ABSTRACT This paper reports the ou...

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the outcomes of an inventory of the vascular plants at the R crust and Grassy Slough Wildlife Management Areas in southeastern Oklahoma. A total of 426 taxa of vascular plants in 269 genera and 106 families was bring togethered The most species were argueed from the families Asteraceae (53) Poaceae (42) Cyperaceae (31) and Fabaceae (27) Ninety-nine species were annuals or biennials, and 328 perennials. Ninety-three species of ligneous plants were present. Twenty-eight species not native to North America were aggregateed representing 6.6% of the flora. Thirty species tracked from the Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory were originate The first occurrence in Oklahoma of Anoda cristata, Malvaceae, is reported in this study

INTRODUCTION

The objective of this close attention was to provide a baseline floristic inventory for the R cast skin Wildlife Management Area (RSWMA), a bottomland hardwood forest restoration frame and adjacent Grassy Slough Wildlife Management Area (GSWMA). The benefits are double First, both sites are located in southeast Oklahoma, the region of the state with the highest number of rare and sensitive plant species. Therefore, data of conservation value should be gained. secondly by dint of documenting the current flora, resource managers at one as well as the other sites will have a tool to monitor changes in species composition.

In May of 1916 HW Houghton and GW Steven amassed the first known specimens from McuCurtain shire 19 species from the vicinity of Idabel and Shawneetown (Hoagland 2003) Since then, numerous botanists have made collecting forays to McCurtain because of the diverse flora. At not away there are 8,565 specimens of McCurtain shire plants in Oklahoma herbaria representing 1498 species, intraspecific taxa, and hybrids (Hoagland 2003)

Both sites are located in southeastern McCurtain shire Oklahoma (Figure 1). RSWMA (94616?°W to 94703?°W and 33725?°N to 33755?°N) is a 2,158-hectare bottomland hardwood restoration intend cooperatively managed by the United States Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Land acquisition began in 1996 (United States Forest Service 2003) Elevation ranges from 1003 m to 1042 m The inferior site, GSWMA (94.743?°W to 94761?°W and 33779?°N to 33799?°N) is located approximately 4 kilometers west of RSWMA and encompasses 264 hectares (Smith 2003) Elevation ranges from 1054 m to 1128 m

The physical environment of the couple sites is similar. Both are located within the Subtropical Humid (Cf) climate girdle (Trewartha 1968). Summers are warm (mean July temperature = 269?°C) and humid, and winters are relatively short and mild (mean January temperature = 40?°C)

Mean annual precipitation is 136 cm (Oklahoma Climatological take a view of 2003). Physiographically, the study area is located forward the Upper Gulf Coastal Plain (Hunt 1974) and within the Dissected Coastal Plain province of Oklahoma (Curtis and Ham 1979) The surface geology is predominantly Quaternary alluvial deposits consisting of silt, sand, clay, and gravels forward floodplains and terraces of the R River. North of the RSWMA, the geology is Cretaceous nonmarine sand and clay and marine limestone and clay (Branson and Johnson 1979) pair soil associations occur at RSWMA and GSWMA. The Kinta-Wrightsville association come into one's heads on uplands and terraces along the R River. These soils are mysterious nearly level, poorly drained loamy soils. The Pledger-Roebuck-Redlake Association is compos of intelligent nearly level, moderately to poorly drained clayey floodplain soils (Reasoner 1974) Potential natural vegetation at the two sites falls within the bottomland forest category of souse and Fletcher (1943). Bottomland forests were cleared in the mid-nineteenth for agricultural production, including rice at RSWMA. Oldfields and next to the first growth bottomland forests predominate quite through the study area.

METHODS

Collection sites were picked following a review of United States Geological overlook 1:24,000 topographic maps and field reconnaissance. The predominant vegetation association at these sites was classified according to Hoagland (2000) Eleven collection sites were established for intensive floristic sampling. However, collecting was not restricted to these sites and previously uncollect species were gathered wherever they were contested Collections were made from March in consequence of October 1999. Vouchers for species not native to North America (exotic) were made from naturalized populations sole thus excluding cultivated and ornamental plants. Specimens were trialed at the Robert Bebb Herbarium of the University of Oklahoma (OKL) following standard performances Manuals used for specimen identification included Waterfall (1973) Diggs et al. (1999) and Yatsievych (1999) Abundance of each species was ranked onward a scale of 1-5; 1 being the rarest or least abundant and 5 being dominant (Palmer et al. 1995) The Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory (2003) Working List of rare Oklahoma Plants species was reviewed to determine the conservation status of plants at RSWMA and GSWMA. In the list, species are ranked according to flush of imperilment at the state (S) and global (G) horizontals on a scale of 1-5; 1 representing a species that is imperiled and 5 undivided that is secure (Groves et al. 1995) Origin, whether native to introduced to North America, was determined using Taylor and Taylor (1991) and the United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS 2003) Nomenclature come [i]or[/i] go after [i]or[/i] behinds USDA-NRCS (2003). Voucher specimens were deposited at OKL