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Rocky Upland Streams
Description
Upland streams flow quickly over exposed bedrock on steep to moderate slopes. The water flows fast enough to wash away any accumulated sediment, except in the deepest pools.
These streams have pools, runs, falls, and short sections of riffles throughout their length.
Selected Plants
Canterbury Brook
Mosses on rocks
- Brachythecium plumosum (Cedar moss)
- Fontinalis hypnoides
- Hygroamblystegium tenax
- Eurhynchium riparioides (Beaked moss)
- Sciaroium lescurii
Occurrence
Rocky headwater streams are common throughout the forest on steep slopes. The best examples are Black Rock Brook below Aleck Meadow Reservoir, Canterbury Brook, and along Cascade Brook below Glycerine Hollow.
Ecology
Black Rock Brook below Aleck Meadow
Trees shade these streams, so most nutrients come from decaying leaf litter and runoff. In the spring, when rain and snowmelt are abundant, they can become torrents. By August, the streamflow has slowed so much that many of the streams are stagnant.
History
Upland streams were sometimes dammed for water power to run mills. There was once a sawmill along the lower reach of Black Rock Brook. Across the road from the Science Center lot a portion of an old earth dam is still visible. Now some of the streams are dammed to provide water to the towns of Cornwall and Highlands.
Also Called
- Reschke (1990): Rocky headwater stream.
Selected References
For general references see the reference page.
- Hynes, H. B. N. 1970. The ecology of running waters. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Photos: Kerry Barringer