ot 
es and are 
r tree 
ed for 
( Eagle, 
ed). It is 
y level of 
that it is a 
mplexity of 
| in basal 
meter at 
cy level 
species. 
major 
recorded 
ch column 
nd the 
ation of 
ellow 
est species. 
lots. 
i-fir is not 
)CCUIS. 
many forest 
red maple 
y occur in 
shows a 
e 
tion if the 
r 
r, and 
forest 
ninant. 
d mountain 
about 10% 
ost of the 
'ood, Bear, 
listribution 
hin the 
abundant 
n the 
and fires 
Van 
on). Red 
minant 
and 
S, 
t species in 
ly high 
> balsam- 
fir, it takes the forms of associated species in 
many forest types. 
  
70— 
  
| mAdult tree 
Seedling and Sapling 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Frequency Level (96) 
  
  
balsam-fir Em 
black spruce 
white pine 
red pine 
white cedar Eis EET 
big-tooth aspen : a 
Figure 4. Frequencies of major tree species, 
White pine, red pine, ironwood, basswood, big- 
tooth aspen, and black spruce are rare 
dominants. They occur in less than 2% of plots. 
Most white pine and red pine occurs in scattered 
stands or as super canopy individuals, especially 
along the coast, except for a relatively large 
patch on the Stockton Island tombolo, Outer 
Island south tip, and the Mainland Unit. 
Basswood and big-toothed aspen are locally 
common, basswood on Raspberry Island and 
big-tooth aspen only on Oak Island. 
Hemlock and white pine, which were the 
dominant forest species in the pre-settlement 
stage (Swain and Winkler, 1983), are not as 
common as the they used to be, although they 
both have relatively high seedling and sapling 
frequency. Sugar maple will surpass paper birch 
to become the first common species in the 
future; it currently comprises a high portion of 
seedlings and saplings. The commonness of 
paper birch and yellow birch will tend to decline 
65 
  
quaking aspen 
  
yellow birch 
paper birch 
red oak 
mountain ash 
ironwood 
sugar maple 
red maple 
basswood EI 
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore 
since they have relatively low seedling and 
sapling generation, assuming no major 
perturbations. 
CONCLUSIONS 
Unlike the traditional hard copy mapping of 
vegetation inventories, the GIS vegetation 
coverage can meet different mapping 
requirements. Figure 3 presents the overall 
vegetation map of the Apostle Islands at “forest 
type level” of vegetation coverage. This 
information may be relevant when considering 
overall planning and management. Trying to 
present the plant community level at this scale 
would provide too much information. Detailed 
data may be very useful when considering a 
specific island for management, such as bird 
habitat studies or potential fire risk prediction. 
In these cases, we are able to provide