Biodiversity survey on 1/4 acre

[Dodgy Loner]

I was doing a little TSI in my backyard this afternoon (in other words, I was cutting out some scrubby Virginia pines with some loppers because they were crowding out my oak and poplar seedlings ) when it struck me how much diversity there was in my pathetic little patch of woods.  My house is on a 3/4 acre lot down here in the southern Appalachians, and about 2/3 of the lot is covered by lawn and house.  I decided to find out how many tree and shrub species there were in my little 1/4 acre of woods.

Here's the list I came up with:

Acer rubrum - red maple
Albizia julibrissin - mimosa (I found 3 specimens, which, being exotic, suffered the same fate as the scrubby pines)
Amelanchier arborea - downy serviceberry
Betula nigra - black birch (very exciting find, as this is the lowest elevation I have ever observed this species)
Carya glabra - pignut hickory
C. illinoensis - pecan
C. tomentosa - mockernut hickory
Castanea pumila - Allegheny chinquapin (also exciting, because this is one of my favorite shrubs)
Cornus florida - flowering dogwood
Diospyros virginiana - persimmon
Ilex opaca - American holly
Juniperus virginiana - eastern redcedar
Kalmia latifolia - mountain-laurel
Ligustrum sinense - Chinese privet (DIE, evil spawn of Satan!)
Liriodendron tulipifera - yellow-poplar
Malus angustifolia - southern crabapple
Nyssa sylvatica - blackgum
Oxydendrum arboreum - sourwood
Pinus strobus - eastern white pine
Pinus virginiana - Virginia pine
Prunus serotina - black cherry
Prunus serrulata - Japanese cherry (I cut most of these, but there were too many to get them all)
Pyrus communis - common pear (will soon suffer the same fate as the other exotics)
Quercus alba - white oak
Q. coccinea - scarlet oak
Q. falcata - southern red oak
Q. nigra - water oak
Q. prinus - chestnut oak
Q. stellata - post oak
Q. velutina - black oak
Rhododendron maximum - rosebay rhododendron
Rhus copallina - winged sumac
R. glabra - smooth sumac
Rosa multiflora - multiflora rose (facing imminent death)
Sassafras albidum - sassafras
Tsuga canadensis - eastern hemlock
Vaccinium crassifolium - creeping blueberry
V. staminem - deerberry

That's 38 species of mostly trees, and a few shrubs, and only 5 of them are exotics!  I love the Appalachians .  Now I'll just have to learn what kind of herbaceous plant I have lurking in my little patch of ground.

[Tom]

Makes you wonder where to put it all. 

[WDH]

When I was up there last weekend, I was shocked to see the mortality and the devastation on Tsuga canadensis from the wooly adelgid.  Appalling.  I do not think that I saw a single un-attacked specimen and I saw several hundred.  Quite a shame.

Maybe that 1/4 acre diversity is a record for this part of the country.  I will also do a survey here, but I am sure that I will not exceed what you found. 

I did see a Castanea dentata little sapling on the Three Forks Trail on Overflow Creek road off the West Fork of the Chatooga River in Raqbun County.  Warmed my heart, it did .

[Dodgy Loner]

The HWA has been devastating in Rabun County (and everywhere else it's been).  I went on a hike Friday afternoon and saw a cluster of about 5 gigantic hemlocks, the largest of which was nearly 5 feet in diameter and 170 feet tall (it's a previous state record holder).  The poor trees looked like they had another year or so left in them, at most .  About 25% of my job is spent educating people on how to save their hemlocks.  My little hemlock (there's only one) is adelgid-free, and it will remain that way for as long as I live here.

[pigman]

Rosa multiflora - multiflora rose (facing imminent death)

I can't believe you would destroy that fine rose. It has such beautiful flowers in the Spring.

[Gary_C]

Rosa multiflora - multiflora rose (facing imminent death)

Just how do you cause imminent death in that multiflora rose? 

My brother in law claims the only thing that will control that stuff is goats.

The rest of the animal species will have nothing to do with it, dynamite will just spread it, and roundup is fertilizer to a multiflora rose. 

[Dodgy Loner]

My roses are very small, so control shouldn't be too difficult.  I'm cutting the stems back to the ground, and when they sprout back, I'll spray their tender little leaves with roundup.

[Lanier_Lurker]

What can be done to protect hemlocks from this nemesis if they have not yet been attacked?

My friend has some nice hemlocks at his cabin at the south end of Seed Lake.

[Dodgy Loner]

LL and others:  I just posted a very detailed account of how to treat HWA under the topic of "Forest Education".  Please see that thread for more information.  In short, preventative maintanence would likely be cost-prohibitive, but there are very effective methods of controlling the insects once they are present.  You just can't let them get "too far gone" before you do something about it.  It usually takes 3-5 years for the infestation to kill a mature hemlock.

[Greg]

Sounds like you've got yourself a genuine southern Appalachian Cove Forest right there in your backyard

Greg

[Riles]

You've peaked my interest, and if I can find the time, I may try to do the same on my 35 acres. I've noticed a surprisingly large number of species here on the farm match the ones I was taught at forestry school in Louisiana. East-West diversity isn't as high as North-South.

No tallow tree here, yet.

[Lanier_Lurker]

Dodgy, how could you possibly not have Q. rubra?  After all, they are like weeds according to Swamp Donkey. 

And I know they are thick in Rabun county.

I have some seedlings if you want them. 

Thanks a bunch for the info on eastern hemlock protection.  I will dig in on that and try to get my friend to do something.  He has some nice specimens both on and near his property.  There is one just down the road that is near 4ft in diameter.  Sure would hate to see that big guy go down from this affliction.

I have mentioned this in other posts.  For some reason this particular area along the Tallulah River is dominated by conifers.  Big eastern hemlocks, eastern white pines, and other pines I cannot readily identify.  The hardwoods are mostly yellow poplar (which is also like a weed) and various oaks and hickories - but are not nearly so numerous as the conifers.

[Dodgy Loner]

Actually, I think I might have a couple Q. rubra seedlings coming up already, but they're too young to tell from Q. coccinea at this point.  The petioles look too short and the sinuses too shallow, but at this point I'm just assuming they're scarlet oak because that's what all the overstory red oaks are.  Seedlings can be devious litter critters, though.

Riles, would be interested to see what you come up with on your property

[Riles]

OK, I went down my dendro list and checked off the ones I remember seeing on the farm, plus a couple others. So far I've introduced shortleaf pine and northern red oak seedlings. I started some sawtooth oak that came up and I put in pots. No luck with the catalpa or dogwood.

Quercus alba - white oak
Q. phellos - willow oak
Q. nigra - water oak
Q. rubra - northern red oak (planted, not sure if already there)
Populus deltoides - eastern cottonwood
Pinus virginiana - Virginia pine
P. taeda - loblolly pine
P. echinata - shortleaf pine (planted, not sure if already there)
Diospyros virginiana - persimmon
Carpinus caroliniana - blue beech
Prunus serotina - black cherry
Juglans nigra - black walnut
Liriodendron tulipifera - yellow poplar
Juniperus virginiana - eastern redcedar
Fraxinus spp. - ash (?) (small ones, need to key them out. probably not white)
Rosa multiflora - multiflora rose
Platanus occidentalis - American sycamore
Toxicodendron radicans - poison ivy, enough to give all NC an itch
Alnus rugosa - hazel alder
Ligustrum spp.- privet (Chinese or common?)
Ilex opaca - American holly
Cercis canadensis  - eastern redbud
Gleditsia triacanthos - honeylocust
Acer rubrum - red maple
Carya illinoensis - sweet pecan (?) (very small, not sure where they came from)
Ulmus alata - winged elm
Liquidambar styraciflua - sweetgum
Acer negundo - boxelder
Fagus grandifolia - American beech
Salix nigra - black willow
Morus rubra - red mulberry
Acer saccharinum- silver maple
Pyrus calleryana - Callery pear
Rhus typhina - staghorn sumac

There's a plum I haven't identified yet. Probably have more red oak diversity, I just haven't keyed them out. Haven't noticed flowering dogwood or any magnolias on the farm, but they're all over the area. Plenty of Rubus, Vitis, Smilax, and fortunately, no kudzu. The neighbor released pen raised quail that I heard the other day, so at least some made it through the winter.

[Lanier_Lurker]

Here is my incomplete list from about 1/2 acre.

English ivy (oh that I could get rid of it all)
maple leaf viburnum
summer grape
red maple
chalk and/or Florida maple
sassafras
persimmon
black cherry
flowering dogwood
yellow poplar
American beech
birch (I think river birch)
pignut hickory
mockernut hickory
blackgum
red buckeye
basswood
sourwood
sweetgum
pine 1 (I'm not good with pines)
pine 2 (I'm not good with pines)
azalea
white oak
black oak
northern red oak
scarlet oak
rhododendron (of some sort)

There are at least a dozen more vine, bush, and tree species that I am unable to identify.  It would take someone more knowledgeable than myself to make this list complete and accurate. 

[SwampDonkey]

What about the mosses liverworts, lichens and ferns?

When I was in BC, I was surprised at how many more tree and shrub species, especially shrubs that we have back east. Some they have that we don't and visa versa, but there seem to be more here per acre than where I worked on the Charlottes. The woods undergrowth out there was almost nothing. Some parts of BC though are fairly diverse, but seems to be further inland.

[SwampDonkey]

  Seedlings can be devious litter critters, though.

Yeah, basswood comes to mind. 

[WDH]

There are at least a dozen more vine, bush, and tree species that I am unable to identify.  It would take someone more knowledgeable than myself to make this list complete and accurate. 

LL,

I seem to recall that you take good pictures .

[Dodgy Loner]

I agree with Danny.  Time for some long-distance plant ID!

Given your location (and assuming they aren't transplants) the birch on your property would be river birch, and the rhododendron would be rosebay.

[Lanier_Lurker]

Yep, I need to get out there with the camera and get some action going on the Tree and Plant I.D. forum.