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Boreal Forest and Western Mountains

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We climbed Mansell Mt, one of several peaks in the portion of the park on the western side of Mount Desert Island. The trail we took up the mountain is called the Perpendicular Trail, and not without reason, as it climbs an ever-steepening series of switchbacks just above Long Pond. There is a single beautiful overlook above the lake, but then the trail disappears into the thickly wooded slopes of the mountain. Even the peaks of these western mountains are thickly wooded, they are not among the barren, or deserted, peaks that won Mount Desert Island its name (Isle of Deserted Mountains).

Our goal in this remote corner of the park was to characterize a boreal forest community. Large spruces dominate a boreal forest, also called a spruce-moose forest. The ground is carpeted with pine needles and mosses, as nothing else can grow in the dim light that the spruces allow through. Walking through one of these forests is at times like walking through a dim, hushed cathedral. We chose a location within the forest, set up a quadrat, identified and counted the plant species present and used the data to calculate a species diversity index.

Click on a photo below to enlarge.

Western Mountains 2000

The climb 2002

Sampling 2002

The climb 2004

Sampling 2004