Vascular Plant Inventory and Ecological Community Classification for Russell Cave National Monument

Schotz, Al; Hall, Mark; White, Rickie

During the species inventory work, we encountered and collected seven new species (Tables 2,3) that had not been confirmed previously from the park, adding to the list of 453 species already vouchered and fully documented for the park. We created seven vouchers for the herbarium at Russell Cave (Table 3) from the plants we collected and photographed and added those to the list of those already collected and/or documented by previous researchers (DiPietro 1994). Using various estimates and assumptions explained in the methods section, the estimate for total number of species in the park ranged from 460 to 530 species. Excluding varieties, subspecies, and unidentifiable collections, researchers past and present have confirmed approximately 460 species within the park. Using these estimates, the species area curve jackknife method estimates that we have most documented between 86 and 100% of the species currently within the boundary of the park (Table 4). In addition, we calculated alpha (average species richness per plot), beta (measure of the heterogeneity of the data (alpha/gamma)), and gamma (total species overall plots) diversity values for the park based on information gathered from the plot data (Table 4). The alpha value for all plots combined was 92, the beta value was 3.7, and the gamma value was 334. Using the information gathered in each plot, we discerned ten distinct vegetation associations (NatureServe 2005) within seven distinct natural ecological systems (Comer et al. 2003) (Table 6). Eight of the ten communities identified are considered "natural" as opposed to "semi-natural", "human modified/successional" or "exotic species dominated". Listed below are the common names of all of the communities. All communities have been mapped on the landscape by photointerpreters and/or documented with at least one vegetation plot. Those considered natural communities have names preceded by an asterisk in the list below. Red-cedar Successional Forest (CEGL007124) *Rich Low-Elevation Appalachian Oak Forest (CEGL007233) * White Oak - Mixed Oak Dry-Mesic Alkaline Forest (CEGL002070) * Shumard Oak - Chinquapin Oak Mesic Limestone Forest (CEGL008442) * Xeric Ridgetop Chestnut Oak Forest (CEGL008431) * Chestnut Oak - Shagbark Hickory - Sugar Maple Forest (CEGL007268) * Rich Levee Mixed Hardwood Bottomland Forest (CEGL008429) Cultivated Meadow (CEGL004048) * Appalachian Mafic Cliff (Low-Elevation Type) (CEGL004395) * Cumberland Plateau Sandstone Cliff (Dry Type) (CEGL004392) While working in the park, we also captured some digital images of plots and plants. These images are indexed (Table 7) and a selection of them can be seen in Appendix II. Finally, we have included in this report an appendix describing all of the ecological communities for the park in detail (Appendix IV) as well as the key to associations and ecological systems in 7 the park (Appendix III). This tool helps those with a basic und understanding of vegetation to classify community types within the park quickly and easily.

Vascular Plant Inventory and Ecological Community Classification for Russell Cave National Monument

Collections