Floristics of Difficult Creek Natural Area Preserve: a Piedmont mafic woodland complex in Halifax County, Virginia, U.S.A.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17348/jbrit.v14.i2.1024Resumen
La “Difficult Creek Natural Area Preserve (DCNAP)” de 331 hectáreas (819 acres) se estableció en el condado de Halifax County, Virginia para proteger y gestionar el hábitat de especies de plantas vasculares raras y animales, y para restaurar comunidades vegetales. Las unidades geológicas de la reserva comprenden rocas metavolcánicas máficas de la Formación Virgilina y las metavolcánicas félsicas y metasedimentarias de la Formación Aaron. Los suelos derivados de la Virgilina tienen gran potencial de contracción-expansión, una capa caliza densa, son relativamente ricos en bases, y tienen un componente importante de gravas o piedras; estas condiciones del suelo soportan la alta densidad de especies vegetales raras que se conocen en la reserva. Las primeras especies de plantas vasculares importantes se documentaron de la propiedad en 1972 por el botánico Alton Harvill de la Universidad de Longwood, pero las investigaciones detalladas de la flora no empezaron hasta que el lugar fue revisitado por el segundo autor en 1993. El inventario de plantas raras ha sido el foco primario de los botánicos desde aquel tiempo. En 2001, la propiedad fue adquirida por el “Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage (DCR)” y dedicado a “Natural Area Preserve”, en cuyo momento se inició la gestión activa de las comunidades naturales y especie asociadas raras. Como las plantas raras se desarrollan en condiciones de arbolado abierto o semejantes a sabana, los incendios prescritos y recogida de madera se han usado por los gestores del DCR para restaurar el hábitat después de décadas de supresión del fuego y onversión de arboledas de caducifolios en plantaciones de pinos (P. taeda). En 2018, se inició un estudio florístico riguroso para resaltar la importancia de esta flora más allá de la documentación de plantas raras. El inventario de dos años documentó 653 taxa de plantas, que comprenden 326 géneros de 106 familias. Catorce de estas especies tienen preocupación de conservación a nivel global o estatal; 12 taxa adicionales se consideran poco comunes y de potencial preocupación de conservación (Townsend 2019). Estas especies raras o poco comunes son componentes de dos comunidades vegetales globalmente raras. Además, la mariposa rara, Erynnis martialis (Mottled Duskywing), está en la reserva, la única población existente conocida de Virginia. Debido a impactos de la agricultura y exclusión del fuego generalizado, existen pocas analogías con esta flora en el Piamonte del sur de Virginia.
Citas
Aldrich, S.R., C.W. Lafon, H.D. Grissino-Mayer, G.G. DeWeese, & J.A. Hoss. 2010. Three centuries of fire in montane pine-oak stands on a temperate forest landscape. Appl. Veg. Sc. 13:36–46.
Bailey, C.M., W.C. Sherwood, L.S. Eaton, & D.S. Powa rs. 2016. The geology of Virginia. Virginia Mus. Nat. Hist. Publ. Special Publ. 18. Martinsville, VA, U.S.A.
Barden, L.S. 1997. Historic prairies in the Piedmont of North South Carolina, USA. Nat. Areas J. 17:149–152.
Beverly, R., Jr. 1705 (revised & enlarged 1722). The history and present state of Virginia, in four parts. https://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/beverley/beverley.html) Accessed 13 Feb 2020.
Burns, R.M. & B.H. Honkala, tech. coord. 1990a. Silvics of North America: Volume 1. Conifers. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Agric. Handb. 654.
Burns, R.M. & B.H. Honkala, tech. coord. 1990b. Silvics of North America: Volume 2. Hardwoods. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Agric. Handb. 654.
Butaye, J.D. Adriaens, & O. Honnay. 2005. Conservation and restoration of calcareous grasslands: A concise review of the effects of fragmentation and management on plant species. Biotechno. Agron. Soc. Environm. 9:111–118.
Byrd, W. & E. Ruffin, ed. 1841. The Westover manuscripts: Containing the history of the dividing line betwixt Virginia and North Carolina; A journey to the land of Eden, A.D.; and A progress to the mines. [Printed by E. and J.C. Ruffin, Petersburg, VA, U.S.A.] [Web.] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://lccn.loc.gov/rc01002772.
Coladonato, M. 1992. Carya tomentosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/cartom/all.html. Accessed 22 Jan 2019.
Copenheaver, C.A., S.A. Predmore, & D.N. Askam it. 2009. Conversion of rare grassy openings to forest: Have these areas lost their conservation value? Nat. Areas J. 29:133–139.
Cumming, W.P. 1991. Johann (John) Lederer. In: William S. Powell, ed. Dictionary of North Carolina biography. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, U.S.A. https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/lederer-johann-or-john. Accessed 23 Feb 2020.
Davis, Jr., J.E., C. McRae, B.L. Estep, L.S. Barden, & J.F. Matthews. 2002. Vascular flora of Piedmont Prairies: Evidence from several prairie remnants. Castanea 67:1–12
Dayton, B.R. 1966. The relationship of vegetation to Iredell and other Piedmont soils in Granville County, Virginia. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 82:108–118.
Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. E. Dana Durand, Director. 1913. Thirteenth Census of the United States taken in the year 1910. Volume VII. Agriculture 1909 and 1910. Reports by States, With Statistics for Counties. Nebraska-Wyoming. Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico. Government Printing Office, Washington, U.S.A.
Eastham, D.H., H.L. Gillespie Jr., G.A. Hammer, l.A. Dail, & R. Jones. 2009. Soil survey of Halifax County and the city of South Boston, Virginia. United States Dept. of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in Cooperation with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Fernald, M.L. 1937. Plants of the Inner Coastal Plain of Virginia. Rhodora 39:321–491.
Fernald, M.L. 1941. Another century of additions to the flora of Virginia. Rhodora 43:485–657.
Fleming, G.P. & K.D. Patterson 2017. Natural communities of Virginia: Ecological groups and community types. Natural Heritage Technical Report 17-07. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, VA, U.S.A.
Fleming, G.P. & N. Van Alstine. 1994. A natural heritage inventory of Fort Pickett, Virginia. Natural Heritage Technical Report 94-3. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, Virginia. Unpublished report submitted to the U.S. Army, U.S.A.
Foster, D.R. & G. Motzkin. 2003. Interpreting and conserving the openland habitats of coastal New England: Insights from landscape history. Forest Ecol. Managem. 185:127–150.
Fowler, C. & E. Konopik. 2007. The history of fire in the southern United States. Human Ecol. Rev. 14:165–176.
Frost, C.C. 1998. Presettlement fire frequency regimes of the United States: A first approximation. In: Teresa L. Pruden and Leonard A. Brennan, eds. Fire in ecosystem management: Shifting the paradigm from suppressioin to perception. Tall Timbers Fire Ecol. Conf. Proc. No. 20. Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL, U.S.A. Pp. 70–81.
Gould, F.W. 1941. Plant indicators of original prairies. Ecology 22:427–429.
Harvill, A.M. 1973. Some new and very local populations of rare species in Virginia. Castanea 38:305–307.
Kartesz, J.T. 2015. The biota of North America Program (BONAP). Taxonomic Data Center. (http://www.bonap.net/tdc). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)]
Klopf, R.P., R.K. Myers, J.C. Ludwig, & C.A. Woodall. 2018. Management plan for Difficult Creek Natural Area Preserve. Natural Heritage Technical Report #18-15. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage. Richmond, VA, U.S.A.
Kneller, M. & D. Peteet. 1993. Late-Quaternary climate in the Ridge and Valley of Virginia, U.S.A.: Changes in vegetation and depositional environment. Quatern. Sci. Rev. 12:613–628.
Kreisa, R.D. 1980. Geology of the Omega, South Boston, Cluster Springs and Virgilina Quadrangles, Virginia: Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Publication 5. Charlottesville, VA, U.S.A.
laney, F.B. 1917. The geology and ore deposits of the Virgilina district of Virginia and North Carolina. Virginia Geological Survey, Univ. Virginia, Bull. No. 14. Prepared jointly by the Virginia geological survey and the North Carolina geological and economic survey. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, U.S.A.
Leblond, R.J., J.F. Townsend, & J.C. Ludwig. 2020. Two new species of Dichanthelium (Poaceae) from the Mountains and Piedmont of Virginia, one with an outlier in Pennsylvania. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 14(2):189–198.
Maxwell, H. 1910. The use and abuses of forests by the Virginia Indians. William & Mary Quart. 19(2):73–103.
Mehlich, A. 1984. Mehlich 3 soil test extractant: A modification of Mehlich 2 extractant. Commun. Soil Sci. Pl. Analysis 15:1409–1416.
Nowacki, G.J. & M.D. Abrams. 2008. The demise of fire and the “mesophication” of forests in the eastern United States. Bioscience 58(2):123–138.
Nesom, G.L., D.D. Spaulding, & H.E. Horne. 2014. Further observations on the Oxalis dillenii group (Oxalidaceae). Phytoneuron 2014-12:1–10.
Peet, R.K., T.R. Wentworth, & P.S. White. 1998. A flexible, multipurpose method for recording vegetation composition and structure. Castanea 63(3):262–274.
Reed, C.L. 2018. Guide to the vascular flora of the Eno River Diabase Sill Plant Preserve, Durham County, North Carolina. Unpublished Masters Thesis, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, U.S.A.
Roble, S.M. 2016. Natural Heritage Resources of Virginia: Rare animals. Natural Heritage Technical Report 16-07. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, VA, U.S.A.
Schmidt, J.M. 2002. A flora of the Rock Hill Blackjacks heritage preserve, York County, South Carolina. Castanea 67(3):247–279.
Sørensen, T. 1948. A method of establishing groups of equal amplitude in plant sociology based on similarity of species and its application to analyses of the vegetation on Danish commons. Biol. Skr. 5(4):1–34.
Sorrie, B.A., J.B. Gray, & P.J. Crutchfield. 2006. The vascular flora of the longleaf pine ecosystem of Fort Bragg and Weymouth Woods, North Carolina. Castanea 71(2):129–161.
Southeast Regional Climate Center. 2019. http://www.sercc.com/cgi-bin/sercc/cliMAIN.pl?va3695 Accessed 24 Jan 2019.
Stanley, J.S., A. Krings , J.M. Stucky, & R.R. Braham . 2019. Guide to the vascular flora of Picture Creek Diabase Barrens, Granville County, North Carolina, U.S.A. Sida, Bot. Misc. 51. Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth, U.S.A.
Thiers, B. (2016) Index herbariorum: A global directory of public herbaria and associated staff. New York Botanical Garden’s Virtual Herbarium.http://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/ih/
Thornhill R., A. Krings, D. Lindbo, & J. Stucky. 2014. Guide to the vascular flora of the savannas and flatwoods of Shaken Creek Preserve and Vicinity (Pender & Onslow Counties, North Carolina, U.S.A.). Biodivers. Data J. 2: e1099. doi:10.3897/BDJ.2.e1099
Tirmenstein, D.A. 1991a. Carya ovata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/carova/all.html [2019, January 22].
Tirmenstein, D.A. 1991b. Carya glabra. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/cargla/all.html [2019, January 22].
Townsend, J.F. 2004. Natural Heritage Resources of Virginia: Rare plants. Natural Heritage Tech. Rep. 04-06. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, U.S.A. Unpublished report. April 2004.
Townsend, J.F. 2019. Natural Heritage Resources of Virginia: Rare plants. Natural Heritage Tech. Rep. 19-11. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, Virginia. Unpublished report. March 2019.
Trimble, S.W. 1974 (2nd ed. 2008). Man-induced soil erosion on the southern Piedmont 1700–1970. Enhanced second edition with a new Foreword by Andrew Goudie. Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ankeny, IA, U.S.A. USNVC [United States National Vegetation Classification]. 2019. United States National Vegetation Classification Database, V2.0. Federal Geographic Data Committee, Vegetation Subcommittee, Washington, DC, U.S.A. URL: http://usnvc.org Accessed 10 Dec 2019.
Virginia Botanical Associates. 2019. Digital atlas of the Virginia flora (http://www.vaplantatlas.org). c/o Virginia Botanical Associates, Blacksburg, U.S.A. Accessed 29 Jul 2020.
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage (VA DCR-DNH). 2019. VA Plots, the DCR-DNH Vegetation Plots Database. Data exported on 22 Nov 2019. Richmond, VA, U.S.A.
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation - Division of Natural Heritage and Virginia Department of Gam e and Inland Fisheries (VA DCR-DGIF). 2013. Atlas of rare butterflies, skippers, moths, dragonflies, and damselflies of Virginia (DCR-DGIF). Accessed at www.vararespecies.org on 11 Feb 2020.
Virginia Land Office. 2019. Surveys of the Virginia Land Office before 1779, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Archives Branch, Richmond, VA, U.S.A. Accessed 2019.
Walker, J.L. & R.K. Peet. 1983. Composition and species diversity of pine-wiregrass savannas of the Green Swamp, North Carolina. Vegetatio 55:163–179.
Weakley, A.S. & D.B. Poindexter. 2012. A new species of Marshallia (Asteraceae, Helenieae, Marshalliinae) from mafic woodlands and barrens of North Carolina and Virginia. Phytoneuron 2012-105:1–17.
Weakley, A.S., J.C. Ludwig, & J.F. Townsend. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Bland Crowder, ed. Foundation of the Flora of Virginia Project Inc, Richmond. Botanical Research Institute of Texas Press, Fort Worth, U.S.A.
Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, working draft of May 2015. University of North Carolina Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, N.C. Accessed at http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora/htm.
