Reevaluation of Vegetational Characteristics at the CERC (Coastal Engineering Research Center) Field Research Facility, Duck, North Carolina.
Abstract
A vegetative study of the U.S. Army Coastal Engineering Research Center's Field Research Facility at Duck, North Carolina, was undertaken from May to December 1981 to determine and document natural or manmade changes which occurred since Levy's (1976) original study. For four seasonal sampling periods (May, July, September, November), his procedures were replicated and his permanent quadrats reestablished and mapped. A vegetation map of the area was prepared using aerial infrared photos and ground-truth surveys. Fourteen different plant communities were delimited. Stratified random sampling produced frequency and biomass data for 12 communities and frequency and density data for the 2 shrub communities. Biomass data were obtained using the clip quadrat method. The distinctiveness of the foredune, sandgrass, sandgrass-buttonweed, sound-side disturbed-shrub, and sound-side shrub communities was borne out by the ordination techniques. The interdunal marsh, low dune grass, planted bitter panicum-planted American beachgrass, and roadside disturbed communities showed a strong similarity in all three ordination perspectives. The most visible change that had occurred since Levy's (1976) original study was the homogeneous mixing and expansion of the planted bitter panicum and planted American beachgrass communities. Floristic collections made throughout the study revealed a flora of approximately 180 species and 151 genera, representing 58 families. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1983
- Accession Number
- ADA127137
Entities
People
- Gerald F. Levy
- James E. Perry
- Richard L. Harris