SREL Reprint #2914

Biotic Communities: Plant Communities

Donald W. Imm and Kenneth W. McLeod

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802, USA

Abstract: The Savannah River Site (SRS) is a predominantly forested tract that lies below the Piedmont and north of the Savannah River. It is in the Sandhill and Upper Coastal Plain physiographic regions. Most of the area occupied by the SRS was once used for agriculture and is now forested with mid- to late-successional plant communities. This section will describe the general vegetation types on the varied landscape of the SRS, identify the factors that regulate or influence the dynamics of each type, and discuss the general impact of current forest management practices and past land-use activities. First, we discuss environmental factors that influence plant distribution (and, hence, community composition); second, we describe previously reported classifications of vegetation cover types on SRS; and finally, we present general descriptions of SRS vegetation types and plant communities.
Each broad type of vegetation is typically composed of predictable suites of species, though the range of variation within a type may encompass several distinct subtypes, or “communities.” The appendix lists scientific names and the occurrence of other species in SRS vegetation types. Nomenclature follows Radford, Ahles, and Bell (1968). Tables, the appendix, and interpretations are based on published and unpublished data collected from SRS, review of other SRS studies, and information from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GADNR) heritage programs.

SREL Reprint #2914

Imm, D. W. and K. W. McLeod. 2005. Biotic Communities: Plant Communities. pp. 106-161 In J. C. Kilgo and J. I. Blake (Eds.). Ecology and Management of a Forested Landscape: Fifty Years on the Savannah River Site. Island Press.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).