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MA
Old growth age data Tree cores obtained at the DCR old growth sites listed above have revealed remarkable ages for eastern hemlocks, red spruce, yellow birch, black birch, and northern red oak. Cores taken by Tad Zebryk and Bob Leverett in the 1988-1991 period, by Dr. Peter Dunwiddie and Bob Leverett in the 1991-1993, and currently by Tony D’Amato erase any doubt about the pre-settlement status of the old growth at the listed sites. However, it has been the cores taken by Tony D’Amato that have provided the most information about cohort development, successional patterns, maximum species ages, and where we draw the line in separating the pre-settlement old growth from lesser classifications. One black birch core taken by Tony D’Amato on the Todd-Clark ridge was aged to 332 years, making it the second oldest known for the species. A second core yielded 326 years. This makes MTSF the location of the second and third oldest known members of the species. In the early 1990s a 12-centimeter core taken by Tad Zebryk represented 183 years of age. Another 17 inches of core were too rotten and could not be dated. The 488-year old hemlock at the Cold River A site is the oldest hemlock dated in Massachusetts and the second oldest dated in New England. The core confirms that the Cold River old growth matches the age characteristics of the best that New England has to offer. It is with distinct pride that we are able to report such superlatives for the Massachusetts old growth. The following table summarizes the maximum ages that Tony D’Amato has substantiated.
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