From Megafauna to
Maple Trees
As the glaciers retreated, the landscape around Meridian was
like the Alaskan tundra of today, an open landscape. The only trees were small
willows and birches, and the predominant plant life consisted of grasses.[1] As the climate warmed, conifer forestation began,
and these trees dominated the area for about 2,000 years.
Slowly, deciduous trees began to proliferate, and by about
9,000 years ago the area resembled the woodlands we see today, with forests of
maples, pines and oaks covering the hillsides.
As this change in plant life was taking place, the animal
life of the region was changing as well. Previously, extremely large mammals
had lived in Central New York. By 10,000 to 11,000 years ago, they were all
extinct, both in New York State and in the rest of North America. This group of
large mammals included a ground sloth that weighed nearly a ton, two varieties
of mammoths, a species of mastodon, some zebra-like horses, and giant beavers
that could weigh anywhere from 200 to 500 pounds.[2]
The much-smaller descendants of those beavers are all that remain, and they
would later play a significant role in the history of what would become New
York State.
So, as the ice age ended, the flora and fauna of Central New
York were beginning to be more like what we see today. The stage was set for
the first arrival of human beings.
[2] Levine,
Emanuel & Bull, John L., Bull’s Birds
of New York State, Federation of New York State Bird Clubs, American Museum
of Natural History, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1974
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