Cranesville Swamp Preserve
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Cranesville Swamp Preserve
OR:
Cranesville Swamp Preserve on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Cranesville Swamp Preserve is a preserve situated in Preston County, West Virginia and Garrett County, Maryland. It is one of the few remaining
boreal Boreal may refer to: Climatology and geography *Boreal (age), the first climatic phase of the Blytt-Sernander sequence of northern Europe, during the Holocene epoch *Boreal climate, a climate characterized by long winters and short, cool to mild ...
bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
s in the southern United States, unusual in harboring many plants and animals that are normally only seen in more northern climates.


History

The Nature Conservancy purchased the beginning in 1960. In October 1964, the site was designated as one of the first National Natural Landmarks in the country.


Geology

Cranesville Swamp is situated in a natural bowl, or "
frost pocket Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a gas) ...
," creating a climate that is more consistent with more northerly regions.


Ecology


Flora

Cranesville Swamp's unusual setting allows 19 different plant communities to flourish, with the most dominant species being, among others, sphagnum moss, speckled alder (Alnus rugosa), various sedges (''Carex folliculata'', and ''C. stricta'') and grasses. Bog species include round-leaved sundew (''Drosera rotundifolia'') and narrowleaf gentian (''
Gentiana linearis ''Gentiana linearis'', the narrowleaf gentian, is a tall flowering plant in the Gentianaceae Family (biology), family. It is native to northeastern North America from Manitoba to Maine, and to the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, Virginia ...
''). The swamp is also home to the southernmost natural community of American larches.


Fauna

In addition to black bear,
porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethizont ...
, snowshoe hare and a wide variety of birds, the rare northern water shrew has been documented here. Birders have also noted the golden-crowned kinglet and Nashville warbler, rarely seen in this area.


References

{{authority control Appalachian bogs Bogs of Maryland Bogs of West Virginia Protected areas of Preston County, West Virginia Protected areas of Garrett County, Maryland Nature Conservancy preserves Nature reserves in Maryland Nature reserves in West Virginia National Natural Landmarks in Maryland National Natural Landmarks in West Virginia Landforms of Preston County, West Virginia Landforms of Garrett County, Maryland IUCN Category V