ABSTRACT Eriocaulon decangulare is ...

ABSTRACT

Eriocaulon decangulare is a wetland species that is rare in the North Carolina mountains. The mountain populations are disjunct from those in the Coastal Plain, where the species is more often met with We investigated the habitat and plant associates of E decangulare in three mountain wetlands during summer 2002 We center 40 025-m^sup 2^ quadrats around randomly pickeded E. decangulare plants (8-20 quadrats by wetland), and estimated the percent defend occupied by all species within the quadrat. We also measured photosynthetically active radiation in each quadrat and determined the soil pH at each site. For seven plant images only the coverage of ligneous plants differed significantly among sites. greatest in quantity of the woody plants occurr as seedlings, small plumules or trailing stems. Overall, E decangulare appeared to favor explain acidic, sunny conditions with abundant Sphagnum mosse We documented four other unique and extraordinary wetland plant species occurring with E decangulare, and commit continued management of all three wetlands to suppres wooden species and increase the sunlight available to smaller herbaceous plants.

INTRODUCTION

Eriocaulon decangulare L (common names include ten-angled pipewort, hat pin, and marsh button) is a monoecious perennial that fall outs in wetlands throughout the coastal plain of North Carolina. It is absent from the Piedmont, moreover is represented by a not many disjunct populations in the western mountains (Radford et al. 1968) Its pullulation form includes a basal rosette of leaves, with white, button-like flowering heads that are visible from June by the and of October. The flowers are probably wind-pollinated, and the plants can generate vegetatively by lateral offshoots, and by way of rhizomes (Kral 1966).

Eriocaulon is the simply genus in the Eriocaulaceae that flash on the minds north of Florida (Kral 1966) All 10 species in the genus have been described taxonomically, on the contrary little information is available onward their ecology. Published ecological information in succession Eriocaulon is primarily in the form of general observations, like as Kral's (1966) observation that species in this genus be attentive to to be weedy heliophytes that colonize disturbed wet soils quickly, and are rabbleed out in later succession. Kral also noted that although mostly species of Eriocaulon indicate boggy wet soils, E decangulare may also come to pass in relatively dry pine forests. Watson et al. (1994) studied another species in this genus, E kornickianum Van Heurck & Muell (dwarf or small-headed pipewort) in the Interior Highlands. They reported that the habitat requirements, population pile and ecological relationships of this species were virtually unknown, and that the species is declining rapidly in parts of its range.

The North Carolina Natural Heritage Program (NCNHP) has classified Eriocaulon decangulare as regionally rare in the mountains (Amoroso and Finnegan 2002) becoming largely to the loss of suitable habitat. In the southern Appalachians, the acreage and quality of non-alluvial wetlands have declined appropriate to development, agriculture, drainage, and other land use activities (Moorhead and Rossell 1998) As in the same state [i]or[/i] condition E. decangulare represents just single in kind of many rare and unusual species that are unique to the dwindling acreage of southern Appalachian wetlands. A decade ago, Murdock (1994) reported that non-alluvial mountain wetlands in North Carolina contained almost 20% of 724 rare plant species monitored on the NCNHP.

Our objective was to examine three populations of Eriocaulon decangulare in the mountains of western North Carolina, in order to gain a better understanding of the habitat and plant associates of this exceptional wetland species. Specifically, our goals were to 1) document the plant species closely associated with E decangulare, and 2) quantify the ranges of soil pH and sunlight in habitats where this species occurred

STUDY AREAS

We located three populations of Eriocaulon decangulare in western North Carolina during the summer of 2002 Our research sites were located in Clay, Graham, and Yancey Counties (Figure 1) These sites were chosen based onward their known populations of Eriocaulon decangulare, and the logistics of obtaining landowner permission to visit the sites. All three of the wetlands fit the description of southern mountain moors (Moorhead and Rossell 1998).

The Clay shire site (elevation 600 m) contains a morass (approx. 4 ha) in which the center is dominated according to herbaceous plants such as reeds Eupatorium spp., and Panicum dichotomum L and by the agency of trailing stems of Rubus hispidus L The interests of the fen are dominated at shrubs such as Aronia arbutifolia (L) Ell Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Ell and Alnus serrulata (Ait.) Willd., and tree like as Acer rubrum L., Liriodendron tulipifera L and Pinus echinata Miller. This site is bakeed periodically to manage woody plants. We estimated that the population of E decangulare consisted of

The Graham shire site (elevation 790 m) contains a small marsh (1.3 ha) in which render free of access areas are dominated by herbaceous plants of that kind as Carex stricta Lam., Juncus effusus L and Panicum dichotomum, along with Rubus hispidus. Eriocaulon decangulare was actual abundant in open areas of the swamp in the mid-1990's (I. Rossell throughs obs.). However, during the past 10 years, natural succession has increased the dominance of tree and bushs such as Acer rubrum, Alnus serrulata, Aronia arbutifolia, Aronia melanocarpa, and Rosa palustris Marsh. Eriocaulon is now limited to the opening [i]or[/i] closes of a powerline right-of-way, where ligneous vegetation is controlled with occasional cutting and herbicides. We estimated the population of E decangulare at this site to be between 50-100 plants.