The Historical and Physiological Ecology of Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus L.) in Northeast Connecticut, 1700-2000

The ecology of eastern white pine in the presettlement forests of southern New England, its historical utilization and management, and how the modern landscape-scale distribution of the species may differ from its historical distribution, are considered from multiple perspectives, using the Yale-Myers Forest in northeast Connecticut as a model system. The historical occurrence of the species is evaluated in terms of palynology, documentary sources (witness trees in early land surveys), and dendrochronology, It is shown that, while there is evidence of the continuous presence of the species on the landscape during the last 300 years, it may have been more restricted to sites at lower topographic positions such as wetlands and alluvial terraces, a conclusion that is consistent with earlier literature. It is suggested that wetland stands of white pine, particularly hemlock-white pine mixtures, may represent a historical reservoir for the species from which it has been able to colonize the surrounding uplands.