The figure for Figure 1, p. 84, was somehow changed from the correct galley proofs when the issue was printed. Here is the correct Figure 1.
The figure for Figure 1, p. 84, was somehow changed from the correct galley proofs when the issue was printed. Here is the correct Figure 1.
Noteworthy Collection: South Carolina
In January 2000, the invasive Asian climbing vine Paederia foetida L. (“skunk vine”), a member of the Rubiaceae, was observed growing within an oak hammock at the Long Key Park in Broward County, Florida. Stems of the naturalized weed were growing prostrate (with nodal roots) and climbing into the surrounding vegetation. The vines bore both leaves and mature fruit. Although only a limited survey was done in the immediate vicinity of the infestation, it appears that the local distribution of P. foetida is confined to the 61 ha park.
The Wild East is a delightful book that explores the social, political, and environmental changes in the Great Smoky Mountains during the 19th and 20th centuries. You might say it is the story of wilderness vs. “wildermess” (my term). The history of The Great Smoky Mountain National Park is a study in the contrasts of a multifaceted milieu: bears and boars, flowers and farms, peace and politics, ruins and roads, trails and trials, vistas and visitors. It is mostly a study in what invasions of all kinds can do to an island wilderness, ironically stemming from a desire to preserve it.
An important component of the vascular flora of Missouri is the aquatic community of springs, lakes, sloughs, and streams. The aquatic vascular flora of Missouri is comprised of native species, rare and endangered taxa, and invasive, non-indigenous species (Yatskievych 1999, Yatskievych and Turner 1990, Missouri Natural Heritage Database 1997). Because many aquatic species, in particularly non-native species, have the potential to create serious weed problems, it is imperative to detect their initial presence in the flora and document their spread if control measures are to be successful (Westbrooks and Eplee 1996, Padgett and Crow 1993). Currently, Missouri is home to at least eight introduced, potentially problematic, aquatic species of flowering plants (Yatskievych 1999, Yatskievych and Turner 1990).
Thirty-four vascular plant taxa not previously or only incompletely documented from the North Carolina coastal plain are reported with vouchers for each county of occurrence. These comprise 22 monocots (including nine Poaceae and eight Cyperaceae) and 12 dicots. Noteworthy records are reported for another seven plant taxa, and one taxon is deleted from the flora of North Carolina.
A survey of the woody plants was conducted during a ten year period (1985-95) at the Rock Creek Research Natural Area (RCRNA) gorge, a 77 ha old-growth stand of Hemlock-Mixed Mesophytic Forest, and its 353 ha upland watershed. The study site is located in the London Ranger District of the Daniel Boone National Forest in Laurel County, Kentucky, at the extreme western edge of the Northern Cum berland Plateau. The annotated catalogue consists of 117 (112 native, 5 exotic) woody species in 77 genera from 43 families. Five plant community types described are the old-growth Hemlock-Mixed Mesophytic Forest and Riverine Floodplain Forest of RCRNA, and the Pine-Oak Forest, Oak-Hickory-Pine Forest, and clear-cuts (7-year old and 35-year old) of the watershed uplands. Geographical floristic affinities of the woody plants reveal that 87 are intraneous, 25 are extraneous, and five are naturalized. The S0rensons Index of Similarity is 78.8% between RCRNA and its uplands and Robinson Forest, and 84.7% between RCRNA and its uplands and Lilley Cornett Woods, two other mixed mesophytic forest stands with old growth remnants in the Northern Cumberland Plateau.
A survey of the riparian vascular flora of the Clear Fork River and New River in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (BSFNRRA) was conducted between February 1997 and November 1998. Documented were 398 species distributed among 261 genera and 98 families from a 330 ha study area. Of the 398 species, eight species are listed as rare in Tennessee. Previously unknown populations of Aster saxicastellii, Calamovilfa arcuata, Conradina verticillata, and Marshallia grandiflora were located. Species composition of the vascular riparian flora of the Clear Fork River and New River is similar to the species composition of the vascular riparian floras of the Obed River and North White Oak Creek.
Woody plant succession is a particular conservation management concern in Carolina bays because many rare plant species are most abundant, or limited to, herbaceous communities with little or no tree cover. In a Carolina bay in Maryland, effects of woody plant succession on plant species abundance and community characteristics were studied during 1987-99. The dominant species, Rhexia virginica L., decreased in cover by 89% in the depression-meadow community and by 81% in the contiguous expanding zone of seedlings of persimmon (Diospyros virginiana L.), red maple (Acer rubrum L.), and sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.). Woody plant expansion was probably related to a 1986-88 drought. Since R. virginica declined significantly in unshaded and partially shaded zones, irradiance level apparently does not solely explain its decrease in abundance; field observations warrant testing for allelochemic substances passively leached from tree species. Fimbristylis autumnalis (L.) Roemer & Schultes increased in both depression-meadow and woody seedling zones by a factor of 24 and 25, respectively, and it became a co-dominant by 1992. Manual removal of successional woody species and prescribed burning during episodic droughts may be critical to the restoration and maintenance of species richness in the depression-meadow community.
Chinese tallow (Sapium sebiferum Roxb.), a naturalized exotic from eastern Asia, forms very dense monotypic stands and has become a serious competitor to native species in stream swamps along the United States Gulf coast. In this experiment, we examined the competitive relationships among seedlings of baldcypress [Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.], water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica L.), and Chinese tallow in full sun environments under flooded and drained conditions for 2 years. In the drained/mixed stand treatment, leaf biomass of Chinese tallow was 2 and 4 times greater in year 1, and 11 and 27 times greater in year 2 than water tupelo and baldcypress, respectively. Stem biomass was also 1.5 and 10 times greater in year 1 and 8, and 62 times greater in year 2 than water tupelo and baldcypress, respectively. Growth of Chinese tallow under flooded conditions, however, was significantly reduced. Baldcypress and water tupelo both grew better under flooded conditions, with water tupelo growing better than baldcypress. Indications are that Chinese tallow grows faster than native wetland species under moist, well-drained conditions, but flooding significantly reduced growth of the species.