Alluvial plant communities Alluvial plant communities of Piedmont brownwater of Piedmont brownwater
riversrivers
Elizabeth R. Matthews1,Robert K. Peet1,
Alan S. Weakley1, and Thomas Wentworth2.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill1, North Carolina State University2
Anthropogenic impacts to Piedmont riparian bottomlands
• Conversion to agriculture, housing developments, etc.
• Impoundments flood many historical bottomland areas
• Altered flow regime of many rivers
Bottomland communities of Piedmont brownwater rivers
• Description of vegetation composition and structure can inform management decisions and future restoration projects
• NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program
• Currently not well documented and described
CVS protocol
• 20m X 50m plots• Nested corners in 4
intensive modules• Cover by strata• Soil samples and
geomorphic position
Results
• Ordination and cluster techniques yielded nine provisional community types – PC-ORD software
• Compared these groups with current classifications– Classification of the Natural Communities of
North Carolina, 3rd approximation, Schafale and Weakley
– National Vegetation Classification
Justicia americana herbaceous community (5 plots)
Acer rubrum-Fraxinus pennsylvanica/Saururus cernuus swamp forest (2 plots)
Quercus lyrata-Quercus phellos swamp forest (5 plots)
Quercus michauxii-Quercus pagoda bottomland forest (7 plots)
Platanus occidentalis-Celtis laevigata-Fraxinus pennsylvanica/Acer negundo forest (12 plots)
Bottomland forest (11 plots)**
Pinus taeda bottomland forest (5 plots)
Carya spp. small-stream bottomland forest (7 plots)
Platanus occidentalis-Liriodendron tulipifera forest (5 plots)
Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling_Bray Curtis
Axis 1
Axi
s 2
group8
123517212743
Axi
s 2
Axis 1
Non-metric multidimensional scaling
(1) Acer rubrum-Fraxinus pennsylvanica / Saururs cernuus swamp forest
(3) Quercus michauxii-Quercus pagoda bottomland forest
(2) Quercus lyrata-Quercus phellos swamp forest
(8) Platanus occidentalis-Liriodendron tulipifera forest
(7) Carya spp. small-stream bottomland forest
(5) Bottomland forest**
(6) Pinus taeda bottomland forest
•Bray-Curtis distance measure
•3D shown in 2D
•1 run with real data
(4) Platanus occidentalis – Celtis laevigata – Fraxinus pennsylvanica / Acer negundo forest
(1) Acer rubrum - Fraxinus pennsylvanica / Saururus cernuus
swamp forest
• Dominance: Acer rubrum, Fraxinus pennslyvanica, Saururus cernuus
• Environment: high clay content
• Plots: 2
• Nearest community concepts– 3rd approx: Piedmont swamp forest– NVC: Acer rubrum - Fraxinus pennsylvanica /
Saururus cernuus Forest
(2) Quercus lyrata-Quercus phellos swamp forest
• Dominance: Quercus lyrata*, Quercus phellos*, Liquidambar styraciflua, Nyssa sylvatica*, Ilex verticillata*, Carpinus caroliniana*
• Environment: backswamp, nutrient poor• Plots: 5• Nearest community concepts
– 3rd approx: Piedmont swamp forest– NVC: Quercus pagoda - Quercus phellos - Quercus
lyrata - Quercus michauxii / Chasmanthium latifolium Forest
(3) Quercus michauxii-Quercus pagoda bottomland forest
• Dominance: Quercus michauxii*, Quercus pagoda*, Quercus phellos, Acer rubrum, Ulmus rubra, Toxicodendron radicans*, Carex tribuloides*, Boehmeria cylindrica*
• Environment: backswamp, nutrient poor• Plots: 7• Nearest community concepts
– 3rd approx: Piedmont bottomland forest– NVC: Quercus pagoda - Quercus phellos - Quercus
lyrata - Quercus michauxii / Chasmanthium latifolium Forest
Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling_Bray Curtis
Axis 1
Axi
s 2
group8
123517212743
Axi
s 2
Axis 1
Non-metric multidimensional scaling
(1) Acer rubrum-Fraxinus pennsylvanica / Saururs cernuus swamp forest
(3) Quercus michauxii-Quercus pagoda bottomland forest
(2) Quercus lyrata-Quercus phellos swamp forest
(8) Platanus occidentalis-Liriodendron tulipifera forest
(7) Carya spp. small-stream bottomland forest
(5) Bottomland forest**
(6) Pinus taeda bottomland forest
•Bray-Curtis distance measure
•3D shown in 2D
•1 run with real data
(4) Platanus occidentalis – Celtis laevigata – Fraxinus pennsylvanica / Acer negundo forest
(4) Platanus occidentalis – Celtis laevigata – Fraxinus pennsylvanica /
Acer negundo Forest
• Dominance: Platanus occidentalis*, Celtis laevigata*, Fraxinus pennslyvanica*, Acer negundo*
• Environment: levee, high calcium content• Plots: 8• Nearest community concepts
– 3rd approx: Piedmont levee forest– NVC: Platanus occidentalis - Celtis laevigata -
Fraxinus pennsylvanica / Lindera benzoin - Ilex decidua / Carex retroflexa Forest
(6) Pinus taeda bottomland forest
• Dominance: common bottomland species plus significant cover from Pinus taeda
• Environment:
• Plots: 3
• Nearest community concepts– 3rd approx: Piedmont bottomland forest– NVC: no good fit
(7) Carya spp. small-stream bottomland forest
• Dominance: common bottomland species plus significant cover from Carya spp., especially Carya ovata*, Carya alba*
• Environment: mafic bedrock, small stream
• Plots: 7
• Nearest community concepts– 3rd approx: Piedmont bottomland forest– NVC: no good fit
(8) Platanus occidentalis-Liriodendron tulipifera Forest
• Dominance: Platanus occidentalis, Liquidambar styraciflua, Liriodendron tulipifera*, Betula nigra*, Asimina triloba
• Environment: early succesional forest• Plots: 5• Nearest community concepts
– 3rd approx: Piedmont levee forest– NVC: Platanus occidentalis - (Liquidambar styraciflua,
Liriodendron tulipifera) Temporarily Flooded Forest Alliance
(9) Justicia americana herbaceous vegetation
• Dominance: Justicia americana*
• Environment: rocky substrate
• Plots: 5
• Nearest community concepts– 3rd approx: Rocky Bar and Shore– NVC: Justicia americana Herbaceous
Vegetation
Future directions
• Further refine classification and description with GIS derived variables
• Expand dataset with more plots
• Do other watersheds fit with Cape Fear classification– Neuse and Tar-Pamlico
summer 2007
Thank you
• This project was made possible by a grant from the NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program
• Forbes Boyle, Brenda Wichmann, Jessi Outzs, PEL lab at UNC