Landscape scale analysis of the vegetation of the Pine Mountain Range of west-central Georgia revealed fourteen plant communities. This unique mountain chain at the southern border of the Piedmont has a plant composition with a mixture of Appalachian, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain species. Dry ridgetops supported Pinus palustris and Quercus laevis, while steep moist slopes have Kalmia latifolia and Rhododendron minus as a component. Communities on calcareous soils include ridgetops with an Aesculus pavia midstory and savannah-like areas with an overstory of P. palustris and understory of Gymnopogon brevifolius and Rhus aromatica. Quercus georgiana was common and widespread in the southern portions of the range, especially in FDR State Park. The moist valleys have provided a refuge for Appalachian and Coastal Plain species, while the uplands harbor P. palustris ecosystems and a Castanea dentata stand. Due to the unique species composition, conservation efforts should focus on returning fire as an ecosystem component and protecting the area from human development and fragmentation.

Overstory and understory data were collected over a 15-year period (1996–2011) before and after seed tree logging in 1996 and an accidental wildfire in 2006 in a young developing mixed-oak forest in central Pennsylvania. The mature forest overstory was dominated by chestnut oak (Quercus montana) followed by northern red oak (Quercus rubra), black oak (Quercus velutina), scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea), and red maple (Acer rubrum). Logging reduced the stand basal area by 76% and the tree density by 80%. Tree regeneration was dominated by red maple and mixed-oak species with 32,956 stems per ha prior to logging, which increased to 47,170 stems per ha eight years later. Wildfire reduced tree regeneration to an average of 22,511 stems per ha over three sample periods, with the largest reduction in red maple (−60%), followed by red oak species (−36%) and chestnut oak (−17%). The mean maximum height of plot-dominant regeneration for red maple and the four oak species increased significantly during the eight years after logging (from 0.14 to 1.29 m), but was reduced by 27% after wildfire (most in red oak, −56%). The maple and oak species again had rapid height growth for four years after wildfire, by which time they exceeded their preburn heights. The success of oak species in this study is related to their ability to produce a relatively large number of seedlings (before and after logging and after fire) and match or exceed the height growth of red maple after these disturbances.

Shortleaf pine-oak-hickory woodlands provided the principal vegetation cover in the Tallahassee Red Hills prior to land clearing for plantation agriculture in the 19th century. Ample historical documentation and extant remnants of that community, including old-growth, support this conclusion. This woodland was maintained by surface fires and consisted principally of open stands of shortleaf pine, post oak, Spanish oak, black oak, mockernut hickory, and dogwood. The species-diverse and predominantly herbaceous ground cover was dominated by grasses, legumes, and composites. Coppice sprouting of trees and shrubs after fires was common. In the absence of fire, shortleaf pine-oak-hickory woodlands convert to oak-hickory forest with similar tree species composition and loss of herbaceous species. Within the past 130 years, nearly all stands of shortleaf pine-oak-hickory woodlands and oak-hickory forests have been extirpated or compromised beyond recognition by intrusions of offsite tree species that are typical of moist soils at less elevated landscape positions.

Lindera melissifolia is a federally endangered wetland shrub endemic to the Southeastern Coastal Plain and the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Lindera melissifolia is known to occupy seasonally flooded habitats, but little work has been done to describe habitat characteristics in the Southeastern Coastal Plain region. This research uses vegetation and environmental data collected from 50 plots in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia to develop a habitat classification and description for L. melissifolia in the Southeastern Coastal Plain. Cluster analysis, nonmetric multidimensional scaling, indicator species analysis, and analysis of variance were used to assign plots to four distinct isolated wetland habitat types. Swamp Tupelo Depression Pond and Successional Swamp Forest communities supported the densest and healthiest L. melissifolia populations, followed by Pond-Cypress Pond and Pocosin, and Limestone Sink Forest habitats. Habitat degradation and other forms of disturbance were found to impact L. melissifolia populations in this region. This classification and description can be used to advance overall understanding of L. melissifolia ecology, and to provide specific habitat requirement information to land managers in the Southeastern Coastal Plain.

From 2004 to 2012 a study of the flora and floral communities at Cabin Creek Raised Bog (Cabin Creek) was conducted. Cabin Creek, designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service in December, 1974, is privately owned. It is located in west-central Randolph County, Indiana. An inventory of the vascular flora revealed 478 taxa representing 282 genera and 91 families. The 12 families containing approximately 62% of the documented species (in order by number of species) were Asteraceae, Cyperaceae, Poaceae, Rosaceae, Liliaceae, Lamiaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Apiaceae, Fabaceae, Ranunculaceae, Brassicaceae, and Polygonaceae. Of the 478 documented species, 400 were native, 78 were exotics, and 118 represented new Randolph County records. There were three species with Indiana Rare-Threatened-Endangered status, including Veratrum virginicum (endangered), Triantha glutinosa (rare), and Melica nitens (threatened). A physiognomic analysis (i.e., summary of plant form or habit) is presented. The floristic quality index (FQI) for native species is 85.6 (78.3 for all species) and the mean coefficient of conservatism (mean C) for native species is 4.3 (3.6 for all species). These numbers clearly signify the “paramount importance” of the floral natural heritage of the approximately 7 ha Cabin Creek site and indicate that it is among the highest floristic quality sites in the state. The flora occurring in the major community types (wetland border/marshes, sedge meadow–calcareous fen complex, moist prairie, mesic to dry woodland, moist woodland and hardwood swamp) is described.

The objective of this study was to create a comprehensive list of the vascular plants of Shenandoah County, Virginia. Specimens were collected from the field during the 2011 growing season, from March 21 to October 27, and part of the 2012 growing season, from March 22 to May 30. Local herbaria of James Madison University (JMUH), Bridgewater College (BDWR), Eastern Mennonite University (HAVI) and Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC) were searched for pre-existing specimens. The results of the study were compared to records of the Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora, which currently maps the distribution of vascular plants in Virginia. The combined list based on field collections, pre-existing herbarium specimens, and the Digital Atlas comprises a total of 1,296 species in 568 genera and 142 families. Of these, 57 species are ferns and fern allies, 8 are gymnosperms, 911 are dicots, and 320 are monocots. The records represent 1,009 species native to Virginia, 271 introduced, 12 of uncertain native status, and 2 species believed to occur in both native and introduced populations. Of the 271 introduced species, 61 are considered invasive to some degree. Forty-one species are considered rare in Virginia, and one is endangered at the federal level. This survey resulted in 53 county records, 2 of which also represent state records. Voucher specimens of new field collections are housed in JMUH.

Youngia thunbergiana is documented for North America from Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina. Lloyd Shinners in 1964 reported this species for the District of Columbia and North Carolina, a fact apparently overlooked by subsequent investigators. When recognized, this taxon was generally treated as Youngia japonica subsp. elstonii, based on specimens from Hawaii, in accordance with the monograph of Youngia by Babcock and Stebbins (1937). Subsequently, when not accorded taxonomic recognition, it has been regarded as a synonym of the Y. japonica polymorphic complex. Shinners presented evidence for recognition at specific rank and, as such, asserted that Y. thunbergiana is its correct name. The present research is in agreement with his findings of Shinners. Youngia pseudosenecio is another name subsequently proposed within the Y. japonica complex that has been synonymized with Y. japonica subsp. elstonii. Nuclear ITS sequence data lend support to Y. pseudosenecio and Y. thunbergiana being the same species and that this entity represents a lineage distinct from Y. japonica.

Lendemer, James C., Richard C. Harris, and Erin A. Tripp. 2013. The Lichens and Allied Fungi of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, An Annotated Checklist with Comprehensive Keys. Memoirs New York Botanical Garden 104: i–vii, 1–156. New York Botanical Garden Press. $55.00. ISBN-10: 0893275212, ISBN-13: 978–0893275211.