Ecological Atlas of the Upper Androscoggin River Watershed Appalachian Mountain Club Credits Credits Primary authors: David Publicover Doug Weihrauch (Land Use History) Ecological Atlas Contributing authors: Data Development: Doug Weihrauch (Alpine Ecosystems) David Publicover Johan Erikson (Geology) Cathy Poppenwimer of the Ken Kimball (Alpine Ecosystems, Dams, Water Quality) Graphic design: Kelly Short Upper Androscoggin River Map development: Canterbury Communications David Publicover Watershed Acknowledgements Molly Docherty and Emily Pinkham of the Maine Dave Thurlow, Joe Homer, Andy Cutko, Emily Natural Areas Program and Lionel Chute and Sara Pinkham, Sue Gawlor, Marcel Polak and Ken Kimball Cairns of the New Hampshire Natural Heritage provided valuable reviews of portions of the atlas. Inventory provided valuable information on rare plants and animals occurring in the upper Androscoggin Funding for this project was provided by grants to the watershed, as well as unpublished drafts of natural Appalachian Mountain Club from the Doris Duke community classification and description manuals. Charitable Foundation, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, The Moriah Fund, the Surdna Foundation, Mark Anderson and Greg Kehm of The Nature the John Merck Fund, the Merck Family Fund, the Conservancy’s Eastern Conservation Science office in Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust, the Ford Foundation, Boston, MA provided digital data on ecoregion bound- the Harold Whitworth Pierce Charitable Trust, and aries and TNC’s Ecological Land Units classification. Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). Barbara Barbieri of the Northern Forest Heritage The Appalachian Mountain Club thanks all those who Park provided access to the park’s collection of his- are working to ensure an ecologically, economically, torical photographs. and socially sustainable future for the upper Androscoggin River watershed and its communities. Appalachian Mountain Club January 2003 Copies of this Atlas are available on CD-ROM in Adobe PDF format from the Appalachian Mountain Club. Published by the Appalachian Mountain Club New Hampshire © 2003 Maine Boston office: New Hampshire offices: 5 Joy Street P.O. Box 298 Boston MA 02108 Gorham, NH 03581 617-523-0636 603-466-2721 WWW. OUTDOORS.ORG Map, Tables & Figures Map, Tables Table of Contents Maps, Tables & Figures Introduction. 6 List of Maps Map 1: Upper Androscoggin River watershed . 4–5 Land use history. 10 Map 2: Major watersheds of New England . 7 Climate . 17 Map 3: Highways. 8 Map 4: Population density . 8 Table of Contents Table Geology . 20 Map 5: Land use . 9 Map 6: Topography . 9 Topography . 25 Map 7: Historical development . 11 Soils . 29 Map 8: Locations of climate data. 17 Map 9: Precipitation . 18 Ecological land classification . 33 Map 10: Bedrock geology . 21 Forests. 37 Map 11. Ordovician plutonic and volcanic rocks . 22 Map 12: Devonian plutonic rocks . 22 Wetlands . 43 Map 13: Glacifluvial deposits . 24 Natural communities . 48 Map 14: Topography: Shaded relief with elevation zones. 27 Map 15: Topography: Shaded relief with slope classes . 28 Alpine ecosystems . 52 Map 16: Major soil groups. 30 Map 17: Distribution of Spodosols in the United States . 32 Rare plants. 55 Map 18: Ecoregions: Domains. 33 Lakes and rivers . 58 Map 19: Ecoregions: Warm Continental Divisions of the Humid Temperate Domain . 34 Map 20: Ecoregions: Sections within the New England–Adirondack Province . 34 Wildlife. 63 Map 21: Ecoregions: Subsections within the White Mountains Section . 35 Timber harvesting . 68 Map 22: Ecological Land Units. 36 2 Map 23: Land use/land cover . 38 3 Shoreline development. 70 Map 24: Wetlands. 45 Map 25: Wetland complex along the lower Webb River . 46 Dams . 72 Map 26: Wetlands in the Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge . 47 Water quality . 74 Map 27: Natural communities of the Presidential Range alpine zone. 54 Map 28: Class 1A and 1B lakes (Maine) and Class A and B rivers (Maine and New Hampshire). 59 Land conservation . 76 Map 29: Lakes and rivers ranked as outstanding or significant in various resource Afterword . 80 categories by state studies. 60 Map 30: Sub-watersheds of the upper Androscoggin watershed . 62 Appendix A:. 82 Map 31: Potential habitat for selected species in the Maine portion of the upper Notes, sources & additional information Androscoggin River watershed . 64–65 Map 32: Historic and current range of the gray wolf. 66 Appendix B . 86 Map 33: Shoreline development . 71 Map 34: Major dams . 73 List of tree species Map 35: Land conservation . 77 Appendix C . 87 List of Figures Natural Heritage rarity ranking system Fig. 1: Mean monthly temperatures for selected towns . 17 Appendix D . 88 Fig. 2: Distribution of annual precipitation . 19 List of wildlife species List of Tables Table 1: Geologic time . 23 Table 2: Peaks over 3500 feet elevation . ..