Left: Sarracenia flava. Right: Ron Determann

MOUNTAIN BOGS
According to the Georgia Natural Heritage Program, only two mountain pitcherplant bogs are extant in the state. One is found on private land, and the other is in the Chattahoochee National Forest. These distinctive plant communities are threatened throughout the southern Appalachians due to loss or alteration of habitat. These areas were often among the first mountain sites converted to farmland because they were found on flat land with rich soils and a plentiful supply of water. At one site, five microsites have been mapped which are favorable for pitcherplant growth (i.e., open, sunny areas within the bog complex where rhododendron and mountain laurel have been removed). All purple pitcherplant (Sarracenia purpurea) individuals within this site have been counted. However, out of a total of 170 plants, approximately 50% were uprooted and most had been grazed by animals. Forest Service biologists identified deer tracks and pawing marks, so it appears that deer have been the culprits. Only one pitcherplant flowered, and it had been recently uprooted. We replanted the pitcherplants and recommended fencing the microsites temporarily until the populations could begin to recover and reproduce.

Top: Carol Denhof of the Atlanta Botanical Garden planting pitcherplants (Sarracenia leucophylla). Bottom: Malcolm Hodges of The Nature Conservancy of Georgia chainsawing encroaching trees in a pitcherpalnt bog.

A fence went up May 23, 1997, with the help of a Forest Service team. During the last site check-up on November 21, 1997, the purple pitcherplants were flourishing within their temporary fence enclosure. All had new growth and increased substantially in size, perhaps enough to flower next spring which would be a great event for this small population. We feared that invasive plants (e.g., red maple—Acer rubrum, American holly—Ilex opaca, and huckleberry—Gaylussacia ursina) would grow rapidly within the fenced area because the excluded deer would no longer curb their growth, but we were pleased to find little new growth on these bog invaders. A field trip is planned for early spring 1998 to further open the bog microsites, which will connect two of the five bog favorable microsites.

GPCA is also working with the Forest Service on a mountain bog safeguarding project in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Field Botanist Tom Govus of Ellijay, Georgia, was hired by GPCA to complete a floristic survey and detailed habitat description of the proposed safeguarding site. Mountain bog plant material propagated by the Atlanta Botanical Garden as part of their safeguarding collection will be planted in the site once the site is prepared. Site restoration includes curbing woody growth with hand tools and slowing current flow from the spring seep with organic dams. Dr. Mary Jo Godt and Dr. Jim Hamrick of UGA are analyzing the genetic diversity of the safeguarding collection to see how well it represents the genetic diversity of the wild populations of purple pitcherplant and other endangered bog plant species.

Support for this and the other bog projects comes from grants from Turner Foundation, Inc. and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

COASTAL PLAIN BOGS
Visit this page to try out our Virtual Pitcherplant Panorama!

Jennifer Ceska and Ling Guo

There is greater plant diversity in a square meter of coastal plain bog habitat than any other plant community in the southeast. These wetland plant communities are threatened throughout the south due to loss of habitat resulting from construction, erosion, changes in hydrology, suppression of fire, and pollution. Collection of certain plant species for commercial purposes is also a factor. The Georgia Natural Heritage Program has been working with Georgia Power on their land maintenance of powerline right-of-ways. Many of Georgia's best bogs lie under powerlines since these habitats are kept open for electrical wires and poles (growth of woody species due to suppression of fire in the coastal plain has destroyed many of our bogs). Georgia Power now knows exactly where these sites are and is willing to manage them carefully (i.e., not use chemicals or gully the site with vehicle wheels). Heritage and Georgia Power are working on management techniques that are cost effective for Georgia Power and that benefit the land—including winter fire, spring mowing, and possibly using a weed sweep machine to cut back encroaching woody vegetation. The Heritage Program is drafting management plans for three coastal plain bogs in 1997, including one for Georgia's best "powerline bog."

GPCA is also utilizing new technology to create digital panoramic images of bog habitats. Computer images are assembled from "stitched together" photographs to create 360-degree panoramas that can be toured on the computer screen. Visit this page to view one of these panoramas. Taken annually, these photos will be used to monitor the effects of our restoration efforts at each site. Four bogs were photographed in the summer of 1997. A new bog monitoring plan developed by a GPCA bog team and Dr. Sharon Hermann from Tall Timbers Research Station in Florida was implemented at Doerun Bog. The monitoring plan includes estimates of species diversity and percent woody plant cover within the bog, and photography from permanently marked photo points. This monitoring plan can be applied to most pitcherplant bogs and will help make comparisons between sites.

For an update on this research project, see GPCA News.