Content deleted Content added
Line 170:
==Ecology==
Descriptions from early explorers and settlers give an idea of what the Little Pine Creek area was like before it was clearcut. The forest was up to 85 percent hemlock and white pine; hardwoods made up the rest.<ref name = "dillon wotf">{{cite book | title = Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon: A Natural & Human History |last = Dillon | first = Chuck |edition = 2nd |publisher = Pine Creek Press |location = Wellsboro, Pennsylvania |year = 2006 | chapter = Wealth of the Forests: Lumber | pages = 23–24 }} (No ISBN)</ref> The Pine Creek watershed, which Little Pine Creek is part of, was home to large predators such as [[Gray wolf|wolves]], [[Canadian lynx|lynx]], [[wolverine]]s, [[cougar|panthers]], [[fisher (animal)|
The virgin forests cooled the land and streams, and centuries of accumulated organic matter in the forest soil caused slow percolation of rainfall into the creeks and runs so that they flowed more evenly year-round.<ref name = "dillon wotf"/><ref name = "dillon hiats">{{cite book | title = Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon: A Natural & Human History |last = Dillon | first = Chuck |edition = 2nd |publisher = Pine Creek Press |location = Wellsboro, Pennsylvania |year = 2006 | chapter = Human Issues Affecting the Stream | page = 46 }} (No ISBN)</ref> Pine Creek and its tributaries were home to large numbers of fish, including trout, but dams downstream on the [[Susquehanna River]] have eliminated the [[shad]] and [[eel]]s once found here by blocking their [[Fish migration|migrations]].<ref name = "seasons ltw"/> Habitat for land animals was destroyed by the clearcutting of forests, but there was also a great deal of hunting, with bounties paid for large predators.<ref name = "seasons ltw"/>
| |||