Balsam Lake Mountain - Flora and Fauna

Flora and Fauna

Due to its high base elevations, the lower slopes of the mountain are covered exclusively by a northern hardwood forest of beech, birch and maple, with no oaks or other species found at lower elevations in the Catskills. Much of the mountain remains in first growth, from as low as 2,575 feet (785 m) in Clark Hollow to 3,250 feet (990 m) on its north spur. On the south side the mountain is generally in first growth from 2,800 feet (850 m) up.

At higher elevations, above 3,400 feet (1,000 m) on the north side but not until 3,600 feet (1,100 m) on the south, balsam fir and red spruce begin to appear. The hardwoods, more and more stunted by the harsher conditions at higher elevations, eventually give way to a dense, lower-canopy boreal forest dominated by those two species (primarily the firs) on the summit. Paper birch is the most common deciduous associate, and wood sorrel and moss can be found on the ground.

Within the summit forest is a sphagnum bog. It is dominated by peat mosses, mountain holly and balsam fir, with its perimeter surrounded by yellow birch. According to Catskill forest researcher Michael Kudish it is the deepest bog in the Catskills, with the peat going down 24 inches (61 cm) to the glacial till it rests on. Radiocarbon dating has shown it to be about 5,500 years old, with balsam fir as dominant around the bog then as it is now.

The forests on the mountain support a typical animal community for the Catskills. Black bear and white-tailed deer are the larger mammal species, with rodent and lagomorph species, such as snowshoe hare, lower on the food chain. Beavers have been common over the years, with Kudish finding more evidence of present and past dams and meadows on the slopes of Balsam Lake and its neighboring peaks.