Abstract
Arundinaria gigantea, or river cane, is a potential riparian buffer, and there is general interest in the restoration of the species to the southern Appalachian mountains. Proper classification of A. gigantea is critical in determining suitable candidate sites for planting. The 1988 National List of Plant Species That Occur in Wetlands lists A. gigantea as facultative wetland (FACW) for the southeast and elsewhere. In this article, we review plant, soil, and hydrologic data collected at 20 A. gigantea sites in western North Carolina, USA, and discuss the species wetland classification in light of our findings. Saturated hydraulic conductivity (K sat), bulk density (ρb), elemental abundance, soil description, plant identification, and hydrologic data are presented and suggest that river cane is currently classified incorrectly, and that an upland (UPL) or facultative upland (FACU) classification is more appropriate. None of the sites studied meet all 3 criteria common to wetland definitions (hydric soils, hydrophytic vegetation and wetland hydrology), although one of the sites had several wetland characteristics. We suggest that river cane restoration should occur in well drained, sandy soils and that the species should only be used as a riparian buffer in this type of setting.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded through the Cherokee Preservation Foundation’s Revitalization for Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources program. We thank Megan Arrington, Katie McDowell, Andrew Moore, Chad Harrold, and Mike Yow for field and laboratory assistance.
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Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources (RTCAR).
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Tanner, B.R., Kinner, D.A., Griffith, A.D. et al. Presence of Arundinaria gigantea (river cane) on numerous non-wetland sites suggests improper ecological classification of the species. Wetlands Ecol Manage 19, 521–532 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-011-9233-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-011-9233-3