Duck Lake
T41 MD BPP, T42 MD BPP
Vital Statistics:
- Size: 3,870 acres
- Regulated: 2,433 acres
- Non-Regulated: 1,437 acres
- Upland: 2,628 acres
- Forested Wetland (NWI): 722 acres
- Non-Forested Wetland: 514 acres
- Open Water: 13 acres
- Roads: 0 miles
- Biophysical Region: Eastern Coastal
- BPL Region: East
Rare Species and Exemplary Natural Community Table for Duck Lake Unit
| Type | Common Name | Latin Name | S-RANK | G-RANK | State Status | EO-RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exemplary Natural Communities | Hemlock forest | S4 | N/A | N/A | B | |
| Mixed tall sedge fen | S4 | N/A | N/A | B? | ||
| Red pine - white pine forest | S3S4 | N/A | N/A | E | ||
| Red pine - white pine forest | S3S4 | N/A | N/A | B | ||
| Spruce - larch wooded bog | S4 | N/A | N/A | B | ||
| Rare Plants | Water stargrass | Zosterella dubia | S2 | G5 | T | E |
| Rare Animals | None found |
Description:
The Duck Lake ecological reserve lies on the southeast corner of the Duck Lake Unit, with frontage on both Gassabias Lake and Fourth Machias Lake. It contains a mosaic of low-elevation forests with varying history of natural and human disturbance. About half of the Duck Lake Unit burned in a series of fires in the late 1930s, mid 1940s, and 1960. The vegetation of the ecological reserve reflects that burn history; over 500 acres are typed as burn-origin or aspen-dominated, and another 900+ acres are in white pine or red pine, according to BPL stand type maps. One such red pine-white pine stand, east of Gassabias Lake, supports trees 150 to 200 years old. Another similar stand east of Fifth Lake Stream supports trees 55 to 60 years old with fire scars.
The reserve also contains over 1,200 acres of wetlands, including forested peatlands with spruce, larch, and cedar, and open peatlands dominated by graminoid vegetation. One forested wetland east of Gassabias Lake shows no signs of past harvesting and has abundant dead wood on the forest floor.
Although the state’s GIS layer shows no roads within the ecological reserve, field observations indicate that one snowmobile trail runs through a black spruce bog east of Gassabias Lake, and another traverses the top of an esker east of Fifth Lake Stream.
Resources
Duck Lake Management Unit—Management Plan. 1989. Bureau of Public Lands, Department of Conservation, Augusta, Maine. 41 pp.