title: History of the spruce-fir forest in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
abstract: Red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) were present by 13,700 years B.C.E. in the Catskills Mountains of southeastern New York State. These conifers were, and still are, largely confined to the eastern and far western portions of the region. A gap in the distribution exists between these populations. Both species are absent from the intervening East Branch Delaware River watershed. No red spruce macrofossils were found in this watershed, suggesting that this conifer never colonized the gap postglacially. Rare macrofossils of balsam fir were found in only three of the 24 peatlands in this watershed, the conifer having disappeared between 11,300 and 8,200 years B.C.E.
authors.affiliation: Division of Forestry, Paul Smith's College, Paul Smiths, New York.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kudish
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005580:Fossils; D005843:Geography; D009518:New York; D018515:Plant Leaves; D011058:Pollen; D012987:Soil; D014197:Trees / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil
keywords: Catskill Mountains; history; macrofossils; peatlands; radiocarbon dates; spruce-fir forests