Natural Community: Rich Floodplain Forest
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This lush forest on Virginius Island grows atop land that was covered with factories and mills more than a century ago.
Credits
Created by Virginia Pellington, Christina Prehn, and Robert Copus, Explore Natural Communities Interns Summer 2016, NatureServe.
Music: Dream Culture, by Kevin Macleod (incompitech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0.
Sounds: River Noise, recorded by Caroline Ford (soundbible.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0. Rushing Stream 2, recorded by mike_stranks (freesound.org). Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0.
Photo: Rich Floodplain Forest, by Milo Pyne, courtesy of NatureServe. Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0.
Transcript
Podcast time: 2:30 minutes
Welcome to the Rich Floodplain Forest of Virginius Island. Here, there is an array of American sycamore , boxelder , pawpaw , and spicebush , among many other species. The forest is alive with signs of wildlife, like the songs of birds and deer rustling and munching leaves. Believe it or not, this area hasn’t always looked this way. Well over a century ago, this trail was a road lined with factories and mills. You’re standing in what was once the industrial hub of Harpers Ferry, where munitions factories and flour mills were built and rebuilt after the destruction from the Civil War and multiple floods.
This location recovered from the ravages of war, but the repeated disastrous floods accomplished what human-caused destruction did not, and swept away people, homes, and factories. By 1936, what was once an area with lively, bustling industries and commerce was left broken and quiet when the last water-powered industry was abandoned. But, unlike buildings, nature isn’t so easily destroyed; it is always changing. Over time, the island has been quietly transformed from a flood-ravaged landscape to a once-again fertile forest. Massive sycamore trees—characterized by their pale, flaky bark—have grown up to form a canopy that shelters the present-day natural community, a Rich Floodplain Forest.
The moist, nutrient-rich soil has accumulated from periodic flooding of the Shenandoah River that borders the island. So, with this repeated flooding, wouldn't the trees die? In many cases, yes, but the sycamore is one of a handful of trees that thrive in these conditions. Unlike other trees, sycamores can survive with their roots completely submerged under water for hours or even days at a time.
Ever since the last factory gave way to silence in 1936, “nature has reclaimed the land here more completely than anywhere else at Harpers Ferry." While brick crumbles and eventually disappears, nature always finds a way to rebound. The Rich Floodplain Forest shows the power and resilience of an ever-changing environment and the unrelenting forces of nature.