Keeping Maples in the Red Maple Swamp

Boardwalk sections of the 0.8-mile trail meander through the heart of the Red Maple Swamp. Photo/Jesse Mechling

Written by Charlotte Hohman, NPS

Current distribution of the red maple in the eastern United States, indicated in green. Map/USGS

The Red Maple Swamp of Cape Cod National Seashore, located in the town of Eastham, is an excellent place to take a stroll at many different times of the year. Red maple trees tower above the boardwalk, providing shade from the hot summer sun. In the fall, they provide a spectacular sight as their leaves change from green to vibrant oranges and reds.

This area has historically been a swamp mainly comprised of red maple (Acer rubrum), a hardwood tree that can be commonly found throughout the eastern United States and is adapted to live in numerous different environments, including swamps. Swamps are important forested wetlands that absorb excess water, thus preventing flooding, and protect coastlines from storms. These swamps have standing water for a significant portion of the year.

Though some standing water remains in the Red Maple Swamp, the amount is significantly less since the swamp was ditched. Photo/John DeFoe, NPS

Certain insects like mosquitoes rely on standing water to lay their eggs. When people began to build homes around the perimeter of the Red Maple Swamp, residents soon began complaining about the abundance of mosquitoes. Before the creation of Cape Cod National Seashore in 1961, in an attempt to address this issue, ditches were dug throughout the Red Maple Swamp. This allowed the swamp to drain, and greatly reduced the amount of standing water.

These impenetrable thickets of native and exotic plants make it impossible for new red maple seedings to sprout. Photo/Charlotte Hohman, NPS

However, as a result, much of the nutrient-rich wetland soil that was once submerged was now exposed as drier but still nutrient-rich soil that understory shrubs (mostly native but some exotic) thrived in. In fact, the understory consists of impenetrable thickets where there is no space or light for new red maple trees to sprout. If left unchecked, as the adult red maples die, there may be no new trees to replace them. The Red Maple Swamp is now an altered ecosystem that cannot be completely returned to its original state, because if drainage ditches were closed or removed, private properties would become flooded.

AmeriCorps crews cleared areas of the thicket to provide red maple seedlings planted in the swamp a fighting chance. Photo/Stephen Smith, NPS

Throughout the years, natural resource staff noticed that red maple seedlings would sprout in the cleared areas along the edges of the boardwalk that runs through the swamp. To test if more red maple seeds would sprout in cleared areas in the swamp, in 2023 under the direction of park scientists, 10 m x 10 m plots of thick brush were cleared by chainsaw crews down to ground level.

Sure enough, with the brush cleared, many red maple trees began to sprout soon thereafter. Some individuals were documented as growing up to six inches tall before becoming dormant for the winter season. The hope is that many of the seedlings will survive the cold months and will bud and continue to grow once the temperatures become warmer once again. If needed, park scientists have also considered transplanting red maple seedlings into the clearings.

These plots of seedlings can be seen off the side of the trail and are hopefully the key to keeping the National Seashore’s Red Maple Swamp full of maple trees for many more generations to come.

Red maple seedlings sprout in a cleared area, demonstrating that given the space and resources they need, that the trees can still thrive in the swamp. Photo/Stephen Smith, NPS

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