Gradient Analysis and Classification of Carolina Bay Vegetation: A Framework for Bay Wetlands Conservation and Restoration
This report address four project objectives: (1) Gradient model of Carolina bay vegetation on the SRS--The authors use ordination analyses to identify environmental and landscape factors that are correlated with vegetation composition. Significant factors can provide a framework for site-based conservation of existing diversity, and they may also be useful site predictors for potential vegetation in bay restorations. (2) Regional analysis of Carolina bay vegetation diversity--They expand the ordination analyses to assess the degree to which SRS bays encompass the range of vegetation diversity found in the regional landscape of South Carolina's western Upper Coastal Plain. Such comparisons can indicate floristic status relative to regional potentials and identify missing species or community elements that might be re-introduced or restored. (3) Classification of vegetation communities in Upper Coastal Plain bays--They use cluster analysis to identify plant community-types at the regional scale, and explore how this classification may be functional with respect to significant environmental and landscape factors. An environmentally-based classification at the whole-bay level can provide a system of templates for managing bays as individual units and for restoring bays to desired plant communities. (4) Qualitative model for bay vegetation dynamics--They analyze present-day vegetation in relation to historic land uses and disturbances. The distinctive history of SRS bays provides the possibility of assessing pathways of post-disturbance succession. They attempt to develop a coarse-scale model of vegetation shifts in response to changing site factors; such qualitative models can provide a basis for suggesting management interventions that may be needed to maintain desired vegetation in protected or restored bays.
- Research Organization:
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Station, Savannah River Site (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AI09-76SR00056
- OSTI ID:
- 781941
- Report Number(s):
- 96-67-P; TRN: AH200128%%259
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 Oct 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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