Whatever will I do? For thirty years, I have been juggling 3 issues of Castanea at the same time.Our lives—mine and Castanea’s—had become ‘one.’ We ‘mutually benefited’ each other. Castanea published 4 issues each year;maintained its niche and improved its presence and quality. I was able to work at home and raise my daughter, managed the household, and go on impromptu field trips with Larry. The flexibility of this part time position and being my own boss allowed both of us to excel. Through the years, Castanea and I have gotten older but better, weathering a lot of changes. Do you believe it, I am only Castanea’s third editor. Dr. Earl Core was the first, working for 36 years to establish this journal. Dr. Jessie Clovis continued it for ten more years. I became involved in 1980 when Dr. Jim Matthews felt that new procedures were needed to allow Castanea
ABSTRACT Conversion to agriculture and plantations, development, and fire suppression have reduced the extent of savannas in the southeastern United States, and there is a need to catalog and classify the remaining savannas for both restoration and resource management purposes. The Big Savannah was a wet savanna in North Carolina that was destroyed in the 1950s, and subsequent vegetation classifications have generally not accommodated well the unique natural plant community of the Big Savannah. Vegetation reminiscent of that described for the Big Savannah was discovered north of the original site and designated as Wells Savannah. To evaluate the uniqueness of the savanna vegetation at Wells Savannah, we compiled a data set from permanent quadrats with information on vegetation and environmental variables from other Outer Coastal Plain savannas to compare with similar data from the natural community at Wells Savannah. We also inventoried an additional 26 quadrats on a tract adjacent
ABSTRACT Multivariate analysis of vegetation and environmental variables from green pitcher plant (Sarracenia oreophila) bogs in northeast Alabama revealed three communities with unique species compositions and soil characteristics. Discriminant analysis of environmental variables revealed that A-horizon percent N, A and B horizon pH, humus layer thickness, and B-horizon K (kg/ha) were significantly related to the communities. A Quercus rubra, Arundinaria appalachiana, Pinus echinata community was found on upland seepage bogs located exclusively on Lookout Mountain close to the rim of the Little River Canyon and scattered along perennial streams. A Quercus falcata, Diospyros virginiana, Rhododendron canescens community was found on both Lookout and Sand Mountain in flat broad swales bisected by ephemeral streams. A Rhexia virginica, Dichanthelium scoparium, Carex glaucescens community was found primarily on Sand Mountain in open flood prone areas.
ABSTRACT Most typical rock outcrop plants of the eastern United States occur either on calcareous or on non-calcareous outcrops, but not both. Often this is because their growth is inhibited in soil from the non-native substrate, as shown in this study for the granite outcrop endemic sedge Cyperus granitophilus when grown on limestone soil. For those rock outcrop species that can exploit both calcareous and non-calcareous substrates, it might be expected that they would do so by substrate specialization, with each population growing better on its native substrate than the other substrate. However, in most previously tested species, populations from both substrates grow well on the same substrate and both are inhibited on the second substrate. Populations found on the second substrate, though inhibited, are nevertheless able to maintain good health and grow sufficiently to maintain themselves there. In this study we show that the widespread sedge Cyperus aristatus (5C.
ABSTRACT Forest vegetation near Tallahassee, Florida was inventoried on a former cultivated field, called NB66h, which had been abandoned 43 yr earlier. Subsequently, the site suffered no disturbance and no colonization by alien invasive species. The canopy consisted of pines (Pinus taeda, P. echinata) and hardwoods, primarily Liquidambar styraciflua, Quercus nigra. Most tree species were characteristic of plant communities that historically occurred at lower slope positions in the landscape and not of presettlement upland shortleaf pine-oak-hickory woodland. Offsite species colonized surrounding uplands following abandonment of cotton plantations towards the end of the 19th century. Presettlement vegetation was represented by few species and individuals, and offsite species were abundant in every size class. Plant succession was arrested with little sign of directional development towards a predictable seral endpoint. Hypothesized seral trends towards proposed ‘‘climax’’ forests of magnolia-beech and southern mixed hardwoods were not supported
ABSTRACT Dense stands of Arundinaria species, or canebrakes, once were a dominant landscape feature along floodplains of the southeastern United States. However, human activities have reduced canebrakes to fragmented remnants representing ,2% of their extent prior to European settlement. Canebrake restoration thus is a top priority for preserving and improving wetland biodiversity in the United States. Successful restoration requires an understanding of factors influencing establishment of the two most common United States Arundinaria species; therefore, this greenhouse study examined effects of inundation on A. gigantea and A. tecta. Both Arundinaria species were subjected to 0, 2, 4, or 6 weeks of inundation under long-day, warm temperature growing season conditions. Plant growth, mean net photosynthesis (Pn), and stomatal conductance (Gs) were measured on a weekly basis, and at the conclusion of the experiment, above- and belowground biomass were measured. We found significant correlations of Pn and Gs with duration of flooding
ABSTRACT Previous research has found significant differences in flowering time between sympatric, non-hybridizing populations of congeners in the genus Gelsemium (Gelsemium sempervirens and G. rankinii). An experimental approach using a common garden, reciprocal transplant experiments, and observations of natural populations were used to test the hypothesis that soil environmental variables (soil moisture and soil temperature) related to habitat specificity of the two species influence differences in flowering phenology. Replicated pairs of both species were planted into a common garden and into wet and dry habitats that typify the two species (dry for earlier flowering G. sempervirens and wet for later flowering G. rankinii). Two sites with sympatric natural populations of both species were also studied for comparison. The number of open flowers was counted every two weeks in 2007 and 2008 in all sites and in 2009 for the reciprocal transplant experiment. Soil moisture and soil temperature varied by site,
Baccharis glomeruliflora Persoon (ASTERACEAE)— Pender County: collected in the southeastern lower coastal plain of North Carolina, ca. 4.7 air km southeast of Maple Hill, North Carolina. Three medium-sized shrubs (1.5 m in height) were found along the north side of NC 50 in a power line corridor adjacent to pine plantation and nonriverine swamp forest habitats at an elevation of 3.1 m above sea level— 34.637353uN, 77.65285uW; 13 October 2010, J. Taggart SARU 668 with B.L. Wichmann (WNC30927) and 26 October 2010, J. Taggart SARU 669 with B.L. Wichmann (NCU593247, WNC30925, and NCSC130718). Significance. These collections from the same location represent a new Pender Country record, rediscovery in North Carolina, and northern range extension in the United States for this species which has significantly rareperipheral status (may be changed to state endangered) and SH rank (historical; now likely S1) in North Carolina and G4 global status (Buchanan and Finnegan 2010;
Cyrtomium fortunei J.Sm. (DRYOPTERIDACEAE)— Hart County: UTM UPS 16S 0590378 4121842 at an elevation of approximately 174 meters, on Western Kentucky University’s Upper Green River Biological Preserve, growing along the Green River in colluvium at the base of a small (approximately 4–5 m), north-facing Mississippian limestone bluff from the St. Genevieve Formation, as well as growing from soil deposits on the outcrop itself, September 15, 2009, Hulsey 28598 (WKU). Significance. This is a new record for Kentucky and a northward extension of the range of this species in the eastern United States (Campbell and Medley pers. comm., Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1993, Jones 2005, Medley 1993). We found four plants of Cyrtomium fortunei with both fertile and non-fertile fronds. Riverfront hardwoods, particularly Acer negundo L., dominated the forest community at the base of the bluff.