Plants and Animals
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Plants
It’s not uncommon for there to be only one or two stunted mature trees in a patch of Sycamore - River Birch Floodplain Forest, due to frequent strong flooding. Trunks may be scarred on the upstream side, from debris in floods and ice. Most trees are young saplings. You may notice that many trees are growing at an angle because they’ve been pushed over by floods. Those that are nearly horizontal sometimes send up multiple vertical sprouts from the base of their trunks. American sycamore is the most common tree, although you’ll also find green ash, river birch, and silver maple. The sparse layer of low plants contains flood-tolerant species such as blue mistflower and halberd-leaf rosemallow, as well as drought-tolerant annuals.
Canopy Trees
The trees whose crowns intercept most of the sunlight in a forest stand. The uppermost layer of a forest.
Understory Trees
Small trees and young specimens of large trees growing beneath the canopy trees. Also called the subcanopy.
- black willow (occasional)
Shrubs, Saplings, and Vines
Shrubs, juvenile trees and vines at the right height to give birds and others a perch up off the ground but below the trees.
- eastern poison-ivy
- common buttonbush (occasional)
Low Plants (Field Layer)
Plants growing low to the ground. This includes small shrubs and tree seedlings.
- American water-willow
- blue mistflower
- common three-seed mercury
- dotted smartweed
- halberd-leaf rosemallow
- Indian-hemp
- late-flowering thoroughwort
- fragrant flatsedge (occasional)
- marsh seedbox (occasional)
- sharp-wing monkeyflower (occasional)
- small-spike false nettle (occasional)
- straw-colored flatsedge (occasional)
- threelobe beggarticks (occasional)
- whitegrass (occasional)
- yellowseed false pimpernel (occasional)
Non-Native Invasive Plant Species
Non-native invasive plants can be brought into this natural community on floodwaters. Not all of them are able to withstand the frequent flooding here, but some that can are Japanese stiltgrass* and oriental lady’s-thumb*. See Ecological Threats for more.
Animals
Even though natural communities aren’t named after animals, animals do play a crucial role in maintaining natural communities. Plants and animals need each other. To name just a few examples, plants provide food and habitat for animals, and animals help plants reproduce by spreading pollen and seeds. To learn more, see The Role of Animals in Natural Communities in Ecology Basics.
Check out iNaturalist to see photos of animals (and plants!) that people have seen in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.