Disturbed vegetation
Artificially cleared and disturbed areas are common on the base, especially in
the cantonment area (Fig. 24). In general, vegetation on artificially cleared or dis-
turbed sites is not well organized into discrete plant communities. Instead, the veg-
etation consists of a heterogenous mix of a wide variety of native and introduced
plant species, the composition of which varies considerably from place to place
over relatively short distances. This heterogeneity is in part due to soil and site
conditions, which range from relatively undisturbed native soils to shallow topsoil
over coarse textured fill to deep fill without topsoil. In addition, management of
these areas has been a combination of varying degrees of soil disturbance, intro-
duction and spread of numerous introduced forage plants and weeds, and natural
revegetation by native plants, all coupled with periodic mowing or other forms of
manmade disturbances.
Natural soils, which have been cleared long ago and subsequently received little
additional disturbances, may exhibit distinct vegetation communities. These in-
clude alder and willow shrub, bluejoint (Calamagrostis canadensis) meadow, balsam
poplar scrub, and mesic forb types consisting of native plants characteristic of early
to mid-seral forests.
At the other extreme are periodically disturbed areas that tend to be dominated
more by native and introduced weeds. Tickle grass (Agrostis scabra), foxtail barley
(Hordeum jubatum), bluegrass (Poa pratensis), clovers (Trifolium spp.), common dan-
delion (Taraxacum officinale), knotweed (Polygonum aviculare), pineapple weed (Ma-
tricaria matricariodes), and a number of other species are very common.
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