State 1
Reference State (minimally-managed)

The soils of this site are deep, silty loams with very few rock fragments. These soils formed in lakebed sediments in areas where glacial meltwater once collected. As glacial lakes dried out, some areas were bisected by streams and rivers which persist today. In these cases, this site occurs on stream terraces. This site is no longer flooded or ponded, and the former lakebeds are now dry and moderately well to well drained. Plant communities are conifer-dominated mixedwood forests. Common conifer species on the site are white pine, red spruce, balsam fir, hemlock, and northern white cedar. Hardwood species are red maple, yellow birch, white birch, bigtooth aspen, and black cherry.

Resilience management. Abandoned cropland may transition to pine, spruce-fir, or reference conifer-dominated mixedwood forests. This site is subject to logging, wind, insects and disease, and other natural and human disturbances resulting in a variety of alternative states. When managed for timber production, several different ecological states are possible. The pine forest state, reference conifer-dominated mixedwood state, and spruce-fir state are managed to maintain dominance of their respective timber species, and to facilitate profitable harvests along predictable timelines. Hemlock forests may also result from logging practices, though these are typically less-desirable and may result from selective harvest of more valuable species, leaving the hemlock behind. As hemlock increases on the site, it inhibits the establishment of other species by shading, reducing soil moisture availability to other plants, and especially by acidifying the soil. With sufficient economic inputs, any of the states that occur on this site may transition from one to another, however, due to cost limitations, forests are typically managed for whatever timber species are currently present on the site.

Community 1.1
White Pine – Mixed Conifer Forest

This type occurs on sandy to loamy mesic soils (usually well drained, occasionally imperfectly drained or very well drained), often with a slowly decomposing duff layer of conifer needles. Soils are generally shallow (<40 cm) and moderately acidic (pH 5.0-6.0). These forests are usually at low elevations (<900') on slopes or coarse-textured flats. This is a closed canopy forest type in which white pine is dominant and occasionally red spruce, red pine, and hemlock nearly co-dominant. The pine trees tend to be larger and the other trees smaller, the smaller trees may be more numerous. In many of these forests, the dense and strongly coniferous canopy limits understory growth. Shrub cover is rarely >20% and the herb layer rarely exceeds 30%. The herb layer can include a spotty mixture of s such as lowbush blueberry, forbs, or ferns, but graminoids are very uncommon. The ground layer is mostly conifer litter, with bryoid cover <25%; large hair-cap moss and red- stemmed moss are common species. (Gawler and Cutko, 2010)

Resilience management. Maine Natural Areas Program State Rank: S5 Secure – At very low risk or extinction or elimination due to a very extensive range, abundant populations or occurrences, and little to no concern from declines or threats. Demand for white pine has considerably reduced mature, undisturbed examples of this type. Most sites known to be of high ecological quality lack formal protection. Maintaining the surrounding lands as forest is important in conserving particular stands of this type, particularly given that many known examples are small (<50 acres). (Gawler and Cutko, 2010)

Community 1.2
Red Spruce – Mixed Conifer Woodland

Sites occur on mid to upper slopes (usually 10-20% slope) and low summits at elevations up to 2000'. Soils are thin (<25 cm), consisting of coarse mineral soil or poorly decomposed duff, and form patches over the bedrock substrate. The very well drained soils are acidic (pH 4.6-5.2) and nutrient poor. Some sites show evidence of past fire. This type is a mixed canopy woodland (25-70% closure) in which red spruce and/or white pine is always present and associated species vary, at others the canopy is mixed, with no one tree species strongly dominant. The shrub layer is typically very sparse (and variable in composition), and the herb layer has mostly 15-50% cover. Heath shrubs are the dominant feature of the herb layer; herb species rarely exceed 8% cover. The bryoid layer is sparse at some sites (<25%) and well developed at others (35-70%). Fruticose lichens typically make up half or more of the bryoid cover. (Gawler and Cutko, 2010)

Resilience management. Maine Natural Areas Program State Rank: S4 Apparently Secure – At fairly low risk of extinction or elimination due to an extensive range and/or many populations or occurrences, but with possible cause for some concern as a result of local recent declines, threats, or other factors. Most sites have little pressure from development or timbering; the primary impacts are from recreational use. Communications towers or wind turbines could have an impact on some of these woodlands on mid-elevation summits. Several sites are in public or private conservation ownership. (Gawler and Cutko, 2010)

Pathway 1.1a
Community 1.1 to 1.2

Reduction or loss of White Pine allowing Red Spruce to become the dominant canopy species, creating shifts in composition and canopy structure.

Pathway 1.2a
Community 1.2 to 1.1

Reduction or loss of Red Spruce allowing White Pine to become the dominant canopy species, creating shifts in composition and canopy structure.

State 2
Semi-natural State

Shifts in ecological site composition, functionality, and dynamics driven by natural disturbances, processes, and pressures (may have some anthropogenic influences). More research is needed to determine the extent of the Semi-natural state associated with this ecological site.

Community 2.1
Invasiveness and Biological Introductions

Introduction of invasive species, pathogens, and/or pests resulting in shifts in ecological site composition, functionality, and dynamics. More research is needed to determine the extent of these effects on the semi-natural state associated with this ecological site.

State 3
Cultural State

Shifts in ecological site composition, functionality, and dynamics that are primary driven by anthropogenic disturbances and pressures (may have some associated natural influences). More research is needed to determine the extent of the cultural state associated with this ecological site.

Community 3.1
Cropland

The cultivation and production of crops resulting in seeding, planting, landscape clearing, mechanical landscape alteration, and mechanical soil disturbance, etc...

Community 3.2
Plantation

The cultivation, management, and harvesting of timber resulting in landscape clearing, mechanical landscape alteration, and mechanical soil disturbance.

Pathway 3.1a
Community 3.1 to 3.2

Landscape altered and transitioned between crop cultivation to hardwood management for timber production

Pathway 3.2a
Community 3.2 to 3.1

Landscape altered and transitioned between hardwood management for timber production to crop cultivation

Transition T1A
State 1 to 2

Introduction of invasive species, pests, and/or pathogens that alter ecological site functions, dynamics, and properties.

Transition T1B
State 1 to 3

Cultivation, management, and production of timber or crops through landscape clearing, mechanical landscape alteration, mechanical harvesting, mechanical soil disturbance, planting, seeding, etc.…

Restoration pathway R2A
State 2 to 1

Removal, remediation, or control of invasive species, pests, and/or pathogens through mechanical, biological, or chemical management; establishment of native plants through seeding and/or planting

Transition T2A
State 2 to 3

Cultivation, management, and production of timber or crops through landscape clearing, mechanical landscape alteration, mechanical harvesting, mechanical soil disturbance, planting, seeding, etc.…

Restoration pathway R3B
State 3 to 1

Restoration of native plant communities and landscape properties through planting, seeding, removal of obstructions or barriers

Restoration pathway R3A
State 3 to 2

Restoration of native plant communities and landscape properties through planting, seeding, removal of obstructions or barriers