Abstract Detail

Ecological Section

Devall, Margaret S. [1], Berri, Paulo Victor [2], Spiazzi, Fabio Rodrigues [3], Hamel, Paul B. [1], Smith, Carl [1], Hughes, Steven [4].

Ecology of the Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge – Mississippi.

The Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge, near Hollandale, Mississippi was established in 1936 as one of a series of refuges to provide a resting place for ducks and geese in the Mississippi Flyway. The 12,941 acres (52.4 km²) of bottomland hardwood forest had been previously cleared and farmed before establishment of the refuge. A survey of the vegetation (canopy trees, subcanopy, shrub and herbaceous vegetation) was carried out and the classical ecological descriptors and the Shannon diversity index were calculated for the vegetation community. A total of 50 plots was laid out in four different areas of the refuge. Plot size for sampling was 20x40 meters for canopy trees,10x20 meters for subcanopy trees, 4x6 meters for shrub layer vegetation and 1x2 meters for herbaceous vegetation. A soil pH and texture analysis were also carried out. An average of 938 individuals per hectare was found, distributed in 32 species and 26 genera, 47% of which occurred in the canopy layer (d.b.h> 10 cm) and 53% (d.b.h <10 cm) in the sub-canopy There were 27 canopy tree species in the plots; the species with the greatest Importance Value (IV) were Liquidambar styraciflua (IV= 14.9), Ulmus americana (IV = 12.4), Celtis laevigata (IV = 10.1) and Fraxinus pennsylvanica (IV =8.0). The dominant species in the subcanopy were Ulmus americana, Celtis laevigata, Forestiera acuminata and Ilex decidua. For the shrub layer, the dominant species was Celtis laevigata. Other species which showed high Importance Values were Ulmus americana, Forestiera acuminata and Ilex decidua. The dominant species of the herbaceous vegetation were Toxicodendron radicans, Polygonum virginianum, Brunnichia ovata and Parthenocissus quinquefolia. The Shannon index for the overall area was: H' = 2.55 and H_max = 3.46. PH ranged from slightly to very strongly acid, and all samples at all depths were classified as clay. Most of the previously common bottomland forests between southern Illinois and southern Louisiana have been cut for timber, or drained and converted to farmland or commercial timberland, making this site an important area for wildlife and native vegetation.

1 - U.S. Forest Service, Center For Bottomland Hardwoods Research, PO Box 227, Stoneville, MS, 38776, USA
2 - Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Lages, Brazil
3 - Instituto Federal de Santa Catarina - Campus Uruema, Estrada Geral do Senadinho s/n, Urupema, SC, 88625-000, Brazil
4 - University of Georgia, Department of Plant Biology, 2502 Miller Plant Sciences, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

Keywords:
forest tree species.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 68
Location: Salon 8/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Wednesday, July 29th, 2015
Time: 1:30 PM
Number: 68001
Abstract ID:841
Candidate for Awards:None