Cape Cod National Seashore - Atlantic White Cedar Swamp
by Constantine Gregory
Title
Cape Cod National Seashore - Atlantic White Cedar Swamp
Artist
Constantine Gregory
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Cape Cod National Seashore - Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail
Atlantic White Cedar swamps are forested wetland communities with a
dense, primarily evergreen canopy, a deciduous shrub layer, and a sparse herb
layer dominated by mosses. Atlantic white cedar swamps are globally threatened ecosystems native only to isolated hollows in a 100 mile wide strip on the US Atlantic and Gulf coasts. They are characterized by saturated, acidic organic peat soils, and dominated by Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides). Abundant sphagnum mosses cover the cedar roots and the tea-colored, tannin-rich water. Atlantic white cedar only colonize open boggy areas because its seedling do not grow well in the shade. Common red maples will replace cedar.
This globally rare habitat was once abundant, but was largely destroyed, along with the rest of Cape Cod's native forests, for lumber, fuel, and through the conversion of land to agriculture. The largest cedar swamp remaining on the Cape (11.9 acres) is at Marconi Station in Wellfleet.
Uploaded
August 1st, 2014
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