Northern hardwood with vigorous spruce in understory borders stand on steep slope to the west. The knobs on top of McGowan Mtn. have "mature" spruce forest.;Mon. Forest "old spruce" polygon. Dead and dying large spruce with vigorous spruce regeneration. Large boulders (~1.5 m diameter) make forest floor very uneven. Many trees have buttressed roots reaching down the sides of the boulders. Many large down trees, deciduous leaf litter is abundant and mosses are lacking.
Representativeness
Plot placed in approximate center of "old spruce" polygon, where larger trunks and down wood are abundant. Edges of polygon appear to have only very young spruce (and down trunks).
