Comparison of sandhills and mixed pine hardwood communities at Fort Benning, Georgia
Beverly Collins*, Rebecca Sharitz, Kathryn Madden, John Dilustro
Savannah
River Ecology Laboratory, P O Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802
Abstract
Fall Line sandhills vegetation occurs on dry, sandy ridgetops and supports
a suite of rare or uncommon plant species (TES). We surveyed nine sandhills
sites and 32 "matrix" mixed pine-hardwood stands at Fort Benning
to characterize canopy and groundlayer vegetation patterns and determine
the extent of sandhills vegetation, including characteristic dominant
species and TES, over the upland landscape. The relative abundance of
Pinus palustris (longleaf pine), P. taeda (loblolly pine),
and P. echinata (shortleaf pine) and sandhills oaks contributed
to canopy composition differences among sites. The sandhills communities
support a unique set of groundlayer species, including state-listed Chrysoma
pauciflosculosa. Although there is some species overlap, especially
in overstory composition, characteristic sandhills vegetation is not widely
distributed in mixed pine-hardwood stands at Fort Benning and conservation
might best be achieved by maintaining existing sites.
*Corresponding
Author - Collins@srel.edu
SREL Reprint #3006
Collins, B., R. Sharitz, K. Madden and J. Dilustro. 2006. Comparison of sandhills and mixed pine hardwood communities at Fort Benning, Georgia. Southeastern Naturalist 5:93-102.
