University of Tennessee, Knoxville Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 8-2003 The vascular flora of Fall Creek Falls State Park, Van Buren and Bledsoe counties, Tennessee Chris A. Fleming Recommended Citation Fleming, Chris A., "The asv cular flora of Fall Creek Falls State Park, Van Buren and Bledsoe counties, Tennessee. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2003. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/5222 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Chris A. Fleming entitled "The asv cular flora of Fall Creek Falls State Park, Van Buren and Bledsoe counties, Tennessee." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Botany. B. Eugene Wofford, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Chris A. Fleming entitled "The Vascular Flora of Fall Creek Falls State Park, Van Buren and Bledsoe Counties, Tennessee." I have examined the finalpaper copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degreeof Master of Science, with a major in Botany. We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: -- /)(W!,1/4/tf Pa.J?a.J)� Vice Provost and D Graduate Studies The Vascular Flora of Fall Creek Falls State Park, Van Buren and Bledsoe Counties, Tennessee. A Thesis Presented for the Master of Science Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville ChrisA. Fleming August2003 Dedication This thesisis dedicated tomy familyfor all of theirsupport throughout my seemingly endless education andDr. Ralph L. Thompson for openingmy eyes to thewonders of botany. ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thankDr. B. Eugene Woffordfor serving as my major professor. I greatlyappreciate his guidance throughout this project andthe copious amountsof knowledge that he hasimparted upon me pertaining to botany and life in general. I would like to thankDr. David K. Smithand Paul A. Delcourt forserving on my committee andproviding me with valuable advice throughout this project. Dr. Ken D. McFarland, Dr. PatriciaB. Cox, Dr. RandyL. Small, andDr. HazelR. Delcourt have been very supportive andhave significantly contributedto my education. I would like to extend a specialthanks to the secretaries, Eunice Turner and Eileen Hunley, forhandling all reimbursement checks andmotor pool requests andfor answering any questions that arose concerningteaching responsibilitiesand general schoolbureaucracy. I will beforever indebted to the BotanyDepartment for providing me witha quality education and fundingthrough a GraduateTeaching Assistantship and a H.R. DeSelm Award. Financially,this project would not have been possible without fundingprovided by Dr. Michael Dennis. The educationaland botanical investigation opportunitiesthat iii aremade available due to his generous donations areextremely important to the education of aspiring fieldbotanists at The University of Tennessee. StuartCarroll, parkadministrators and staff, and Friends of Fall Creek Falls State Parkwere all very supportivethroughout this project. I am very gratefulto Dr. Robert F.C. Naczi, Dr. Hal R. DeSelm, Dr. Ross Clark, andVern McNeilus for providing technical expertise on difficultbotanical groups such as the sedges, grasses, and deciduous hollies. The followingpeople areacknowledged for theirfriendship, support, and assistancethroughout this project: Joey Shaw, KeithBowman, Dr. Ed Lickey, Dr. CarolynWells, Pum Siripun, John Beck, andCharles Winder. There aresurely othersthat have assisted me along the way in my botanical pursuitseither during this study or in the past. I would like to extend my apologies for anyinadvertent omissions. iv Abstract A vascularplant inventory of Fall CreekFalls State Park(FCFSP), Van Buren andBledsoe Counties,Tennessee was conducted during the growing seasons of2001 and 2002. Thepark encompasses ca. 8,900 ha on the westernescarpment of the Cumberland Plateau. A total of881 taxa from131 familieswere documented during this survey. Of these taxa, 301 were determinedto becounty records for either VanBuren or Bledsoe County,Tennessee. Non-nativespecies arerepresented by 110 taxa, which is 12% ofthe total flora. Seventeen Federalor State listed taxa were documented, including Nestronia umbellula, which represents a physiographicrecord forthe CumberlandPlateau in Tennessee. Voucher specimens were deposited in the herbariumof the Universityof Tennessee (TENN). A total of 17 plantcommunities andeight microhabitats were delineated and describedduring this study. An analysisof distribution trends was conducted to assess geographic affinitiesof the flora. The majority of thetaxa (80%) lie withintheir distributionranges with therest either beingextraneous (4%), endemic (3%), or non-native (12%). A floristiccomparison was conducted to comparethe speciesrichness ofFCFSP to other previously surveyedareas on the CumberlandPlateau in Tennessee. This comparisondemonstrated that this parkhas the second highest richness value ofthose sites. V Table of Contents Chapter or Title Page Introduction.............................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: Study Area............................................................................................ .. 5 Location .......................................................................................................5 ParkHistory ............................................................................................... .. 5 Boundaries................................................................................................. 10 Accessibility ...............................................................................................11 Chapter 2: CumberlandPlateau Overview............................................................ 13 Physiographyand Topography.................................................................. 13 Geology ......................................................................................................15 Soils ...........................................................................................................17 Climate .......................................................................................................20 Watersheds.. ...............................................................................................25 Chapter 3: Vegetation of the Cumberland Plateau ................................................28 Vegetation ..................................................................................................28 Previous Vascular Floristic Studies ...........................................................33 Chapter 4: Vegetation and LandscapeHistory .. ....................................................34 CumberlandPlateau Vegetation History... ................................................34 Native Americansand the Landscape....... .................................................38 Early Settlers and the Landscape ...............................................................40 Chapter 5: Methods................................................................................................ 42 Collection of VascularPlants and Associated Data ...................................42 PlantIdentification and Flora Overview.................................................... 44 Community Descriptions ...........................................................................45 Data Analyses ............................................................................................45 Chapter 6: Results ..................................................................................................48 Floristic Summary...................................................................................... 48 PlantCommunities and Habitats ................................................................48 Gorges ............................................................................................50 Gorges: Notable Microhabitats ......................................................60 UplandPlateau Surface.................................................................. 63 Upland Plateau Surface: Notable Microhabitats............................ 68 DisturbedAreas .............................................................................69 Disturbed Areas: Notable Microhabitat .........................................73 Data Analyses............................................................................................. 74 Geographical Distribution.............................................................. 74 vi SpeciesRichness Comparison....................................................... 74 Chapter 7: Discussion ...........................................................................................