A Virtual Tour of the Sunken Forest

The Sunken Forest at Fire Island is a rare Maritime Holly Forest. While not really "sunken," the forest has the appearance of being below sea level, as the trail drops down the back side of the secondary dune into a lush canopy of trees.

 

As you "emerge" from Fire Island's Sunken Forest, you can see the ocean beyond the swale and primary dune line. Standing on top of the well-developed secondary dune, the forest has the appearance of being below the level of the sea. 

The Sunken Forest surprises many visitors, who don't expect to find such a well developed forest just a few hundred yards from Fire Island's sandy beaches and pounding surf. On a hot summer day, the shady, cool forest is a welcome relief from the glaring sun and burning sand of the beach. Sitting on a bench on the forest's nature trail and listening to bird song, the light rustle of wind through leaves and the distant sound of ocean waves is one of Fire Island's premiere experiences.

 

Watch for evidence of salt spray pruning as you stroll along the Sunken Forest Nature Trail.

At 200-300 years old, the Sunken Forest represents a sort of stability in an extremely dynamic environment--a barrier island. So how did the forest develop here in the first place? Barrier islands are very harsh environments for most species of plants, particularly trees. Throughout most of Fire Island, trees rarely grow very tall because they are constantly assaulted by wind and salt spray off the ocean. The primary dune (the duneline that faces the ocean all along Fire Island) provides some protection. At Sailors Haven, though, there is something without which the Sunken Forest would not exist: a second set of dunes (secondary dunes). These dunes shelter the trees and have enabled the forest to develop. Trees up near the top of the dune are low-growing and stunted because they get more salt spray. Further down the dunes and in the middle of the forest, though, trees can grow to a more normal height. Even so, the twigs that grow above the dune line are cut back by the salt spray. In this way the ocean prunes the forest to a uniform height.

 

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