Open bog adjacent to stand on one side, the other side has a floodplain of a small creek with mostly dead spruce over Leersia oryzoides.;Stand of Picea rubens on a narrow band on edge of Big Glade. Many large spruce are dead, but spruce is present is in all age classes. Understory is unlike any other spruce stand we have sampled, with dominance by Ilex verticillata in the shrub layer with Osmunda cinnamomea and Carex stricta in the herb layer. Acidic peat layers are perched on circumneutral clay. Stand appears to be about 100 years old - trees may be short lived due to water stress and wind throw.
Representativeness
Plot is centered on a narrow band of spruce dominance between the open wetland and a wetter slough with dead trees. Plot includes some open areas, hummocks, and some standing water. See air photo for stand size.