Soil drainage-class influences on the distribution of witness trees (1664–1700) in Wicomico County, Maryland, USA

Abstract

Given the long-term human habitation and prolific land use change trajectories in the eastern United States, few remnants of the pre-European settlement Mid-Atlantic forest remain on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. This study utilized metes and bounds witness tree locations and descriptions produced during colonial land subdivision to understand the relationships between tree types and biogeographic environments for an area on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Using correspondence analysis, we reveal habitat partitioning among witness tree species based on soil drainage characteristics, that enable the visualization of a pre-European settlement reconstructed forest. Our research finds that oak ( Quercus), most often white oak ( Quercus alba), was the dominant genus for most of the study area underlain by well-drained soils. To a much smaller extent, gums were also associated with these well-drained soils. Areas of poor drainage most often contained pine ( Pinus) and an assemblage of different oaks ( Quercus spp.). Hickory ( Carya), also noted in the witness tree record in small numbers, was found across all soil drainages.