The Poconos: An Illustrated Natural History Guide

368 Pages·2006·5.751 MB·English

by  Carl S. Oplinger, Robert Halma

The
Poconos
Page ii is blank.
The
Poconos
An illustrated natural history guide
Revised and expanded edition
Carl S. Oplinger
Robert Halma
Illustrations by Robert Halma
Rivergate Books
An imprint of Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Oplinger, Carl S., 1936–
The Poconos / Carl S. Oplinger and Robert Halma; illustrations by Robert
Halma.— Rev. and exp. ed.
p. cm.
Includes biographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN-13: 978–0–8135–3831–0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Natural history—Pennsylvania—Pocono Mountains—Guidebooks.
2. Pocono Mountains (Pa.)—Guidebooks. I. Halma, J. Robert, 1935– .
II. Title.
QH 105.P4O65 2006
508.748'25—dc22 2005053943
British Cataloging-in-Publication information available.
Copyright © 1988, 2006 by Rutgers, The State University
All Rights Reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Contents
List of figures vii
List of boxes xi
List of cameos xiii
List of tables xv
Preface to the revised edition xvii
Preface and acknowledgments xix
Introduction 1
1 Pocono patterns 9
2 Geological forces that shaped the Poconos 28
3 Vegetation of Pocono forests 54
4 Animals of Pocono forests 97
5 Watercourse and wetland communities 149
6 Roadsides, waste places, and invasive species 212
7 Human activity from Native Americans to vacationers 234
8 Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area 270
Appendix: Nomenclature 283
Selected readings and source material 317
Index 329
Page vi is blank.
List of figures
I.1 The Poconos in the Mid-Atlantic region 4
1.1 View of Delaware Water Gap 10
1.2 A. Physiographic provinces of Pennsylvania
B. Detail of Pocono region 12
1.3 The Earth’s revolution 16
1.4 Illustrative influences on Pocono ecosystems 19
1.5 Energy flow and recycling in a generalized Pocono
ecosystem 20
1.6 The nitrogen cycle 23
2.1 Stages in the geologic development across Pennsylvania 29
2.2 Hand specimens of the common rock types of the
Pocono area 30
2.3 The Delaware Water Gap 31
2.4 The Kittatinny Ridge and its gaps 32
2.5 Supercontinent Pangaea 36
2.6 Bedrock geologic map of the Poconos area 37
2.7 Eastern escarpment (Pocono front) of the Pocono Plateau 39
2.8 Major waterfalls in the Poconos 40
2.9 Common fossils of the Pocono area 43
2.10 Northeastern Pennsylvania coal beds 44
2.11 Extent of the last glacier (Wisconsinian) in the Poconos 46
2.12 Hickory Run Boulder Field, Hickory Run State Park 48
2.13 Archbald Pothole, Archbald Pothole State Park 49
2.14 “Devil’s Wall” or Stony Ridge, just above the Lehigh
Valley Tunnel 51
2.15 Slate operations in the 1960s 52
2.16 Split Rock, Carbon County 53
3.1 The five major forest types of the Poconos 55
3.2 Typical plants of the Pocono scrub-oak barrens 59
3.3 Some common pioneer nonflowering plants 60
vii
viii Figures
3.4 A multiple-stem chestnut oak 62
3.5 Sectional view of a chestnut oak ridge top and its woody
plants 63
3.6 The subdivisions of the eastern deciduous forest 65
3.7 The mixed oak forest relative to surrounding forest types 66
3.8 Dominant trees and tree associates of the mixed oak
forest 67
3.9 Two conspicuous flowering subcanopy trees 68
3.10 Common woodland shrubs of the Poconos 68
3.11 Woody vines 70
3.12 Common spring and early summer woodland flowers 72–73
3.13 Common summer and early fall woodland flowers 74
3.14 Dominant trees of the northern hardwood forest at
developmental and climax stages 76
3.15 A prop-rooted tree 77
3.16 Liverworts 77
3.17 White pine and hemlock 78
3.18 Pocono conifer plantation trees 81
3.19 An old stone row fence in the winter 83
3.20 Common woody plants of abandoned pastures and
croplands 84
3.21 The climbing fern, Lygodium palmatum 85
3.22 Common fern and fern-allies 86
3.23 Approximate flowering times for some conspicuous trees
and shrubs of the Poconos 88
3.24 Mountain laurel, the state flower of Pennsylvania 89
3.25 Pocono autumn leaf colors 90
3.26 Peak fall coloration zones for the Poconos and adjacent
areas 91
3.27 Some common fungal types of the Poconos 92
3.28 Four nonphotosynthetic flowering plants 93
3.29 American chestnut 94
4.1 Representative invertebrates of the Pocono woodlands
and upper soil 99
4.2 Gypsy moth life cycle 101
4.3 Gypsy moth and oak-forest community interactions 104
4.4 Black-capped chickadee 114
Figures ix
4.5 Three birds of prey 117
4.6 Fall hawk migration 121
4.7 Autumn raptor migration patterns along the Kittatinny
Ridge 122
4.8 The black bear 128
4.9 The short-tailed shrew 132
4.10 The porcupine 138
4.11 Two common woodland turtles 142
4.12 Representative snakes of the Poconos 144
4.13 Distinguishing features of venomous and nonvenomous
snakes 145
5.1 Water molecule 150
5.2 The hydrologic cycle 151
5.3 Net of net-spinning caddisfly larva 154
5.4 Female two-lined salamander guarding egg mass 155
5.5 Scud 156
5.6 Stream riffle insects 160
5.7 Stream riffle fish species 162
5.8 Two surface-film dwellers of stream pools and ponds 164
5.9 Major stream and river drainage patterns 166
5.10 Delaware River migratory fishes 168
5.11 Flood plain vegetation 170
5.12 Lake zonation 173
5.13 Seasonal lake dynamics 175
5.14 Lake Wallenpaupack 178
5.15 Two common freshwater zooplankton 179
5.16 Bladderwort 182
5.17 Common plants of Pocono eutrophic lake margins 185
5.18 Abiotic factors of ponds 190
5.19 Two prominent pond insects 192
5.20 Red eft 195
5.21 Eastern painted turtle 196
5.22 Sphagnum, at various enlargements 198
5.23 Profile of a Pocono peat bog 199
5.24 Cattails 203
5.25 Muskrat lodge 205