The Blackland Prairie Ecoregion of the West Gulf Coastal Plain supports a number of plants, animals, and natural communities of conservation concern. This diverse mosaic of hilly, calcareous grasslands and woodlands, formed over Cretaceous marine deposits, has long been identified as a priority for conservation. Acquisitions by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission have collectively protected more than 2,950 hectares of blackland habitats of varying quality in southwestern Arkansas and ongoing intensive management is restoring these lands. Despite knowledge of and collections from these habitats by botanists for well over a century, no intensive floristic inventory of remnant grasslands and woodlands has ever been undertaken. The current work was conducted from 2001-2013 and relied on extensive field work as well as inventory of specimens in state and regional herbaria. The authors’ collections focused on protected prairie remnants in the area but also covered selected roadsides, ditches, and other areas where prairie flora has persisted. More than 600 taxa of vascular plants were documented from remnant prairies and associated woodlands and wetlands in the region. This total includes 48 taxa tracked as state elements of conservation concern. These data provide the best available baseline for ecological restoration work in the region, which is gaining interest and support with several projects ongoing. A summary of this research will be presented along with an overview of the flora, geomorphology, and ecology of the region.
1 Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Little Rock, AR; 2 Bog Research, Shreveport, LA
46 • R. Austin Prater1, Joey Shaw1
The Vascular Flora of the Lula Lake Land Trust on Lookout Mountain in Walker County, Georgia
The vascular flora of the Lula Lake Land Trust (LLLT) was studied beginning in the fall of 2012 and continuing through 2013. The LLLT consists of 4,418 acres atop Lookout Mountain in Walker County, Georgia, which bounds the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau and borders the western edge of the Ridge and Valley physiographic province. A total of 30 collecting trips have been made with 449 species of vascular plants collected including one federally listed (Spiraea virginiana), two state listed (Lysimachia fraseri, Silphium mohrii), and three state records (Calamovilfa arcuata, Solidago arenicola, Chelone lyonii). 41 non-native plants (9% of the flora) were also documented including Lonicera japonica, Ligustrum sinense, and Pueraria montana.
1 Dept of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN
47 • Dwayne Estes1, Aaron Floden2, Theo Witsell3, Joey Shaw4, Brian Keener5
Untangling the Viny Viornas: Taxonomic Studies in the Genus&Nbsp; Clematis (Ranunculaceae)
Within the genus Clematis, 12 species with viny stems, small bell-shaped flowers, fleshy sepals, and hairy filaments, have been placed in subgenus Viorna. Molecular studies, using chloroplast and nuclear ITS DNA sequences, have found subg. Viorna to be monophyletic. All but one species are endemic to North America, where they occur in deciduous forests and woodlands of the eastern and south-central U.S. American viornas can be broken into three major species complexes based on morphology. Members of the Clematis viorna-reticulata complex are defined by variously pubescent and non-glaucous lower leaf surfaces and stem nodes and by having achene beaks prominently plumose. During the past 100 years botanists have not been able to reach a consensus on the circumscription of C. viorna and C. reticulata. This study seeks to examine the pattern of morphological diversity within this complex and to determine whether the numerous morphological variations are likely due to phenotypic plasticity or whether they likely represent distinct taxa. We examined herbarium specimens from 14 herbaria, conducted fieldwork in 11 states, and studied individuals in a common garden. We identified nine morphological variants within C. viorna sensu lato and seven morphological variants within C. reticulata sensu lato. Four of the variants within C. viorna sensu lato appear to represent undescribed species and five of the variants within C. reticulata sensu lato appear to represent undescribed species. We propose that the C. viorna-reticulata complex consists not of two species, but possibly as many as 16.
1 Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT), Fort Worth, TX; 2 Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN; 3 Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Little Rock, AR; 4 Dept of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, TN; 5 Dept of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of West Alabama, Livingston, AL
