Tennessee Naturalist Program

Geology and Ecology Foundaon and Context

Enhanced Study Guide

10/2018 Tennessee Naturalist Program www.tnnaturalist.org

Inspiring the desire to learn and share Tennessee’s nature

These study guides are designed to reflect and reinforce the Tennessee Naturalist Program’s course curriculum outline, developed and approved by the TNP Board of Directors, for use by TNP instructors to plan and organize classroom discussion and fieldwork components and by students as a meaningful resource to review and enhance class instrucon.

This guide was compiled specifically for the Tennessee Naturalist Program and reviewed by experts in these disciplines. It contains copyrighted work from other authors and publishers, used here by permission.

No part of this document may be reproduced or shared without consent of the Tennessee Naturalist Program and appropriate copyright holders.

2 Geology and Ecology Foundaon & Context

Objecves Set the foundaon and context for future classes through an examinaon of Tennessee’s geology, geography, and climate and an exploraon of general ecological concepts governing biological communies and ecosystems in the state.

Time 4 hours -- 2 in class, 2 in field

Suggested Materials ( * recommended but not required, ** TNP flash drive) • The Geologic History of Tennessee, Robert A. Miller, Bullen 74 (Tennessee Division of Geology) ** • Tennessee Climate and Soils (pdf from Soils of Tennessee, Springer and Elder) ** • Tennessee Soil Map 1980 ** • Terrestrial Ecological Systems of Tennessee, July 2013, NatureServe ** • Tennessee Ecoregions Map and Ecoregions Characteriscs ** • Geology and Ecology Enhanced Study Guide, TNP ** • Samples of common rocks/minerals (classroom)

Expected Outcomes Students will gain a basic understanding of 1. geologic history of Tennessee 2. physiographic provinces in Tennessee 3. rocks, fossils, and soils in Tennessee 4. climate and weather paerns in Tennessee 5. general ecological concepts including biological systems hierarchy, paerns and processes; biogeochemical cycles (water, elements, nutrient); energy flow (food web) 6. community structure and dynamics, species interacons, succession, biodiversity 7. environmental challenges

3 Geology and Ecology Curriculum Outline

I. Geology, Geography, Soils A. Geologic history of Tennessee 1. events meline 2. primary events and current geographic results per grand division 3. animals and plants B. Physiographic provinces within grand divisions 1. province descripons C. Shaping processes 1. geologic forces: deposion, sedimentaon, weathering, erosion, volcanism, plate tectonics, metamorphism, faulng, folding 2. water 3. elevaon 4. topography D. Karst topography -- caves, underground streams, and sinkholes E. Rocks 1. three primary classificaons -- igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic 2. common rock and mineral types – dolomite, limestone, chert, shale, sandstone, siltstone, quartzite, greywacke, phyllite, granite, etc. F. Fossils G. Soils 1. formaon and components 2. physical/chemical properes and structure 3. profile 4. role of soil as an ecosystem -- living habitat 5. distribuon of soil types

II. Climate and Weather A. Define and disnguish B. Weather paerns and yearly processes 1. basic measurements 2. clouds C. Climate stascs in Tennessee 1. data to 1980, data 1981-2010 2. microclimates – paerns and determinants D. Phenology

4 III. Ecology A. Define 1. role of evoluon B. Ecological systems 1. hierarchy -- individual, populaon, community, ecosystem, landscape, biome, biosphere 2. paerns and processes in each C. Biogeochemical cycles 1. water 2. elements -- carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, phosphorus 3. nutrients D. Community 1. species dynamics -- species richness, abundance, dominants, keystone species 2. community structure -- boundaries and size 3. energy flow -- food web, trophic levels, producers/consumers/decomposers 4. species interacon -- compeon, niche, resource paroning, predaon, and symbiosis (parasism, mutualism, commensalism) E. Succession and disturbance F. Ecosystems 1. aquac environments 2. terrestrial environments a. generalized forest types in Tennessee b. specialized communies in Tennessee G. Biodiversity 1. define 2. diversity in Tennessee H. Environmental challenges (land management and stewardship) 1. polluon 2. development -- habitat loss, fragmentaon 3. nonnave invasive species 4. rare and endangered species 5. resource extracon -- mining, logging, poaching, water services 6. climate change

IV. Resources A. Publicaons B. Organizaons C. Internet

V. Review Quesons

5 Geology and Ecology Enhanced Study Guide

I. Geology, Geography, Soils

Geologic History of Tennessee

Events Timeline

Paleozoic Era • Seas -- Precambrian and early Cambrian (570 million years ago) • Nashville Dome Upli -- late Ordovician Period (450 million years ago) • West Tennessee Upli -- mid Pennsylvanian Period (300 million years ago) • Allegheny Orogeny -- early to mid Permian Period (280 million years ago) Mesozoic Era • Mississippi Embayment -- late Cretaceous Period (65 million years ago) Cenozoic Era • Glacial Loess Deposion -- late Quaternary Period (12,000 years ago)

Relief Map Relang Geology to Physiographic Provinces

The Geologic History of Tennessee, Robert A. Miller, Bullen 74, page 10, Fig. 7 Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservaon, Division of Geology

6 Primary Events and Current Geographic Results per Grand Division During the Precambrian and much of the early Paleozoic Era, Tennessee lay on the ocean floor, covered by advancing and receding sea waters. Layers of sediment that would form limestone, dolomite, chert, shale, siltstone, sandstone, and claystone were deposited on a base of igneous and metamorphic rock. At mes, the seas were quite shallow, containing an evolving and increasingly vibrant fauna. As land began to emerge, flora developed. The Appalachian Foldbelt characterizes East Tennessee and reflects a mountain building episode, called the Allegheny Orogeny, resulng from the connental collision between North America and Africa that created the superconnent Pangaea during the Permian Period. The most obvious product is the Southern Appalachians, also called the Blue Ridge Mountains, parcularly in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. In Tennessee, the Blue Ridge Mountains are somemes referred to as the Unaka Mountains. The Blue Ridge Province has undergone periods of upli as erosional forces have worn down the mountains. Cambrian and Precambrian rock layers are exposed in the Blue Ridge, and the extreme pressure that built the mountains, shied some of these older layers of rock on top of younger layers. The younger limestones erode out from under the older rock layers producing “windows,” like Cades Cove in the Smokies, and other karst formaons such as caves and underground streams. In Tennessee’s Valley and Ridge Province, the rock layers experienced extensive folding (like a bunched rug) and faulng from the Allegheny Orogeny. These folds and fractures led to differing rates of weathering as more resistant rock layers eroded slower than soer rocks, producing a series of ridges and valleys. Rocks dang from Cambrian to Mississippian, a 250- million-year age span, can be found in this province. The Cumberland Plateau is characterized by a cap of tough, resistant Pennsylvanian sandstone, forming an essenally level tableland despite eroded gorges. The abrupt eastern escarpment is a likely result from the Allegheny Orogeny and the highly dissected western escarpment is a product of erosion. Sequatchie Valley developed along a far-western fault line associated with mountain building. However, major geologic events to the east and west have had relavely lile affect here. The shiing mosaic of shallow seas and emerging vegetaon during the Pennsylvanian Period, le dead plant material that would compress into coal deposits on the plateau. Middle Tennessee’s geography is a result of the Nashville Dome, a deformaon or warping of sedimentary rock layers due to periodic upli pressure from below aributed to a series of orogenic events beginning in the Ordovician Period with the Taconian Orogeny. This pressure, centered near present-day Murfreesboro, raised the land and cracked the bedrock surface. These cracks allowed erosion to work more efficiently on the soer limestones beneath, ulmately producing a relavely flat and low depression called the Central Basin or Nashville Basin. The basin’s erosion spreads into the Highland Rim which encircles the basin. A chert layer of silica in limestone of the Mississippian Period’s Fort Payne Formaon has slowed the erosion’s progression. The Western Highland Rim is larger, hillier, and more dissected, whereas the Eastern Highland Rim’s surface is flaer, forming more of a plain. Fingers of erosion climb the

7 Cumberland Plateau’s steep western slope, producing a highly dissected escarpment where caves are quite prominent. A depression within a failed ri zone, centered along what is now the Mississippi River, dropped much of West Tennessee in the late Cretaceous and early Terary Periods, allowing the sea to return during the Mississippi Embayment. Fresh sand and gravel deposits covered eroded stone from earlier Paleozoic sediments. Late glacial advances in North America (Wisconsin glacial maximum esmated at 25,000 - 20,000 years ago) ground rocks into a fine dust. Post- glacial floods and westerly wind paerns spread this glacial dust, called loess, across much of West Tennessee, influencing the soils and successful history of agriculture in this region.

Animals and Plants The development of life follows an evoluonary paern through the geological eras and periods. Unicellular and mulcellular organisms from Precambrian enter the Paleozoic era with a bang, termed the “Cambrian Explosion” for the rapid development and diversificaon of invertebrates. Fishes, the first vertebrates, appear and progress through the mid-Paleozoic. From mid to late-Paleozoic, early spore-producing plants dependent on moist environments migrate onto land and evolve seeds as the landscape dries. Gymnosperms and reples, parcularly dinosaurs, rise to dominance in the Mesozoic Era. Mammals and birds appear. In the Cretaceous Period, angiosperms begin their development and rise. Following a mass exncon event, likely triggered by the meteorite responsible for the Chicxulub Impact Crater 65 mya, flowering plants and mammals flourish and diversify through the early and mid Cenozoic (the Terary Period, now broken into Paleogene and Neogene periods). Human evoluon takes place in the late Neogene (Pliocene Epoch), and alternang glacial and interglacial periods characterize the Pleistocene Epoch (2.5 mya to 12,000 ya.) Two important aspects of early geological history play parcularly significant roles in the development of Tennessee’s current flora and fauna. When Pangaea breaks up, the land mass Laurasia, which would become North America, Europe, and Asia, splits from Gondwanaland (South American, Africa, Australia, Antarcca, India). As Laurasia migrates northward, shis posion, and begins to break up, it experiences an array of climate condions -- tropical, arid, temperate, and boreal. While angiosperms and temperate forests are developing in the Cenozoic, Europe and Asia are sll connected to North America by land bridges that facilitate migraon, allowing these three connents to share many families and genera of plants and animals. Pleistocene glaciers, however, leave impressions on the biota of each. Glacial advance is uneven, having a greater effect in North America and Europe than in Asia, where glaciers are restricted to a few high mountains. The deeper advance of ice sheets in Europe and North America force organisms to migrate south. In Europe, the east-west mountain chains interfere, causing the exncon of many species. The affect on North America is fairly mild. Asia suffers the least and has an especially rich and diverse flora and fauna. In North America, the Appalachian Mountains follow a northeast, southwest orientaon. This fortuitous posioning allows plants and animals to migrate south ahead of glacial advances, preserving a greater diversity of the connent’s flora and fauna. At the height of glaciaon,

8 most of Tennessee’s landscape is covered with boreal forests of spruce, fir, and jack pine while the mountains are snowy tundra. Researchers hypothesize broadleaf deciduous trees migrated down river corridors in the deep south where they could find refuge unl a warming climate allowed their return. As the glaciers retreat, the boreal conifers follow. However, small populaons of spruce and fir simply move upslope in the Southern Appalachians to cooler climates at the highest elevaons (over 4,500 feet). A few hardwood species typically found further north join them, contribung to the establishment of two uncommon forest communies -- Northern Hardwoods and Spruce-Fir -- along with associated high-elevaon shrubs, herbs, and wildlife.

Primary geology sources: (full bibliographic informaon in secon IV. Resources) Our Restless Earth: The Geologic Regions of Tennessee, Edward T. Luther The Geologic History of Tennessee, Robert A. Miller, Bullen 74, Tennessee Division of Geology Forests in Peril: Tracking Deciduous Trees from Ice-Age Refuges into the Greenhouse World, Hazel R. Delcourt

9 Physiographic Provinces Within Grand Divisions

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservaon

Most Tennessee resources, parcularly older ones, use the following province designaons. A few sources may separate the Western Valley of the Tennessee River as a disnct province between Middle and West Tennessee.

East Tennessee (Appalachian Highlands) Blue Ridge Province or Unaka Province Ridge and Valley or Valley and Ridge Province Cumberland Plateau Province Cumberland Mountains Middle Tennessee (Interior Low Plateau) Highland Rim Province Central Basin Province West Tennessee (Coastal Plain) Coastal Plain Province West Tennessee Uplands West Tennessee Plain Mississippi Alluvial Plain Province

10 USGS Designaons The following list of physiographic regions is from the US Geological Survey with different, more current names. Some resources may use these designaons.

Appalachian Highlands Division -- East Tennessee Blue Ridge Province Southern Secon Valley and Ridge Province Tennessee Secon Appalachian Plateaus Province Cumberland Plateau Secon Cumberland Mountain Secon Interior Plains Division -- Middle Tennessee Interior Low Plateaus (Province) Highland Rim Secon Nashville Basin (Secon) Atlanc Plain Division -- West Tennessee Coastal Plain (Province) East Gulf Coastal Plain (Secon) Mississippi Alluvial Plain (Secon)

[Terms in parentheses were not used by USGS and were added here for uniformity.]

View from Mt. LeConte, Great Smoky Mountains Naonal Park (Margie Hunter)

11 Province Descripons

East Tennessee -- Appalachian Highlands

Blue Ridge (Unaka Mountains) • Southern Appalachian peaks to 6,643’ elev. • rugged, steep slopes and swi streams, waterfalls, cascades • valley floors 1000 to 1500’ elev. • rock layers intensely folded and faulted • igneous, metamorphic Precambrian granite, schist, gneiss • Cambrian metamorphosed sedimentary quartzite, sandstone, slate, shale, conglomerate • karst topography in limestone -- caves, sinkholes, underground streams • forested slopes -- spruce-fir (highest elevaon), northern hardwoods (high elevaon), hemlock, oak-pine, and cove (mesophyc); shrub (heath) and grass balds on some mountaintops • limestone windows (valleys), rich soil, farmed and developed

Valley and Ridge • northeast/southwest ridges of cherty, sandy rock (1500 to 3000’ elev.), forested • alternang valleys of more soluble rock (750’ lowest elev.), developed and farmed • sedimentary and metamorphosed Cambrian and Ordovician limestone, dolomite, marble, shale, and sandstone; folded and faulted • karst topography -- caves, sinkholes, underground streams • patch prairies and calcareous (limestone) glades • somemes called the Great Valley

Appalachian Plateaus • Cumberland Plateau • tableland, flat to rolling terrain (1800’ elevaon), mostly forest • Sequatchie Valley (south) and Elk Valley (north) erosional stream courses from faults • waterfalls • sedimentary Pennsylvanian sandstone (hard and resistant, forms “flat” top), conglomerates with siltstone, shale, and coal seams • escarpment slopes -- Pennsylvanian sandstone, Mississippian shale, limestone, and dolomite • karst topography -- caves, sinkholes, underground streams, parcularly western edge • rockhouses -- shallow cavelike openings on cliff or bluff, weathered limestone under sandstone • Cumberland Mountains • ridges to 3000’ elev. • species-rich mesophyc forests

12 Middle Tennessee -- Interior Low Plateau

Highland Rim • flat to hilly terrain surrounding Central Basin, eastern and western components • 900-1000’ elev. • waterfalls • sedimentary Mississippian limestone and Fort Payne chert • streams expose Devonian, Silurian, Ordovician limestones, shales; iron mining history • karst topography -- caves, sinkholes, underground streams, parcularly eastern secon • forested hills and “barrens,” prairie-like openings dominated by grasses and forbs (herbaceous, non-grass flowering plants)

Central (Nashville) Basin • flat to gently rolling terrain, mesic (moist) to xeric (dry) forests • 600-750’ elev. • sedimentary Ordovician limestone (inner basin) • Silurian, Devonian limestone, shale (outer basin or outliers) • karst topography -- caves, sinkholes, and underground streams • limestone cedar glade complex -- gravel glades, glade barrens, and glade woods

Sllhouse Hollow Falls, Western Highland Rim (Margie Hunter)

13 West Tennessee -- Coastal Plain

West Tennessee Uplands • hilly to rolling terrain, acidic forests, pasture • 500’ elevaon • sedimentary Late Mesozoic, Cenozoic -- sand, clay, silt, gravel • small number of caves restricted to Silurian limestone on Tennessee River • drainage divide for Tennessee/Mississippi Rivers

West Tennessee Plain • flat to rolling terrain, more extensive, widely farmed • soil fragipans (hard clay layer 1-3 feet down) common • gentle slope leading to 100’ bluffs above Mississippi River • sedimentary Cenozoic sand, gravel, silt, clay, glacial loess deposits • boomland forests, swampy

Mississippi Alluvial Plain • river flood plain, width up to 14 miles • loamy, silty soils • sedimentary Quaternary mud, sand, gravel, silt, glacial loess deposits • Reelfoot Lake formed during earthquakes along New Madrid fault in late 1811 and early 1812, Feb. 1812 was last and largest quake with land subsidence of 1.5 to 6 meters

West Tennessee (Margie Hunter)

14 Karst Topography

Karst topography develops in soluble bedrocks, usually carbonate rocks such as limestone or dolomite, where mildly acidic water acts on weakly soluble rock to dissolve the surface along fractures or bedding planes. Over me these areas enlarge, and an underground system of streams and caves develops. If a chamber becomes large enough and the layer of earth on top thin enough, it can collapse resulng in a sinkhole, parcularly when groundwater levels drop. Sinking streams, those that disappear underground, are a unique karst feature. In Tennessee, the water of Virgin Falls on the Cumberland Plateau, emerges from a cave to spill over a 110-foot cliff and disappear into another cave at the base. Dry valleys develop when permeable bedrock drains all water from the surface. A community in Townsend, TN, (Blount County) derives it name from this phenomenon associated with Tuckaleechee Caverns. High rainfall may cause some local springs to experience a surge in water flow. Groundwater is at greater risk from polluon in areas of karst topography due to these more direct connecons with surface water. Tennessee has over 9,600 documented caves, more than any other state. According to The Nature Conservancy, these caves harbor hundreds of rare and unique species, mostly crustaceans, insects, and arachnids. Bats, including endangered Gray Bats and Indiana Bats, use caves for hibernaon, oen forming extensive colonies. The highest density of caves in the state occurs along the western escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau. Bull Cave in the Great Smoky Mountains Naonal Park (Blount County) is recognized as the deepest cave in Tennessee and ranked third deepest in the eastern United States with a total depth of 924 feet and length of 2.27 miles featuring some of the steepest climbs and vercal drops. There are 33 sinkholes in the state with depths over 100 feet.

Cave Density Map

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

Tennessee Landforms -- hp://web.eecs.utk.edu/~dunigan/landforms/sinks.php hp://www.nature.org/ouriniaves/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/tennessee/ placesweprotect/tennessee-caves.xml Caves of Tennessee, Thomas C. Barr, Jr., Tennessee Division of Geology, Bullen 64, 1961.

15 General Geologic Shaping Processes

• Geologic forces can add material to the landscape through deposion, sedimentaon, or volcanism; remove material through weathering and erosion; or alter exisng material through faulng, folding, plate tectonics, and metamorphism. • Water is a tremendous shaping force, both surface (carving stream valleys, removal and deposion of material) and underground (dissoluon of soluble rock in caves, underground streams). • Elevaon affects the flow of water, removal and deposion of material, and climate condions. • As the topography changes over me, it begins to exert its own influence reinforcing and furthering those changes.

Common Rock and Mineral Types

Rocks are composed of one or more minerals and fall into three main classificaons -- igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic -- each created through a different process. Each can be broken down into sediment. Each can be metamorphosed. Each can be melted into magma. This is the rock cycle. Igneous rocks are formed when molten liquid magma below the earth’s crust either cools below ground (intrusive, larger crystals) or comes to the surface (extrusive, smaller or no crystals). They may be found along the Hiwassee and Ocoee Rivers, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge. Sedimentary rocks are formed by lithificaon (cemenng, compacng, and hardening) of exisng rock parcles or bones, shells, etc., from living organisms. Deposions of weathered and eroded parcles of rocks and other detritus are cemented together, compacted and hardened over me by the weight and pressure of perhaps thousands of feet of addional sediments above them. Typically, the sediments sort out by size in deposion resulng in uniform parcle sizes. These sorted deposional rocks are clasc sediments. Chemical sediments form from minerals in soluon that harden, as some limestones do. Metamorphic (“change form”) rocks result from extreme pressure and high temperature applied to exisng rocks, converng them to new types of rock. This pressure may come from thousands of feet of bedrock above or the collision of tectonic plates. Metamorphic rocks are harder than others and more resistant to weathering. Any single type of rock will always become a parcular type of metamorphic rock, i.e., shale always becomes slate.

16 Rock Types Granite -- a coarse-grained, intrusive igneous rock containing silica-rich quartz and feldspar, both are felsic minerals producing acidic soils (tan to reddish). Granite may be gray or pink. Basalt -- (bah-salt’) a fine-grained, extrusive igneous rock low in silica, high in magnesium and iron (mafic) producing higher soil pH (brownish). It is dark colored and more prevalent in North Carolina. Gneiss -- (nice’) a coarse-grained metamorphic rock from igneous or sedimentary rocks. It has alternang light and dark colored bands. Schist -- a medium grade, foliated metamorphic rock with medium to large mica flakes roughly parallel in a platy, sheetlike arrangement. Schist forms at a higher temperature with larger mica grains. Conglomerate -- a clasc sedimentary rock with large, rounded fragments of other rocks Graywacke (greywacke) -- a rough sandstone with variously sized fragments of quartz, feldspar, and rock in a clay matrix. Constuent fragments are usually angular. Due to its parcle variety, graywacke is considered “immature.” It is typically dark in color and hard. Quartzite -- a metamorphosed quartz sandstone, where the quartz grains recrystallize and interlock erasing the original texture and sedimentary structure. It is usually white to gray. Sandstone -- a clasc sedimentary rock defined by grain size: sand-sized minerals or rock grains, commonly quartz or feldspar. It may be tan, brown, yellow, red, gray, pink, white or black. Siltstone -- a clasc sedimentary rock with silt-sized parcles, smaller pores, and more clay content than sandstone. It can be confused with shale but does not split into thin sheets. Shale -- a fine-grained clasc sedimentary rock of mud with flakes of clay minerals and ny parcles of other minerals. Shales breaks into thin parallel layers, a characterisc called fissility. Typical color is gray. Slate -- metamorphosed shale, slate is fine grained and layered (foliaon), oen breaking in smooth planes parallel to the metamorphic compression. Phyllite -- a metamorphosed slate with fine-grained mica flakes imparng a sheen. Marble -- a metamorphosed limestone or dolomite that has recrystallized into an interlocking mosaic of carbonate crystals, modifying or erasing sedimentary texture and structure. Characterisc swirls and veins are due to mineral impuries such as clay, silt, sand, chert, iron oxides. Colors are white, gray, pink, and blue/black. Chert -- a fine-grained chemical sedimentary rock composed of silica, typically gray, brownish, or reddish. It is found in limestone deposits, where the rock has undergone some chemical or physical change aer formaon that alters the mineralogy and texture to form chert. Chert forms conchoidal fractures (curved planes of separaon) when broken. Limestone -- a sedimentary rock composed primarily of calcium carbonate. Most grains in limestone are fragments of marine organisms. Other materials may include silica, clay, silt, and sand. Chemical precipitaon of calcite is another form of limestone, such as stalagmites and stalactes in caves. Limestone is the Tennessee State Rock. Dolomite (dolostone) -- a sedimentary rock of calcium magnesium carbonate, where magnesium has replaced at least 50 percent of the calcium.

17 Fossils Fossils are remains, impressions, or traces of animals or plants of former geologic ages. They are generally the hard parts or imprints of organisms from prehistoric mes, such as shells, bones, teeth, petrified wood, impressions of plants, or tracks and trails. Fossilizaon usually begins when the hard parts of an organism becomes buried in mud or sand deposited in a river, lake, or ocean. These hard parts may remain unaltered for millions of years, even aer the surrounding sediments have been heated and compressed to form shale, limestone, or sandstone. More commonly, however, they become altered through contact with groundwater, which can cause fossils to lose their original color and luster, become stained with minerals or even dissolve and become replaced with minerals such as calcite, pyrite, or quartz. Fossil shells are generally more suscepble than bones and teeth to destrucon by groundwater. Any fossil restricted to a narrow geologic me range is called a guide fossil. They are helpful in dang rock units. Rocks containing fossils are called fossiliferous. Many of our fossils were filter feeders dependent on currents to bring their food, ingesng algae and phytoplankton which require sunlight to photosynthesize. Their dependence on current and sunlight for food sources indicates shallow seas.

(Fossil Collecng in North Carolina, Bullen 89, Dept. of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Land Resources, 1988, 1998. The Geologic History of Tennessee, Bullen 74, Tennessee Division of Geology, 1979)

Tennessee Fossils by Period (The Geologic History of Tennessee, Bullen 74, Tennessee Division of Geology, 1979)

Cambrian • All animals invertebrates, all fossils marine in origin • Borings and trails of problemacal worms (Scolithus) in Nichols Shale • Ostracods, very small bivalve crustaceans in Murray Shale, the first definite animals found in the fossil record • “Age of Trilobites,” widespread in Cambrian rocks Chilhowee (Hesse Formaon) • Brachiopods (mollusk with bivalve shell), gastropods (mollusk with single coiled shell) in Lower Cambrian

Ordovician • Period characterized by diversity and profusion of marine invertebrates • Shells and secreons from animals and algae comprise the majority of carbonate beds • Corals first appear, abundantly in Central Basin (invertebrates secrete external skeleton) • Bryozoans (aquac invertebrates in branched, mosslike colonies) & graptolites (invertebrates forming branched colonies) • Brachiopods, gastropods, and cephalopods (mollusk with large head and tentacles) • Ostracodes • Trilobites

18 Brachiopods

Gastropod

Bryozoan

Crinoid Stems (all images: Margie Hunter)

19 Silurian • Very similar to Ordovician life, almost all classes of marine invertebrates represented • Corals, brachiopods, cephalopods, gastropods, trilobites, sponges, crinoids • Waldron Shale in Middle Tennessee, well preserved examples • Brownsport Formaon along Western Valley of Tennessee River with soil-free rocky glades contains sponges, crinoids, and corals. • First land plants and air-breathing animals appear at this me, but leave no fossils

Devonian • Marine invertebrate life similar to two previous periods, brachiopods develop many disnct species • “Age of Fishes,” a variety of fish fossils appear • Fossilized plant remains, spores, algae • Conodonts, toothlike or platelike pieces of an unknown animal

Mississippian • Limestones are of two textures -- coarse grained (made of larger shell fragments) and fine grained (secreted or chemically precipitated lime ooze) • “Age of Crinoids,” marine animal aached to sea bed with a stalk, head, and feeding arms, stem segments common fossils (Indian money) • Foraminifera, appear in great numbers (billions), very small, one-celled animals with calcium carbonate shells • Vertebrate remains, fish bones and teeth

Pennsylvanian • “Age of Forests,” dead vegetaon formed coal in swampy environments • Plant fossils of scale trees (Lepidodendron), cane-like plants (Sigillaria), rushes and reeds (Calamites), and ferns found in coal and in shales above the coal • Fish scales

Cretaceous (break of 135 million years in rock record) • Deposion during Mississippi Embayment (West Tennessee) • Evoluonary development of marine life evident in species • Diverse, well-preserved specimens including gastropods, cephalopods, pelecypods (bivalves) • Vertebrate remains of marine fish and reples

Early Terary • Lagoons and lakes in West Tennessee • Leaves, flowers, stems of plant remains as carbonized imprints in Eocene clay bed • Whales • Turtles

20 Soil

Soil serves as more than simply a medium for plant growth. It controls the movement of water in terrestrial environments. As nature’s recycling center, it hosts a variety of processes that break down plant and animal waste products, releasing the basic nutrive elements for future use by plants and wildlife. Habitat for diverse organisms from small mammals to microbes, soil is an ecological system of biological and physical/chemical components. Read class materials pdf Soils of Tennessee, Bullen 596.

Formaon and Components Soil begins with the mechanical or chemical weathering of rock, the parent material, or with deposion from water (alluvium) or slopes (colluvium). The type of parent material, climate, topography, and biological community composion and density influence the formaon of soil. Soil forms more quickly in temperate, moist climates. The last component is me. Even in ideal condions, soil forms very slowly, closer to geologic me.

Physical/Chemical Properes Soil has various properes and characteriscs that allow classificaon.

• Type of parent material -- the composion of the bedrock. • Color -- indicaon of the soil’s chemical composion and organic content. • Depth -- varies depending on slope, weathering, parent material, vegetaon. • Parcle size -- larger parcles (rock and sand) promote swi water drainage and usually have low ferlity. Smaller parcles (silt and clay) hold water molecules and nutrients, slowing drainage and increasing ferlity. • Texture -- proporon of different-sized soil parcles (gravel, sand, silt, clay) by weight percentage. Combinaon of parcle sizes dictates the pore space in soil affecng movement of air and water through soil and the penetraon of plant roots. Ideal soil has 50 percent parcles, 50 percent pore space. • Structure -- the way in which the individual parcles (sand, silt, and clay) are arranged into larger disnct aggregates. These aggregates are called peds and can usually be separated easily, parcularly in dry soil. Structure is the major factor determining how fast air and water enter and move through the soil. The main types of soil structure are granular, platy, blocky, prismac, and columnar. • Moisture holding capacity -- clay controls the important properes of water holding capacity and ion exchange between soil parcles and soil soluon. • Caon exchange capacity -- reflects a soil’s ability to hold (rather than leach out) nutrients and therefore its ferlity. This factor is related to parcle size. • pH -- scale 0 to 14 measuring the concentraon of hydrogen ions to determine soil acidity (less than 7) or alkalinity (more than 7) with 7 being neutral. Most minerals and nutrients are more soluble in acidic soils for plant uptake. Very acidic soils may contain

21 toxic levels of certain minerals. Acidic soils also deter biological acvity, slowing decomposion and mineralizaon of organic material. • Biological acvity -- ferle soils, parcularly those near neutral in pH, support an astounding number of organisms from microscopic bacteria to small mammals. Soil life is a key indicaon of its health and proper funconing.

Profile Soil profile exhibits a sequence of horizontal layers or horizons differenated by physical, chemical, and biological characteriscs. O horizon -- organic layer, material in all stages of decomposion into humus A Horizon -- top soil, combinaon of mineral soil and humus B Horizon -- subsoil, denser structure, less organic material, accumulaons from leaching C Horizon -- unconsolidated material, bearing characteriscs of parent material Bedrock -- parent material

Image: Natural Resources Conservaon Service

22 Role of Soil as an Ecosystem Soil is a vital habitat, containing a diversity of life from small mammals and insects to countless forms of microbial organisms. It is a funconing system of interacons between bioc (living) and abioc (nonliving) components. The biological components include plant roots, small mammals, bacteria, fungi, invertebrates, and microorganisms. Dead organic maer, water, and rocks (physical) plus nutrients and minerals (chemical) are nonliving components.

General soil source: Elements of Ecology, Smith and Smith

Image: Natural Resources Conservaon Service

Distribuon of Soil Types Class materials on Tennessee’s climate and soils (from Soils of Tennessee, Bullen 596) include a full discussion of soils by physiographic province and a jpeg of the 1980 soil map of Tennessee. Some of the soil classificaons (names) listed in these documents have changed. For more current informaon, please visit this Web site:

hp://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/surveylist/soils/survey/state/?stateId=TN

23 II. Climate and Weather

Define and Disnguish

Weather is a combinaon of temperature, humidity, precipitaon, wind, clouds, and other atmospheric condions at a specific place and me.

Climate is the long term average of weather paerns and may be local, regional, or global.

Geographic variaons in climate, primarily temperature and precipitaon, govern the large- scale distribuon of plants and the nature of terrestrial ecosystems globally. (Elements of Ecology, Smith/Smith)

Weather Paerns and Yearly Processes in Tennessee

Basic Measurements Daily high and low temperatures and precipitaon amounts are the most basic weather measurements. From these, record temperatures, mean temperatures, first and last average freeze dates, and growing season length are determined. Mean temperature is an average of temperature readings over me, usually the maximum and minimum temperatures.

Clouds Certain clouds oen presage or occur with specific weather. Books such as Clouds and Weather, Peterson First Guides, by John A. Day and Vincent J. Schaefer and Weather, a Golden Guide, St. Marn’s Press, are excellent general guides to local meteorological observaons.

Climate Stascs in Tennessee

A full discussion of Tennessee’s climate and weather paerns is found in class materials document Soils of Tennessee, Bullen 596. The following chart was compiled from its informaon and is based on climate data before 1980. For addional state climate informaon and observed climate normals in Tennessee from 1981 to 2010, visit

hps://ag.tennessee.edu/climate/Pages/climatedataTN.aspx

24 Gardening with the Nave Plants of Tennessee: The Spirit of Place Margie Hunter, UT Press, 2002. Used by permission.

Microclimates -- Paerns and Determinants

Light, heat, moisture, and air movement may each vary from one part of a landscape to another, depending on topography, elevaon, aspect, hydrology, and/or exposure. This creates a wide range of local condions or microclimates. Most organisms live in microclimates. Paerns of local condions influence the distribuon and acvies of organisms in a region.

Microclimates are affected by • solar radiaon on the surface • vegetaon moderaon on temperatures and humidity • topography – aspect (slope direcon) • depressions – protecon from wind, frost pockets

(Elements of Ecology, Smith/Smith)

25 Phenology

The scienfic study of periodic biological phenomena relave to climac condions is phenology. The noted dates of cyclical events -- plant budding, flowering, fruing, autumn color, animal nesng, denning, breeding, migraon, and the appearance of insects like fireflies, bees, mosquitoes -- can show shis in paerns over me, and when paired with weather data (temperature and rainfall), this informaon can be used to help determine the impact of climate change locally. Several Web sites listed below welcome cizen science data from amateur naturalists. The habit of regular, thorough journal notaons provides invaluable informaon for monitoring the populaons and health of species as well as the ming of their annual life events.

Naonal Phenology Network -- hps://www.usanpn.org Project Budburst -- hp://www.budburst.org Monarch Watch -- hp://www.monarchwatch.org eBird -- hp://www.ebird.org Journey North -- hp://www.journeynorth.org iNaturalist -- hp://www.inaturalist.org Project Noah -- hp://www.projectnoah.org/

Eastern Phoebes (Margie Hunter)

26 III. Ecology (Informaon for this secon through page 33 derived from Elements of Ecology, Smith/Smith except where noted.)

Definion “Ecology is the scienfic study of the relaonships between organisms and their environment. Environment includes the physical and chemical condions as well as the biological or living components of an organism’s surroundings. Relaonship includes interacons with the physical world as well as with members of the same and other species.” (Elements of Ecology, Smith/Smith, page 14)

“Ecosystems behave in ways we can’t predict merely from knowing about their parts. The parts take on their specialized roles only within the context of the whole. It is misleading to speak of parts as if they were independent. In natural systems, parts and wholes interact with and influence each other connually. What we call parts are paerns in complex webs of relaonships; they can never really be separated.” (Ecology: A Pocket Guide, Ernest Callenbach, pages 40)

Ecology comes from the Greek oikos (family household) and logy (study of).

Role of Evoluon “Darwin’s theory of natural selecon is a cornerstone of the science of ecology. It is the mechanism allowing the study of ecology to go beyond descripons of natural history and examine the processes that control the distribuon and abundance of organisms.” (Smith/Smith, pages 2-3) In response to changes in their environment, organisms evolve adapve traits over me that posively affect their survival. Ecology’s examinaon of organisms relaonships with their environment is the study of adaptaon by natural selecon. Adaptaons are characteriscs that enable an organism to exploit a parcular resource or thrive in a given environment and include inheritable behavioral, morphological, or physiological traits that maintain or increase fitness (long-term reproducve success). No organism deliberately chooses to adapt; it is a slow genec process of change that can also include random mutaons -- good, bad, or neutral. Adaptaons govern the interacons between organisms of the same or different species. “How adaptaons enable an organism to funcon in the prevailing environment (and conversely, how those same adaptaons limit its ability to successfully funcon in other environments) is the key to understanding the distribuon and abundance of species, the ulmate objecve of the science of ecology.” (Smith/ Smith, page 76)

27 Ecological Systems

Hierarchy • Individual – one organism of a parcular species; the individual organism forms the basic unit in ecology, to study the mechanism of diversity through natural selecon • Populaon – a group of individuals of the same species that inhabit a given physical environment and their interacons among that species and with others • Community – bioc collecon of all populaons of different species living and interacng in a given environment • Ecosystem – the community (bioc -- plants, animals, microbes) and physical environment (abioc -- atmosphere, soil, water) funconing as a unit. Organisms both respond to and modify the abioc environment. • Landscape – an area of land (or water) composed of a patchwork of communies and ecosystems • Biome – Broad-scale geographic region having similar geologic and climate condions (paerns of temperature, precipitaon, and seasonality) supporng similar types of communies and ecosystems (tropical rain forests, grasslands, deserts, etc.) • Biosphere – the thin layer about the Earth that supports all of life

Paerns and Processes

• Individual – how features of morphology (form and structure), physiology (funcon of organisms and their parts), and behavior help an organism survive, grow, and reproduce in its environment, and how the same characteriscs impede successful funcon in a different environment • Populaon – number of individuals and its change over me; spaal distribuon, the effect of locaon on populaon numbers or rates of birth and death • Community – factors that influence the relave abundances of coexisng species, their interacons, and effects on their populaons • Ecosystem – properes characterizing energy and nutrient flow through living ssue (biomass) and back to inorganic forms in the physical and biological components; environmental factors liming this flow • Landscape – what influences the aerial coverage and arrangement of various ecosystems and the effects of these paerns on organism dispersal, energy and nutrient flow, and disturbances like fire or disease • Biome – the global distribuon of different ecosystem types, paerns of biodiversity, how and why they vary, environmental factors determining geographic distribuon • Biosphere – global systems linking ecosystems and other components on Earth, such as the atmosphere and oceans, examining effects on climate paerns, etc.

28 Biogeochemical Cycles

Biogeochemical processes involve the cyclical flow of nutrients from inorganic, nonliving components in an ecosystem to living organisms and back to inorganic. These cycles may occur as gases or sediments. Gaseous elements are found in the oceans and atmosphere and are global in scope. Sediment-based elements are localized in inorganic sources like soils, rocks, and minerals and become available when dissolved in soil moisture or bodies of water.

Water Cycle The process by which water moves back and forth between the atmosphere and Earth is the water cycle. Solar radiaon is the energy source generang the cycle through evaporaon and condensaon prompng precipitaon. Porons of the falling precipitaon are intercepted by vegetaon or infiltrate into the soil, collecng as groundwater in aquifers. Surface flow gathers into streams and rivers, draining to the sea. In basins and floodplains, lakes and wetlands form. Evaporaon from the surface and transpiraon from plants returns water to the atmosphere. On average, all water in the atmosphere is replaced every nine days.

Element Cycles Key elements -- carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorus -- also cycle in nature.

Carbon (atmospheric, global) -- Plant and animal respiraon, decomposion of dead organic maer, fossil fuel combuson, and diffusion from bodies of water contribute to atmospheric carbon dioxide. CO2 is absorbed by plants during photosynthesis, diffuses into bodies of water, accumulates as biomass in living organisms, and is stored underground through decomposion of dead organic maer as with peat or coal. Nitrogen (atmospheric, global) -- Earth’s atmosphere is nearly 80 percent nitrogen, but this gaseous form is not usable by plants which need chemical forms -- ammonium or nitrate. These forms are made available two ways. Small amounts enter ecosystems through atmospheric deposion from ammonium and nitrates in rainfall from lightning or cosmic radiaon or as dry parculate. The second way is nitrogen fixaon. Most nitrogen fixing is biological through symbioc bacteria in plant roots, free-living aerobic bacteria, and cyanobacteria. Denitrificaon, reversion to nitrogen gas, can take place in anaerobic environments such as wetlands. Only small amounts of nitrogen enter or leave a system, most is recycled within the ecosystem. Oxygen (atmospheric, global) -- Atmospheric oxygen is derived from the breakup of water vapor by sunlight, allowing hydrogen to escape into space and leaving oxygen behind, and as a byproduct of photosynthesis by green plants, algae, and photosynthec bacteria. Oxygen is primarily stored as water and carbon dioxide. Oxygen is very reacve, and its cycling in ecosystems is complex. High energy ultraviolet radiaon reduces it to ozone -- good in the stratosphere where it protects earth from the sun’s high energy ultraviolet light, not good near the ground where it is harmful to plant ssues and human health.

29 Sulfur (atmospheric and sediment, global and localized) -- Sulfur enters the atmosphere through fossil fuel combuson, volcanic erupons, decomposion, and ocean surface exchange. Sedimentary sulfur is found in rocks and some mined minerals. Disturbed rocks release sulfuric acid, ferrous sulfate, and other sulfur compounds pollung water systems and seriously harming aquac life. Phosphorus (sediment, localized) -- Phosphorus is found mainly in rock and natural phosphate deposits. Most phosphorus in terrestrial systems derives from the weathering of calcium phosphate minerals and is oen not available for use by plants. Mycorrhizal fungi help plants acquire phosphorus where it is primarily cycled internally within terrestrial ecosystems from organic (plant and animal ssue) to inorganic forms for reuse. The process differs for aquac systems.

Nutrient Cycle Most nutrients (those listed above plus calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, manganese, iron, copper, molybdenum, chlorine, fluorine, selenium, iodine, cobalt, chromium, zinc, etc.) enter the system through the weathering of rocks and minerals in the formaon of soil, the atmosphere as weall (carried by precipitaon) or dryfall (airborne parcles), movement of animals, and for aquac systems drainage from surrounding land. Once in the system, nutrients are recycled connuously. As plants take up nutrients from the soil or water, they become incorporated as organic maer into living ssues through the food web. Upon death of the ssue, organic maer returns to the soil or sediment surface. Various decomposers (invertebrates and microflora -- bacteria, algae, and fungi) transform the organic nutrients into mineral (inorganic) form (mineralizaon). Inorganic nutrients not used by the decomposers are released into soil or water and become available for uptake by plants. This process is called internal cycling. Through retranslocaon, plants can reabsorb and store some nutrients from aging ssue, such as autumn leaves before dropping, to use in new growth the following season. Some nutrients leave the system through erosion and leaching, harvesng, fire, gaseous phases, and the movement of animals.

30 Community

Species Dynamics Community describes a collecve of species that interact either directly or indirectly and occupy a defined area. Community structure can be measured in several ways. • Species richness -- the total number of different species in the community • Relave abundance -- the percentage each species contributes to that total number • Dominants -- one or few species predominang in a parcular community Dominant species are typically those with a high relave abundance. They may exert influence over the types and abundance of other species in the community. In certain instances, the presence of one or more species, regardless of numbers, may characterize a specific community, i.e. Yellow Buckeye and White Basswood in mesophyc (or mixed-mesophyc) forests. In forested environments, the community dominants are usually types of canopy trees that become part of the designated community name, e.g., oak-hickory, oak-pine, beech-maple. Keystone species perform unique funcons and their acvies have a significant affect on the community, an affect disproporonate to their numbers. Without these species changes occur in community structure which can have a negave affect on diversity. The community roles of keystone species may be to create (beavers) or modify (hemlocks) habitats or influence the interacons among other species (top predators). Studies in the last 20 years have focused on “ecosystem engineers,” species that physically modify their environment thus influencing the number or distribuon of other species. Keystone species, such as beavers, definitely fit this profile, but so do many other species whose effects are much smaller in scale, such as goldenrod bunch gall midges. The altered growth paern of goldenrods due to the plants’ reacon to the midges creates an environment for other arthropods and aracts certain birds who prey upon them. [Crawford, et.al., Ecology 2007, Jones, et. al., Oikos 1994.]

Community Structure Ecosystems are characterized by physical structure reflecng abioc (nonliving features such as geology, topography, soils, climate, and water) and bioc (living organisms) factors. In terrestrial ecosystems, the structure is largely defined by the vegetaon, such as forest, shrub, or grassland. Vercal structure, or straficaon, on land reflects the life forms of plants in the community, such as the upper tree canopy, understory (small trees), shrub (mul-stemmed woody), herb (nonwoody), and lier (detrital) layers of a forest. Vercal layering provides the physical structure within which many types of wildlife live. Aquac systems have horizontal strata determined by light penetraon and profiles of temperature and dissolved oxygen. An associaon is a type of community within an ecosystem displaying (1) relavely consistent species composion, (2) uniform, general appearance, and (3) distribuon characterisc of a parcular habitat. Recurrence of a parcular habitat or environmental condions in the region usually results in the recurrence of those species. [Associaon examples listed in “Terrestrial Ecological Systems of Tennessee,” July 2013, NatureServe.]

31

Gardening with the Nave Plants of Tennessee: The Spirit of Place Margie Hunter, Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2002. Used by permission

System Boundaries: Ecological communies have boundaries. Variaons in the biological or physical structure between one community and the next form a mosaic of differing patches in the larger landscape. Several environmental factors interact to create landscape paerns, including geology, topography, soils, climate, biologic processes, and disturbance. The place where the edges of two different patches meet is a border. A border may be inherent – produced by a sharp environmental change, such as a topographical feature (cliff, agricultural field) or a shi in soil type – or the border may be induced, meaning it is created by some form of disturbance that is limited in extent and changes through me. Some borders are narrow and abrupt; others are wide and form a transion zone, or ecotone, between adjoining patches. Typically, transion zones between patches have high species richness because they support selected species from the adjoining communies as well as a group of opportunisc species adapted to edges, a phenomenon called edge effect. Organisms that prefer these transional environments are called edge species. Edges between highly contrasng patches, like a meadow and forest, generally produce a greater diversity of species.

32 Ecosystem Size: A posive relaonship exists between area size and species diversity. Generally, large areas support more species (species richness) and a greater number of individuals (populaon size) than small areas do. The increase in species diversity with increasing patch size is related to several factors. Many species are area sensive – they require large, unbroken, blocks of habitat. Larger areas typically encompass more topographic variaons and a greater number of microhabitats and thus will support a greater array of plant and animal species. Another feature of patch size relates to differences between the habitats provided by border and interior environments. In contrast to edge species, interior species require environmental condions found in the interior of large habitat patches, away from the abrupt changes characterisc of edge environments. Linking one patch to another are corridors, the strips of habitat similar to a patch but unlike the surrounding landscape. Corridors act as conduits, providing dispersal routes among patches. Corridors can be as simple as hedgerows or vegetaon along a stream course. Connecvity examines how effecvely a species or a populaon is able to move among patches.

Energy Flow A basic funcon of the ecosystem is the flow of energy from the sun as captured by plants moved through various consumers in a series of transfers known as the food chain. For example, mice eat the seeds of plants, snakes eat mice, and hawks eat snakes. In a community, there are many food chains that mesh into a more complex food web linking primary producers (plants) through various consumers (insects and animals). Members of food webs can be grouped into categories called trophic or feeding levels. All communies have autotrophic and heterotrophic levels. Autotrophs occupy the first feeding level. Autotrophs (“self nourishing”), also called primary producers, are organisms that derive their energy from sunlight to manufacture their own food (plants through photosynthesis). Heterotrophs (“other nourishing”), also called secondary producers or consumers, are divided into herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores depending on their consumpon of plant ssues, animal ssues, or both. Herbivores that feed on autotrophs make up the second trophic level and use carbon stored by the autotrophs as a food source. Carnivores that feed on herbivores make up the third and higher trophic levels. Species, such as plants, that are fed upon but do not feed on other species are termed basal species. Species that are both predators and prey are termed intermediate species. Species that feed on others but are not prey for other species are termed top predators. Energy flow in ecosystems takes two routes: one through the grazing food chain, the other through the detrital food chain. The two food chains are linked when wastes from the consumers and dead organic maer supply the detrital food chain. Organisms that feed on dead organic maer are decomposers or detrivores. As microbial and fungal decomposers break down dead organic maer, they transform nutrients ed up in organic compounds into an inorganic form, a process called nutrient mineralizaon. Nutrients not used by decomposers are released in the soil for use by plants, compleng the cycle.

33 Species Interacon Compeon occurs when resources are in short supply and can take two forms -- scramble and contest. In scramble compeon, all individuals bear the brunt of reduced resources equally. In contest compeon, dominant individuals are able to acquire necessary resources to grow and reproducon, while others produce no offspring or perish. Compeon can involve direct interference among individuals, as with territorial claims, or indirect interacons through simple use of resources. Compeon may be intraspecific (individuals of the same species) or interspecific (individuals of two or more different species). Compeon between individuals of the same species is oen observed in social behavior. Their degree of tolerance to one another sets limits on the number of individuals in an area and their access to resources. Social hierarchies allow dominant individuals to secure resources, leaving shortages to be borne by subdominant individuals and perhaps serving as a means to regulate populaons. Social interacons play a role in species distribuon and movement. The area normally covered in an individual’s life cycle is its home range. The size of a home range is influenced by body size, larger animals needing more territory, but is also determined by feeding habits and available resources among other factors. Defense of that range as exclusive to an individual or group is territoriality, a form of contest compeon that excludes certain individuals from reproducon and serves to regulate populaons. These free roaming individuals become a reserve of potenal breeders to step in at the loss of territory holders. Plants exhibit territoriality by holding on to space, capturing light, and absorbing moisture and nutrients. Their presence effecvely excludes smaller or similarly-sized individuals.

Niche: An organism’s funconal role in the community is its niche. Without compeon from other species, organisms can exploit their fundamental niche, the full extent of their environmental limits. With compeon, the fundamental niche is curtailed, and the organism’s actual condions for existence are reduced to its realized niche. Niche overlap occurs when part of the same resource, such as food or habitat, is used by different species. Such overlap does not automacally mean compeon. Environmental condions are usually quite varied within a given community, and spaal distribuon of these variaons support a wider array of species. Even vegetaon structure influences the community’s diversity of animal life. Increased vercal space in a forest canopy means more resources and living space and a greater diversity of habitats. Many species that share the same habitat coexist through resource paroning. Species can exploit a poron of the resources not available to others thus reducing compeon. Examples of resource paroning in birds include the preference of certain species to nest in different layers of the forest (floor to canopy) or variety in bill sizes and shapes designed for different food sources.

Predaon and Symbiosis: Predaon occurs when one organism consumes all or part of another living organism. Carnivory (animals of other species), cannibalism (members of own species), herbivory (plants), and parasitoidism (parasic relaonship that kills host species) are forms of

34 predaon. Predaon plays a role in maintaining species health (culling weak and sick individuals) and controlling populaon numbers. Symbiosis involves an inmate and longterm associaon between two or more organisms of different species, and it takes three forms -- parasism, commensalism, and mutualism. With parasism the associaon between individuals of two species results in benefits to one and harm to the other, though it is not killed. Ticks, fungal smuts and rusts, and mistletoe are parasites benefing from a host that is harmed. Cowbirds lay an egg in another songbird’s nest. The cowbird usually hatches first and as the larger nestling intercepts more food to the detriment of the songbird’s young. The relaonship is termed commensalism when one individual benefits and the other is unharmed, e.g., bluebirds nesng in abandoned woodpecker holes or lichens growing on tree bark. Some host/parasite relaonships may evolve over me to reduce or eliminate harm to the host species. Mutualism is a posive relaonship conferring benefits to both species. Symbioc mutualisms facilitate nutrient uptake in both plants and animals. Bacteria in animal guts aid digeson, nitrogen-fixing bacteria in plant roots help acquire a crical nutrient, mycorrhizal (fungal) associaons with plant roots help greatly improve access to water and nutrients, and ants protect aphids from predaon. In return these, organisms receive nutrion and/or a protected habitat. Pollen and nectar to aract pollinators and nutrious fruits to induce seed dispersal are also forms of mutualisms between animals and plants. The full impact of mutualisc relaonships and their influence on populaons are important aspects of ecological study.

Relavely even-aged successional forest of Tulip Poplar in White Oak Sink, Great Smoky Mountains Naonal Park (Margie Hunter)

35 Succession and Disturbance

Succession Change is a constant and integral component of ecosystems. Over me, species in a community generate changes to their environmental condions. Eventually, such changes prove unfavorable to the reproducve success of many species in the current community, and these species are subsequently replaced by others to form a different community beer suited to the new condions. This process is called biological succession. Early successional species give way to later successional species. There are two types of succession: (1) primary, where the environment has no previous living organisms and no organic maer, and (2) secondary, where the environment has been occupied and modified by living organisms. Secondary succession follows ecosystem disturbance. Abandoned farm fields and forests following mber harvest, fire, or storms will follow paerns of successional change. Species composion changes during succession. Opportunisc early successional or pioneer species -- grasses, forbs, scrubby shrubs, and fast-growing trees -- are more tolerant of full sun, higher temperatures, lower humidity, drier soils, and lower nutrient levels that characterize disturbed, open sites. These plants help modify the harsher, more exposed condions and pave the way for later species beer adapted to shade, moister soils, higher humidity, and higher nutrient availability. Pioneers display higher rates of reproducon, grow quickly yet maintain an overall smaller stature, and are short-lived. They decline as later successional species become established and connue modificaon of the environment. Later species have lower reproducon rates, grow more slowly yet get larger, are longer-lived, and tolerate shade. Species diversity is oen highest during transion periods, once later successional species have arrived but before their presence precipitates the decline of early species. Several models have been proposed to describe the processes behind succession in the last 100 years. In early studies, researchers theorized that succession was a linear process moving through a set paern of community stages to a final, self-perpetuang community termed the “climax” community. This idea presented successional communies “as a highly integrated super-organism.” Under this theory, a forest climax community would be capable of replacing aging shade tolerant individuals with seedlings of the same species for many generaons, perhaps permanently, barring disturbance. Ecologists today realize successional communies are much more dynamic and less predictable with a range of individual species reacons. The term climax may sll be used to denote a successional community that is self-replacing and relavely stable, persisng longer than the other successional communies.

Characteriscs of Disturbance Disturbance, defined as any separate and disnct event that disrupts a community’s structure, funcon, or populaons, iniates the successional process, and creates the opportunity for increased diversity. Small-scale disturbances create gaps in the community, openings that promote localized regeneraon and create small patches where species

36 composion or successional stages may differ. Larger-scaled disturbances have the potenal to replace the enre community, favoring opportunisc species including non-nave invasive species. The intensity, frequency, and return interval of disturbance are important factors in an ecosystem’s response. Certain species may disappear if disturbance frequency is high.

Prescribed fire, Cedars of Lebanon State Park (Margie Hunter)

Fire is a natural large-scale disturbance with which many communies have evolved. Their health and renewal depends on periodic fire. Prescribed fire is deliberately set and carefully monitored to produce a low-heat surface fire. As a management tool, prescribed fires can reduce fuel loads in forests, clear dense undergrowth, remove exoc species, deter unwanted woody growth, or rejuvenate a nave community. Depending on the community, its processes, and the fire’s nature, fire can be either beneficial or detrimental. Some communies and species depend on periodic flooding, benefing from the deposion of rich alluvial material or scouring acon of floodwaters. Other natural disturbances include wind, storms, drought, extreme temperatures, landslides, pathogens, insect infestaons, and animal acvity such as grazing or beaver dams. Large-scale natural disturbances are usually rare, occurring every 50 to 200 years. Timber harvesng that follows best management pracces typically promotes successional regeneraon of a forest, whereas other human-induced disturbances, such as certain mining pracces and development, can produce profound, oen permanent changes.

The informaon on ecology was largely derived from Elements of Ecology, 7th Edion, Thomas M. Smith and Robert Leo Smith (Benjamin Cummings/Pearson Educaon, 2009)

37 Ecosystems

There are two basic environments -- land and water.

Aquac Environments Approximately 75 percent of the Earth’s surface is water divided into two major categories: saltwater (marine) and freshwater. Coastal and wetland environments form the transion zone between land and water. Freshwater systems are classified in two types based on water depth and flow. Loc systems feature the flowing water of streams and rivers. Lenc systems involve standing water, such as ponds, lakes, swamps, or marshes. Lakes and ponds are inland bodies of standing water. Ponds are small and shallow, and may contain plants rooted across much of the boom. Lakes are larger, becoming deeper toward the middle or along the river channel in impoundments. In deeper water, horizontal zones are created based on water temperature and light penetraon. Life in lakes and ponds depends on light penetraon of the water, which is affected by water depth, clarity, and plant growth. Temperatures vary with season and depth. Oxygen may be limited. These three factors (light, temperature, oxygen) influence the presence and distribuon of species in sll-water systems. Life along the shallow edge waters of lakes and ponds is parcularly diverse and abundant. Most ponds and lakes have outlet streams, and both may be more or less temporary landscape features on a geologic me scale. Flowing streams follow topographical landscape features that delineate a watershed’s drainage area. Streams just below the source (springs, seeps, etc.) are typically small and shallow. Steep mountain grades produce swi, straight runs and may feature waterfalls or rapids. Fast currents remove all but the smallest parcles resulng in a stony boom and oxygenate the water. In these streams, high water from storms produces enough energy to move rocks, scour the bed, cut into banks, and create new channels. Lower gradients slow the water increasing the streams width and depth. Lowland rivers begin to meander, carry more organic maer, and deposit sediment on the boom. During floods, deposits are spread over the floodplain. Organisms in flowing water have evolved special adaptaons to handle the current. In fast moving water, a streamlined form with flaened body, the ability to sck securely to surfaces, or development of slippery coangs helps organisms survive the constant pressure with less resistance. Animals living in swi streams derive their oxygen from the water, which must have a near- saturaon concentraon of the gas. The swi flow over rocks and stones oxygenates the water and washes it over the organisms allowing them to absorb oxygen directly from the water. The presence or absence of these organisms indicates stream quality. Three groups of insects, Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies), and Trichoptera (caddisflies), are very intolerant of stream pollutants, turbidity, and low oxygen and are considered bioindicators,

38 organisms used to monitor the health of, or changes in, their surroundings or ecosystems. The “EPT Count” is one measure of stream quality. There are major invertebrate classificaons based on feeding habits. • Shredders (like caddisflies, stoneflies) feed on coarse organic maer, such as fallen leaves. • Filtering collectors (black fly larvae, net-spinning caddisflies, mussels) filter the water for food. • Gathering collectors (midges, mobile caddisflies) retrieve parcles from the boom. • Grazers (snails, water penny) feed on the algae. • Gougers (crane flies, beetles) burrow into waterlogged woody debris. • Predators (dragonflies, fishes) eat detrital feeders and grazers. Headwater streams derive much of their food energy from the accumulaon, processing, and transport of parculate organic maer from the surrounding landscape. Larger streams begin a shi toward their own primary producon with photosynthesizing algae and rooted aquac plants. Rivers depend on fine parculate maer and dissolved organic maer as sources of energy and nutrients for filter feeders and boom-feeding fish based on feeding inefficiency upstream. Changes in energy producon and physical environment from spring to river are reflected in different types and species of organisms found. In slow moving rivers, the body shape of fish facilitates their movement through aquac vegetaon. Aquac and terrestrial environments merge along streams and rivers to form riparian habitats, crically funconing ecological systems. A diverse buffer of plants is needed to protect the stream. Tree cover, in parcular, shades and cools the water. Roots hold the bank in place and slow erosional forces that silt waters downstream. Riparian corridors support diverse microhabitats and provide opportunies for animal foraging, breeding, and dispersal. Wetland habitats are associated with both lenc and loc systems. West Tennessee has extensive riparian wetland habitats in boomland hardwood floodplain forests along small streams and broad river booms. More than 90 percent of Tennessee’s historic wetlands are gone, mostly drained for agriculture or development. These systems provide primary habitat for nearly 100 Greatest Conservaon Need wildlife species as idenfied in the state’s wildlife acon plan. * An area of land bounded by ridges within which all water runoff and streams flow into a common body of water (lake or river) is a watershed. The quality of the water within the watershed and the health of aquac species are dependent on surrounding condions. Polluon (agricultural, industrial, or municipal sources and runoff), erosion, or exposure from landscape alteraons that remove associated plants are serious threats.

39

Lile River, Great Smoky Mountains Naonal Park (photos: Margie Hunter)

Spring wildflowers, Porters Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains Naonal Park

40 Terrestrial Environments Terrestrial environments as a group are classified by the dominant vegetaon -- trees, shrubs, or grasses. Features of the physical environment (geology, topography, hydrology, climate, and soils) determine the vegetaon type(s) and global distribuon. Temperature variaons are greater on land. The ming and quanty of precipitaon are important to maintain water balance. These two climate factors influence physical condions and are the primary constraints on both plant and animal life. Plants absorb and reflect solar radiaon influencing the amount of light in terrestrial environments. Light quality varies as it filters through the plant canopy. Sunflecks, flickering bits of sunlight penetrang forest canopies, may contribute as much as 70 to 80 percent of the solar energy reaching plants in the herbaceous layer. In forest and woodland ecosystems, trees are dominant (or co-dominant), and leaf form disnguishes these systems. There are two broad categories of leaves based on longevity: deciduous leaves living a single year and evergreen leaves living beyond one year. There are winter-deciduous leaves with dormancy corresponding to temperatures below freezing (temperate forests of North America) and drought-deciduous leaves with dormancy occurring during the dry period in areas of seasonal rainfall (e.g. sub-saharan Africa). Evergreen leaves may be broadleaf evergreens, most common in areas where photosynthesis and growth occur all year such as the deep south and tropical climes, and needle-leaved evergreens, in environments with a short growing season (boreal) or low nutrient availability affecng photosynthesis and growth. Broadleaf deciduous forests are characterized by autumn foliage colors just before the trees’ winter dormancy. Rising temperatures and increased day length trigger resumpon of growth in spring. Spring wildflowers emerge to flower and set fruit before the canopy fully develops and reduces light in the understory. In eastern North America, the broadleaf deciduous forest is classified into several forest types (e.g., boomland hardwood forest, northern hardwood forest) whose communies are oen named aer associated dominant tree species, such as oak-pine or beech-maple. The mesophyc forest (moist with high species richness) occurs primarily in the unglaciated Appalachian Plateau represented by the cove forests of the Southern Appalachians and Cumberland Mountains. In Asia, the broadleaf deciduous forests of eastern China, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea are remarkably similar, sharing several plant species of the same genera as those found here. [See hp://hikinginthesmokies.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/the-asian- connecon-japan-and-the-southern-appalachians/] Broadleaf deciduous forests usually have five vercal layers or strata. The canopy consists of tall trees over 50 feet in height, containing both the dominant species and others. Beneath the canopy is the understory, a layer of smaller tree species. The shrub layer contains woody, mul- stemmed species up to 15 or 20 feet in height, followed by the herbaceous layer of forbs, grasses, ferns, and mosses, and, finally, the lier layer on the ground. As menoned in the community discussion, these varied plant forms and their vercal layers allow greater diversity of animal life.

41 Certain species are associated with each stratum. Some animals, parcularly forest arthropods, spend most of their lives in a single stratum; others range over two or more strata. Life is most abundant and varied in and below the lier layer. Some organisms remain underground. Others, such as shrews and salamanders, burrow into the soil itself or the lier for shelter and food. Browsers and other large mammals feed on herbs, shrubs, and trees. Birds move freely but typically favor one layer. According to TWRA*, “upland forest habitats support more species of wildlife than any other terrestrial habitat in Tennessee. Forestland ecological systems provide primary habitat for approximately 170 Greatest Conservaon Need species idenfied in the state wildlife acon plan.” Soils reflect climate, bedrock, and water drainage. Nutrient availability depends on the rate of decomposion and mineralizaon. Acidic soils under conifers have less biological acvity, and decomposion/mineralizaon occurs slowly, locking up nutrients in fallen lier. The soil humus layer in this environment is called “mor humus.” In deciduous forests and grasslands where soils are less acidic, greater biological acvity in the soil breaks down leaves and other organic material faster, returning nutrients to the soil. The soil humus layer in these communies is called “mull humus.” According to historical accounts, Tennessee’s landscape featured several large areas of open grasslands or prairie-type communies. Dominated by grasses and forbs (non-grass flowering plants), these communies would have been maintained by a frequent paern of fire disturbance to deter growth of woody species.

Elements of Ecology, Smith and Smith * Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Strategic Plan 2014-2020

42 Generalized forest types based on soil moisture in Tennessee • Xeric -- Dry forest communies dominated by oaks, hickories, and/or pines are typically found along ridges and sunny, exposed slopes where excessive drainage minimizes water retenon and results in a more acidic soil. • Hydric -- Wet forest communies, characterized by the presence of Box-elder, Sycamore, Green Ash, Bald Cypress, or Black Willow among others, occur in low-lying terrain along river corridors, floodplains, boomlands, or areas of poor soil drainage and other wetlands. • Mesic -- Moist forests occupy areas between xeric and hydric, featuring Sugar Maple, American Beech, and Tulip Poplar in organically rich, well-drained soils on lower slopes or north-facing slopes. • Mesophyc, somemes seen as mixed-mesophyc, forests overlap with mesic forests, but the added element of protecon from wind and high solar radiaon found within coves, gulfs, ravines, or narrow valleys encourages a high level of species richness. The mere presence of Eastern Hemlock, Yellow Buckeye, White Basswood, or Carolina Silverbell is indicave of this forest type.

Some specialized plant communies in Tennessee * • Spruce-Fir forests represent remnant boreal forests from the last glacial period. Characterized by dense stands of Red Spruce and Fraser Fir, they are found on seven of the highest peaks in the Southern Appalachians above 5,500 feet (Roan and Great Smoky Mountains in TN). This forest type supports several rare and endemic species and is an endangered community facing threats from polluon, introduced non-nave insects (balsam woolly adelgid), and climate change. Fraser Fir becomes dominant at the highest elevaons. Deciduous species include Mountain Ash, a small tree, and Witch Hobble, a shrub. • Northern Hardwood forest type is a higher elevaon, deciduous broadleaf community above 4,500 feet in the Southern Appalachians dominated by Yellow Birch, American Beech, Red Oak, Sugar Maple, and Yellow Buckeye in the canopy. Similar forests are found from Minnesota to Pennsylvania into New England. • Balds — Heath balds are small- to large-scale patches of dense shrub vegetaon usually in the Heath Family (Ericaceae) such as Catawba Rhododendron, Mountain Laurel, Sand Myrtle, Highbush Blueberry, Flame Azalea, etc. They typically occur above 5,000 feet but may occur to 4,000 feet in the Southern Appalachians. — Grass balds are small- to large-scale patches of dense grass and sedge vegetaon, such as Mountain Oat-Grass and Pennsylvania Sedge usually occurring around 4,000 to 5,000+ feet elevaon. This community origin is unknown and debated, perhaps the result of natural fire and herbivory or anthropogenic factors. Grass balds exhibit a tendency to revert to forest without maintenance.

43 • Rockhouses result from seasonal waterfalls, forming shallow, cave-like openings in sandstone cliffs and bluffs on the Cumberland Plateau and supporng some rare vascular and nonvascular plants. • Spray Cliff communies occur on rock outcrops kept wet from waterfall spray or groundwater seepage and provide habitat for nonvascular plants and other sparse vegetaon in cracks and on ledges. • Sinkholes occur in karst topography associated with limestone. The sides and vercal shas of sinkholes support limestone-loving flowering plants and ferns like Walking Fern, Bulblet Bladder Fern, and the rare Hart's Tongue Fern as well as non-vascular mosses and liverworts. • Barrens are prairie-like, herbaceous open-canopy communies dominated by grasses and forbs (non-grass flowering herbaceous plants) most typically without trees but also including some savanna or open woodland communies. Fragipan soil layers (hard clay), hydrological extremes, fire (natural and anthropogenic), and grazing are considered key factors in barrens formaon and maintenance. According to TWRA,** grassland communies are among the most imperiled, providing primary habitat for more than 70 wildlife species idenfied as Greatest Conservaon Need in the state wildlife acon plan. • Cedar Glade Complex encompasses a range of communies associated with thin soil on limestone featuring endemic species such as Tennessee Coneflower and Limestone Glade Milk Vetch (Pyne’s Ground Plum) — Gravel Glades feature broken surface limestone exposures, slab outcrops, and very shallow soils supporng primarily annual forbs. — Glade Barrens or Xeric Limestone Prairies exhibit greater soil depth and are dominated by grasses such as Lile Bluestem and Side Oats Grama. — Glade Woodlands contain open to dense patches of shrubs and trees typically dominated by Eastern Red Cedar but also including Blue Ash, Post Oak, and Winged Elm. • Seepage Fens are small scale, mineral rich, groundwater seepages supporng herbaceous species such as Grass of Parnassus and Yellow-eyed Grass.

* Informaon derived from “Terrestrial Ecological Systems of Tennessee” compiled by NatureServe (July 2013) which presents a detailed lisng with descripons of the land-based ecological systems and associated plant communies in the state.

** Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Strategic Plan 2014-2020

44 Spruce-Fir Community, Roan Mountain (Margie Hunter)

Barrens Community, May Prairie State Natural Area (Margie Hunter)

45 Animals and Body Temperature in Terrestrial and Aquac Ecosystems

Endotherms produce their own heat, generated internally. Ectotherms gain heat from their environment, external sources.

Homeotherms maintain a constant body temperature. Poikilotherms’ body temperatures change according to their environments’ temperatures.

There are four potenal combinaons in animals. The most common combinaons represent two extremes: endothermic homeotherms and ectothermic poikilotherms. Most mammals and birds are endothermic homeotherms. Most fish, invertebrates, reples, and amphibians are ectothermic poikilotherms. A few animals fit endothermic poikilotherm or ectothermic homeotherm profiles. Mammals that hibernate or experience periods of long torpor are considered endothermic poikilotherms. They produce their own heat but allow their temperature to vary during periods of low acvity in response to their environment. The desert pupfish is given as example of an ectothermic homeotherm to contrast hibernang mammals. The pupfish’s body temperature comes from its environment, however, it maintains a consistent body temperature by swimming to warmer or cooler waters as needed. Animals that are endothermic demonstrate different adaptaons and behaviors from ectothermic animals. Endotherms can stay acve in cold weather which might improve their survival, but this demands more energy to generate body heat, requiring more food. Ectotherms spend their energy on reproducon, a more valuable trait in some environments.

Source: hp://minerva.union.edu/linthicw/endo.htm

46 Biodiversity

Definions • The variaon of life at all levels of biological organizaon. • The degree of variaons of life forms within a given species, ecosystem, biome, or planet. • The existence of a wide range of different types of organisms in a given place at a given me. • The totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region. This incorporates three primary levels of variety -- genec diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity. A high level of diversity at all three levels is desirable.

Biodiversity is not evenly distributed, varying greatly relave to climate, soil, and geography. The study of spaal distribuon of organism populaons, species, and ecosystems is the science of biogeography. Some species may be found outside their typical range. These disjunct populaons can provide clues to past changes in climate and/or geological events.

Diversity of Life in Tennessee Tennessee experiences four disnct seasons, nearly equal in length. We are located centrally within the temperate zone accommodang many northern as well as southern species. Across our east/west axis the elevaon change is well over 6,000 feet. Our geological age span covers the last one billion years. We have three major river systems -- Tennessee, Cumberland, Mississippi. There are two biologically diverse physiographic provinces -- Southern Appalachians (Blue Ridge) and Cumberland Mountains. As part of the eastern deciduous forest, we enjoy a brilliant display of spring wildflowers. Globally rare communies -- cedar glades and spruce-fir forests -- support equally rare species. For these reasons and others, Tennessee boasts a remarkable biodiversity.

58 terrestrial ecological systems* 545 plant associaons* 2,874+ documented plant species 850+ animals (fish, mammals, reples, amphibians, birds) 600+ non-insect invertebrates (snails, crayfish, mussels, worms, etc.) 1,000’s insects and arachnids

* “Terrestrial Ecological Systems of Tennessee” compiled by NatureServe (July 2013)

47 Environmental Challenges (Land Management and Stewardship)

Discussions of ecology thus far have focused on the proper funconing of healthy, intact ecosystems. This idealized view is rare due in large part to the interference of human acvity. It is important to understand the implicaons of that interference and what can be done to migate the negave effects of our disproporonately large footprint. Everyone can contribute to the adopon and implementaon of appropriate methods of land stewardship, a program and philosophy incorporang human intervenon in the management of natural resources for the benefit of habitat and species diversity.

Polluon Air and water pollutants (discharge and runoff) degrade habitats and harm species. What you can do: Reduce use of harmful chemicals (ferlizers, pescides, herbicides, cleaning soluons, etc.) and use least toxic or biodegradable alternaves. Minimize use of gasoline- powered tools. Follow best pracces and recommendaons for proper disposal of all household wastes and chemicals. Drive less. Compost rather than burn or trash yard waste. Support strong air and water quality regulaons. Install a rain garden for roof or driveway runoff. Go organic.

Development Habitat loss is accelerang as development spreads into former agricultural lands or areas once deemed less favorable or accessible. Increased growth carves further into large undeveloped tracts of land, resulng in the fragmentaon of natural areas. Smaller wild tracts cannot support the same number of species found in larger, unbroken expanses, and without wild corridors, species cannot easily move between isolated tracts. Development contributes to the spread of non-nave pest species, and smaller tracts are more suscepble to invasion. Dam impoundments have destroyed miles of riverine habitat to the detriment of associated fauna. What you can do: Support and promote smart growth iniaves such as infill development and mass transit. Support the preservaon of wilderness areas. Promote the use of nave plants in commercial and residenal landscapes. Advocate for dam removal where feasible.

Non-nave invasive species Species not nave to Tennessee can become invasive pests if they are able to naturalize, grow, and reproduce in the wild. Certain characteriscs, such as lack of compeon, predators or pathogens, reproducve success, and adaptability, enhance this tendency. Non-nave pests can directly aack nave species (hemlock woolly adelgid, amphibian chytrid fungus) or displace them (kudzu, starlings) to significantly alter the community and its funcon. What you can do: Remove invasive, non-nave plant species from your property and use nave plants. Help document the spread of invasive species. Volunteer for invasive plant pulls on public land. Encourage local businesses to stop selling invasive non-nave species. Support strong quaranne regulaons on the importaon of non-nave species.

48 Rare and endangered species Due to its locaon and diverse topography, Tennessee has a large number of rare and endangered species. Idenfying them, learning their life cycles, protecng their habitat, and monitoring their status are important tasks for conservaon. Increased development, non- nave species, and climate change pose the strongest threats. What you can do: Support habitat protecon for rare species. Discourage commercial exploitaon of rare species. Help monitor the status of rare species.

Resource use Extracve industries, such as mining and logging, oen result in community disrupon or destrucon, including physical habitat damage and loss of natural resources for wildlife. Proper management to ensure not only sustainability of producon but the ecological health of forests and waterways is essenal. Poaching of species disrupts biological communies on a smaller scale and lowers genec diversity. The availability and quality of water for human consumpon may become a serious issue in the near future. What you can do: Encourage use of best industry pracces for any commercial operaon, with sustainability and ecosystem integrity as goals. Encourage strong environmental protecons and regulaons. Reduce consumpon of goods and energy. Recycle. Conserve water. Support local farmers and “green” businesses.

Climate change Extreme weather events, shiing phenological paerns, ecosystem disrupons from temperature and moisture variaons, species exrpaons or exncons, and increased opportunity for non-nave pest species invasions are a few of the potenal negave effects associated with rapid changes in climate. What you can do: Reduce consumpon of fossil fuels in cars and home heang/cooling. Support renewable energy alternaves. Weatherize your home. Purchase Energy Star appliances. Support strong fuel efficiency standards. Promote regeneraon of healthy, nave forests.

49 IV. Resources

Geology and Geography Our Restless Earth: The Geologic Regions of Tennessee, Edward T. Luther (UT Press, 1977) A Geologic Trip Across Tennessee by Interstate 40, Harry L. Moore (UT Press, 1994) Tennessee Topography, David D. Starnes, Tennessee Division of Geology Bullen 86 (2009) Discovering October Roads: Fall Colors and Geology in Rural East Tennessee, Harry Moore and Fred Brown (UT Press, 2001) A Roadside Guide to the Geology of the Great Smoky Mountains Naonal Park, Harry L. Moore (UT Press, 1988) Forests in Peril: Tracking Deciduous Trees from Ice-Age Refuges into the Greenhouse World, Hazel R. Delcourt, McDonald & Woodward Publishing, 2002 Tennessee Division of Geology Maps and Publicaons, link Catalog of Publicaons hp://tn.gov/environment/geology/maps-publicaons.shtml Titles of interest – Vertebrate Fossils of TN (#77), Geologic History of Tennessee (#74), Place Names of TN (#73), Descripons of TN Caves (#69), TN Rock and Mineral Resources (#66) Tennessee Landforms -- hp://tnlandforms.us/landforms/index.php U.S. Geological Survey -- hp://www.usgs.gov This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics hp://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html

Soil Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners, James B. Nardi (Univ of Chicago Press, 2007) The Soul of Soil: A Soil Building Guide for Master Gardeners and Farmers (4th Ed.), Joe Smillie and Grace Gershuny (Chelsea Green Publishing, 1999) Web site for current Tennessee soil data by county hp://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/surveylist/soils/survey/state/?stateId=TN

Ecology Ecology for Gardeners, Steven B. Carroll and Steven D. Salt (Timber Press, 2004) Elements of Ecology, 7th Edion, Thomas M. Smith and Robert Leo Smith (Benjamin Cummings/ Pearson Educaon, 2009) Ecology of Eastern Forests, John C. Kricher and Gordon Morrison, Peterson Field Guides (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1998) Weather (Golden Guide, St. Marn’s Press, 2001) Clouds & Weather, John A. Day, Vincent J. Schaefer, Jay Pasachoff, Peterson First Guide, (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1998) Reading the Landscape of America, May Theilgaard Was (Nature Study Guild, 1999)

50 V. Review Quesons

1. What geologic event is responsible for development of the Blue Ridge and Valley and Ridge physiographic provinces? a. Allegheny Orogeny b. Cincinna Arch c. Acadian Orogeny d. Pangaea Predicament

2. The Cumberland Plateau is capped with a resistant rock layer of a. Fort Payne chert b. Pennsylvanian sandstone c. Chaanooga shale d. Ordovician limestone

3. At the end of the Mesozoic Era, the sea covered West Tennessee in what geologic event? a. East Gulf Coast Deluge b. West Tennessee Depression c. Mississippi Embayment d. Nashville Dome Upli

4. What primary effect did the advance and retreat of glaciers in North America have on West Tennessee soils? a. Created hard clay layer called fragipan b. Leached sandy, acidic soil c. Eroded Devonian limestone d. Deposited finely ground rock dust called loess

5. What geologic event set the stage for development of the Central or Nashville Basin? a. Allegheny Orogeny b. Mississippi Embayment c. Nashville Dome Upli d. Permian Procurement

6. What erosion-resistant rock layer characterizes the Highland Rim? a. Fort Payne chert b. Pennsylvanian sandstone c. Chaanooga shale d. Lebanon limestone

7. Topography containing features such as caves and sinkholes is called a. outlier b. karst c. plateau d. foldbelt

51 8. Rocks containing fossils a. are always limestone b. are called fossiliferous c. can be dated by the types of fossils found d. both b and c

9. The biological components of a healthy soil ecosystem include a. plant roots b. small mammals c. invertebrates d. all of the above

10. If climate equals long-term weather paerns, then ______equals daily atmospheric condions.

11. The study of periodic biological phenomena relave to climate is a. phenology b. dendrology c. hydrology d. ecology

12. The science of ecology studies a. Darwin’s theory of natural selecon b. terrestrial ecosystems c. human influence in the environment d. the relaonship between organisms and their environment

13. The basic unit in ecology is a. a community of different species b. an individual organism of one parcular species c. the bioc community and abioc environment d. a biome

14. What is not an example of mutualism? a. mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots b. bees and flower pollen c. bats and mosquitos d. raccoons and pawpaw fruit

15. Match the following community structure terms with their definions: _____species richness a. effect on community is disproporonate to abundance _____keystone species b. percentage each species contributes to total _____dominants c. number of different species _____relave abundance d. species with greatest number

52 16. An organism’s niche is its a. breeding habitat b. funconal role in the community c. preferred food d. place in the food web

17. Succession is a. gradual change in the species composion of an ecological community b. a forested area cleared for agriculture c. a regular paern of disturbance d. the introducon of non-nave plant species e. habitat restoraon

18. Fragmentaon of the landscape through development a. results in habitat loss b. produces small patches separated from each other c. reduces the number and diversity of species a patch can support d. increases the threat of non-nave species invasion e. all of the above

19. The decomposion of autumn leaves frees ______for plant use. a. oxygen b. energy c. inorganic nutrients d. soil parcles

20. Organisms that derive their energy from sunlight to manufacture their own food are a. primary producers b. plants c. autotrophs d. all of the above

21. A small-scale disturbance in an ecosystem creates a a. patch b. gap c. boundary d. ecotone

22. Broadleaf deciduous forests are characterized by a. autumn foliage colors b. spring wildflowers c. year-round photosynthesis d. all of the above e. both a and b

53 23. Specialized plant communies in Tennessee primarily found above 4,500 feet elevaon are a. Spruce-Fir, Northern Hardwoods, and Heath Balds b. Spruce-Fir, Grassy Balds, and Cedar Glades c. Northern Hardwoods, Cedar Glades, Spray Cliffs d. Barrens, Sinkholes, and Spruce-Fir

24. Organisms adapted to fast moving streams require a. silty stream beds b. rooted aquac plants c. high concentraons of oxygen in the water d. big, round bodies

25. Endothermic organisms a. adjust their body temperature to the environment b. primarily produce their own heat c. include most fish and invertebrates d. never hibernate

26. The circular paths of water and elements, such as nitrogen, moving through an ecosystem are called a. evaporaon cycles b. radiaon cycles c. biogeochemical cycles d. biome cycles

27. The scienfic term for a collecve of species (plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, etc.) living and interacng in a defined area is a. home range b. community c. heterotrophs d. mutualism

28. Within a community, food chains mesh into a ______, linking primary producers through an array of insect and animal consumers. a. food web b. food cooperave c. food pyramid d. food mantle

29. An effecvely funconing riparian habitat a. serves as a foraging dispersal corridor b. provides diverse breeding microhabitats for a variety of species c. has adequate tree cover to shade and cool water d. all of the above

54 30. The highest vegetaon layer in a forest community is the a. lier layer b. understory layer c. shrub layer d. canopy layer

31. A program and philosophy which incorporates human intervenon in the management of natural resources for the benefit of habitat and species diversity is referred to as a. ecology b. recreaon c. natural selecon d. land stewardship

Answer Key 1. a 2. b. 3. c 4. d 5. c. 6. a. 7. b 8. d 9. d 10. weather 11. a 12. d 13. b 14. c 15. c, a, d, b 16. b 17. a 18. e 19. c 20. d 21. b 22. e 23. a 24. c 25. b 26. c 27. b 28. a 29. d. 30. d 31. d

Essay Quesons

These quesons synthesize the ten Tennessee Naturalist classes. Revisit them aer each class and record any addional responses.

1. Describe the ecological harm associated with non-nave invasive species, and explain why they are so successful. Use a specific example from your grand division of Tennessee.

2. Discuss a specific ecosystem’s food web and follow the sun’s energy flow through five trophic levels to a top predator. Cite an appropriate organism at each level.

3. Examine the role of water and its effects on the physical and biological environment in an ecosystem. Discuss the effects of various disrupons (drought, flood, invasive species, disturbance, etc.) to this system’s hydrological regime.

4. What is a bioindicator? Name three different types of organisms oen cited as bioindicators, and explain how and why they funcon as such in their environments.

5. Many different organisms occupy the same environment -- forest, stream, meadow. Discuss some of the ways species share their environment, the types of interacons between species, and the effects of these interacons on species health and populaons.

6. Examine the environmental implicaons of the following philosophy. Through interpretaon understanding; through understanding, appreciaon; through appreciaon, protecon. How does it affect your values and behavior?

55