Short peat cores from three sphagnum bogs in central Maine were analyzed palynologically to determine whether recent reforestation approximates forest composition immediately prior to European colonization and deforestation. Radiocarbon dating and palynology show that the cores extend to 600–2000 years b.p., beginning well before 18th-century colonial forest disturbance. Cores from Round Pond bog (Franklin County) and Kanokolus Bog (Waldo County) show that Tsuga canadensis (Eastern Hemlock) was much more abundant on the local landscape at the time of European settlement than it is today; a core from Hamilton Pond bog (Kennebec County) records an abrupt local Eastern Hemlock decline, and accompanying Acer spp. (maple) rise, that preceded European contact by several centuries. All three bogs show increased heath (Ericales) abundance with deforestation, presumably a result of augmented nutrient flux into the bog basins due to increased erosion on surrounding slopes.

Modern forest composition around all three sites is quite different from the forests immediately preceding European colonization and clearing. Pollen types indicative of agricultural activities (Ambrosia, other Asteraceae, Poaceae, Brassicaceae) that mark European deforestation and the onset of farming, have faded or disappeared as many farms have been allowed to revert to forest in the past half-century. Pine (mostly Pinus strobus [White Pine]) is more abundant in the modern pollen record than in subhistoric time, as are Abies spp. (fir) and Picea spp. (spruce); dominant hardwood taxa have responded differently to reforestation of the areas surrounding the study sites, in part determined by local edaphic conditions.