Bracken Fern

• Bracken fern has multiple branching stems and triangular-shaped blades with many leaflet-like segments.• The blades branch once or twice, giving the appearance of compound leaves. • It is found in acid soils in both older forests and in new pine forests, especially areas that are frequently burned.

Trevor Van Gorden

Sphagnum Moss

• Sphagnum moss forms in areas with high rainfall and low temperatures, or poor drainage.

• Constructed like a big sponge, sphagnum moss tends to retain water from runoff, precipitation, etc.

• It has the ability to transfer nutrients extremely well.

Shagbark Hickory

• The wood is heavy, strong, very flexible and makes excellent firewood.

• The nuts are the largest type of all hickory and are edible.

• Shagbark Hickory trees are slow-growing and long-living trees.

• Grows well in both wet and dry areas.

Dogbane (Indian Hemp)

• Dogbane is a weed that thrives in gravelly soil and it often grows in moist habitats.

• All parts of dogbane exude a milky sap when cut, broken, or crushed.

• Hemp dogbane can be identified by its leaves, which are about 2 to 6 inches long, opposite, elliptical, and smooth-edged.

Sweet Fern• Contrary to it’s name,

sweet fern is actually a small deciduous shrub about 1-4 feet tall.

• The leaves of a sweet fern can be identified as simple and alternate.

• Shade intolerant invader of newly opened canopies and disturbed sites. • Found in coniferous forests in well-drained, dry, acid, sandy or gravelly soils.

Oak• Oaks are important to wildlife

during the winter (acorns provide energy rich food source).

• Oaks provide many benefits to wildlife: browse, shelter, habitat structure, and nutrients.

• Various products are constructed from oak (important for forest industry)

• Oaks are a component of diverse natural forests.

Rhododendron

• Rhododendrons are often planted/collected for commercial purposes.

• They typically prefer acid soils and rarely thrive as epiphytes.

• Rhododendrons are generally shallow-rooted plants.

• Some foliage droop is normal in dry weather.

Mountain Laurel

• Mountain laurel is a broadleaf evergreen that bear deep, glossy, green leaves.• Cup-shaped, speckled flowers range in color from white to pink.• Thrive where soil is moist and well-drained.

• Pennsylvania’s state flower and a close relative of rhododendron.

Frost Pockets

• A frost pocket is a low lying place where late and early frosts are more likely to occur than in the surrounding areas.

• They are sometimes sparse in vegetation, especially in those species that can be damaged by late frosts in spring or early frosts in autumn.

• Typically occur in an underlying region next to two adjoining slopes.

Pin Cushion Moss

• Can be found growing on moist rotten logs and stumps.

• Pin Cushion Moss is one of the few species of moss that grows on the bark of pines. 

• Pin-like “sporophytes” stick out of the entire moss clump; hence the name Pin Cushion Moss.

Beaver• The mountain beaver is

smaller than the common beaver and resembles a muskrat.

• In the wild, beavers will live about 10 or 12 years, although in captivity some have lived as long as 19 years.

• Born for life in the water, a beaver can remain submerged

for up to 15 minutes, and swim up to 5 mph.

• Beavers alter their environment on a large scale in order to provide themselves with shelter and protection.

Red-Tailed Hawk

• Red-tailed Hawks can acclimate to all the biomes within its range.

• Weigh 1.5 - 3.5 pounds.• Wingspan of 43 - 57 inches.• They occupy a wide range of

habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, coniferous and deciduous forests, tropical rainforests, agricultural fields and urban areas.

Ecotone

• Transition area between two adjacent but different plant communities, such as forest and grassland.

• Changes in the physical environment may produce a sharp boundary.

• Plants in competition extend themselves on one side of

the ecotone as far as their ability to maintain themselves

allows.

Lichens

• Composite organisms primarily consisting of fungus and a green algae.

• Lichens survive in the harshest climates and conditions, but can also thrive in normal environments.

• They can be located on bare rock faces, walls, gravestones, and on typically any exposed soil surface.

Oligotrophic Habitat

• A habitat lacking in plant nutrients and having a large amount of dissolved oxygen throughout.

• Characterized by slow growth, low rates of metabolism, and generally low population density.

• An ecosystem or environment is said to be oligotrophic if it offers little to sustain life.

Deer Exclosures

• Area of forest enclosed by a tall fence.• Deer cannot get into this area to browse, so the deer

exclosure vegetation can be compared over time with the vegetation outside the exclosure to measure the effect of deer on forest vegetation.

• Growth is typically monitored over a period of years.

Carotenoids vs Anthocyanins

Carotenoids• Yellow, orange, and brown

organic pigments• Xanthophylls = yellow• Carotenoids = orange• Absorb other wavelengths of

light to assist photosynthesis

Anthocyanins• Red, purple, and blue colors• Not present throughout the year as other pigments (only in autumn)• Produced as the sugar breakdown in leaf slows