Artificial Lake Drawdown Zone - Ecological Community of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

NatureServe Unique Identifier: CEGL003910

Park Vegetation Plot Summary

Tree Canopy: N/A

Tree subcanopy: N/A

Tall Shrubs and Saplings: N/A

Herbs (field): N/A

Nonvascular: N/A

Click photo to enlarge.
Photo provided by NatureServe.

GLOBAL COMMUNITY CONCEPT

This association consists of drawdown zones around artificial impoundments in the Southern Appalachians and likely adjacent provinces.
- Physiognomy and composition are highly variable.
A scattering to sometimes well-developed stratum of woody trees and saplings is sometimes present, and often includes species such as Diospyros virginiana, Betula nigra, and Platanus occidentalis.
Characteristic herbs are weedy colonizers, such as Eupatorium serotinum, Diodia virginiana, Juncus effusus, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Juncus tenuis, Scirpus cyperinus, Lobelia inflata, Lobelia cardinalis, Apocynum cannabinum, Polygonum hydropiperoides, Acalypha virginica, Andropogon virginicus, Panicum spp., Hypericum mutilum, Hypericum punctatum, Plantago spp., Pseudognaphalium spp., and others.

PARK VEGETATION PLOT SUMMARY

Same as global.

DISTRIBUTION

North America:
This community is found at low elevations of the southern Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, northern Georgia, and probably northwestern South Carolina.

In the Park:
This community was sampled on the shores of Lake Fontana.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Global Status:

Global Conservation Status Rank: GNA (invasive) (Last reviewed: 11 01 2002).

Park Status:

Picking, digging, or otherwise damaging plants is prohibited in the Park. Collection is allowed only by special permit for research or educational purposes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Field Work:

NatureServe

Supporting Institutions:

N/A

Forest Association Described By:

A.S. WEAKLEY

Web Page:

Charles Wilder.

Photographs:

NatureServe

Maps:

N/A

REFERENCES

NatureServe Ecology - Southeastern United States. No date. Unpublished data. NatureServe, Durham, NC.

Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.