Place-based Science | The Coastal Spruce Fir Forest

Along the coast of Maine a special cold-adapted forest ecosystem thrives: the coastal spruce fir forest. The cool air that blows off the ocean provides an ideal environment for these colder species, but their future, like many, is uncertain. In this episode, we’re traveling through time to understand how coastal spruce fir forests in Acadia have changed over the past sixty-six years.

High atop Acadia’s mountain summits are sweeping views, subalpine plants, and an ecosystem under threat. Come with me as I take part in each step of a field season and learn about how scientists are working to help restore these unique places.

In this season premiere episode of Sea to Trees we’ll travel to the largest freshwater wetland in Acadia National Park: The Great Meadow. Listen to learn more about the ongoing restoration of the Great Meadow, how soil coring can take us back in time to visualize a landscape thousands of years ago, and how an Indigenous approach to wetland restoration means restoring relationships and food sovereignty.

In Season Four, we’re getting up close and personal with three areas in Acadia: freshwater wetlands, granite-topped mountain summits, and boreal forests. Each episode is set in one of those research sites and focuses on the science stories happening there.

During warm, wet nights in early spring, thousands of amphibians shake off their winter grogginess and take to the roads. Hardy small mammals scamper along the forest floor and make extensive homes within the cracks of Acadia’s mountains. Some of the park’s smallest creatures, that play outsized roles in nature’s food web, are also some of its most mysterious. Learn about two survey projects asking what it’s like to take the pulse of Acadia National Park on Season 3 Episode 3 of Sea to Trees.

In 1956, Robert MacArthur sat in a spruce-fir forest of Acadia National Park and tried to understand the truth behind warbler diversity. How could there be so many different species coexisting, when theory seeks to crown “one warbler to rule them all?” Learn about MacArthur’s study, how it changed the field of ecology, and the scientists revisiting his work over half a century later on Season 3 Episode 2 of Sea to Trees.

Tucked away on the University of Maine campus is a treasury of film that chronicles New England’s landscape from 1946 to 2015. We’ll hear from the researcher who is digitizing thousands of aerial photographs and making them accessible online. What can these photos tell us about the history of Acadia and how can they influence the future of land stewardship? Find out on the season three premiere of Sea to Trees. University of Maine Sewall Company https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/sewell_aerial/

In Season Three of Sea to Trees, we’re learning about research that delves into the past, seeks to understand the present, and charts the future of Acadia. We’ll walk through the same spruce forests as MacArthur’s warblers, try to understand how human activity is affecting some of the smallest creatures in the park, and illustrate the power of sea level rise with a group of young scientists. What can we learn from the past and present to help our future? www.Schoodicinstitute.org

Episode 3 begins with naturalist Laura Sebastianelli, who has dedicated her summers to recording all the bird songs in Acadia National Park. We follow Laura on her chase to record the American Bittern, learn why it’s so important to record Acadia’s birdsongs, and talk to all sorts of ornithological experts along the way.

Bird song is so much more than just bird-song. In this episode, we’ll learn all about birds, their songs, and what we can do to keep them around.