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1 July 2008 Vascular flora and community assemblages of Evansburg State Park, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Nancy R. Khan, Timothy A. Block, Ann F. Rhoads
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Abstract

Over the past three centuries successive land-use decisions have led to significant changes in the composition and structure of the floristic resources at Evansburg State Park in southeastern Pennsylvania. A recent survey of the park identified 544 vascular plant species from 116 families and 337 genera across 26 distinct, yet extremely fragmented, plant communities. Slightly less than 66% of the recorded species are native to the eastern United States and only two species of concern were discovered. Forty-six species were added to the flora of Montgomery County. In addition, woody vegetation in seven mature forest types of the 16 naturally occurring community associations were sampled. A histogram of species importance across these sites reveals a trend towards increasing compositional homogeneity in forested areas. The remaining ten communities are anthropogenically influenced habitats which comprise 75% of the park's acreage, are scattered widely throughout the park, and contain a high percentage of non-native invasive species. A clear shift in the composition of the forested areas towards Acer saccharum and/or Acer rubrum dominated associations is already apparent and likely to persist given the magnitude of adverse events that continue to alter the landscape and disrupt successional processes.

Nancy R. Khan, Timothy A. Block, and Ann F. Rhoads "Vascular flora and community assemblages of Evansburg State Park, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania," The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 135(3), 438-458, (1 July 2008). https://doi.org/10.3159/07-RA-021.1
Received: 17 September 2007; Published: 1 July 2008
KEYWORDS
Evansburg State Park
floristics
Montgomery County
Pennsylvania
plant communities
species checklist
vascular flora
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