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Successional Maritime Forest |
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System: Terrestrial
SubSystem: Forested Uplands State Protection: Not Listed Federal Protection: Not Listed State Rarity Rank: S3 
A State Rarity Rank of S3 means: Typically 21 to 100 occurrences, limited acreage, or miles of stream in New York State. Global Rarity Rank: G4
A Global Rarity Rank of G4 means: Apparently secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery. Did you know? How does salt spray affect plant growth? Salt water is hypertonic for most plant cells. The salt in the salt spray will cause water to be drawn out of the plant cells causing the cells to shrink and die. The higher the concentration of salt, the faster the plant dies. This could cause the tree to be stunted as their canopy dies back from the salt spray or they could grow asymmetrically with the oceanside of the trees dying back and the side furthest from the ocean continuing to grow. Some plants growing near the ocean are actually adapted to the salt spray and can tolerate these conditions better than other plants. Bayberry is an example of this type of plant. |
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| State Ranking Justification | [-] |
There are less than 3 documented occurrences of this natural community type in New York State. It is predicted that there is the potential for possibly less than 100 total occurrences many of which would be very small in size (acreage) with the total acreage predicted to be less than 400. This maritime forest community is restricted in range to the coastal area of New York on Long Island. The potential habitat of this community is also restricted to areas directly affected by maritime processes, e.g., salt spray and winds. These areas in New York continue to be under significant threat from housing development.
| Short-term Trends | [-] |
The acreage, extent, and condition of successional maritime forests in New York is probably stable due to the dynamic nature of successional forests in general. As farmland is abandoned or after a mature forest is burned, there will be an increase in the acreage of these successional forest types. Succession would lead to other types of maritime forests however the natural process of salt spray would maintain the community as it is. Large catastrophic events such as storms or human disturbance such as burning or clearing would revert the area back to an earlier successional type. This is a large, intact, slowly succeeding forest, recovering well from historical clearings and with good diversity of successional stages and only minor disturbances. The community is in a landscape relatively large and intact for the coastal region.
| Long-term Trends | [-] |
The numbers and acreage of successional maritime forests in New York has probably declined over the long-term. These declines were due to the settlement of the area and the subsequent loss of forests due to agricultural, residential and commercial development.
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Home | Advanced Search | About Us Animal Guides | Plant Guides | Community Guides © 2004-2012 New York Natural Heritage Program, a partnership between the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry Please cite this page as:
New York Natural Heritage Program. 2013. Online Conservation Guide for Successional Maritime Forest. Available from: http://www.acris.nynhp.org/guide.php?id=10000. Accessed May 21st, 2013. 
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