Long Island Botanical Society newsletter

12 Pages·2002·2.3 MB·English

by  Long Island Botanical Society

3
Vol. 12, No.2 The Quarterly Newsletter ApriTJune 2002
Why is DwarfPitch Pine Dwarf?
WeiFang Theseexperiments are still continuing. To
Jessica Gurevitch date,theoverwhelminginfluencesonthesizeofpitch
pineseedlingsandsaplingshavebeenduetostrictly
environmentalfactors. Seedlingsgrewfaster,survived
LongIslanddwarfPitchPine(Pinusrigida) better, and began to bear cones earlier in normal
areaformofPitchPinesthatgrowwithintheDwarf staturedsitescomparedtothoseplantedindwarfsites,
PinePlains(onceanareaof2,500acres) inthecen- for both plants from dwarf and normal-statured
tralPineBarrensofLongIsland,NewYork. Instead parents. Theenvironmentalfactorsresponsiblefor
ofgrowinganuprightsingledominanttrunk, as do these differences are probably soil nutrient and
normal-staturedPitchPines,theDwarfPines send moistureretentiondifferences.However,thereisalso
multipletrunks fromtherootcrown. Themultiple apossibilitythattherearegeneticdifferencesbetween
trunksgrowupwards,outwardsoralongtheground, dwarf and normal-statured pines, because the
andarestuntedandgnarled. TheseDwarfPinesare seedlingsfromdwarfparentsgrewbetterthanthose
usuallynomorethan2meterstall,whilethenormal- fromnormal-staturedparentsonthedwarfsites,while
staturePitchPinegrowingcanreach20meterstall, thosefromnormal-staturedparentsgrewbetterthan
althoughtheyareusuallyshorteronLongIsland.Dwarf thosefromdwarfparentsatthenormalstaturedsites.
PitchPineshaveonlybeenfoundinthreeplaces in (ContinuedonPage 16)
New
the world: in the Jersey Pine Barrens, in the
ShawangunkMountainsinupstateNewYorkandon
LongIsland.
MostoftheresearchonDwarfPitchPines
wasconductedontheNewJerseyPineBarrenspopu-
lation. Itisnotyetdefinitivelyestablishedwhether
geneticallydistinctgenotypesproducedwarfandnor-
mal-staturedgrowthforms, orwhetherthesediffer-
encesareduetoplasticityinresponsetoenvironmental
factors. Ifitisthelater,itisnotknowntowhichenvi-
ronmentalfactorsthePitchPinesmayberesponding.
Startingin 1997, weaddressedtheseques-
tionsinLongIslandPinePlainsandBarrenswithtwo
reciprocaltransplantingexperiments. Bytransplant-
ingtheseedlingsstartedinthegreenhousefromdwarf
or normal-statured trees, into dwarfand normal-
staturedsites inthe field,wehopetoteaseapartthe
effectsofgeneticandenvironmentalfactorsonseed- 111.: Audrey Watson-Wigley
lingperformance. Pitch Pine {Pinus rigida)
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Long Island Botanical Society
Society News
Founded: 1986 Incorporated: 1989
Courting Grandifolia: InFebruary of2000, afternumerous town
The Long Island Botanical Society boardmeetingsrepletewithpleas ofpreservationfromenvironmental
is dedicated to the promotion of groups from across Long Island, the Town of Riverhead granted
field botany and a greater under- TalmageandBakstpermissiontorunbulldozersthroughtheGrandifolia
standing of the plants that grow
Sandhills inBaitingHollow. Thesepartners ofthe“Traditional Links
wild on Long Island, New York.
GolfCourse”promptlybegancarvingup the rarenativehabitat.
Now, two years later, the Appellate Division ofthe Supreme Court
Executive Board ofthe State ofNew Yorkhas foundthat “the Town ofRiverhead has
President brokenthelawandimproperlysegmentedthereviewprocessmandated
Eric Lamont [phone] bytheStateEnvironmentalQualityReviewAct(SEQRA)”. Thedecision
VicePresident
Skip Blanchard [phone] washandeddown,unanimously,bythejudicialpanel. Theincomplete
Treasurer golfcourse andthe scarred sandhills await furtheraction.
Carol Johnston [phone] HauppaugeHerald: The efforttopreservethe Hauppauge Springs
Recording Secretary continues. SuffolkCountyhasmadeits offertothethree owners. The
Barbara Conolly [phone]
Corresponding Secretary owners have not accepted the offers. The situation is in stalemate.
John Potente [phone] John Potente, Directorofthe Hauppauge Springs Coalitionwill give
apresentationtotheHauppaugePTAattheHauppaugeMiddle School
Committee Chairpersons onthe comerofTownLineRoadandLincolnBoulevardonTuesday,
LocalFlora April 16 at 7:30 PM. All are welcome.
Steven Clemants [phone] Belauding Beitel: Joseph Beitel, a founding member ofthe Long
FieldTrips Island Botanical Society and its first Vice-President, is remembered
JennyUlsheimer [phone] asanenthusiasticandaccomplishedbotantist. Whilegoingtocollege,he
Programs
Rich Kelly [phone] workedduringthesummersforSuffolkCountyParks. Heinventoriedthe
Membership fernsandidentifiedmanypreviouslyunknownvarietiesoccurringonLong
Lois Lindberg [phone] Island (andNew York State) at Montauk County Park. He ledmany
Conservation stimulatingfieldtripsfortheLongIslandBotanicalSocietyandpassed
John Turner [phone] away in 1991 while workng as abotanist at the New YorkBotanical
Karen Blumer [phone]
Education Garden. LIBSinitiatedaprojecttoplaceamemorialplaque,inhishonor
MaryLauraLamont [phone] atBigReedPond(nowcalledTheodore RooseveltPreserve). Karen
Thomas Stock [phone] Blumer, Conservation Chariperson for LIBS, has contacted Suffolk
Hospitality CountyCommissionerofParksPeterScullyforpermissiontomountthe
Jane Blanchard [phone]
plaqueuponanappropriateboulderatthesite. BothKarenandBarbara
BettyLotowycz [phone]
Zu Proly [phone] ConollywerecontactedbytheSuffolkCountyDepartmentofParksand
Editor RecreationandnotifiedthatLIBSisauthorizedtoplacethememorial. It
John Potente [phone] willread: “JosephM.Beitel, 1952-1991,Talentedbotanist,Giftedteacher,
Valuedfriend. Werememberhimhereinoneofhisfavoriteplaces. Long
Membership
IslandBotanicalSociety.”
AnnualDuesof$15payableto:
LongIslandBotanical Society
Mailto: Plants in the News
LoisLindberg,MembershipChairperson Mars Trek: TheNationalAeronautic and Space Agency (NASA)
45 Sandy Hill Road
OysterBay, New York 11771-3111 is currently assessing he possibility of life on Mars. A $1 billion
Article & News Submissions experiment placed on Mars in 1976 by the Viking mission is now
LongIslandBotanical Society yielding results. The Viking probes placed nutrients in Mars soil
P.O. Box 5001 samples and detected gas emissions related to the metabolism of
Hauppauge, New York 11788 microorganisms. The recent detections ofa rhythm in the readings
[email protected] are consistentwith life as we know it. Uponhearing ofthe findings,
PrintedbyNativeAmerica LIBSbeganplanningforamartianfieldtrip.
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5
Letters to the Editor
That “Top Twenty Invasive Plants inNew York
State” list (Jan.-Mar. 2002) is an excellent
summary—looks likeyouroundedup alltheusual
suspects”andmore! Noquarrelfromme-although
I don’tmindBlackLocust...initsplace.
But, I am wondering ifthere might be another
potential problem species or two. I first became
familiar, not long ago, with Yam-leaf Clematis
(<Clematis terniflora) around my former house in
Greenport (North Fork)—not a lot and not an
unattractive “escape”. Last season, I saw several Yam-leaforSweetAutumnClematis(Clematisterniflora)
patches of ternifolia up the Hudson, around
Constitution Island. So far, no “menace”, I
thought... unlike that damn Swallow-wort
Cynanchum
( ).
However, on a trip to southern New Jersey last
September8,1was startledtoseethisplantliterally
all over Cape May County. It was in flower, so
thatmanyormostoftheroadsideedges (atvarying
heights) seemedasiftheywereblanketedinsnow!
True, most ofmy previous trips down there have
been later in the month when I would not have
noticeditso obviously. Perhaps, ithasbeenthere
alongtime?
Idon’tknowwhetherornotthisvine is spreading Map ofrecognized sites ofYam-leafClematis
rapidly on Long Island (orNewYork State),but I
think it can surely be considered a serious
New
“invasive species”,atleastinsouthern Jersey
at present. I’d be interested in you reaction/
comment.
Say, while I’m at it... isn’tthere another one we
should keep a wary eye on—that scourge of the
WesternPlains, Leafy Spurge Euphorbiaesulafl
(
Perhaps not on Long Island, but upstate surely a
potentialthreat, don’tyouthink?
GuyTudor,
NewYorkCityButterflyClub
Editor’s note: I am all too familiar with
Clematis terniflora and Euphorbia esula.
Bothhaveinvadedandaregrowingatgreatspeed
on my own property in Hauppauge. Both
seem to enjoy temperate climate and are
entrenching themselves on Long Island. Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia esula)
Page
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(ContinuedfromPage Effect ofLight Competition
13)
Anothersuggestionthattheremaybesome upon the Dwarf Growth Form
geneticdifferencesbetweenthetwogrowthformis
justbeginningtooccur,asthesaplingsbegintoreach of Pitch Pine
reproductivematurity(about4-5 yearsold). Plants
fromdwarf populations havebeguntobearcones
earlierthanthosefromnormalstaturedpopulations. Meryl del Rosario
Sofar, onlypinesplantedintothenormal statured AndrewHarrison
siteshavebeguntoproducecones.
Herbivoryisalsoimportanttoseedlingper-
formance. Pine seedlingsthathadbeenbrowsedin The dwarfgrowth form ofthe Pitch Pine (Pinus
early age tendtobe shorter, fork earlier and grow rigida),whichisreadilyobservedinthedwarfpine
lessuprightthanseedlingsneverbrowsed. Buther- plains of Long Island’s Central Pine Barrens, is
bivoryhistoryisnotacritical drivingforce forthe consideredtobegloballyrare. Amongitsdistinctive
perpetuationofpitchpinedwarfism. Firefrequency characteristicsareacontortedtrunkandlowcanopy
canbe theconsequence ofdrierandpoorsoil. Itis heightwhichranges from 1 to 3 meters (Reschke,
possiblethatfrequentfiresmayleadtothecreationof 1990). Incontrast,maturetreesexhibitingthemore
thegnarled,multitrunkformofDwarfPitchPineby common,non-contortedgrowthformusuallyrange
repeateddestructionofthesaplingleaders(orgrow- inheightfrom 15to25meters,withamaximumof30
ingtip,theapicalmeristem).Thathypothesiswillre- meters(BumsandHonkala, 1990).
maintobetestedinthefuture. Inanycase,itisclear Establishingthecauseofthedwarfgrowthformhas
thattheDwarfPinePlainsareauniquesiteinwhich beenthe subject ofconsiderable debate. Possible
thedwarfpinesareabletogrowandpersist,whether genetic differencesbetweenthegrowthformsand
ornotthesepopulationaregeneticallydistinctaswell. environmentalfactorssuchassoiltypeandchemistry,
windandlightcompetitionhaveallbeenproposedas
theprimaryagent. Previousresearchhasshownthat
soilcharacteristicsinstandsofnon-contortedpines
are similartothose indwarfstands (Black, 1997),
andthusitislikelythatsoilpropertiesarenotadirect
cause ofthe dwarfgrowthform. The focus ofthis
studywastheeffectsoflightcompetitiononthegrowth
ofPitchPine.
We
chose as our study area a firebreak that
intersectsastandofdwarfPinesattheAirNational
GuardfacilityinWesthamptonBeach. Predominantly
contortedtreesinhabittheareastothenorthandsouth
ofthe firebreak, while pines with straight trunks
Wei Fang and Jessica Gurevitch ata study site populatethe firebreakitself Theareas outsidethe
inthedwarfPinePlains ofeasternLongIsland firebreakarecharacterizedbyanunderstorythatis
dominated by Scrub Oak (<Quercus ilicifolia).
However,onlyaverysparsepopulationofScrubOak
Editor’snote: Thisarticlewassubmittedforpubli- is present within the area of the firebreak. We
cation in LIBS on March 1, 2002. examinedthisassociationofScmbOakwithdwarf,
JessicaGurevitchisProfessoroftheDepartmentof but not the non-contorted. Pitch Pines and
EcologyandEvolutionatSUNYatStonyBrook. hypothesizedthatthedwarfgrowthforminpitchpine
WeiFangiscurrentlyworkingonherPh.D.inEcol- resultsfromcompetitionwithscmboakforavailable
ogy & Evolution at SUNY Stony Brook light
Page 16
Ateachofeightsites inandaroundthefirebreak Oakincreased, the C-indexalso increased. Since
wecollecteddataontreeheights,trunklengthsand C-indexisameasureofthedegreeofcontortionin
percentscrub oakcover. Inthesites outsidethe pines, andscrub oakpercentageprobablyreflects
firebreak, wealsonotedpresenceorabsenceof theamountoflightcompetitionthatthepinesface,
opencones. Animportantadvantagethatthe the logicalconclusionweinferredfromourdatais
firebreakofferedwasastudysitewasthatit thatobservedcontortionisdirectlycorrelatedwith
seemedtominimizethepotentialforgenetic thedegreeoflightcompetitionexperienced. Away
differencesbetweenthedwarfandnon-contorted to confirmthis hypothesiswouldbetoperforma
trees, sincethemostlikelyseedsourceforthepitch factorialexperiment;i.e.,growtomaturityseedlings
pinesinthefirebreakwasthesurroundingdwarf fromnon-contortedparentsundershadedconditions
pinecommunity. andseedlingsfromdwarfparentsinfulllight(aswell
Our study sites 1 through 7 were located in this as the reciprocalpairings). The result from such
dwarfpinecommunity. Theaverageageofthetrees long-termexperimentmightfinallyprovideadefini-
herehadpreviouslybeendeterminedtobe33years tiveexplanationforthecurious,butcontroversial,
(Black, 1997). Studysite 8, astandofyoungpitch dwarfpinegrowthform.
pines,waslocatedinthefirebreak. Onlytwoscrub
oaksinsite8weretallerthan3feet(mostwereshorter
than .5 meter) and they were not located in close
proximitytoanypines. Themajorityofthepinesin References:
this site were too small to bore and thus we aged
thembycountingbranchwhorls. The largerpines BLACK, J.A. 1997. Forest Composition, Sedi-
wereagedbystandardmethods,inwhichcoreswere mentandChemicalCharacteristics: Westhampton
obtainedandtreeringscounted. BeachAirNationalGuardSiteandAdjacentWood-
The age datawe obtainedinthis study, together lands. UnpublishedReport,Dept, ofDefenseLeg-
withthepreviouslyobtainedagedatafromsites 1-7, endGrant.
supportourassumptionthatthe dwarfpineswere
the seedsource forthenon-contortedpines inthe BURNS,R.M. andHONKALA,B.H. (Technical
firebreak. The oldestpineinthefirebreakwasap- coordinators) 1990. Silvics ofNorthAmerica: 1.
proximately26yearsyoungerthantheaverageage Confers. Agricultural Handbook 654.
ofthesurroundingdwarfpines. Also,openpinecones U.S.Department ofAgriculture, Forest Service,
werepresenton90%ofthe surveyeddwarfpines. Washington,DC.
Sincetherewerenotreesinthefirebreakthatwere
significantlyolderthantherest,itseemunlikelythat RESCHKE, C. 1990. EcologicalCommunitiesof
one(orseveral)seedlingfromnon-contortedpines New York State. New York State Natural Heri-
tookrootthereandthenbecametheseedsourcefor tageProgram. NewYorkStateDepartmentofEn-
theremainingtrees. vironmentalConservation,Albany,NewYork.
Priortothis studytherehadbeennoattemptsto
quantifythedegree ofcontortioninthedwarfpine
growthformandrelateittopossiblecommunityin-
teractions. Thereforewe developedwhatwe call
theC-index. TheC-indexisaratioofthetrunklength Editor’s Note: Thisarticlewassubmittedforpub-
ofapinetotheheightofitscanopy. Theindexranges lication to LIBS on June 19, 2001.
upwardfromaminiumvalueof1 (indicatingatree CharlesA. HarrisonwasaResearchAssociateat
withoutcontortion)toatheoreticalmaximumofin- the CenterforCommunityResearchat Suffolk
finity. C-indexvalues increasewiththe degree of Community College in Selden, NY.
contortion. MeryldelRosariowasaffiliatedwithBellportHigh
We
observed a clear relationship between the School/ Suffolk Community College
percentage ofscrub oakatthe siteandtheaverage SummerFieldProgram.
C-indexvalueforthatsite. WhentheamountofScmb
Page 17
8
Pitch Pine, Hauppauge, Long Island, New York
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1
Potente
E.
John
Dwarf Pitch Pine, Westhampton, Long Island, New York
Page 19
Abandoned Scrub Oak Gall Refugia Inorderto determinethe diversityofthe second-
arycommunityinscrub oakgalls intheDwarfPine
Amy Ho Plains,theteamgatheredpost-emergencegallsfrom
Hannah Kang the ScrubOakshrubs. Duringthe summersof2000
and 2001, a total of 148 samples were collected.
Krista Biendenbach
Preservationoftheanimalswasaccomplishedbyplac-
ingthegalls inseparatebags atthe site. Theywere
Scrub Oakgallsareformedwhenacynipidwasp laterstoredinafreezertopreservethegallcontents.
oviposits her eggs on a selected oak leaf. The The galls ofeachshrubwere dissectedandgalldi-
gallsthemselves areproducedinresponseto spe- mensionsandinnerchamber/outerexitholesizeswere
cific plant growth regulating chemicals or other measured. The animals were then taken out and
stimuliproducedbythe insects. Itis thoughtthat placedinsmallvialsof70%alcohol.
these chemicals change the DNA composition of Artificialplasticeggs(simulatingnaturalgalls)were
the plant, thereby forming a hardened structure. placedonthe scrub oakplants. (Figure 2). Seven-
“Tiny flies in the family cecidomyidae, order teeneggswerecamouflagedwithgreenpaint Exit
diptera, inducegalls inmembersofabout50plant holeswerepuncturedintotheartificialeggstoresemble
families. The othermajorgall inducing family is exitholes ofagall. Contents ofthepseudo-havens
cynipidae, order hymenoptera, a family of tiny werecheckedaftera21-dayinterval.
wasps. The cynipidaehaveamorerestrictedhost Measurements ofthecapsuleholewerecompared
range,beingfoundonlyonoaksandspeciesofthe to those of the gall emergence hole. The graph
rosefamily. Therearemorethan700kindsofcynidpid (Capsule Hole vs. Exit Hole; Graph 1) gives a
waspsthatinducegallsonoaksintheUnitedStates.” slope ofless than one. This indicates thatthe exit
(F.W. Howard). The Scrub Oakgallthatisstudied holes tend to be larger with respect to the capsule
isaproductofthecynipidaeAmphibolipsilicofoliae hole. Thissuggeststhattheanimalmayhaveunder-
onScrubOak(Quercus ilicifolici). gone atype ofmetamorphosis afterhatching. The
The ScrubOakgalliscomposedoftwowalls:the animalmayhavebeenengagedinswelling,growing,
outergallshieldthatisvisibleandtheinnerportion orhardening. Numerousgallswere foundwithout
thatisasmallcapsule.Theun-emergedcynipidwasp gallemergenceholes (notshownongraph 1) indi-
dwellsinsidethecapsule. Afterhatching,itwillleave catingthatthewaspemergedfromthecapsule,but
thecapsuleandthegall. Ahardenedstructureisleft: didnotleavethegall. Therewere alsogalls found
thegallwithaninnercapsule. Twoholesremain: the with exit holes that did not have a capsule hole
emergenceholeandthecapsulehole. Thisenables (not shown on Graph 1) . This is evidence ofthe
otheranimalstoutilizethegallasarefuge. presence of an invader. Questions as to whether
Theaimofthisstudyistoinvestigatethesecond- the invaderwaspresentbefore orafterthepupae’s
arycommunitythatinhabitstheScmbOakGall. Ar- demise beginto arise.
tificialgallrefugeswerealsointroducedforcompari-
sonstudy. The studytookplaceintheDwarfPine
PlainsofWestHamptonBeachonLongIsland.
ScrubOakleafgall Graph 1 ScrubOakCapsuleHolevs.GallEmergenceHole
Page 20
1
Themainincentivetothepresence ofallthe spe- After placing artificial galls on the shrubs, we
cies is the nutritious consumption products. This waited for 21 days. At the end ofthat time, the
includesnutritivetissuesforthecynipidwasp,mite, gall’s capacity forhousing animals was checked.
beetle and larvae. Mites and thrips, along with Only 1 of 17 galls was inhabited. Fourteen adult
thecynipidwasp feedonthisnutritious galltissue red ants and one larval ant seemed to have fa-
to survive. These two families make their own voredthe single artificial gall. Ithadbeenplaced
galls and they come into this gall formore access inanopenareanearmanyantmounds. Whenthe
to gall tissues, since their own gall has its own pseudohavenswereretrieved,theantshadalready
community of secondary inhabitants.
died.
(Ananthakrishnan, 1992;Westphal, 1992). Asshown The invention was made to resemble the actual
inTable 1,miteswerethemostcommonspecies in gall. The texture ofthe artificial gall wasplastic.
thegallrefiigia. Miteswereoftenfoundinsideagall This isadifference ofnature’sprovisionsvs. man-
withotherspecies. This indicatesthatthemitesdid madematerials.
notpreyupontheotherspeciestheywerefoundwith. The gall itselfis a very complex structure pro-
Bycontrast, antsarepredators althoughtheymay duced by a living organism. The occupation of
be preyed upon themselves. Spiders appeared to the abandoned scrub oak gall shows great diver-
preyuponants. Antswereplentifulinthesecondary sity for such a smallbiological structure.
community(Table 1).
Another finding was the presence ofnumerous References:
larvaeleftbehind,manytimeswithoutparents. This
showsthatthegallisnotonlyahomeforthecynipid BLAND, Roger G., How to Know Insects. Third Edition.
Central Michigan University. Wm. C. Brown Co. Pub.
wasp,butalso arefuge forthe larvae ofotherspe- BORROR, Donald J. & TRIPLEHORN, Charles A. &
cies. The larvae have abetter chance ofsurvival JOHNSON,NormanF. 1982. An IntroductiontotheStudy
inamicrohabitat,ratherthanasitethatismore ex- ofInsects: SixthEd.OhioStateUniversity.
posed. Oftenthe larvae areconsumedbythepara- FORMAN, Richard. 1979. Pine Barrens: Ecosystem and
sitizingwasp Chalcidoidea Torymidae. Thiswasp, Landscape. Academic Press NY, San Francisco, London.
ROHFRISH, O. 1992 Patterns in Gall Development, Bi-
part ofthe secondary community, acts to keep in
ology of Insect Inducted Galls. J.D. Shorhouse and O.
checkthepopulationofcynipidsinandarea. Rohfrish.NewYork,OxfordUniversityPress:60-86.
ROSOMER, Wm. & STOFFOLANO, J., 1998. The Sci-
enceofEnt.: FourthEd. OhioUniv.andUniv. ofMA.
ROSS, H. & ROSS, C. & ROSS J. 1982. A Textbook of
CommonName ScientificName Abundance Entomology: Fourth Edition. University of Georgia and
Western Washington University. John Wiley and Sons.
Ant FormicidaeMyrmicinae 29 SOKAL, R. R. & BOWERS, M. 1995 Biometry, W. H.
Ant-like LeafBeetle ColeopteraEuglenidae 21 FreemanandCompany.NewYork.
Beetle Larvae 4 SOUCY, S. &ROOT, K. 1998. ConservationBiologywith
Bristletail ThysanuraJapygidae 4 RAMASBiolab.AppliedBiomathematics.Setauket,NY.
CCaatreprepitllBaeretles TCoorlteroipstiedarea Dermestidae 11 TOWNSEND,C.J.&BEGON,M.&HARPER,J.L. 1996.
CobwebWeaverSpider AraneidaTheridiidae 3 Interactions. Ecology-Individuals, Populations and Com-
CommonThrip ThysanopteraThripidae 13 munities:ThirdEdition, 211-482.
Lady-birdBeetle ColeopteraCoccinellidae 1 VON ENDE, Carl & BROWER, James & ZAR, Jerrold.
LLeaarfvaoerPlantBugs Hemiptera Miridae 402 1998. General Ecology: Fourth Ed. WCB McGraw Hill.
Leaf-Hopper CicadeilidaeHomoptera Nymph 1 WENIG,J. 1976.AnInt.toEnv.Sci.TheEcologyofLI.Env.
Mites Arthropoda,AcariOribatida 42 Pub.Ass.LTD.p. 10.
Spider AraneidaDictynidae 5 WHEELER, A.G. 1991. Plant Bugs ofQuercus Ilicifolicr.
WUnaisdepntifiedInvertebrates HymenopteraCynipidae 21| Myriads ofMirids in Pitch Pine-Scrub Oak Barrens.
HemimetabolistNymph 1
Hemiptera Nymph 1 Amy Ho, Hannah Kang and Krista Biendenbach
attained semifmalist statusupon submission ofthis
project in an Intel High School Competition
Table1. TableofSecondaryCommunityInhabitants
Page 2
Additional Notes on
Maritime Oak-Basswood Forests
Philip Marshall
In belated response to articles by Eric Lamont significant Long Island Native American archeo-
(1997) and David Kunstler (1998), on Maritime logical site. Couldtherebe aconnectionbetween
Oak-Basswood forests of Long Island and humanoriginforthedisjunctdistmbutionofBlack
WestchesterCounty,NYIwouldliketooffersome Walnut(Juglansnigra)inupstateNewYork. Why
thoughts and observations on a similar associa- notthe same for Basswood (whose phloem fibers
tionfoundonthenorth side ofLongIsland Sound were valued for cordage) on the shores ofLong
onChaffinchIslandinGuilford, CT. Island Sound? (I admit it is unlikely that such is
Located almost directly across central Long Is- the caseonSouthDumplingIsland!)
landSoundfromRoanokePoint inRiverhead,NY,
Chaffinch Island is a small island (I estimate itto
be no more than one hectare in area) now con-
nected by a narrow causeway to the mainland at
MulberryPoint. Althoughconsistingofalump of
granite bedrock protruding from the level ofthe
surrounding Spartina saltmarsh, thus differing
markedlyfromtheLongIslandlittoral, Chaffinch
Islandoffers aminiatureflorathatis immediately
familiar to the Long Island botanist. The forest
cover is mainly Oak (Quercus alba, Q. velutina,
Q, coccinea), with a small number ofRed Cedar
(Juniperus virginiana) and Pitch Pines (Pinus
rigida) and an understory of Huckleberry
Potente
(Gaylussacia baccata Lowbush Blueberry
),
E.
Vacciniumpallidum BlackChokeberry Aronia
( ), (
melanocarpa Bayberry(Myricapennsylvanica), John
),
andPoisonIvy Toxicodendronradicans). Inone American Basswood (Tiliaamericana)
(
sunlit spot can be found Prickly Pear (Opuntia
humifusa)andPastureRose (Rosa Carolina and
),
atthewater’s edgeareBeachPlum (Prunusmar-
itima Hackberry (Celtis occidentals), and the References:
),
great curiosity, several gnarled and stunted indi-
viduals ofAmericaBasswood (Tiliaamericana). Kunstler,D. S. 1998.AmericanBasswoodonHuck-
The soil ofthe southern tip ofChaffinch Island leberryIslandinWesternLongIslandSound. LIBS
appears tohavebeenformedfromagiantmidden Newsletter8: 3-4.
of clam and oyster shells certainly of Native
Americanorigin, andtheresultinganthropogenic Lamont, Eric. 1997. TheMaritimeOak-Basswood
adjustment ofsoil pH (which I have inferred, not ForestonLongIsland’sNorthFork. LIBS News-
actuallymeasured)maypartlyexplainthemodem letter7: 27-28.
presence ofTilia americana on the site. But only
partly. Still, I recall having seen T. americana in Wykoff, M.W. 1991. Black Walnut on Iroquoian
asimilarmaritimepositionatthe ChandlerEstate landscapes. Northeast Indian Quarterly, Summer
in Mount Sinai, NY, which is known to be a 1991: 4-17.
Page 22