on Route 63
South and drive about 5 miles south. The trailhead parking is on the left, indicated by a
road sign denoting Kilburn Pond trailhead. If you arrive late, follow the woods road (trail
from the parking area) to Kilburn Pond, and go left at the first trail intersection. At the
next trail intersection, go left to the Pisgah Ridge until you meet the class.
MT. WANTASTIQUET / MADAME SHERRI FOREST: We will meet at the Hannaford
shopping plaza in north Brattleboro and then car pool from there. See directions above
under “Vernon Black Gum Swamp.”
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PLANT COMMUNITIES REFERENCES
Baldwin, I. and J. Schultz. 1983. Rapid changes in tree leaf chemistry induced by
damage: evidence of communication between plants. Science. 221:277-279.
Barbour, M. and W. Billings. 1988. North American Terrestrial Vegetation.
Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Bonham, C. 1989. Measurements for Terrestrial Vegetation. John Wiley & Sons. New
York.
Bormann, F. and M. Buell. 1964. Old growth stand of Hemlock-Northern
Hardwood forest in central Vermont. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club.
91:451-465.
Bormann, F. and Likens. 1979. Pattern and Process in a Forested Ecosystem. SpringerVerlag. New York.
Braun, E. 1950. Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America. Blakiston. Philadelphia.
Davis, M. 1976. Pleistocene biogeography of the temperate deciduous forest.
Geoscience and Man, vol. XIII.
Day. G. 1953. The Indian as an ecological factor in the northeastern forest. Ecology.
34:329-346.
Drury, W. and I. Nisbet. 1973. Succession. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum. 54:331368.
Eyre, F. 1980. Forest Cover Types of the United States and Canada. Society of American
Foresters.
Forcier, L. 1975. Reproductive strategies and the co-occurrence of climax tree species.
Science. 189:808-810.
Foster, D. 1992. Land-use history (1730-1990) and vegetation dynamics in central New
England. Journal of Ecology. 80:753-772.
Foster, D. and E. Boose. 1992. Patterns of forest damage resulting from catastrophic wind
in central New England. Journal of Ecology. 80:79-98
Fowells, H. 1965. Silvics of Forest Trees of the United States. Agricultural Handbook no.
271. Washington, D.C. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
Gordon, Whitney. 1994. From Coastal Wilderness to Fruited Plain: A History of
Environmental Change in Temperate North America 1500-Present. Cambridge.
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Cambridge University Press.
Horn, H. 1975. Forest Succession. Scientific American. 232(5):90-98.
Larcher, W. 1983. Physiological Plant Ecology. Springer-Verlag. New York.
Oliver, C. and E. Stephens. 1977. Reconstruction of a mixed-species forest in central
New England. Ecology. 58:562-572.
Rogers, R. 1978. Forests Dominated by Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis): distribution as
related to site and post settlement history. Canadian Journal of Botany. 56:843-854.
Russell, E. 1983. Indian-set fires in the forests of the northeastern United States. Ecology.
64:78-88.
Thompson, D. and R. Smith. 1970. The forest primeval in the Northeast-A great myth?
Tall Timbers Ecol. Conf. no. 10. pp. 255-265. Tall Timbers Research Station.
Tallahassee, FL.
Watts, M. 1964. Reading the Landscape. The MacMillan Co. New York.
West, D. et. al. 1981. Forest Succession Concepts and Applications. Springer-Verlag.
New York.
Westveld, M. 1956. Natural forest vegetation zones of New England. Journal of Forestry.
54:332-338.
Woods, K. 1984. Patterns of tree replacement: canopy effects on understory pattern in
hemlock-northern hardwood forests. Vegetatio. 56:87-107.
If You Have Learning Disabilities or Special Needs
In accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with
Disabilities Act, and simple justice and decency, AUNE does not exclude or discriminate
against otherwise qualified students with disabilities. Students with physical or learning
disabilities, which are diagnosed by a qualified professional and disclosed to the Student
Disability Services Coordinator, may request and receive reasonable accommodations
that will allow them to participate in their graduate program fully. If you have a
documented learning disability, need special accommodation to optimize your learning,
and/or need special accommodation for any class activity, please talk with the instructor
as soon as possible. This information will remain confidential. For more information,
please contact Fran Ziperstein, Director of Disability Services, at 603-283-2438 or by
email at fziperstein@antioch.edu.
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