Change in an ancient place

Although I didn't hike one of the 46 peaks, I spent this weekend on the Stillwater Reservoir in the western Adirondacks. The fascinating thing about Stillwater is that, as a reservoir, it drains significantly over the course of the year. Although I've always known this, and have seen the effects, this is the first year that I've actually visited the lake multiple times over the course of the summer and actually witnessed the change for myself. The dam at the bottom of what used to be the Beaver River, now Stillwater Reservoir, provides flood control for the Black River valley as well as power through a hydro electric facility. After seeing the incredible difference in exposed landmass this weekend, and discussing the concept of succession in class today, I'm incredibly curious at the implications this constant flux of extremely high and extremely low water levels has on the growth of plants in the area. The plant life on islands within the lake (of which there are very many) is mostly made up of conifers, while the surrounding mainland appear to be mainly hardwoods with some conifers mixed in. This leads me to believe that while presumably many types of trees were seeded on the islands, for some reason the conifers took hold better than the deciduous trees, but I would love to know why. The first picture is from my trip this weekend, the second is from my trip in mid-July. The water had dropped over six feet vertically between trips.