Peaked Mountain - Ecology and Geology

Ecology and Geology

The reservation supports a wide variety of community types and habitats due to the great variations in topography, soil types, and land use history. Plant communities include oak forests and rock outcrop communities on the west facing mountain slope and summit of Peaked Mountain; various pine/oak forests and wetlands communities are found on the more level, lower elevations to the west of Butler Road. The north/south ridge line supports extensive deciduous forests. The dominant forest type of the upper slopes is dry mixed oak which has been influenced by fire over the past 75 years, An acid rock outcrop community and associated scrub-oak community is found in various stages of successional development on and around the summit. The forest on the lower portions of the mountain is more mixed with black birch, red maple and sugar maple, and occasionally hemlock and non-native conifers. Near the base of the mountain there is a hay field.

Much of the area, especially the slopes, is covered with glacial till that overlies bedrock and glacial outwash with associated sand and gravel deposits fill in the lower elevations. Soils throughout the reservation are described as strongly acidic to moderately acidic, sandy loam and are typically well to excessively drained except where ground water accumulates creating wetlands. Soil depths around the summit are thin.