Tag Archive | St. Lawrence Lowlands
Beechdrops at the Morgan Arboretum
Physical Description Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana) are annual flowering plants which parasitize beech tree roots all over Eastern North America. They completely lack chlorophyll and have smooth, brownish stems and branches that reach a height of about 30cm (Musselman, 1982). During our own observations, they were very easy to miss under all the autumn leaf litter, […]
Leaf Litter Invertebrates of the Morgan Arboretum
Invertebrates, while small, play an integral role in our ecosystem in the St. Lawrence Lowlands. In leaf litter, they aid greatly in the decomposition of organic matter, as cited by Vasconcelos and Laurance in their article on soil fauna (2005). Invertebrates are animals that lack a backbone, but this is where most of the obvious […]
Shelf Fungus Diversity and Tree Health at the Morgan Arboretum
The importance of shelf fungi in the St-Lawrence lowlands Polypores (also known as Shelf fungi and Bracket fungi) are found across North America, anywhere woody plants are present (Gilbertson, 1980). They usually grow on fallen logs, stumps, dead branches and even living trees whose bark has been breached and begins to decay (Roberts and […]
Small Arboreal Mammals of the St. Lawrence Lowlands
Small arboreal mammals, such as Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), American Red Squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) and Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus), play important roles in forest ecosystems of the St. Lawrence Lowlands, including that of the Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue Morgan Arboretum. These species are essential to healthy forests because they distribute seeds from plants, as well as fungi […]
The Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum, also known as “Sugar Maple”, is a deciduous tree species native to the St-Lawrence Lowlands’ area. It is usually found in the northeast of the United-States and in the southeast of Canada. The sugar maple is very dominant and broadly distributes in the northern hardwood forests of this region (Lovett & Mitchell, 2004). […]
The St. Lawrence Lowlands 