E: Pit & Mound topography occurs in older, less harvested stands

Mounds are formed by blowdown of Big Trees
Age = Oldest Tree on mounds +10-15 years
Pits and Mounds with similar orientation at Sandy Lake—>Hurricanes
hitting from SE; Sites 1,2,3 likely in 1869 (Saxby Gale, 155 yrs ago) or 1873
(The Nova Scotia Storm, 151 yrs ago); Peninsula a storm 60-70 years
earlier.
Ecological Significance – vernal pools in pits; mounds are preferred seedbeds; sites of the Wabanaki Forest Love Affair (Yellow Birch & Hemlock); microbiota continuity.

More Info

Pit-and-mound topography
On Wikipedia

Wabanaki Forest Love Affair
The physical intimacy of yellow birch and hemlock often observed in old Wabanaki forest is more than a coincidence

Pit & Mound Topography
Page on this website provides descriptive data on the pit and mound topography at Sandy Lake and Environs

View the Mature/OG Forest page for a discussion of their significance to the forest ecology of Sandy Lake and Environs.

 

Pit and Mound topography at Sandy Lake.  Growing evidence suggests Pit & Mound Topography is a consistent feature of Old Growth in Nova Scotia.
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