ane ( gigantea) is the species take decades between flowering, and 1950s, the North Carolina Department of only species of native to the people of a bamboo-rich region often Agriculture distributed a number of pam- C North America. Like other bam- mark time and age by the flowering cycles phlets on the value and management of . boos, the cane’s stems have a jointed, woody of particular indigenous species. Instead of Of even greater importance is cane’s key appearance. are the most primitive stating age in years, someone may say, “She role in the creation of peat deposits in the of the grasses, based on limited differences has seen the bamboo flower three times.” southeastern Coastal Plain. Over time, cane between the vegetative and flowering parts actually improves its own habitat, building of the . r i c h i n c a n e up the soil above saturated areas to create the moist conditions where it thrives. Radio- This bam- To s e e h o w a seemingly unimportant and carbon dating has shown that many of today’s boo’s name is less-than-glamorous species can have far- peat formations are less than 3,500 years old. derived from , Latin reaching impacts on entire ecosystems and Where cane is abundant, peat can accumu- for “reed,” and there are a number regional economies, look no further than cane. late up to 1 millimeter per year. of related Asian species in genus Arundinaria. It is a characteristic plant of , Car- One of the many benefits of intact azing cane The species name gigantea refers to the plant’s olina bays, alluvial stream terraces and the cane-produced peatlands is retention of height. Left undisturbed, individual cane stalks higher portions of southern river swamps. water, nutrients and suspended materials. e S. Le may grow 15 to 25 feet tall. Botanists recog- Cane grows abundantly in wetland soils The wet soil allows wetland plant communi- vid nize two forms of cane, which were once con- of North Carolina, and dense continuous ties and their associated fauna to persist even y Da am en b sidered separate species. Most grass experts stands are often referred to as canebrakes. through prolonged droughts. The ability of itt wr no longer separate the two forms. It is clear Canebrakes were once a conspicuous the peat to retain water extends the hydro- that this is another of many organisms for component of southeastern North Amer- period of the soil. Prolonging the period ica’s landscape. At the time of European of time soils remain damp influences what photograp hed by Melissa McGaw contact, canebrakes covered hundreds of can grow there. Peat soils also improve thousands of acres. Descriptions of “vast habitat for aquatic species. Like a sponge, peat U tracts” of cane and stands “many miles in soaks up stormwater runoff, filtering pollu- nd which our concepts of speciation fail to fit extent” can be found in the literature of the tants out of the water cycle. The sponge th e is ra the reality of variation. period. In the late 1700s, a single southeast- action also reduces the surge of fresh water N pp o re In North Carolina, both forms grow ern canebrake was into estuaries, protect- rt ci h at throughout the state, but their overall estimated to have ing habitat for shell- A ed m f ranges in the Southeast are not identical. covered an area of fish and other com- er or ic i a ts The two differ in size, and the smaller of the more than 800,000 mercial estuarine n a ba b two — once given the distinct species name acres. Today, while species downstream. m ili b ty tecta—flowers more frequently. It can grow cane is still a com- The ability of peat oo t h o on drier soils. This smaller variety produces mon species in many to retain moisture and as fo l rm distinct flowering shoots that arise from its wetland sites, it is sel- change the soil acid- os t ha dense underground roots, or . The dom dominant. And ity has horticultural im b m it larger cane has its flowers coming directly many of the wetlands implications, which e at ns — off the cane stalks. that once supported many gardeners have e fo st r Cane, at least the tall form, has a geneti- cane stands have grasped over the years. an bo ds th cally controlled life expectancy. After about been drained. Small amounts of the t it o se 15 years, the stalks flower for the first time Cane ranges state’s peat resources w lf et a and die. The underground stems also die. throughout the have been sold for la n n d If the plants are clones—that is, they all Southeast, as far horticultural use, but ds ot d he north as southern most peat purchased ra r developed at the same time—then all the i s and south- na pe flowering occurs simultaneously, and cane by gardeners comes ge ci ern Ohio. Under the . es suddenly disappears from large areas. But the from Canada. — seeds left behind soon sprout, and the cane right conditions, like other bamboo, it can be Because cane is an important peat thicket looks the same after only a few years. an aggressive grass. Its rapid growth and ability builder in southern wetlands, it is actu- The same laws of determinate age also to regenerate, as well as its evergreen nature, ally responsible for the tangled evergreen govern the flowering and dying back of have made cane economically important as thickets where this bamboo best thrives— the larger, treelike bamboos of Asia. Some a forage crop for livestock. Up through the pocosins. In acidic peat soils, well-established

March 2003 WINC ◆ 23 cane thickets can hold their own against the roots of other wetland plants are killed Much of our peatland loss in North Car- mammal traps, set mist nets to many wetland plants, even encroaching on back, Atlantic white cedar often becomes olina is not from mining but from land drain- catch bats and conducted sur- them through root competition. In dense dominant. A continuous, even-age forest of age. The organic materials in peat decompose veys for signs and evidence of cane stands, the underground stems, or white cedar indicates a site where the soils once exposed to dry air. larger mammals. rhizomes, become a tangled mass. Walking have burned, killing off wetland plants and We do cumented 40 species of through pocosins, you notice the ground allowing the cedars to germinate on the c a n e h a b i t a t mammals using these habitats. At often becomes drier than in surrounding exposed peat. With the decline of cane- least eight used cane-associated vegetative types. This is because the under- brakes, and truly hot fires in wetland sys- Bamboo specialists, or species that are wetlands to the extent that they ground cane rhizomes interlock, building a tems, large stands of Atlantic white cedar totally dependent on bamboo forests for their considerably extended their mat slightly higher than the saturated soils. are becoming uncommon. existence, are common in South America, northern or southward distribu- This plant thrives in wetland soil, not doing Pond is another tree directly benefit- southeastern Asia and several other regions tions within these habitats only. well in places regularly flooded and dying ing from cane. These do well in the of the world where bamboos grow larger and Others increased their numbers, out in areas where the soils become dry. acidic peat beds the cane helps produce, are a more prevalent part of the landscape. benefiting from the same fires The result of peat production is good and they are also fire-dependent and fire- The best known of these species, of course, and clearings made by wind soil for cane, but poor soil for other plant resistant. The bark of pond pine is essen- is the giant panda, which feeds almost exclu- damage, which encourages cane species. Our Coastal Plain acidic peat tially immune to hot ground fires. Small sively on bamboo shoots. In addition to a growth. In pure stands of cane deposits are usually thick enough to keep resin wells on the trunk explode when number of birds, mammals and amphibians and pond pine, we found lim- plant roots from reaching the underlying they get too hot, extinguishing fire on the restricted to bamboo habitats, there are ited diversity of mammals. But mineral soils. But cane enjoys the benefits tree’s trunk. Fire is a requirement for repro- frogs, bats, insects and other invertebrates one species, the golden mouse, of another, more powerful policing agent duction in pond pine. Seeds remain locked that actually live within the hollow cham- existed here in densities 10 times to remove competitive vegetation. in cones for years, with the heat of ground bers of the bamboo stalks. In some bamboo, greater than in any other habi- fires causing the cones to open slowly. The the woody chambers are filled with water, tat we studied. Several hundred b l a z i n g c a n e fire is long past by the time the seeds are supporting unique aquatic invertebrates. hours of surveys for breeding released. Thick cane growth under the In North America, known bamboo special- birds in these same communi- Cane is a fire-dependent species that pond pine assures that fires burn hot and ists are limited to six species of butterflies— ties yielded 40 to 50 species per also acts as a fire accelerator. With the fast, maximizing seed release. southern pearly eye, creole pearly eye, south- subcommunity for cane- help of high winds, fire can leap 40 feet Because peat burns, our state’s Coastal ern swamp skipper, cobweb little skipper, associated habitats and 16 to into the air as the cane stalks crackle and Plain peat deposits have generated interest yellow little skipper and cane little skipper. 38 species for wetland communi- explode. The sound can equal that of a as an alternate energy source. Yet, while an There is some speculation that the now- ties that did not support cane. battlefield. The heat is tremendous, the assessment of 560 million tons of moisture- extinct Bachman’s warbler was habitat- Though this would lead to a smoke is thick, and the fire burns hot and free peat on more than 600,000 acres of dependent on canebrakes, but there is conclusion that cane is impor- fast, often evaporating water from ditches land in North Carolina sounds impressive, no evidence to support this. A number of tant for all sorts of wildlife, this and igniting pines and other trees growing it would meet our state’s energy needs for species thrive in cane-dominated habitats, is not really the case. The diverse in the same wetlands. The rhizomes, which only about eight years. And this estimate such as the aptly named canecutter, an alter- bird and mammal assemblages run deep into the mucky soils, usually sur- was based on mid-1970s energy use. Further- nate name for the swamp rabbit, and the responded to rich wetland soils vive. New cane shoots can emerge within more, both peat mining and the conversion canebrake rattlesnake. The canecutter con- and the plant communities they days after a fire. The cane quickly spreads of peat to energy raise logistical problems fines itself to cane communities in the north- support. And cane, like some of into adjacent burned areas. and a number of environmental issues as ern portions of the Mississippi drainage. The the birds and mammals, received In intense fires, the peat soils themselves well. To date, no permits have been issued canebrake rattlesnake is now regarded as a additional benefit from fire and burn. Where the rhizomes of the cane and for energy-based peat mining. southern race of the widespread timber rattle- other factors that caused open-

snake. Swainson’s warblers, another species ings in the forested wetlands. WAYNE IRVIN the aptly named canebrake rattle- indigenous to the Southeast, are widely cited Thus, cane was simply a part of these par- vegetation. Within a few decades of the arrival Count less wi as being cane specialists. But for the most part ticular plant communities. At the same time, of Europeans and the introduction of Old cane-formedsnake to the wetlands lChinesedlife species mantidhabitat rely— toonfrom the they, like cane, are responding to canopy gaps however, it was the agent responsible for them Worl d dis eas es, the Native American pop- Swainson’s warbler. As wetlands in the forest caused by storms or logging. because of peat building, necessary protracted ulation collapsed to 10 percent of its former They are not dependent on the cane per se. soil-water retention and the fuel it provided level. The crash of the native human popu- In the early 1980s, my wife and I con- for fires. Such an indirect relationship is actu- lation resulted in a corresponding decline are drained, and cane -dominant ducted extensive surveys on birds and mam- ally ecologically stronger than a direct one. in agriculture and the regeneration of the ecosystems decline, these animals mals associated with Carolina bays, pocosins, abandoned fields. Much of this agriculture lose critical habitat. streamhead forests and other North Carolina r a z i n g c a n e was corn grown along river floodplains. His- Coastal Plain wetlands that often supported toric accounts of the abandoned agriculture rich growths of cane. In more than 200 days Indian nations used fire for clearing land lands of Native Americans describe them as of fieldwork, we set and checked 17,000 small for agriculture, hunting and warfare. This being reclaimed by cane. In the mid-1700s, was a benefit to cane, and vast stands devel- when explorers began to map the interior of oped that were fire-managed by the Native the continent, much of what they found was Cane Americans. They burned the canebrakes once not pristine wilderness but a 200-year-old, ’s enta help form then gspongyled roots, peat or soil rhizomes, in which every seven to 10 years, maintaining and second-growth forest supported by a land- the plant thrives. expanding the cane by eliminating competing scape that had been heavily modified.

March 2003 WINC ◆ 25 Cane that cane is an important element in the brake spotted turtleinh (left),abit are plentiful. But long-term building of acidic soils that allow ants, such as the few North American species are depend- for protracted hydroperiods, and as a fuel for ent on cane to the point that they can’t fires that control community structure, it is live anywhere else. One is the Creole not necessary to have vast stands of cane to pearly eye butterfly (caterpillar, right). accomplish either. No native species are dependent on vast tracts of cane, and cane- brakes developed historically simply as a result government workers had cleared much of of man’s use of wetlands. Yet the very wetland the stream edges before I discovered what communities in which cane and other wetland they were doing. This resulted in increased species thrive are built in the self-serving light levels along the streams. Within a environment that this bamboo helps create. year, a forest of cane stalks emerged from Cane, like cypress and Spanish moss, is rhizomes that had previously been dor- characteristic of the Southeast. Although mant and from ones that sprouted only it grows elsewhere in North America, only a few random stalks. It’s now harder to here in the South does it become a conspic- walk along the creeks, but the dense cane uous species. Last summer I encountered a stalks at least add a high degree of con- large canebrake rattlesnake crossing a road cealment for the spotted turtles, cotton- that winds through our property. It was right mouths and canebrake rattlesnakes that at the place where a creek runs under the patrol the stream edges. road and where the cane now grows lush and The historical use of land in the South- tall. This is the same little creek bottom that east has resulted in a situation where the has supported a pair of nesting Swainson’s plant itself is common. But canebrakes as warblers for the last four years. The snake was plant communities, and the white cedar fat with her unborn vipers. We exchanged stands that often follow, have all but dis- stares for a few minutes, and then she con- appeared from the landscape. A number tinued across the road and disappeared into of biologists and wetland conservationists the bamboo. I followed for a few steps, but are concerned and calling for programs the snake’s cryptic pattern, the broken light, to restore these habitats. This might be and the dried cane stems and leaves made an unjustified reaction. her invisible. I stomped about a bit hoping Were the canebrakes only a result of I could get her to rattle but had no luck. man-made disturbance in the first place? My movements startled a Creole pearly The fact that they were maintained by eye that had been resting on the shaded Native Americans is moot, in that these side of a red maple. I was impressed with people were present on the continent for its speed as I watched the small brown but- The decline of vast canebrakes was well patible with the cane. To gener- only about 11,000 years. The suggestion terfly, nondescript except for its conspicuous under way by the 1700s and continued to ate new cane growth, frontier that this is a man-made—and thereby eye-spotted wings, fly quickly out of sight. proceed rapidly. Existing canebrakes were farmers burned the ranges artificial—community type is supported I was also impressed, and somewhat embar- gradually destroyed by the overgrazing of annually. The overgrazing by the limited number of species that rassed, by the fact that I was squandering domestic animals, new burning schedules, resulted in the conversion of seem to prefer it. Consider this when time watching butterflies. European-style agriculture, land draining canebrakes to savannahs sup- comparing North American canebreaks Still, that particular section of the prop- and major flood-control projects in bottom- porting other species of grasses. to those in other regions of the world: erty instantly became a little more precious lands. Prior to the invention of chemical fer- Once eliminated, cane is Those in North America shelter no real than it was just the day before. And although tilizers, the very bottomlands that supported slow to recover. Except for its obligate species, ones that cannot exist the snakes, butterflies and birds are what cane were prime agricultural lands because single blooming effort every without the presence of dense, continuous grab my attention and interest, the cane of the moist, nutrient-rich alluvial soils. Farm- 15 years, it does not propagate stands of cane. The butterflies dependent itself is the real biological marvel. Its rhi- ers burned the land in late winter and early from seed, but through veg- on cane are not extraordinary; most but- zomes, like an unseen deity, were literally spring, killing the new growth of cane. The etative spreading of the under- author David S. Lee terflies have caterpillars that are depend- supporting and holding together a wetland few remaining rhizomes that resprouted were ground rhizomes. By the early ent on some specific food plants. The community that it had helped create. The removed by hand. The surviving canebrakes 1900s, canebrakes had all but disappeared. ing quickly to openings in the forest canopy. other species associated with cane are resulting deep peat deposits with their acidic were excellent native grass pastures because A few remained in isolated areas well into Several years back, a misdirected flood con- simply coinhabitants, with cane, of bottom- soils and extended watery periods arrested of their evergreen foliage. Partly because of the 20th century. trol program run by the federal Soil Conser- lands. Several of these species, like cane, the growth of competitive vegetation. Fires this, the frontier of the South became a major Cane is still common, and rhizomes sup- vation Service paid to have woody vegetation respond positively to natural or man- fueled by the dry leaves and aerial stems of livestock-producing region. By 1860 more porting a few stalks can be found in most removed from the creeks that wind through induced clearings in the forest. the bamboo kept the few other species that than 12 million cattle and an even larger num- undisturbed wetlands. Where sunlight can the pocosins and streamhead forest on my The interrelationships of cane and cane could grow here in check. The com- ber of hogs were supported by open-range reach the soil—along road cuts and power property. This was not something I wanted communities are very peculiar—and less munity growing along our creek is as peren- grazing. These large herds were not com- line rights of way—cane flourishes, respond- to have done to my property, but a team of than straightforward. Although it is clear nial as the grass that glues it together.

26 ◆ March 2003 WINC