DOCSLIB.ORG

Prior Prevalence of Shortleaf Pine-Oak-Hickory Woodlands in the Tallahassee Red Hills Author(S): Andre F

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Prior Prevalence of Shortleaf Pine-Oak-Hickory Woodlands in the Tallahassee Red Hills Author(S): Andre F Prior Prevalence of Shortleaf Pine-Oak-Hickory Woodlands in the Tallahassee Red Hills Author(s): Andre F. Clewell Source: Castanea, 78(4):266-276. 2013. Published By: Southern Appalachian Botanical Society DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2179/13-022 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.2179/13-022 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/ terms_of_use. Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. CASTANEA 78(4): 266–276. DECEMBER Copyright 2013 Southern Appalachian Botanical Society Prior Prevalence of Shortleaf Pine-Oak-Hickory Woodlands in the Tallahassee Red Hills Andre F. Clewell* Tall Timbers Research Station, 13093 Henry Beadle Drive, Tallahassee, Florida 32312 ABSTRACT Shortleaf pine-oak-hickory woodlands provided the principal vegetation cover in the Tallahassee Red Hills prior to land clearing for plantation agriculture in the 19th century. Ample historical documentation and extant remnants of that community, including old-growth, support this conclusion. This woodland was maintained by surface fires and consisted principally of open stands of shortleaf pine, post oak, Spanish oak, black oak, mockernut hickory, and dogwood. The species- diverse and predominantly herbaceous ground cover was dominated by grasses, legumes, and composites. Coppice sprouting of trees and shrubs after fires was common. In the absence of fire, shortleaf pine-oak-hickory woodlands convert to oak-hickory forest with similar tree species composition and loss of herbaceous species. Within the past 130 years, nearly all stands of shortleaf pine-oak-hickory woodlands and oak-hickory forests have been extirpated or compromised beyond recognition by intrusions of offsite tree species that are typical of moist soils at less elevated landscape positions. Key words: Apalachee, climax, ecotone, longleaf pine, magnolia-beech, mesophication, Tallahassee Red Hills, Tall Timbers. INTRODUCTION The Tallahassee Red other regions in their scarcity or absence of Hills region was mapped by Roland Harper saw-palmetto and wire-grass among the (1914) as an 880 km2 physiographic unit of undergrowth. Both short-leaf and long-leaf northern Leon County, Florida, lying north of the pine forests are subject to occasional fires. Cody scarp and extending a short distance into On some of the hillsides and richer uplands adjacent Grady and Thomas counties, Georgia dense hardwood forests with considerable (Figure 1). Harper characterized the Tallahassee humus can be seen, and the branches and Red Hills (TRH) by their deep deposits of red creeks are bordered by wet woods or sandy clay and rather hilly topography in which swamps. (p. 271) streams were scarce and lakes and ponds common. Harper (1914) described upland vege- Species listed by Harper (1914, with updated tation in the TRH: nomenclature) that occur in ‘‘uplands’’ or ‘‘dry woods’’ included P. echinata (Chapm. ex En- The drier uplands seem to have been gelm.) Vasey ex Sarg. (shortleaf pine), Cornus covered originally with comparatively open florida L. (flowering dogwood), Quercus falcata forests of short-leaf pine (Pinus echinata), Michx. (Spanish or southern red oak), Carya red oak, hickory, dogwood, etc. Consider- tomentosa Nutt. (mockernut hickory), Carya able areas of this forest still remain, though glabra (Mill.) Sweet (pignut hickory), Q. stellata a good deal of it may be second growth. On Wangenh. (post oak), Q. velutina Lam. (black sandier soils near the center of the region oak), Nyssa sylvatica Marshall (blackgum), and there are limited areas (perhaps several Oxydendrum arboreum (L.) DC. (sourwood). In hundred acres) of long-leaf pine forest, this paper, I call this vegetation the shortleaf differing from the typical piney woods of pine-oak-hickory (SPOH) woodland community. Shortleaf pine-oak-hickory woodland is a pyro- *email address: [email protected] Received May 24, 2013; Accepted September 6, 2013. genic community, which, in the absence of fire, DOI: 10.2179/13-022 will convert to a closed canopy oak-hickory 266 2013 CLEWELL: SHORTLEAF PINE-OAK-HICKORY WOODLANDS 267 vegetation that occur elsewhere in the South- east, principally inland towards the continental interior. Beginning in the late 19th century in response to land usage, offsite tree species from less elevated positions in the landscape invaded the remaining original open woods described by Harper (1914) and eventually compromised the species composition of nearly all of them beyond recognition. Most offsite species were typical of flood plains and other sites that approach wetland status. They included Acer rubrum L. (red maple), Liquidambar styraciflua L. (sweet- gum), Pinus taeda L. (loblolly pine), Quercus laurifolia Michx. (diamond-leaf oak), Q. nigra L. (water oak), and Q. virginiana Mill. (live oak). Other offsite species were typical of magnolia-beech forest (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh., Figure 1. The Tallahassee Red Hills according to Harper Magnolia grandiflora L.), particularly Prunus (1914) superimposed on a map by Griffith et al. (2001) showing the western end of Level IV ecoregion 65o. The serotina Ehrh. (black cherry) and Magnolia location of Tall Timbers Research Station is indicated by grandiflora. I call this spontaneously occurring ‘‘TT.’’ secondary forest the water oak-sweetgum-lob- lolly pine community, after three of its most forest. The inclusion of Oxydendrum arboreum abundant and characteristic species. Several in the SPOH woodland community, as intimated upland species contributed to this community by Harper (1914), is disputable; sourwood on upland sites, particularly P. echinata, C. occurs on relatively steep gradients leading from florida, and Quercus hemisphaerica W. Bartram SPOH woodlands to the heads of springs and ex Willd. (laurel oak), which either persisted seeps, and it is better considered an ecotonal after offsite colonization began or established species at the upland border with forested seedlings concurrently with offsite species. wetlands. Quercus hemisphaerica is becoming increasing- The TRH region lies within the western one- ly abundant in the TRH on unburned sites with third of the Tallahassee Hills/Valdosta Limesink well drained soils. Level IV ecoregion (Griffith et al. 2001, mapping Trees that contributed to the water oak- unit 65o). The TRH are commonly conceived to sweetgum-loblolly pine community were spared extend northward at least to Thomasville and from land clearing in the 19th century, because eastward to the Aucilla River, but soils in these the land where they grew was too moist for outlying areas are not as consistently clayey. The agricultural purposes or was protected from TRH form part of a larger physiographic unit lethal fires. Their establishment on abandoned called the Tallahassee Hills Northern Highlands agricultural land was facilitated by the absence consisting of the dissected sedimentary remains of competing trees (Clewell 2011). Upland tree of Neogene fluvial, and delta plain, deposits species were at a disadvantage in colonizing (Schmidt 1997). Upland soils belong to the abandoned agricultural fields, because land Norfolk-Ruston-Orangeburg association (Beck- clearing for agriculture had substantially re- enbach and Hammett 1962). A preponderance of duced the cover of SPOH woodlands that could broadleaved hardwood tree growth distinguishes serve as seed sources. Once established on the TRH from vegetation in surrounding regions, upland sites, water oak-sweetgum-loblolly pine which are, or were formerly typified by, longleaf forests persist indefinitely (Van Lear 2004) by pine-wiregrass savannas (Pinus palustris Mill., means of mesophication (Nowacki and Abrams Aristida stricta Michx.) (Harper 1914, Clewell 2008). Mesophication occurs when fire-main- 1986). Broad regions covered by these savannas tained open SPOH woodlands become closed- isolate the TRH and its predominant SPOH canopied in the absence of fire, which favors vegetation from lands with similar soils and colonization by shade-tolerant and fire-sensitive 268 CASTANEA VOL.78 plant species that produce a less flammable fuel Southeast, collectively called Seminoles, assem- bed. This process promotes rapid compositional bled in the area in small numbers but were and structural changes without ecological ante- driven out by General Andrew Jackson in 1818. cedent. By the latter half of the 20th century, Spain ceded Florida to the United States in 1821 Harper’s descriptions of original vegetation were (Tebeau 1971). forgotten, and ecological opinion accepted for- The TRH were essentially unoccupied from ests dominated by offsite species as natural 1704 until the U.S. Territory of Florida was stages of succession leading towards a climax established in 1824 with Tallahassee as its
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Approved Plant List 10/04/12
    FLORIDA The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time to plant a tree is today. City of Sunrise Approved Plant List 10/04/12 Appendix A 10/4/12 APPROVED PLANT LIST FOR SINGLE FAMILY HOMES SG xx Slow Growing “xx” = minimum height in Small Mature tree height of less than 20 feet at time of planting feet OH Trees adjacent to overhead power lines Medium Mature tree height of between 21 – 40 feet U Trees within Utility Easements Large Mature tree height greater than 41 N Not acceptable for use as a replacement feet * Native Florida Species Varies Mature tree height depends on variety Mature size information based on Betrock’s Florida Landscape Plants Published 2001 GROUP “A” TREES Common Name Botanical Name Uses Mature Tree Size Avocado Persea Americana L Bahama Strongbark Bourreria orata * U, SG 6 S Bald Cypress Taxodium distichum * L Black Olive Shady Bucida buceras ‘Shady Lady’ L Lady Black Olive Bucida buceras L Brazil Beautyleaf Calophyllum brasiliense L Blolly Guapira discolor* M Bridalveil Tree Caesalpinia granadillo M Bulnesia Bulnesia arboria M Cinnecord Acacia choriophylla * U, SG 6 S Group ‘A’ Plant List for Single Family Homes Common Name Botanical Name Uses Mature Tree Size Citrus: Lemon, Citrus spp. OH S (except orange, Lime ect. Grapefruit) Citrus: Grapefruit Citrus paradisi M Trees Copperpod Peltophorum pterocarpum L Fiddlewood Citharexylum fruticosum * U, SG 8 S Floss Silk Tree Chorisia speciosa L Golden – Shower Cassia fistula L Green Buttonwood Conocarpus erectus * L Gumbo Limbo Bursera simaruba * L
    [Show full text]
  • Oaks (Quercus Spp.): a Brief History
    Publication WSFNR-20-25A April 2020 Oaks (Quercus spp.): A Brief History Dr. Kim D. Coder, Professor of Tree Biology & Health Care / University Hill Fellow University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources Quercus (oak) is the largest tree genus in temperate and sub-tropical areas of the Northern Hemisphere with an extensive distribution. (Denk et.al. 2010) Oaks are the most dominant trees of North America both in species number and biomass. (Hipp et.al. 2018) The three North America oak groups (white, red / black, and golden-cup) represent roughly 60% (~255) of the ~435 species within the Quercus genus worldwide. (Hipp et.al. 2018; McVay et.al. 2017a) Oak group development over time helped determine current species, and can suggest relationships which foster hybridization. The red / black and white oaks developed during a warm phase in global climate at high latitudes in what today is the boreal forest zone. From this northern location, both oak groups spread together southward across the continent splitting into a large eastern United States pathway, and much smaller western and far western paths. Both species groups spread into the eastern United States, then southward, and continued into Mexico and Central America as far as Columbia. (Hipp et.al. 2018) Today, Mexico is considered the world center of oak diversity. (Hipp et.al. 2018) Figure 1 shows genus, sub-genus and sections of Quercus (oak). History of Oak Species Groups Oaks developed under much different climates and environments than today. By examining how oaks developed and diversified into small, closely related groups, the native set of Georgia oak species can be better appreciated and understood in how they are related, share gene sets, or hybridize.
    [Show full text]
  • Eastern Gray Squirrel Survival in a Seasonally-Flooded Hunted Bottomland Forest Ecosystem
    Squirrel Survival in a Flooded Ecosystem. Wilson et al. Eastern Gray Squirrel Survival in a Seasonally-Flooded Hunted Bottomland Forest Ecosystem Sarah B. Wilson, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, 602 Duncan Dr. Auburn University, AL 36849 Stephen S. Ditchkoff, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, 602 Duncan Dr. Auburn University, AL 36849 Robert A. Gitzen, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, 602 Duncan Dr. Auburn University, AL 36849 Todd D. Steury, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, 602 Duncan Dr. Auburn University, AL 36849 Abstract: Though the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is an important game species throughout its range in North America, little is known about environmental factors that may affect survival. We investigated survival and predation of a hunted population of eastern gray squirrels on Lown- des Wildlife Management Area in central Alabama from July 2015–April 2017. This area experiences annual flooding conditions from November through the following September. Our Kaplan-Meier survival estimate at 365 days for all squirrels was 0.25 (0.14–0.44, 95% CL) which is within the range for previously studied eastern gray squirrel populations (0.20–0.58). There was no difference between male (0.13; 0.05–0.36, 95% CL) and female survival (0.37; 0.18–0.75, 95% CL, P = 0.16). Survival was greatest in summer (1.00) and fall (0.65; 0.29–1.0, 95% CL) and lowest during winter (0.23; 0.11–0.50, 95% CL). We found squirrels were more likely to die during the flooded winter season and mortality risk increased as flood extent through- out the study area increased.
    [Show full text]
  • Natural Piedmont Forests
    Spring 2009 Guide to Delaware Vegetation Communities Robert Coxe Guide to Delaware Vegetation Communities-Spring 2009 Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge the contributions and help from the following people for this edition of the Guide to Delaware Vegetation Communities. Karen Bennett, Greg Moore and Janet Dennis of the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife Bill McAvoy of the Delaware Natural Heritage Program Dr. John Kartesz of the Biota of North America Program Dr. Keith Clancy and Pete Bowman, Ecologists, formerly of the Delaware Natural Heritage Program Ery Largay and Leslie Sneddon of Natureserve All people unmentioned who made countless contributions to this document. -Take me to the vegetation community keys- Guide to Delaware Vegetation Communities-Spring 2009 Introduction The Guide to Delaware Vegetation Communities is intended to provide a Delaware flavor to the National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS). All common names of communities, except for those not in the NVCS, follow the NVCS. This document is designed for the web and CD only, but desired sections can be printed by users. In this matter, paper and therefore trees can be preserved and impacts to the communities discussed within can be minimized. In spirit of saving these communities please only print those community descriptions that you will use or print none at all. The State of Delaware covers 1,524,863.4 acres of which 1,231,393.6 acres are terrestrial and 293,469.8 acres are water (Table 1). Currently 130 vegetation communities are known to occur in Delaware. Some of the largest vegetation communities/land covers in the state include: Table 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Vascular Plants of Williamson County Quercus Nigra − BLACK OAK [Fagaceae]
    Vascular Plants of Williamson County Quercus nigra − BLACK OAK [Fagaceae] Quercus nigra L., BLACK OAK. Tree, evergreen, 1-trunked, in range to 12 m tall; monoecious; shoots with only cauline leaves, foliage ± glossy green and essentially glabrous, clustered near tips on twigs of short lateral branches; buds angular, on scales reddish hairy above midpoint. Stems: initially new growth with conspicuous projected ridges aging cylindric, young twigs with semicircular leaf scars and numerous small lenticels; on new growth having 5 vertical files of bud scale scars with to 10 scars in each file; bark tight. Leaves: helically alternate, 3-lobed above midpoint with a pair of rounded to obtuse lateral lobes (elongate rhombate), on twigs first leaves of a short lateral branchlet often unlobed, petiolate, with stipules; stipules 2, attached at node, linear-narrowly triangular to linear or narrowly oblong-linear, (2−)3.5−6 mm long, light tannish brown aging papery, flat, thickened at base, with principal veins raised on lower surface, pubescent with crooked arms < 0.5 mm long; petiole hemicylindric, to 5 mm long, ± pubescent with short stellate hairs; blade obovate in outline, (15−)50−95 × (9−)13−45 mm, tapered to long-tapered at base, lateral lobes widely spreading (crosslike), often somewhat wavy above midblade and lacking teeth or projections on margins, pinnately veined with conspicuous, elaborate vein network raised on upper surface and some principal veins somewhat raised on lower surface, on emerging leaves with short hairs along margins and lower midrib and appressed, purple-red fine hairs on lower surface (abscising) and white- tomentose tufts in axils of lateral veins, mature blade essentially without nonglandular hairs, upper surface with green tissue patches appearing slightly sunken, margin narrowly colorless, lower surface with inconspicuous, minute glandular hairs along side of midrib.
    [Show full text]
  • Panflora Site Plant List Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve (TNC) Generated: 7 June 2005 Copyright: Gil Nelson 186 Records
    PanFlora Site Plant List Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve (TNC) Generated: 7 June 2005 Copyright: Gil Nelson 186 Records Acer negundo (BOXELDER) Acer rubrum (RED MAPLE) Aesculus pavia (RED BUCKEYE) Agalinis divaricata (PINELAND FALSE FOXGLOVE) Albizia julibrissin (MIMOSA) Amelanchier arborea (COMMON SERVICEBERRY) Arenaria lanuginosa (SPREADING SANDWORT) Arenaria serpyllifolia (THYMELEAF SANDWORT) Arisaema dracontium (GREENDRAGON) Arisaema quinatum (PESTER-JOHN) Arisaema triphyllum (JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT) Aristida stricta beyrichiana (WIREGRASS) Aristolochia serpentaria (VIRGINIA SNAKEROOT) Aristolochia tomentosa (WOOLLY DUTCHMAN'S-PIPE; PIPEVINE) Arundinaria gigantea (SWITCHCANE) Asarum arifolium (WILD GINGER; LITTLE BROWN JUG; HEARTLEAF WILD GINGER) Asimina parviflora (SMALLFLOWER PAWPAW) Asplenium platyneuron (EBONY SPLEENWORT) Athyrium filix-femina asplenioides (SOUTHERN LADY FERN) Aureolaria flava (SMOOTH YELLOW FALSE FOXGLOVE) Baptisia lanceolata (GOPHERWEED) Berlandiera pumila (SOFT GREENEYES) Betula nigra (RIVER BIRCH) Bignonia capreolata (CROSSVINE) Boechera canadensis (SICKLEPOD) Calamintha dentata (FLORIDA CALAMINT; TOOTHED SAVORY) Callicarpa americana (AMERICAN BEAUTYBERRY) Calycanthus floridus (EASTERN SWEETSHRUB; CAROLINA ALLSPICE) Calycocarpum lyonii (CUPSEED) Carex baltzellii (BALTZELL'S SEDGE) Carex digitalis (SLENDER WOODLAND SEDGE) Carex nigromarginata floridana (BLACKEDGE SEDGE) Carpinus caroliniana (AMERICAN HORNBEAM; BLUEBEECH) Carya glabra (PIGNUT HICKORY) Carya pallida (SAND HICKORY) Ceanothus microphyllus (LITTLELEAF
    [Show full text]
  • Trillium Reliquum)
    REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF RELICT TRILLIUM (Trillium reliquum) Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work described in this thesis is my own or was done in collaboration with my advisory committee. This thesis does not include proprietary or classified information. _________________________________________ Melissa Gwynne Brooks Waddell Certificate of Approval: ________________________ _________________________ Robert Boyd Debbie R. Folkerts, Chair Professor Assistant Professor Biological Sciences Biological Sciences _____________________ _________________________ Robert Lishak Stephen L. McFarland Associate Professor Acting Dean Biological Sciences Graduate School REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF RELICT TRILLIUM (Trillium reliquum) Melissa Gwynne Brooks Waddell A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Auburn, Alabama August 7, 2006 REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF RELICT TRILLIUM (Trillium reliquum) Melissa Gwynne Brooks Waddell Permission is granted to Auburn University to make copies of this thesis at its discretion, upon request of individuals or institutions and at their expense. The author reserves all publication rights. ______________________________ Signature of Author ______________________________ Date of Graduation iii VITA Melissa Gwynne (Brooks) Waddell, daughter of Robert and Elaine Brooks, graduated from the University of North Alabama in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in Geography and a minor in Biology. She graduated from Auburn University in 1998, in Horticulture and Landscape Design, and returned to Auburn University to pursue a master’s of science in 1999. Married in May 2004 to Erik Waddell, she accepted a position teaching seventh grade science and environmental science in December 2005. In July 2006, she begins a master’s degree in Education at the University of North Alabama.
    [Show full text]
  • Brochure Draft
    THE TREES AT HISTORIC YATES MILL This one-way self guided trail will introduce the hiker to twenty of the numerous tree species found at Historic Yates Mill County Park. As you walk this .25 mile mod- erately easy trail, notice the numbered posts. These posts correspond to numbered tree pictures found inside the brochure along with numbers shown on the trail map. A brief description of the tree along with an interesting fact relating to each tree is given to spark your interest and curiosity. More detailed information about trees along with other natural and historical aspects of the park is available at the park office or from a park staff member. Please feel free to visit after your hike. Once you’ve completed the tree trail, please note you may return by using the same trail. You may take the .78 mile Upper Ridge Trail or you may wish to finish the 1 mile Mill Pond Trail. Whatever route you choose we hope you enjoy your visit to Historic Yates Mill County Park and hope you return again soon. If you choose not to keep this map and guide, please return it to the bro- chure rack so another visitor may enjoy the trail as you have. A special note of thanks goes to Miss Rachel Harper of Cary for her research and design of the Trees at Historic Yates Mill Self-Guided Trail 1 Sycamore 6 Water Oak 11 Yellow Poplar 16 River Birch (Platanus occidentails) (Liriodendron tulipifera) (Quercus nigra) (Betula nigra) Grows 60 to 80 feet tall.
    [Show full text]
  • Common Name: NUTMEG HICKORY
    Common Name: NUTMEG HICKORY Scientific Name: Carya myristiciformis (Michaux f.) Nuttall Other Commonly Used Names: swamp hickory, bitter water hickory Previously Used Scientific Names: Hicoria myristiciformis (Michaux f.) Britton Family: Juglandaceae (walnut) Rarity Ranks: G4/S1 State Legal Status: Rare Federal Legal Status: none Federal Wetland Status: FACW- Description: Deciduous tree up to 115 feet (35 meters) tall and 2 feet (60 cm) in diameter. Bark is brownish-gray and shaggy, peeling off in long strips or plates. Twigs with metallic sheen, coated in silvery scales. Buds at the tips of twigs less than ¼ inch (6 mm) long, plump, covered in yellow-brown hairs and silvery scales. Leaves 12 - 24 inches long (30 - 60 cm), alternate, with 7 - 9 toothed, opposite leaflets; dark green above, covered with bronze or silver scales beneath. Female and male flowers on same tree; female flowers tiny, nutlike, at tips of twigs; male flowers in drooping catkins. Fruit with a thin, golden-scaled husk that opens along 4 winged seams, releasing a single, round, thick-shelled nut, reddish-brown with silver stripes. Similar Species: No other hickory species has twigs, buds, leaves, and nuts coated with golden or silvery metallic scales. Pale hickory (Carya pallida) leaflets have silvery-tan scales on the lower surface, but its bark is tightly woven in a diamond pattern and it occurs in dry, upland forests. Related Rare Species: See butternut (Juglans cinerea) on this website. Habitat: Coosa Valley flatwoods, bottomland forests and moist hillsides over calcium-rich soils. Life History: Nutmeg hickory is shade-tolerant as a young tree and may persist in the understory for many years until a sunny gap opens up in the canopy.
    [Show full text]
  • Vegetation Community Monitoring at Ocmulgee National Monument, 2011
    National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Vegetation Community Monitoring at Ocmulgee National Monument, 2011 Natural Resource Data Series NPS/SECN/NRDS—2014/702 ON THE COVER Duck potato (Sagittaria latifolia) at Ocmulgee National Monument. Photograph by: Sarah C. Heath, SECN Botanist. Vegetation Community Monitoring at Ocmulgee National Monument, 2011 Natural Resource Data Series NPS/SECN/NRDS—2014/702 Sarah Corbett Heath1 Michael W. Byrne2 1USDI National Park Service Southeast Coast Inventory and Monitoring Network Cumberland Island National Seashore 101 Wheeler Street Saint Marys, Georgia 31558 2USDI National Park Service Southeast Coast Inventory and Monitoring Network 135 Phoenix Road Athens, Georgia 30605 September 2014 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Fort Collins, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science office in Fort Collins, Colorado, publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics. These reports are of interest and applicability to a broad audience in the National Park Service and others in natural resource management, including scientists, conservation and environmental constituencies, and the public. The Natural Resource Data Series is intended for the timely release of basic data sets and data summaries. Care has been taken to assure accuracy of raw data values, but a thorough analysis and interpretation of the data has not been completed. Consequently, the initial analyses of data in this report are provisional and subject to change. All manuscripts in the series receive the appropriate level of peer review to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner.
    [Show full text]
  • An Updated Infrageneric Classification of the North American Oaks
    Article An Updated Infrageneric Classification of the North American Oaks (Quercus Subgenus Quercus): Review of the Contribution of Phylogenomic Data to Biogeography and Species Diversity Paul S. Manos 1,* and Andrew L. Hipp 2 1 Department of Biology, Duke University, 330 Bio Sci Bldg, Durham, NC 27708, USA 2 The Morton Arboretum, Center for Tree Science, 4100 Illinois 53, Lisle, IL 60532, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: The oak flora of North America north of Mexico is both phylogenetically diverse and species-rich, including 92 species placed in five sections of subgenus Quercus, the oak clade centered on the Americas. Despite phylogenetic and taxonomic progress on the genus over the past 45 years, classification of species at the subsectional level remains unchanged since the early treatments by WL Trelease, AA Camus, and CH Muller. In recent work, we used a RAD-seq based phylogeny including 250 species sampled from throughout the Americas and Eurasia to reconstruct the timing and biogeography of the North American oak radiation. This work demonstrates that the North American oak flora comprises mostly regional species radiations with limited phylogenetic affinities to Mexican clades, and two sister group connections to Eurasia. Using this framework, we describe the regional patterns of oak diversity within North America and formally classify 62 species into nine major North American subsections within sections Lobatae (the red oaks) and Quercus (the Citation: Manos, P.S.; Hipp, A.L. An Quercus Updated Infrageneric Classification white oaks), the two largest sections of subgenus . We also distill emerging evolutionary and of the North American Oaks (Quercus biogeographic patterns based on the impact of phylogenomic data on the systematics of multiple Subgenus Quercus): Review of the species complexes and instances of hybridization.
    [Show full text]
  • Remnant Fire Disturbed Montane Longleaf Pine Forest in West Central Georgia
    REMNANT FIRE DISTURBED MONTANE LONGLEAF PINE FOREST IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA Robert Carter and Andrew J. Londo1 Abstract—Fire disturbed ecosystems are characteristic of the SoutheasternCcoastal Plain of the United States. Less well known are fire disturbed mountainous regions of the Piedmont and Appalachian region that support longleaf pine (Pinus palustris P. Mill.) ecosystems. The Pine Mountain Range in the Piedmont of west central Georgia has remnant longleaf pine ecosystems that occupy steep slopes with shallow soils. The montane longleaf ecosystems contain an unusual species composition of coastal plain (Quercus margaretta Ashe) and Appalachian (Vaccinium pallidum Ait.) species. Landscape scale analysis of vegetation and soils revealed four major ecosystems influenced by topography, soils, and fire history. INTRODUCTION the exception of fire. Tree, sapling, seedling, and herbaceous Montane longleaf pine (Pinus palustris P. Mill.) ecosystems are strata were sampled in a 20 x 50 m plot following the Caro- found in portions of northern Georgia and Alabama. Vegeta- lina Vegetation Survey protocol (Peet and others 1998). Soil tion surveys have been conducted in areas such as Forest samples were collected by horizon from four locations within McClellan, AL (Maceina and others 2000) and Rome, GA the plot to determine soil horizon depth and chemical and (Lipps and Deselm 1969), but there have been no attempts textural properties. Landform variables sampled included to study the interrelationship between forest communities, soils, slope gradient, aspect, and landform index (LFI) (McNab and landform variables. The objective of the study is to identify 1990). ecological land units in the montane longleaf pine forest of west central Georgia based on the discriminating vegetation, Ecological land units were delineated through ordination and soils, and landform features of mature forest communities.
    [Show full text]