In the central Adirondack landscape, as typified by the HWF, the majority of large open wetlands are associated with beaver activity. Half of the species found in beaver-modified areas are classified as obligate wetland species, and 80% of the species are found in wetlands at least 77% of the time (Table 1) (Reed 1988). Thus, it would seem likely that the effect of beaver increasing species richness of the riparian zone extends to the landscape as a whole. In areas having wetland habitats independent of beaver activity, we would predict that beavermodified patches would be less important in determining the total species richness, although McMaster and McMaster (2000) suggest that the combination of full sun and saturated soil found in beaver meadows is relatively rare.