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ISLAND FLORA & FAUNA =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Not just any species of animal or plant can adapt to the ecological demands of Mt. Desert Island's overlapping environments, but the island's flora and fauna have flourished. Most of the animals are adept at avoiding detection, but if a visitor looks carefully, these denizens can be seen while feeding or scurrying homeward. FOREST For centuries, evergreens dominated much of northern Maine, and when the last glacier receded, spruce and balsam firs outnumbered such deciduous trees as birch and aspen. These coniferous trees inhibited other vegetation with their long shadows and needles, which produced acidic soil as it decayed. These resinous trees are also especially quick to burn and slow to regenerate. Following the 1947 fire, a new forest of sun-worshipping birch, maple and aspensprang up amid the surviving evergreens. Thus, the fire increased the diversity of Mt. Desert's woodlands and the intensity of its fall foliage. As they grow, the deciduous trees produce the shade required by evergreens, and eventually spruce and fir will stand tall once more on the island. Red spruce predominates, ramrod-straight with reddish-brown bark and sharp, stiff needles, and can grow as tall as 75 to 110 feet -- although on Mt. Desert's rocky mountaintops, dwarf spruce one-tenth that size are more common. Outside of Acadian National Park, red spruce is heavily logged for pulp. White spruce, which has silvery-brown bark and bluish-green needles, is also found on the island. It is no accident that Maine is known as the "Pine Tree State," since there are several species that thrive on the island, including jack, red and pitch. The best known is the white pine which, unlike spruce and fir, prefers sun to shadow. White pine grows quickly, usually to heights of more than 100-feet. Because of its great size, it was once highly prized for sailing ship masts. To the island's earliest inhabitants, no tree was more important than the paper birch, whose tough, white bark was used to craft baskets, canoes and wigwams. Prized by native tribes and settlers alike was the sugar maple, whose sweet sap produces that New England delicacy, maple syrup. SHORELINE Mt. Desert Island's intertidal zone teems with marine life that has adapted to the twice-daily tides, which range between 10 to 12 feet. Just below the water-mark is kelp, a dense, brown seaweed that can withstand 600-pounds of water force per square inch before breaking. Sheltered by the kelp are crabs, sea urchins, sea anemones, starfish and jellyfish. Next closest to shore is Irish moss, a bushy, purplish-brown seaweed. When processed, it becomes carrageenin, a thickening agent used in ice cream, cheese, salad dressing and chocolate milk. At the high water-mark is found a white layer of acorn barnacles. These minute crustaceans float to shore and attach to rocks, ship bottoms and pilings, then form a tough, conical shell. Periwinkles, tiny snails half and inch long, feed on wet algae with a rough tongue called a radula. A lichen, pale gray in color and known as old man's beard, festoons the spruce trees growing on the shore. Like their mountaintop cousins, the trees and plants that grow along the coast are often dwarfed and twisted, the result of fierce winds and highly saline ocean spray. Continued in Bar Harbor9 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= |