Hemlocks at MTSF    John Eichholz
   Nov 24, 2006 17:33 PST 

ENTS:

Sorry about the long post. I think the rule will have to be 3 hours of
deskwork for every hour of field work, just like college, if I am going
to keep up.

After all the talk about Eastern Hemlock at the ENTS gathering, I
realized that I had not sought out hemlocks in MTSF in their primary
habitat, but rather, came across them when looking for hardwoods. For
the last few weeks, I have been exploring primary hemlock stands, mostly
along the Cold river and its tributaries. The Trout brook basin, which
is not included in this report, has the highest concentration of 120'+
hemlocks at MTSF, mostly along Trout Brook itself, and surrounded by a
very rich hardwood forest.

The first area is a cove just east of Black Brook, which lies below one
of Tony D'Amato's OG study areas. This area is typical of where I
usually find hemlock, which is in hardwood forests along stream
channels. Hemlock occurs occasionally in these sites, with the tallest
specimens lying very close to a stream. In this case, the dominant
forest is sugar maple, with white ash, yellow birch, and American beech
as secondary components. The area is a north facing boulder field with
slopes from 20-33 degrees. Sugar maple heights range up to the mid
one-teens. There are lots of dying beech, some quite large, However,
one example of beech exceeded 110', which is enough to make it the 6th
tallest we have found in MTSF. the OG hemlocks above this area are very
impressive, as is the overall impression the forest gives. When I was
there, the cloud layer formed low enough that I could not use the
rangefinder, so I have no heights from the upper slope.

The second area is the Black Brook basin. The MTSF height record
hemlock grows there, as well as many other large and old hemlocks. It
is here that I first realized that primary hemlock habitat in MTSF grows
little else to its top heights, except for red spruce. Heights
increased steadily going upstream from from the confluence with the Cold
river. The tallest trees exist just below the forest boundary, which
leads me to believe that the coves just above the boundary once held
even larger trees. What is there now is kind of scrubby by comparison.


The third area I visited was the bank of the Cold river between Black
brook and Manning brook. This area is quite steep in places, with
substantial areas exhibiting old growth character. I think this is
another of the OG study areas. Mostly, the area is a northern hardwoods
forest, with some mixed age white ash, sugar maple and yellow birch.
One of the most impressive OG yellow birch I have seen, remains here. I
got a 104.0 Rucker index for this area, including some marginal
examples.

Next comes the Cold river basin above Manning brook, where it leaves the
Rte. 2 corridor. this hidden valley has always intrigued me. The
slopes are very steep, exceeding 50 degrees in places, and the ledge
extends to the river bank. The only way to explore the area was to ford
the river barefoot. I can attest the river is appropriately named.
First, the toe slope above Manning brook is a perfect example of OG
hemlock stand. Deep, moss covered logs, lots of hemlock seedling
recruitment for a multi aged stand, and many large circumference
hemlocks make this a special area. Only hemlock reached significant
heights there. Around the corner from this area for several hundred
feet, along a 40-50 degree slope was an almost pure hemlock stand, but
the trees were all very young. below this slope, along the Cold river
are a series of toe slopes and river terraces. The tallest hemlocks
seem to be located on the toe slopes and convex areas of slope, which is
in contrast to the stream basin habitat I usually have seen tall
hemlocks. Also, only after climbing 50' or so above the river are the
trees of substantial girth, leading me to believe the lower slopes were
logged in the past. The area is inaccessible by road, but timber could
have been floated out. Tall hemlocks and a significant red spruce
component occur all along the river. The only tall hardwoods occur in a
stream cove upstream on the east bank.

The final area I visited was the Tannery Brook and Gulf Brook basin.
These brooks are tributaries to the Cold River, upstream from the area
just mentioned. Here, the height pattern was reversed, with the tallest
hemlocks occurring farther downstream. There is also a significant red
spruce component, including one over 110', which would be the second
tallest in MTSF. Lots of hemlocks here, as well as in the upper Cold
river, show windthrow and lost tops.

Overall, my impression is that hemlock in the 110'-115' range is
widespread, but still represents high growth sites or older groves.
Heights from 115' to 120' are uncommon, and indicate very favorable
hemlock sites. Hemlock above 120' are very rare, and indicate very good
sites combined with minimal disturbance. There are probably only 15
hemlocks in the 120' height class at MTSF, so they are much rarer than
150' white pines, although there are large areas covered with hemlocks
in the forest. MTSF gives us an opportunity to continue to study
hemlock in its natural habitat and old growth settings, unaffected by
wooly adelgid so far.

Also, as a bonus, the readings I took at Ice Glen:

Height cbh species Stand
121.5 4.6 American Beech Ice Glen
104.9 ? American Beech Mill River
114.4 5.2 American Basswood Laurel Hill
99.4 5.5 Bigtooth Aspen Ice Glen
138.4 10.3 Eastern Hemlock Ice Glen
133.2 8.5 Eastern Hemlock Ice Glen
128.3 ? Eastern Hemlock Ice Glen
122.0 ? Eastern Hemlock Ice Glen
110.0 11.1 Northern Red Oak Laurel Hill
118.5 ? Red Maple Ice Glen
117.1 ? Red Maple Ice Glen
114.2 6.2 Red Maple Ice Glen
135.4 5.0 Shagbark Hickory Ice Glen
117.1 6.0 Sugar Maple Ice Glen
115.5 8.2 Sugar Maple Mill River
109.3 5.9 Sugar Maple Ice Glen
132.1 ? Tulip Tree Mill River
129.4 7.2 Tulip Tree Mill River
136.1 10.9 White Ash Ice Glen
154.6 White Pine Ice Glen
153.3 White Pine Ice Glen
153.3 ? White Pine Ice Glen
152.7 White Pine Ice Glen


86.6 5.0 American Beech Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
90.6 5.5 Black Cherry Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
91.4 4.7 Bigtooth Aspen Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
110.8 6.1 Eastern Hemlock Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
106.3 Nt Eastern Hemlock Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
94.0 Nt Eastern Hemlock Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
91.4 6.0 Northern Red Oak Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
86.8 5.7 Northern Red Oak Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
105.0 5.7 Red Maple Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
102.0 6.2 Red Maple Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
111.5 5.2 Sugar Maple Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
109.3 6.0 Sugar Maple Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
108.5 3.9 Sugar Maple Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
105.5 8.2 Sugar Maple Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
100.6 7.9 Sugar Maple Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
100.0 2.9 Sugar Maple Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
126.5 8.0 White Ash Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
123.3 6.5 White Ash Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
122.6 6.6 White Ash Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
121.1 8.5 White Ash Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
119.5 5.8 White Ash Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
117.9 Nt White Ash Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
113.7 4.7 White Ash Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
132.8 8.5 White Pine Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
93.4 9.7 Yellow Birch Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks
76.8 5.2 Yellow Birch Cold River S btw Black and Manning brooks


90.5 5.4 Black Cherry Tannery and Gulf Brooks
88.3 7.0 Black Cherry Tannery and Gulf Brooks
84.0 4.6 Bigtooth Aspen Tannery and Gulf Brooks
113.7 8.1 Eastern Hemlock Tannery and Gulf Brooks
91.8 -1.0 Eastern Hemlock Tannery and Gulf Brooks
56.0 3.2 Hophornbeam Tannery and Gulf Brooks
88.8 -1.0 Northern Red Oak Tannery and Gulf Brooks
110.3 4.3 Red Spruce Tannery and Gulf Brooks
105.6 -1.0 Red Spruce Tannery and Gulf Brooks
98.5 6.0 Red Spruce Tannery and Gulf Brooks
96.8 5.7 Red Spruce Tannery and Gulf Brooks
95.6 -1.0 Red Spruce Tannery and Gulf Brooks
81.9 4.0 Red Spruce Tannery and Gulf Brooks
71.1 3.8 Red Spruce Tannery and Gulf Brooks
117.9 10.3 White Pine Tannery and Gulf Brooks
102.0 -1.0 White Pine Tannery and Gulf Brooks
88.9 7.2 Yellow Birch Tannery and Gulf Brooks


111.4 6.4 American Beech Cold River S 1 below Black Brook
122.5 7.0 Eastern Hemlock Cold River S 1 below Black Brook
118.9 6.7 Eastern Hemlock Cold River S 1 below Black Brook
117.7 7.2 Eastern Hemlock Cold River S 1 below Black Brook
105.2 -1.0 Eastern Hemlock Cold River S 1 below Black Brook
115.2 9.0 Sugar Maple Cold River S 1 below Black Brook
110.4 8.5 Sugar Maple Cold River S 1 below Black Brook
105.6 3.4 Sugar Maple Cold River S 1 below Black Brook
90.6 21.2 Silver Maple Four Rivers School
89.8 -1.0 Silver Maple Four Rivers School
101.4 7.8 Yellow Birch Cold River S 1 below Black Brook
119.0 8.6 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
117.6 8.6 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
116.9 8.5 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
115.7 7.7 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
112.6 8.1 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
110.8 7.4 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
108.3 7.4 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
93.6 8.6 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
88.0 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
109.8 Sugar Maple Black Brook
130.3 11.1 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
120.6 8.8 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
119.3 8.4 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
117.8 8.3 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
116.9 8.4 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
111.1 7.9 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
100.2 7.9 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
100.1 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
99.9 7.9 Eastern Hemlock Black Brook
108.9 6.0 Red Spruce Black Brook


124.1 7.8 Eastern Hemlock Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
118.8 Eastern Hemlock Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
117.2 8.3 Eastern Hemlock Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
117.2 Eastern Hemlock Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
116.1 8.1 Eastern Hemlock Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
115.2 8.4 Eastern Hemlock Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
113.6 8.9 Eastern Hemlock Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
112.3 8.0 Eastern Hemlock Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
109.1 9.3 Eastern Hemlock Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
94.5 8.4 Eastern Hemlock Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
85.7 7.9 Eastern Hemlock Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
74.2 9.9 Eastern Hemlock Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
87.6 5.1 Red Maple Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
87.0 5.9 Red Maple Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
107.6 Red Spruce Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
105.7 5.4 Red Spruce Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
103.9 Red Spruce Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
103.4 6.0 Red Spruce Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
43.8 5.4 Red Spruce Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
103.1 7.4 Sugar Maple Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
102.7 Sugar Maple Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
115.7 8.6 White Ash Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
115.3 7.1 White Ash Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
104.2 7.0 White Ash Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks
70.6 5.1 White Pine Cold River btw Manning and Gulf Brooks


John Eichholz
RE: Hemlocks at MTSF   Edward Frank
  Nov 24, 2006 15:31 PST 
John,

Excellent post. With Will and Jess working to document hemlock in the GSMNP
in the face of the onslaught of the adelgid, I think we should make a special effort 
to document the hemlocks in our own forests. I plan to focus on hemlocks in my 
next few measuring trips this winter. With leaves off the deciduous trees, hemlocks 
will be ripe for measuring. I want to talk to Dale about the status of hemlock 
measurement at Cook Forest. I know he has measured the largest ones he has 
found in the park, but I am sure there are areas that could be measured more 
thoroughly, even if they are not the tallest trees in the grove. Perhaps we could 
compile a summary of hemlock measurements, distribution, and status at the park.

Ed Frank


"Save the cheerleader, Save the world."
RE: Hemlocks at MTSF   Dale Luthringer
  Nov 29, 2006 15:27 PST 

John,

That 10.3 x 138.4 hemlock is DARN respectable for your neck of the
woods. Certainly no slouch either for Cook Forest.

Nice job,

Dale
RE: Hemlocks at MTSF- VOLUMES   John Eichholz
  Nov 30, 2006 09:47 PST 

Hi Will,

No reticle measurements yet. I did start to get careful base
circumference measurements, as a preliminary. I usually take 4.5' of
course, then 5', 6', 7', 8' if I can reach, then 4', 3', 2', 1' but I
stop when the root flare becomes dominant. I would then use these to
kind of calibrate the reticle. I am also mapping them and trying to
place them on a photo and topo map for future reference. By the way,
what is the exact monocular (sp?) you use? I may be in the market for a
replacement of mine, since it is tricky to use correctly.

I'd like to map all the 120'+ hemlocks at MTSF to some degree. It is
pretty clear that the Black Brook hemlock is the largest found to date
(at MTSF), at 11.1' cbh, 130.3' h, but there are two or three with
cbh>10'.

John Eichholz
Re: Hemlocks at MTSF- VOLUMES   Gary A. Beluzo
  Nov 30, 2006 11:02 PST 
Hi John,

How are you mapping the trees in MTSF and are you interested in teaming up
to do some GIS mapping and 2D/3D analysis with the data? I have been
chomping at the bit to do some GIS but I have been waiting for some good
coordinates (LATLONG okay, Massachusetts State Plane better).

Gary
RE: Hemlocks at MTSF- VOLUMES   John Eichholz
  Nov 30, 2006 11:54 PST 

Hi Gary,

For now I am working off topo maps printed at a larger scale. I should
be able to get at least the approximate location, including locating it
in the correct topographical context. That is, on the correct side of
the stream, how far uphill, where in relation to features represented on
the map. Using a transparent grid overlay, I can get pretty good
coordinates. I still have to work out whether the grid on the map is
NAD27, NAD83 or whatever else it might be. So far there seem to be some
discrepancies with the online resources, i.e. topozone, google earth,
but eventually it will be resolved. I am also using an analog altimeter
for elevations, which gets me in the ballpark (+/- 15' or so). (And, it
works under a canopy.)

John
Re: Hemlocks at MTSF- VOLUMES   Gary A. Beluzo
  Nov 30, 2006 12:43 PST 
Hi John,

MASSGIS uses Massachusetts State Plane NAD83 for all of their layers so if
you want the information to be useful to state agencies then that should be
the projection/coordinate system you would want to use. The problem is that
most GPS receivers work in LATLONG or UTM only (although the Trimble
GeoExplorer that I have can be operated in any coordinate and projection
system). To make it worse, the topos still vary from NAD27 to NAD83. And
as you know the Topos usually have UTM grid in addition to LATLONG.

Of course there are projection transformations available in GIS but these
take time and tend to produce distortions. I would recommend working from
the start in MSP NAD83 if you are going to go digital. If you are going to
stay hardcopy then obviously whatever maps you have.

I am upgrading my GIS lab at the College next summer to include 15 highend
Dell PC Workstations with ArcGIS. Along with the new GPS receivers,
digitizing table, and large format inkjet printer we will be able to produce
finished maps 3 x 5 feet or larger. I'm chomping at the bit.

Gary