A 50-year Assessment of Vegetation Change on Mt. Marcy Alyshia Crawford and Dr. Sean Robinson Biology Deparment, SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, NY 13820

Diapensia lapponica L.

Introduction Results Marcy  The High Peaks region of the Adirondack  Mountains of New York State holds some of the Table 1. Percent cover of each species and substratum southernmost communities of alpine vegetation in type encountered along the Mt. Marcy transect in 1959, 1981, and 2009. the eastern United States. Containing the greatest concentration of rare and endangered species found Collection Years in New York State, this ~ 12,000-year-old ecosystem Bryophyte Species Encountered 1959 1981 2009 80 is important to the ecological history and biodiversity Andreaea rupestris 1.16 2.08 2.81 of northeastern . The High Peaks Racomitrium spp. 1.53 0.06 0.97 70 Sphagnum pylaesii 0.69 3.05 1.31 backcountry, however, is host to a large number of 60 visitors every year, and is consequently, susceptible Sphagnum spp. 2.22 2.64 2.33 to high levels of disturbance from recreational use. In Other Bryophytes and Lichens 3.14 2.63 0.083 50 addition, recent concerns associated with climate Vascular change could potentially be having an impact on the 40 Collection Years Bryophytes composition and distribution of species on Species Encountered 1959 1981 2009 30 these summits. Abies balsamea 5.83 7.14 5.75 20 Alnus viridis 0.31 0.00 0.00 In order to determine floristic diversity and Betula cordifolia 1.14 0.00 0.083 10 document vegetational shifts over time in the Carex bigelowii 0.25 0.44 0.944 Adirondack alpine zone, a 300-ft-permanent transect Chamaedaphne calyculata 0.5 1.84 1.53 0 1959 1981 2009 was established on the summit of Mt. Marcy in 1957 Cornus canadensis 0.17 0.27 0.00 Figure 1. Change in percent cover of bryophytes compared to vascular by H.E. Woodin (Woodin 1959). This transect was lapponica 2.16 2.97 1.47 plants along the Mt. Marcy transect from 1959 to 1981 to 2009. subsequently resurveyed In 1981 by Edwin H. Empetrum nigrum 2.36 1.75 0.86 Ketchledge, and in 2009 by Sean C. Robinson. Kalmia angustifolia 0.00 0.00 0.14 Kalmia polifolia 0.44 0.42 0.36 Ledum groenlandicum 3.06 1.19 1.28 40 Lycopodium annotinum 0.14 0.03 0.00 Materials and Methods Huperzia selago 0.19 0.28 0.00 35 Minuartia groenlandica 0.19 0.11 0.00 30 * The Marcy transect was sampled in 1959, 1981, Picea mariana 7.77 10.39 7.89 25 Figure 3. Ground plan of permanent line transect on and 2009 using the line-intercept method. The Sibbaldia tridentata 1.86 0.19 0.92 Mt. Marcy (Woodin 1959) endpoints of each transect are anchored with a 2.5- Trichophorum caespitosum 8.05 7.44 19.31 20 * 1959 cm-diameter steel eyebolt in bedrock. Species of Trientalis borealis 0.00 0.03 0.14 15 1981 vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens, and substratum Vaccinium boreale 0.00 0.17 0.00 2009 types along the edge of a steel tape stretched Vaccinium oxycoccos 0.14 0.36 0.17 10 between the two eyebolts of each transect were Vaccinium uliginosum 34.47 30.75 28.78 5 recorded. * * Percent cover of individual species and Collection Years 0 Krummholz Sedge Birch-alder Fen /Heath Pioneer substratum types encountered along the transect Substratum Types Encountered 1959 1981 2009 Meadow were calculated for each sampling year. In addition, Bare Soil 2.58 2.25 5.64 percent cover of plant presence (occurrence of one bare Rock 19.61 18.02 17.22 or more plant species), and bryophytes/lichens vs. Mineral Soil 0.00 0.00 0.03 vascular plants was calculated to measure overall Figure 2. Comparison of overall change in percent cover from 1959 to 1981 to expansion or loss of vegetation, and to assess 2009 for five different vegetation categories along the Mt. Marcy transect (chi patterns of replacement among vascular plants, square test; * = < 0.05). bryophytes, and lichens. A subset of vascular plant species encountered was further divided into six categories (pioneer, sedge meadow, fen, shrub- heath, birch-alder, and krummholz) in order to reveal potential patterns in the type of vascular plants that may be increasing or decreasing in abundance. Literature Cited Percent cover calculations were compared across all three data-collection years using chi- Woodin, H. E. 1959. Establishment of a permanent vegetational square tests. Results were considered significant at transect above timberline on Mt. Marcy, New York. Ecology 40: p < 0.05. 320–322.