Crawford County
Cool Finds
Rivers and streams routinely rise, often overflowing their banks, flooding the broad, flat adjacent areas appropriately called floodplains. Once the rain stops or the snow has finished melting, streams return to the confines of their banks. Some floodplains will dry out considerably after flood events that come most typically in the spring. However, many floodplains hold water or stay moist all year round due to ground water that flows close to or on the surface.
Also, the topography and soils of many floodplains conspire to form pockets where water pools and drains very slowly. These pools, often classified as vernal (spring) pools, provide habitat for a variety of breeding amphibians as well as insects and numerous other invertebrates.
Pictured is a palustrine forest dominated by hickories (Carya spp.) along Cussewago Creek in Crawford County.
Note the patches of open soil where water lays through most of the year. Palustrine comes from the Latin root Palus meaning "marsh" and wetlands that are not aquatic (open water) are usually referred to as palustrine.
The year began wet and remained that way throughout
most of the growing season. Spring vernal pools pictured here on Little Conneauttee never dried down completely and recent torrential rains and ground water recharge has likely brought these pools back to normal spring levels.
Shellbark Hickory (Carya lacinisoa) is a tree found throughout east
central, southern and parts of northeastern North America.
It is considered a rare species in Pennsylvania and is also listed in New York and Maryland. It is hard to tell apart from its relative - the shagbark hickory. However, shellbark leaves usually hold seven leaflets compared to shagbark which usual has five. The fruits and twigs of shellbark are also bigger than shagbark. Counting the leaflets in the picture will lead you to conclude that this specimen is a shellbark hickory.
Calendar
· A meeting of the Advisory Committee will be held in early 2005.
· A draft of the report will be available on-line in the Spring of 2005.
· A public presentation of the findings of the study will be held sometime in the Spring of 2005.
Recommend a Site
Click here to download our site recommendation form. Or submit a site online.
Contact
For questions relating to the Crawford Co. Inventory, please contact:
Jeffrey Wagner
CNHI Coordinator/Ecologist
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
209 Fourth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 586-2312
jwagner@paconserve.org