Alluvial plant communities of Piedmont brownwater rivers Elizabeth R. Matthews 1, Robert K. Peet 1, Alan S. Weakley 1, and Thomas Wentworth 2. University.

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

Development outside of

Greensboro-Burlington area

Deep River in Chatham Co., North Carolina

Confluence of the Deep and Haw Rivers,

North Carolina

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

Cape Fear River Basin

CVS protocol

• 20m X 50m plots• Nested corners in 4

intensive modules• Cover by strata• Soil samples and

geomorphic position

Geomorphic position

Channel shelfLevee Backswamp Terrace

Wharton et al 1982

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

Levee communities

Oak dominated bottomland

communities

Swamp community

Rocky shore

community

(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