Houlton Farm Planning Committee Meeting 2016-02-02

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HISTORICAL VEGETATION Based on interpretation of the 1850s public land survey (PLS), in which the dominant tree (bearing tree) and other vegetation was recorded at every one -mile interval, the boundaries of the William H. Houlton Conservation Area lie within what would have been both floodplain forest and oak openings and barrens in pre -European settlement times (Figure 6). The landcover type in this region was mosaic of different habitats ranging from oak openings and floodplain forests, to prairie, big woods forests, and aspen -oak woodlands. The most common land cover type of the region was oak openings and barrens, which we today would call savanna. Savanna is an area of scattered tr esP primarily bur oak, with areas of open prairie between them. Prairie was an area i nated by mixed heigh grasses and forbs (wild flowers), with patches of shrubs a difference between prairie and savanna is created by frequen nd Generally, frequent fire (every 2 to 5 years) will result in pr .ri h frequent fire (3 to 8 years) will result in savanna. However, whether trees lined the entirety of the ri am the current floodplain forest areas were likely floodp r areas of the river may have been lined with savanna or savanna grasses would have grown rightto the %channe , banks and stabilizing the bank slopes, as occurs in property, including the small savanna are east to no trees. The y of fire. KY less much of ettlement times, vegetation. Prairie and ops forming lips over the mall areas of the Bearing trees were noted by the 1850s PLS sW ors tolp identify each section of land. If no trees were in the sectio as also n d. Two bearing trees were recorded within the William H. Hou Co ation A undary: both about 100m apart in what is currently the a iltural a . Both tr were identified as "bur oak", providing further evidence that i w f prairie and oak savanna vegetation. Note that the soils data and the ementW ation data concur: soils are prairie soils and pre -settlement and savanna land cover. Historica rial photos also haus reconstruct what the vegetation was like during the las irs. The of aerial photo that we have for this site is from 1939 (Figure 7), and sheds Sli co tions of the area. At that time, the present day cropland was being croppe ,e the natural areas of the property were much more open than present conditiof the floodplain forest areas had a sparser canopy and looked more similar inre to vegetation found in a savanna -type landscape. While a thin strip of tree covthe majority of the riverbanks, some areas were relatively open right up to the rivers' edge. Moreover, in what is now some of the larger floodplain areas, it is easy to see the more open nature of the habitat, with trees interspersed with more open grassy areas. This is especially true on the northeast side of the property, where a small savanna patch remains, and the northwest side, where what is now scrubby, mainly non- native forest once looked largely open. Furthermore, there is an increase in tree cover in the floodplain areas on the south side of the property. Friends of the Mississippi W.H. Houlton Conservation Area NRMP 22