Biodiversity of Cove Forests

Cove canopy

The ecological communities of cove forests are influenced by past land uses and landscape position . Many sites that can support cove forests have been cleared. The fertility of these sites was recognized by the early settlers, so they were cleared for agriculture during this settlement period. However, changing economic conditions in the mid-1900s led to the abandonment of many family farms. Cove forests have regrown at former farm sites (Wear and Bolstad 1998). Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is a common shrub in rich coves that have been disturbed by past agricultural practices. Some herbaceous species (such as Liliaceous species) are absent or greatly reduced in abundance in reforested cove-hardwood forests that were subjected to past agricultural uses (Pearson and others 1998, Mitchell et al. 2002).

Farm landscape

The recovery of cove forests may be affected by the tendency of their habitats to be fragmented. Many forest wildflowers and salamanders species do not have the capability of long-range dispersal; therefore, they may not be able to colonize an isolated patch of recovering forest. Cove forest habitats are separated from other coves by intervening ridges above and cleared valleys below. Cove forests also improve water quality by protecting the headwaters of streams and rivers. Today, the recovering forests are being developed for housing as suburban uses expand near cities and towns.