Forest History of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. I. Modern and Pre-Colonial Forests

Studies of forest history on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts have included three main lines of investigation: a survey of the present vegetation; historical documents relating to colonial land use; and pollen-analytic investigation of postglacial lakes and bogs. Details of the postglacial vegetational and climatic history of the island are the subject of a separate paper. Some evidence from the pollen-stratigraphic studies are included in this paper. The present vegetation of the Vineyard is in various stages of reforestation following clear cutting, farming, and pasturing. The dominant trees on the island at the present are: Oak, Pine, Beech, Gum, and Hickory. Old-field succession consists of the following stages: Juniper, Pine, Pine-Oak, Oak-Hickory-Beech. From early historical documents it seems probable that hemlock and white pine were not present in the pre-colonial forests. Other forest trees not mentioned in the historical records of this area, nor found in pollen data include ash, basswood, tulip tree, and chestnut. Although fossil cones of white pine have been found on the Vineyard, pollen studies of the leaf litter associated with the pine cones show no evidence of European occupation at the time the pine cones were deposited. There is no evidence to show that the early colonists found forests substantially different from those found in the area today. There is some evidence that the trees the colonists found may have been considerably larger with a high canopy.