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Forest

Description: An area with a high density of trees. "Forest" originally meant an uncultivated area legally set aside for hunting by feudal nobility, and these hunting forests were not necessarily wooded much. Forests can be found anywhere capable of sustaining tree growth, except where natural fire frequency is too high, or where the environment has been impaired by natural or by human processes.

Location: The Pine Barrens – Double Trouble State Park, Ocean County

History: Over 10,000 years ago the Pinelands was a cold and far less hospitable place. Quickly adapting to the harsh conditions, however, the first Americans hunted species now long extinct and settled near small ponds where traces of their culture can still be found. Gradually, though, the climate warmed, sea levels rose and, by about 5000 B.C., the region assumed the same general appearance it has today.

In 1979, the Pinelands Commission was established to protect the area. The Pine Barrens is approximately 1.1 million acres contained within seven counties: Burlington, Ocean, Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland and Gloucester. It is now home to the “Jersey Devil” legend, but in the country's early years it had been a place where fortunes were made from lumber, iron and glass. The name "pine barrens" refers to the area's sandy, acidic, nutrient-poor soil, which didn't take well to the crops originally imported by European settlers. It is now a national reserve that represents 22% of New Jersey’s land area.

Type of water: Fresh water – rivers and man-made lakes

Plant species:
Crested Yellow Orchid (Platanthera cristata)
Lace-lip Ladies-tresses (Spiranthes laciniata)
Curly Grass Fern (Schizaea pusilla)
Purple Bladderwort (Utricularia purpurea)

Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida)
Scrub Oak (Quercus ilicifolia)
Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata)
Dwarfed Pitch Pines and Blackjack Oaks

Animal species:
Mammals
River Otters (Lontra canadensis)
Bobcat (Lynx rufus)
Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)

Birds
Pine Warbler (Dendroica pinus)
Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)
Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus)

Fish
Blackbanded Sunfish (Enneacanthus chaetodon)
Pirate Perch (Aphredoderus sayanus)
Eastern Mudminnow (Umbra pygmaea)

Reptiles/Amphibians
Corn Snake (Elaphe guttata)
Northern Pine Snake (Pituophis m. melanoleucus)
Pine Barrens Tree Frog (Hyla andersonii)

Invertebrates
Arogos Skipper (Atrytone arogos arogos)
Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle (Cincindela dorsalis dorsalis)
Silver-bordered Fritillary (Bolaria selene myrina)

Sample Image