Abstract
Reference wetlands play an important role in efforts to protect wetlands and assess wetland condition. Because wetland vegetation integrates the influence of many ecological factors, a useful reference system would identify natural vegetation types and include models relating vegetation to important regional geomorphic, hydrologic, and geochemical properties. Across the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain, depression wetlands are a major hydrogeomorphic class with diverse characteristics. For 57 functional depression wetlands in the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina, we characterized the principal vegetation types and used a landscape framework to assess how local (wetland-level) factors and regional landscape settings potentially influence vegetation composition and dynamics. Wetland sites were stratified across three Upper Coastal Plain landscape settings that differ in soils, surface geology, topography, and land use. We sampled plant composition, measured relevant local variables, and analyzed historical transitions in vegetative cover types. Cluster analysis identified six vegetation types, ranging from open-water ponds and emergent marshes to closed forests. Significant vegetation-environment relationships suggested environmental “templates” for plant community development. Of all local factors examined, wetland hydrologic regime was most strongly correlated with vegetation type, but depression size, soil textural type, and disturbance history were also significant. Because hydrogeologic settings influence wetland features, local factors important to vegetation were partly predictable from landscape setting, and thus wetland types were distributed non-randomly across landscape settings. Analysis of long-term vegetation change indicated relative stability in some wetlands and succession in others. We developed a landscape-contingent model for vegetation dynamics, with hydroperiod and fire as major driving variables. The wetland classification, environmental templates, and dynamics model provide a reference framework to guide conservation priorities and suggest possible outcomes of restoration or management.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Bailey, R. G., P. E. Avers, T. King, and W. H. McNab. 1994. Ecoregions and subregions of the United States. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Washington, DC. USA.
Bedford, B. L. 1996. The need to define hydrologic equivalence at the landscape scale for freshwater wetland mitigation. Ecological Applications 6:57–68.
Bennett, S. H. and J. B. Nelson. 1991. Distribution and status of Carolina bays in South Carolina. South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Department, Columbia, SC, USA. Nongame and Heritage Trust Publication No. 1.
Brinson, M. M. 1993. A hydrogeomorphic classification for wetlands. U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS, USA. WRP-DE-4.
Brinson, M. M. and R. Rheinhardt. 1996. The role of reference wetlands in functional assessment and mitigation. Ecological Applications 6:69–76.
Chmielewski, R. M. 1996. Hydrologic analysis of Carolina bay wetlands at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina. M.S. Thesis. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Christensen, N. L. 1988. Vegetation of the Southeastern Coastal Plain. p. 317–363. In M. G. Barbour and W. D. Billings (eds.) North American Terrestrial Vegetation. Cambridge University Press. New York, NY, USA.
Clewell, A. F. and R. Lea. 1990. Creation and restoration of forested wetland vegetation in the southeastern United States. p. 195–231. In J. A. Kusler and M. E. Kentula (eds.) Wetland Creation and Restoration: the Status of the Science. Island Press, Covelo, CA, USA.
Collins, B. S. and L. L. Battaglia. 2001. Hydrology effects on propagule bank expression and vegetation in six Carolina bays. Community Ecology 2:21–33.
Doering, J. A. 1960. Quaternary surface formations of southern part of Atlantic Coastal Plain. Journal of Geology 68:182–202.
Dufrêne, M. and P. Legendre. 1997. Species assemblages and indicator species: the need for a flexible asymmetric approach. Ecological Monographs 67:345–366.
Edwards, A. L. and A. S. Weakley. 2001. Population biology and management of rare plants in depression wetlands of the Southeastern Coastal Plain, USA. Natural Areas Journal 21:12–35.
Environmental Law Institute 2001. Focus on SWANCC. National Wetlands Newsletter 23(2):1–17.
Ewel, K. C. 1998. Pondcypress swamps. p. 405–420. In M. G. Messian and W. H. Conner (eds.) Southern Forested Wetlands: Ecology and Management. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL, USA.
Folkerts, G. W. 1997. Citronelle ponds: little-known wetlands of the central Gulf Coastal Plain, USA. Natural Areas Journal 17:6–16.
Galatowitsch, S. M. and A. G. van der Valk. 1996. The vegetation of restored and natural prairie wetlands. Ecological Applications 6:102–112.
Godwin, K. S., J. P. Shallenberger, D. J. Leopold, and B. L. Bedford. 2002. Linking landscape properties to local hydrogeologic gradients and plant species occurrence in minerotrophic fens of New York State, USA: a hydrogeologic setting (HGS) framework. Wetlands 22:722–737.
Gwin, S. E., M. E. Kentula, and P. W. Shaffer. 1999. Evaluating the effects of wetland regulation through hydrogeomorphic classification and landscape profiles. Wetlands 19:477–489.
Haukos, D. A. and L. M. Smith. 1994. Composition of seed banks along an elevational gradient in playa wetlands. Wetlands 14:301–307.
Hendricks, E. L. and M. H. Goodwin. 1952. Water-level fluctuations in limestone sinks in southwestern Georgia. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1110-E.
Jones, S. M., D. H. Van Lear, and S. K. Cox. 1984. A vegetationlandform classification of forest sites within the upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 111:349–360.
Kantrud, H. A., J. B. Millar, and A. G. van der Valk. 1989. Vegetation of wetlands of the prairie pothole region. p 132–187. In A. G. van der Valk (ed.) Northern Prairie Wetlands. Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA, USA.
Kirkman, L. K. 1995. Impacts of fires and hydrological regimes on vegetation in depression wetlands of southeastern USA. p. 10–20. In S. I. Cerulean and R. T. Engstrom (eds.) Fire in wetlands: a management perspective. Proceedings of the 19th Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference, Tall Timbers Research Station, Talla-hassee, FL, USA.
Kirkman, L. K., M. B. Drew, L. T. West, and E. R. Blood. 1998. Ecotone characterization between upland longleaf pine/wiregrass stands and seasonally-ponded isolated wetlands. Wetlands 18: 346–364.
Kirkman, L. K., P. C. Goebel, L. West, M. B. Drew, and B. J. Palik. 2000. Depressional wetland vegetation types: a question of plant community development. Wetlands 20:373–385.
Kirkman, L. K., S. W. Golladay, L. Laclaire, and R. Sutter. 1999. Biodiversity in southeastern, seasonally ponded, isolated wetlands: management and policy perspectives for research and conservation. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 18: 553–562
Kirkman, L. K., R. F. Lide, G. Wein, and R. R. Sharitz. 1996. Vegetation changes and land-use legacies of depression wetlands of the western Coastal Plain of South Carolina: 1951–1992. Wetlands 16:564–576.
Lide, R. F. 1997. When is a depression wetland a Carolina bay? Southeastern Geographer 37:90–98.
Lide, R. F., V. G. Meentemeyer, J. E. Pinder III, and L. M. Beatty. 1995. Hydrology of a Carolina bay located on the Upper Coastal Plain of western South Carolina. Wetlands 15:47–57.
McCune, B. and J. B. Grace. 2002. Analysis of Ecological Communities. MjM Software Design, Gleneden Beach, OR, USA.
McCune, B. and M. J. Mefford. 1995. PC-ORD. Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data, Version 2.0. MjM Software Design, Gleneden Beach, OR, USA.
Myers, R. K., R. Zahner, and S. M. Jones. 1986. Forest Habitat Regions of South Carolina from Landsat Imagery. Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA. Forest Research Series No. 42.
National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, 1993-1996. Climatological data for South Carolina, 1993–1996. National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC, USA.
Nifong, T. D. 1998. An ecosystematic analysis of Carolina bays in the Coastal Plain of the Carolinas. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of North Carolina. Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Nystrom, P. G. Jr., R. H. Willoughby, and L. E. Kite. 1986. Cretaceous-Tertiary stratigraphy of the upper edge of the Coastal Plain between North Augusta and Lexington, South Carolina. South Carolina Geological Survey, Columbia, SC, USA.
Palik, B. J., P. C. Goebel, L. K. Kirkman, and L. West. 2000. Using landscape hierarchies to guide restoration of disturbed ecosystems. Ecological Applications 10:189–202.
Pechmann, J. H. K., D. E. Scott, J. W. Gibbons, and R. D. Semlitsch. 1989. Influence of wetland hydroperiod on diversity and abundance of metamorphosing juvenile amphibians. Wetlands Ecology and Management 1:3–11.
Peet, R. K. 1980. Ordination as a tool for analyzing complex data sets. Vegetatio 42:171–174.
Pickett, S. T. A. and V. T. Parker. 1994. Avoiding the old pitfalls: opportunities in a new discipline. Restoration Ecology 2:75–79.
Poiani, K. A. and P. M. Dixon. 1995. Seed banks of Carolina bays: potential contributions from surrounding landscape vegetation. American Midland Naturalist 135:140–154.
Poiani, K. A. and W. C. Johnson. 1991. Global warming and prairie wetlands. Bioscience 41:611–618.
Porcher, R. D. 1966. A floristic study of the vascular plants in nine selected Carolina bays in Berkeley County, South Carolina. M.S. Thesis. University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
Prowell, D. C. 1994. Preliminary geologic map of the Barnwell 30′ × 60′ quadrangle, South Carolina and Georgia. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-673.
Rader, R. B. and D. K. Shiozawa. 2001. General principles of establishing a bioassessment program. p. 13–43. In R. B. Rader, D. P., Batzer, and S. A. Wissinger (eds.) Bioassessment and Management of North American Freshwater Wetlands. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY, USA.
Reed, P. B., Jr. 1988. National list of plant species that occur in wetlands: national summary. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC, USA. Biological Report 88(24).
Schalles, J. F., R. R. Sharitz, J. W. Gibbons, G. J. Leversee, and J. N. Knox. 1989. Carolina Bays of the Savannah River Plant. US Department of Energy Savannah River Plant, National Environmental Research Park Program. Aiken, SC, USA. SRONERP-18.
Schalles, J. F. and D. J. Shure. 1989. Hydrology, community structure, and productivity patterns of a dystrophic Carolina bay wetland. Ecological Monographs 59:365–385.
Semlitsch, R. D. and J. R. Bodie. 1998. Are small, isolated wetlands expendable? Conservation Biology 12:1129–1133.
Sharitz, R. R. and C. A. Gresham. 1998. Pocosins and Carolina bays. p. 343–377. In M. G. Messina and W. H. Conner (eds.) Southern Forested Wetlands: Ecology and Management. Lewis Publishers. Boca Raton, FL, USA.
Singer, J. H. 2001. Effects of overstory removal and fire on wetland vegetation and recruitment from the seedbank in a hydrologically restored Carolina bay wetland. M.S. Thesis. University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Smith, R. D., A. Ammann, C. Bartoldus, and M. M. Brinson. 1995. An approach for assessing wetland functions using hydrogeomorphic classification, reference wetlands, and functional indices. U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS, USA. WRP-DE-9.
Snodgrass, J. W., M. J. Komoroski, A. L. Bryan, Jr., and J. Burger. 2000. Relationships among isolated wetland size, hydroperiod, and amphibian species richness: implications for wetland regulations. Conservation Biology 14:414–419.
Soil Survey Staff 1975. Soil Taxonomy. US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, USA: Handbook 436.
Stewart, R. E. and H. A. Kantrud. 1971. Classification of natural ponds and lakes in the glaciated prairie region. U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. Washington, DC, USA. Resource Publication 92.
Sun, G., S. G. McNulty, J. P. Shepard, D. M. Amatya, H. Riekerk, N. B. Comerford, W. Skaggs, and L. Swift, Jr. 2001. Effects of timber management on the hydrology of wetland forests in the southern United States. Forest Ecology and Management 143: 227–236.
Tangen, B. A., M. G. Butler, and M. J. Ell. 2003. Weak correspondence between macroinvertebrate assemblages and land use in Prairie Pothole Region wetlands, USA. Wetlands 23:104–115.
Taylor, B. E., D. A. Leeper, M. A. McClure, and A. E. DeBiase. 1999. Carolina bays: ecology of aquatic invertebrates and perspectives on conservation. p. 167–195 In D. P. Batzer, R. B. Rader, and S. A. Wissinger (eds.) Invertebrates in Freshwater Wetlands of North America: Ecology and Management. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New York, NY, USA.
ter Braak, C. J. F. 1993. CANOCO—a FORTRAN Program for Canonical Community Ordination. Version 3.12, Microcomputer Power, Ithaca, NY, USA.
ter Braak, C. J. F. 1995. Ordination. p. 91–173. In R. H. G. Jongman. C. J. F. ter Braak, and O. F. R. van Tongeren (eds.) Data Analysis in Community and Landscape Ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.
van der Valk, A. G. and C. B. Davis. 1978. The role of seed banks in the vegetation dynamics of prairie glacial marshes. Ecology 59: 322–335.
Weakley, A. S. and M. P. Schafale. 1990. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina. Third approximation. North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources. Raleigh, NC, USA.
Wear, D. N. and J. G. Greis. 2002. Southern Forest Resource Assessment: summary of findings. Journal of Forestry 100(7): 6–14.
Whipple, S. A., L. H. Wellman, and B. J. Good 1981. A classification of hardwood and swamp forests on the Savannah River Plant, South Carolina. U.S. Department of Energy Savannah River Plant, National Environmental Research Park Program, Aiken, SC, USA. SRO-NERP-6.
Wilcox, D. A., J. E. Meeker, P. L. Hudson, B. J. Armitage, M. G. Black, and D. G. Uzarski. 2002. Hydrologic variability and the application of index of biotic integrity metrics to wetlands: a Great Lakes evaluation. Wetlands 22:588–615.
Workman, S. W. and K. W. McLeod. 1990. Vegetation of the Savannah River Site: major community types. U.S. Department of Energy Savannah River Site, National Environmental Research Park Program, Aiken, SC, USA. SRO-NERP-19.
Zar, J. H. 1999. Biostatistical Analysis, fourth edition. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
De Steven, D., Toner, M.M. Vegetation of Upper Coastal Plain depression wetlands: Environmental templates and wetland dynamics within a landscape framework. Wetlands 24, 23–42 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1672/0277-5212(2004)024[0023:VOUCPD]2.0.CO;2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1672/0277-5212(2004)024[0023:VOUCPD]2.0.CO;2