DRAFT FINAL REPORT Big Thicket National Preserve National Park Service Beaumont, TX A Vascular Plant Survey for Big Thicket National Preserve Principal Investigator: P.A. Harcombe Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Rice University Houston, TX 77005 National Park Service Cooperative Agreement CA14001004 May 29, 2007 - 1 - - 2 - INTRODUCTION The goal of the project was to produce verified inventories of vascular plant species (including ferns and fern allies) by unit in the Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP), a part of the National Park System located in southeastern Texas in Hardin, Tyler, Polk, Liberty, Jefferson, Orange and Jasper counties. Collection efforts focused on the major units (Big Sandy, Hickory Creek, Turkey Creek, Beech Creek, Lance Rosier, Neches Bottom/Jack Gore Baygall, Beaumont). Owing to time constraints collecting in Loblolly Unit and Menard Creek was minimal, and no new collecting was done in the other corridor units (Pine Island Bayou, Upper Neches, and Lower Neches). Between June 2001 and December 2006, a database of 8095 specimen records was compiled. The database contains 1384 valid names representing 1264 distinct taxa in 536 genera and 146 families . From the database, final species and specimen tables were generated. A total of 7198 specimens were delivered to Dale Kruse, Curator, Tracey Herbarium at Texas A&M University (TAES) on April 6, 2007. In this report we describe methods used in constructing the database, the collectors, and the unit-level collection efforts. A species-by-unit table is presented; collection results are compared with Watson (1982), and there is an examination of variation in species richness among units. METHODS Presence of species in units of the Big Thicket National Preserve was verified by collecting new specimens or by creating records from some existing specimens deposited at SBSC and TEX-LL or stored at Rice University. Information on collectors and collecting effort is given following the descriptions of database and table construction. - 1 - Database construction All records for new and existing specimens were managed in a taxonomic database (BIOTA ). We also entered a list of species of probable occurrence in Big Thicket National Preserve (Watson 1982, hereafter referred to as GW) . We used the list as a collecting guide, recognizing that since it was not documented by actual herbarium specimens, not all taxa on the list would necessarily be found because of possible mis- identifications or mis-attributions . In the data entry process, each specimen record was given a unique specimen code that consisted of the initials of the collector and the collector’s specimen number. Additional information entered included species code (first four letters of genus and species names), full species name, collector, collection date, habitat, location, and GPS location (where available). Species nomenclature was standardized to Kartesz and Meacham (1999), and a list was made of cases in which many authorities prefer alternative names (Appendix Table 3). To maintain taxonomic consistency, all newly- collected specimens and all but a few specimens deposited at TEX-LL were determined and annotated by Larry Brown, the authority on flora of southeast Texas. Determination history was retained by BIOTA. For specimens collected as part of this project, the depository field was coded as TAES (Tracey Herbarium at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX). For specimens that already existed in other collections, the depository field was coded as follows: SBSC Spring Branch Science Center Herbarium, Spring Branch ISD, Houston, TX. RICE Rice University, Houston, TX. TEX University of Texas Herbarium, Austin, TX LL Lundell Herbarium at University of Texas ATSC Stephen F. Austin State University Herbarium, Nacogdoches, TX All of the above except RICE are registered herbaria. Specimen table. For this report, records of specimens in BTNP were exported from BIOTA into a specimen table in EXCEL format containing 8095 records. From this, a new EXCEL workbook was created by adding fields for many of the variables required for input into - 2 - NPSpecies and breaking up the dataset into three parts, each as a separate spreadsheet in the workbook, as follows: name number description TAES 7198 specimens delivered to TAES vrecords 55 records of specimens in other herbaria that are the only record of that species in that unit Other 730 records of specimens in other herbaria that duplicate TAES or vrecords Subsequently, a fourth spreadsheet was added: GWX 84 GW specimens delivered to TAES that were collected outside NPS boundaries. ____ Total records 8067 Some specimens in the Rice University Reference Collection that duplicated other collections were retained at Rice. All other specimens were delivered to TAES for subsequent selection of specimens to be given NPS accession numbers. Specimens not accessioned will either be retained as part of the TAES collection or deposited at the Big Thicket National Preserve Field Research Station, Saratoga, TX Species table For this report, a list of all taxa known to exist within the boundaries of BTNP was exported from BIOTA. Residency status (native vs non-native) was obtained from Kartesz & Meacham (1999). Abundance by unit was calculated by converting the abundance-by-unit scores in Watson (1982) using eight abundance classes (-4 to +4), which she determined "arbitrarily by personal observation and experience." The abundance classes were converted to NPS abundance classes as follows: NPS abundance class GW abundance value Abundant +4 +3 Common +2 +1 Occasional -1 -2 Rare -3 -4 - 3 - Fields were also added for many of the variables required for input into NPSpecies, including nativity (obtained from Kartesz & Meacham 1999). The species table may be linked to the specimen table using the SpeciesCode variable. RESULTS Collectors The specimen record dataset contains the names of 22 collectors in various combinations. The collectors and their contributions are described briefly below. Geraldine Watson spent many years botanizing in the Big Thicket, guiding and working with many professionals, most notably D.S. Correll, senior author of Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas (Correll & Johnston 1970) and Geyata Ajilsvgi, author of Wildflowers of the Big Thicket (Ajilvsgi 1979). In the late 1970s and early 1980s Watson was employed as a botanist in Big Thicket National Preserve, during which time she produced a record of species occurrences by unit (Watson 1982) amounting to nearly 7000 records for about 1300 species. This is the most complete inventory ever done for BITH, but it was not fully vouchered; only about 1000 specimens were collected. The specimens were stored at Lamar University until 2001, when they were loaned by NPS to Rice University for this project. They were subsequently transferred to The Tracey Herbarium at Texas A&M University. Investigators from Rice University engaged in ecological research from 1972 through 2006, and in the process, many specimens from BTNP were placed in the Rice University Reference Collection, by Paul A. Harcombe, Professor, (1972-2007), Donna R. Streng graduate student, (Hickory Creek, 1976-1980), and Changxiang Liu, graduate student, (Hickory Creek, Turkey Creek and Lance Rosier, 1996-1999). Most were subsequently duplicated by new collections made as part of this project, and so were retained at Rice University. Warren Pruess and I.Sandra. Elsik, Rice University research staff, collected specimens in Lance Rosier, JackGore-Neches Bottom, Beech Creek, Big Sandy, Turkey Creek and Loblolly mostly in 2004-2006. A few student collections were also made. Brooke Wheeler, a research assistant, collected 2 specimens. Katie Caldwell collected 150 specimens as part of a restoration study in the Turkey Creek Unit. - 4 - Michael and Barbara MacRoberts, Herbarium, Louisiana State University in Shreveport, studied savanna wetlands in the late 1990s (MacRoberts & MacRoberts 1998), collecting primarily in the Lance Rosier, Hickory Creek and Turkey Creek units. The Lance Rosier specimens were deposited at TEX (see MacRoberts & MacRoberts 1998). The MacRoberts subsequently completed a study of the Hickory Creek Savanna Unit (MacRoberts et al 2002). They collected primarily in Turkey Creek (2002-03), Big Sandy (2003-04) and Beech Creek (2004). Suzanne Walker, Azimuth Forestry Services, Nacogdoches, TX, was part of their collecting team at Beech Creek. Larry E. Brown, Professor, Houston Community College, began collecting in Big Thicket in the 1970s. Many of his specimens collected prior to 2001 when this project began were retained in the herbarium at the Spring Branch R.A. Vines Science Center, Spring Branch Independent School District, Houston, TX (this herbarium is registered as SBSC). Brown’s early collections were primarily at Menard Creek and Hickory Creek. As part of this project, he collected at Big Sandy (2003-04), Lance Rosier (2004-06) and Turkey Creek (2006). Dan Johnson, an amateur botanist from Houston collected under his supervision at Hickory Creek and Turkey Creek. A few specimens are listed as collected by Brown and Liggio or by Brown and Harper. Joe Liggio and Shawn Harper accompanied Brown in the field for some collection at Hickory Creek and Lance Rosier. Stanley Jones, consulting botanist, College Station, TX, supplied approximately 1000 specimens to the project from collections made for various consulting firms engaged in seismic prospecting in Jack Gore/Neches Bottom, Beaumont, Lance Rosier, and Big