The Vascular Flora Of Dale County Lake, Alabama

Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science, Jan, 2001 by Michael Woods, Brian Prazinko, Alvin R. Diamond Jr.

ABSTRACT

A survey of the vascular flora of the area surrounding Dale County Lake was conducted from May 1998 through August 2000. The study site, located in the central section of Dale County, was comprised of 106 land ha and 37 water ha. Five major habitats, shoreline, mesic woods, xeric woods, wetland, and grassy area were found to occur at the study site. Collections were made once weekly from April through November and twice monthly from December through March. Similarity indices were determined by comparing this study with two other recent floristic studies from south Alabama. The 407 species representing 265 genera and 98 families found to occur at Dale County Lake are presented in an annotated checklist.

INTRODUCTION

Publications dealing with the flora of Alabama are rare and are becoming increasingly outdated. Comprehensive treatments are limited to Mohr (1901) and Small (1933), while Harper (1943), Godfrey & Wooten (1979, 1981) and Godfrey (1988) concentrate on specific plant communities. In their work on the fauna and flora of Fort Rucker, Mount and Diamond (1992) collected 549 taxa of vascular plants. Diamond and Freeman (1993) reported 908 taxa of vascular plants from Conecuh County. Crouch and Golden (1997) listed 450 species of vascular plants from the area along the Tombigbee River in northeastern Choctaw County. Woods and Reiss (1998) reported 274 species and varieties from the area around Pike County Lake. In the most recent study, Rundell and Woods (2001) reported 507 species and varieties from the area around Ech Lake in the west-central section of Dale County, on the Fort Rucker Army Installation. Although these studies were comprehensive treatments of their collection area, additional records are needed to a dequately represent the diversity of plants found in south Alabama.

DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA

The Dale County Lake study area is located in the central part of Dale County, Alabama (31[degrees]45'N, 85[degrees]64'W) immediately outside and north-northeast of the city limits of Ozark. This places the study area entirely in the eastern division of the Southern Red Hills of the Coastal Plain Province. The soils are characteristic of those formed in the humid, subtropical climate of the southeastern section of the United States. They are derived from the sandy red clays of the Lafayette formation. The topsoil is paler and sandier, except where washed off on steep slopes (Harper 1943).

The climate in Dale County is considered subtropical-humid with long hot summers and short, mild winters. The annual growing season is approximately 250 days. Summer temperatures of above 30[degrees]C occur frequently and temperatures above 40[degrees]C are not uncommon. Cumulatively, the climate is considered very mild and therefore favors the growth of a wide variety of plant life (Brown 1999).

The Alabama Department of Conservation initiated the construction of Dale County Lake in 1956 and it was completed and opened to the public in 1958. The damming of Panther Creek, which serves as the primary inflow and outflow stream, formed the lake. Two smaller streams also serve as inflows for the lake. The study site comprised 106 ha of mostly forested, gently sloping land surrounding the 37 ha lake. The land and the lake are owned by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and managed by the City of Ozark Department of Parks and Recreation.

DESCRIPTION OF HABITATS

Five habitats were defined at Dale County Lake on the basis of topography, moisture content, and vegetation (Table 1). The shoreline habitat consisted of a narrow band of land along the edge of the lake. Found in this habitat were plants growing at the water edge, ranging from totally submersed to partially or completely immersed. The mesic woods habitat, which consisted of approximately 35 ha occurred on flat to gently rolling slopes that border the shoreline habitat. This area was composed of rich soils with an abundance of leaf litter. Soil moisture was abundant, and due to dense overhead vegetation light was limited at ground level. The xeric woods habitat, which consisted of approximately 50 ha consisted of well-drained sandy soils found at higher elevations on the study site. One exception was along the northeast side of the lake where the xeric habitat extended down to the shoreline. Loblolly Pines, which were planted more than twenty-five years ago, were the dominant trees in this area. Wetlands, whic h occurred in low-lying areas along Panther Creek and the two smaller inlet streams comprised approximately 12 ha of land. Most of this area only recently became wetlands due to the successful damming of the streams by beavers. In these wetlands, water was present at the soil surface throughout most of the year. In some areas, where the beavers were successful in damming the streams, water levels ranged from 0.5 to 1.0 meter deep throughout the year. Approximately 9 ha of grassland habitat were located around the central office, parking lot, boat-ramp, and land piers. Additional grassland habitat was found along the 5.6 km walking trail around the lake. Most of these grasslands were closely cut to benefit fishermen and those involved in other recreational activities.