Overall Taxon Cover Values are Automatically Calculated?
no
Stem Observation Area
1000
m²
Plot Quality Fields:
Effort Level
Very thorough
Floristic Quality
High
Bryophyte Quality
Not examined
Lichen Quality
Not examined
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
--no data--
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This is a very nice example of what appears to be a very rare community, i.e. a “marl” mesic savanna or flatwoods with Setaria parviflora as an important grass, Arnoglossum ovatum as an abundant forb, and Plantago sparsiflora occurring in its natural habitat (as opposed to along limerock roads where it is almost always found nowadays). The ground layer dominants are Schizachyrium scoparium, Muhlenbergia expansa, and Ctenium aromaticum but we include Setaria rather than Ctenium in the association title due to the diagnostic value of the former. Another interesting feature of this particular stand is the very high abundance of Eryngium yuccifolium. The open canopy is dominated by loblolly pine with sparse longleaf in the higher zones. The site is maintained with frequent fire and is largely pristine with respect to soil disturbance with the exception of a series of plow lines put down last year for wildfire suppression. To the south the site is bordered by a narrow hardwood dominated drainage and to the north it grades into drier pine flatwoods.
An issue with respect to many otherwise high quality FMNF wet savannas and flatwoods is the preponderance of loblolly pine as a canopy dominant. Under the NatureServe system it would seem that just having a lob dominated canopy is enough to get a site classified as “semi-natural”. This creates real problems in FMNF where: (a) There is historical info that loblolly always was an important species in some of the wetter ecotones—e.g. timber company records indicate that the main timber species during the logging boom of the early 20th century was loblolly, not longleaf. (b) Loblolly may have replaced longleaf as a dominant species in many sites as a result of periods of fire suppression and logging, but without much effect on ground-layer vegetation. Given historical uncertainties, particularly at the stand level, the most conservative course appears to be to recognize loblolly as part of the flatwoods/wet savanna alliance and as an association dominant where it currently occupies that role. Furthermore we would not classify the stand as semi-natural just because loblolly dominates the canopy if the stand is otherwise undisturbed with respect to soils and ground layer vegetation integrity.
