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Now that you have walked into the forest away from the forest edge, notice that there is a different tree mix.  Also notice that you have been climbing a slight up-hill grade which also represents a slight change in habitat.  The tree in front of you is the American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) characterized by its smooth, steel-gray bark.  Unlike the yellow birch, the bark of beech changes little as it ages.  Any beech bark that is not smooth has probably been affected by disease or insects, of which beech is susceptible to many. 

Along with the maple, American beech is the most predominant species throughout New York State.  Maples and beeches have the ability to “take over” an area from other trees since their germinating seeds can penetrate the layer of leaves on the forest floor better than other species.  Young beech are also very shade tolerant, growing very slowly in the understory waiting for an opening to occur in the canopy that it will quickly fill. 

The beechnuts that this tree produces is an important source of food for many forest animals including the whitetail deer, ruffed grouse, chipmunks, deer mice, red and gray fox, wild turkeys, red and gray squirrels, raccoons and cottontail rabbits.  Each beech fruit contains two or three triangular nuts.  Heavy nut production does not occur every year, rather they occur on a two to three year cycle. 

This phenomenon is called masting and is thought to be a survival adaptation – to produce more seeds than the populations of animals could hope to eat. 

The beech tree also regenerates by “root suckers”, offshoots of the root system which may form “beech thickets” when an old, diseased beech tree falls allowing light to reach the forest floor.

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