The Atlantic Coast: A Natural History
Language: English
Pages: 336
ISBN: 1553654463
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Published in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation
(1984): 1193–1201. MacPherson, Alan G. and Joyce B. MacPherson. The Natural Environment of Newfoundland, Past and Present. St. John’s, nl: Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1981. Nettleship, David N. and Tim R. Birkhead, eds. The Atlantic Alcidae: Evolution, Distribution and Biology of the Auks Inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean and Adjacent Water Areas. New York: Academic Press, 1985. Robertson, G.J., S.I. Wilhelm, and P.A. Taylor. “Population Size and Trends of Seabirds Breeding on Gull and
find a home in its many slow-moving streams and wetlands. Middle Atlantic Coastal Forest The Middle Atlantic coastal forest occupies the flat coastal plain from the eastern shore of Maryland and Delaware to just south of the Georgia–South Carolina border, giving way to the southeastern mixed forest, where the Atlantic Coastal Plain meets the edge of the Piedmont. The slow-moving blackwater rivers that snake across the flat terrain are famed for the towering bald cypress and gum trees that form
it. It is sometimes possible, however, to walk on top of this hedgelike growth, which is the result of the krummholz effect, a term derived from the German for “crooked wood.” Krummholz is also common on the highest peaks of the Appalachians, such as Mount Carleton in New Brunswick and Mount Katahdin in Maine. These trees are usually less than 3 meters (9 feet) high and sometimes less than one meter (3 feet), but their bottom whorl of branches may extend out from the central stem more than 2
most other land plants from growing in areas flooded by the tide. When most plants are exposed to excess salt, water flows out of their cells in an attempt to equalize osmotic pressure on either side of the cell membrane. As a result, the cells wither and die. Salt marsh cordgrasses cope with the increased salt concentration of seawater by actually drawing salt water into their cells and concentrating the salts there in an attempt to equalize the osmotic pressure. If they retained too much salt,
the natural wonders of its interior is Vaureal Falls, which is higher than Niagara and has carved a spectacular canyon through the limestone karst. It also boasts twenty-four rivers, which are host to Atlantic salmon. The most famous is the Jupiter, the color of jade as it courses over its limestone bed. The island is a geological relic of a sea that covered the area 60 million years ago. Today, it is littered with marine fossils and some six hundred types, including trilobites, have been