{{Short description|Closed canopy hardwood forest}} [[File:Beech-maple forest with details of leaves.jpg|thumb|A beech–maple forest with details of leaves (Cleveland Metroparks, Ohio).]] thumb|A beech and maple tree growing adjacent to each other. A '''beech–maple forest''' or a maple beech forest is a climax mesic closed canopy hardwood forest.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/wildlife/viewingguide/eco_succession.htm |title=Eco Succession |access-date=2008-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226141759/http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/wildlife/viewingguide/eco_succession.htm |archive-date=2008-12-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is primarily composed of American beech and sugar maple trees which co-dominate the forest and which are the pinnacle of plant succession in their range.<ref name="gates">{{cite journal|last=Gates|first=Frank C|date=March 27 – April 20, 1912|title=The Vegetation of the Region in the Vicinity of Douglas Lake, Cheboygan County, Michigan, 1911|journal=Annual Report of the Michigan Academy of Science|publisher=Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters|location=University of Michigan|volume=14th|pages=71–75, 104|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XafPza8qsCgC|accessdate=December 11, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.perinton.org/Departments/hist/nathist/ |title=Perinton Natural History page describing Harts Woods, a National Natural Landmark beech maple forest |access-date=2008-12-10 |archive-date=2009-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131064148/http://perinton.org/Departments/hist/nathist/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> A form of this forest was the most common forest type in the Northeastern United States when it was settled by Europeans and remains widespread but scattered today.
== Description == The canopy is dominated by American beech and sugar maple trees, providing little light to the understory. The reduced light provides poor conditions for shrubs, with the exceptions of American witch-hazel and alderleaf viburnum shrubs.<ref name="nynhp" /> The ground cover includes herbs and spring ephemerals, flowers which are able to bloom before the canopy fills in.<ref name="leapbio">{{Cite web |url=http://www.leapbio.org/docs/LEAP_legacy_beachmaple.pdf |title=Lake Erie Allegheny Partnership for Biodiversity |access-date=2008-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720172056/http://www.leapbio.org/docs/LEAP_legacy_beachmaple.pdf |archive-date=2008-07-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Seedlings of beech and maple trees are shade-tolerant, allowing them to grow in low light conditions for several years. These seedling are waiting for an opening in the canopy, and grow rapidly when an opening is made by the death of a mature tree.<ref name="nynhp">[http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/acer/saccharum.htm Sugar Maple Aceraceae -- Maple family]</ref>
Beech–maple forests are often found on flat or rolling terrain, in a variety of moist to well-drained soils with high levels of organic matter.<ref name="nynhp" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://web4.msue.msu.edu/mnfi/abstracts/ecology/Mesic_southern_forest.pdf |title=Michigan Natural Features Inventory |access-date=2008-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105155916/http://web4.msue.msu.edu/mnfi/abstracts/ecology/Mesic_southern_forest.pdf |archive-date=2009-01-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> They thrive in glacial till from the Wisconsin glaciation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.umsl.edu/~loiselleb/Biol440/Dunes/warrenplt.pdf |title=Bio440 lecture notes Bette A. Loiselle |access-date=2008-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606231853/http://www.umsl.edu/~loiselleb/Biol440/Dunes/warrenplt.pdf |archive-date=2011-06-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Typically, in sandy soils, the maple is more common while in soils that have more clay in them, the beech is more dominant.<ref name="gates" /> There must be a fairly high level of precipitation.<ref>[http://www.amandaandbrad.com/Brad/Academics/pdf/Beech-MapleClimaxForest.pdf Study of the North-facing Slope of the Grand Valley State University Ravines]</ref>
These forests are the result of ecological succession, a long progression of different plant species over centuries. One possible sere is from bare ground, it would start with weeds, then shrubs, weedy trees (such as mulberry), then coniferous trees (such as juniper) and additional types such as ash lead to a mixed mesophytic forest. Eventually, an oak–hickory forest develops. If the conditions allow, the final climax community for several different series<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100621120504/http://chiron.valdosta.edu/jbpascar/Courses/Biol3300/LectureOutlines/KrebsPowerPoint/succession.ppt Changes in the Community], Bio 3300 Dr. John B. Pascarella, Valdosta State University.</ref> is the beech–maple community.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Courses/bio303/succession.htm |title=Plant Succession Course description |access-date=2008-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123215733/http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio303/succession.htm |archive-date=2008-11-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Even in a climax community dominated by two types of trees, there can be many different species of trees on the edges of the forest, in windthrow gaps or in microclimates.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.neonaturalist.com/nature/natural_communities.html |title=Neonaturalist Natural Communities |access-date=2008-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204033830/http://www.neonaturalist.com/nature/natural_communities.html |archive-date=2008-12-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Distribution ==
The range of the beech–maple forest type extends from the Atlantic coast west to Minnesota, Michigan and from southern Canada south to Virginia and Tennessee.<ref name="nynhp" /> It is most widespread in Vermont and Upstate New York<ref name="nynhp" /> and was an important component of the original vegetation of northeastern Ohio.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/5616/V71N03_174.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |title=The Vegetative Composition of a Beech-Maple Climax Forest in the Glaciated Plateau of Northeastern Ohio, William H. Schlesinger |date=May 1971 |access-date= }}</ref> Instances of a beech–maple forest can be found at altitudes of {{convert|320|ft|m}} to {{convert|3900|ft|m}}.<ref name="nynhp" />
== Gallery ==
<gallery class="center" widths="200" heights="200"> Image:07-03AmericanBeechFL.jpg|American beech, ''Fagus grandifolia'', Gadsden Co., Florida. Image:Acer saccharum.jpg|Sugar maple tree, ''Acer saccharum'', Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois. File:Maple Beech Community Seedlings.jpg|American Beech ''Fagus grandifolia'' Maple Climax community, Johnson City, TN </gallery>
== See also == *Appalachian hemlock-northern hardwood forest *Ecological succession *Old-growth forest *South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080720172056/http://www.leapbio.org/docs/LEAP_legacy_beachmaple.pdf Beech Maple Forest] * A. B. Williams. The Composition and Dynamics of a Beech-Maple Climax community. First printed in Ecological Monographs Vol 6 No 3, July 1936 pages 318–408.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/122686#page/3/mode/1up | title=The composition and dynamics of a beech maple climax community | year=1936 | volume=6 }}</ref>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beech-Maple Forest}} Category:Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the United States Category:Ecoregions of the United States Category:Ecoregions of Canada Category:Ecoregions of Eastern Canada Category:Forests of Canada Category:Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in Canada Category:Flora of the Great Lakes region Category:Maple Category:Fagus Category:Forest ecology