Professor Barbara Nicholson's
CCSU Biology Students Conduct Inventory of Clatter Valley's Trees and Shrubs
The forest on the Clatter Valley property in Farmington, Connecticut, previously known to be hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) dominated with nearly nonexistent understory and shrub layers, was examined by the ecology class of Central Connecticut State University in 2016 to determine if a compositional change had occurred within the past 50 years. The communities we recognized were very mixed and could not be found in distinct locations in the forest indicating that succession was affected more by which gaps species happened to colonize rather than an underlying environmental gradient. The forest was no longer hemlock dominated. Gaps in the canopy created as a result of mature hemlock death, presumably due to the recent introduction of wooly adelgid (Adelges tsugae), were probably randomly distributed throughout the forest allowing light to penetrate and disperse across most of the forest floor. As a result, understory, shrub, and herb layers have flourished and invasive species, mainly Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), have become established. Currently there are many old oaks (Quercus spp.), a large number of black birches (Betula lenta), and only a few middle-aged hemlocks. Based on sapling counts, the forest will most likely be dominated by ash (Fraxinus sp.) with large populations of sugar maples (Acer saccharum) and oak in the future. ~ Katerina Hutchins
