Lower positions on island are sparsely vegetated cobble/boulder bars along the main channel side of island. Back channel side of island has a woodland of tall trees with grassy understory (plot 318). Middle of island supports a prairie community (plot 317). At head of island are Justicia americana stands and patches of Carex emoryi.;Upstream end of island with sparse, battered, stunted woodland of coppiced Betula nigra and Platanus occidentalis with very homogenous understory of Justicia americana and Scirpus pungens. Probably flooded in nearly every high water event. This unique community may be caused by the large boulder substrate which extends upriver creating a break for high energy flows as the river drops, thus allowing silt to drop out in an unusual fluvial position. At high flows the trees still get the brunt of the flooding. The community is driven by the river dynamics interacting with substrate.
Representativeness
ELU 1333 (low elevation slope bottom on shale). Singular small patch woodland varient, probably covers about 0.5 hectares.
