Although Cape Cod National Seashore is perhaps best known for its shoreline scenery, the interior forests and woodlands have become the most prominent feature of this coastal landscape. In the period before European settlement, Cape Cod was covered largely by pine-oak forests, interspersed with smaller areas of hickory, beech, red maple, and birch. In the 18th and 19th centuries, much of Cape Cod consisted of open heathlands and grasslands created and maintained primarily by the agricultural practices of early settlers that included cutting, grazing, and burning. The cessation of these activities by the mid-1800s allowed trees to re-invade the landscape and forests now occupy the largest land-surface area and biovolume of any vegetation community.
pine-oak|hickory, beech, red maple,|birch.
pine-oak|hickory, beech, red maple,|birch.