A Comparison of Plant Communities of Upland and Transitional Forests on the Richard Stockton Campus in the New Jersey Pinelands

Judith Kirkbride ENVL 2205-001 December 15, 2011

Introduction The New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve occupies nearly 1.1 million acres of southern New Jersey in the Atlantic Outer Coastal Plain (nj.gov 2007). Richard Stockton College is found in the southeastern portion of the reserve in the town of Pomona. This area is covered with dense pine-oak forests; predominately pitch pines, Pinus rigida. Although there are approximately 850 (nj.gov 2007) plant species found here, compared to surrounding forests of the northeastern Unites States the Pine Barrens has low species diversity and fewer types of ecological communities (Geller 2002). The lack of diversity is due to infertile, acidic soils and flat topography with little relief (Geller 2002). The purpose of this study is to compare two Pine Barren plant communities of different topography. Our samples were collected on the Richard Stockton campus. One sample was taken from an upland community and the other from an area of transitional topography. We expect the communities to be very similar but slightly different due to the difference in topography. Pitch pines are the dominant species of the Pinelands and expected to dominate both areas, followed by oak species. Because soils of lower topography tend to have a higher moisture content we expect Atlantic white cedar, Chamaecyparis thyoides, a wetland species, to be more common in the transitional sample.

Methods Trees, shrubs, and saplings were sampled in an upland forest located on the Richard Stockton campus using the methods described by Geller (2011). The data collected was used to calculate average and relative values, a Shannon Index, a species area curve, a species abundance curve, a species performance curve, and coefficient of similarity in Microsoft Excel using Gellers (2011) methods. Data from the transitional forest was provided courtesy of Andrew Fau. The data from both forests were analyzed and compared.

Results Table 1 shows the dominant species of the upland forest was pitch pine trees having a relative coverage and relative density of 57 and 46 percent respectively. This is also the most abundant species represented in the Species Area Curve, Figure 1. The second most common upland tree species was white oak, Quercus alba, with a relative coverage of 25 percent and relative density of 27 (Table 1) percent. Together these two species make up 71 percent of the relative coverage of the upland forest. However white oak is not the second most abundant species of the upland area as seen in Figure 1. It is the fourth most abundant following black huckleberry, Gaylussacia baccata and low bush blueberry, Vaccinium vacillan. Pitch pine and white oak were also common in the transitional forest. White oak was the third most common tree as seen in Table 2, with 12 percent relative coverage and 15.1 percent relative frequency. Table 2 shows pitch pine trees having the highest relative coverage of the transitional area

trees with a value of 33 percent but it is not the dominant species because there was no pitch pine saplings represented in the sample. In Table 2 shows that pitch pine trees do have higher relative coverage and higher relative frequency values than black gum trees, Nyssa sylvatica, but Figure 2 shows black gum as the most abundant species. This is because black gum is so highly represented in the sapling strata with relative density of 66 percent and relative coverage of 51 percent as seen in Table 2. Table 2 shows black gum trees had lower relative coverage than pitch pine trees with a value of 29 percent but did have a higher relative density of 29.4 percent. Because of its high density and abundance black gum is the dominant species of the transitional area. It is also noted that Figure 2 shows tall huckleberry, Galussacia frondosa is a more abundant species than pitch pine. Species diversity represented by the Shannon Indexes in Tables 3 and 4. These tables show that the transitional forest is more diverse with a value of 3.854. This is 34.4 percent higher than the upland value of 2.53. Within the uplands community the saplings showed to be the most diverse strata with an index value of 2.16, followed by trees, then shrubs with values of 1.64 and 1.60 respectively (Table 3). The results for the transitional forests were different. Here saplings had the lowest diversity (Table 4) with a value of 1.298. Trees had the highest diversity with a value of 1.923, closely followed by shrubs with a value of 1.875. In both samples however the diversity of shrubs and trees is very close within the communities, being different by only approximately 0.04 in both cases. The coefficient of similarity of the two communities is 0.57 as shown in Table 5. This does suggest that the communities are moderately similar but different. Twenty-five different species were found in the upland sample and 20 in the transitional. The two forests shared 13 of the same species.

Discussion We expected pitch pine to be the dominant species in both forests. This was true for the upland area but not the transitional where black gum was the dominant. We also predicted that Atlantic white cedar would be more common to the transitional than the upland area. This notion was supported, as seen in Table 6; white cedars are not represented in the upland forest sample but are in the transitional with a relative frequency of 2.5 percent (Table 2). However the species was not abundant enough to produce a relative coverage value, as seen in Table 2 and is fourth to last on the species abundance curve, Figure 2. This is most likely due to the moderate soil moisture of the transitional area compared to swampy areas where cedars usually thrive. The two communities were found to be moderately similar with a similarity coefficient just over 0.5, sharing a majority of their species (Table 5). This suggests that the common species are well adapted to the general Pinelands area and the factor of topography does not prevent their growth. According to the upland species area curve, Figure 3, the upland forest was effectively sampled. Here the curve plateaus at plot 25 out of 76 plots, suggesting that the chances of finding new species in further sampling is low. This is not the case for the transitional area. The transitional forest species area curve, Figure 4, shows three plateaus between plots 12 and 23, 29 and 41, then again after plot 43. The facts that there were new species found between these plateaus in the curve and only 45 total plots

sampled suggests that the community was not efficiently sampled and new species could be found with further sampling. To conclude, further sampling of the transitional forest might find new species. This could improve the study; the new data could show the two communities to be more similar if the new species are also found in the upland forest or more different if they are not. The lack of pitch pine saplings in the transitional forest was also noted. What is the future of this species in Pinelands transitional forests? Repeat sampling of the transitional area every five to ten years might provide answers to this question.

References Fau, Andrew. 2011. Woody plant data from pine oak transitional. Richard Stockton College,
Pomona, NJ.

Geller, M.D. 2011. Manual for Ecological Principles Laboratory, ENVL 2205, Fall 2011. In house publication. Richard Stockton College of NJ. Pomona, NJ.

Geller, Michael D. 2002. A Key to the Woody Species of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Rutgers University Press. New Brunswick, NJ. NJ. GOV. New Jersey Pinelands Commission. 2007. Web. December. 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.nj.gov/pinelands/reserve

Appendix

Table 1: Relative Density, Frequency and Coverage of Species found in Upland Forests on Stockton

Campus. Seventy-seven (77) 100m plots were sampled. One plot was randomly chosen and 2 removed (plot # 19). Units are #/100m .
Trees: Acer rubrum Amelanchier canadensis Betula populifolia Ilex opaca Nyssa sylvatica Pinus rigida Relative Density 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.04 0.46 0.01 0.00 0.27 0.06 0.06 0.01 0.05 1.00 Relative Frequency Relative Coverage 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.05 0.04 0.06 0.34 0.57 0.02 0.00 0.28 0.08 0.05 0.02 0.09 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.25 0.03 0.03 0.00 0.02 0.99

Populus grandidentata
Prunus serotina Quercus alba Quercus coccinea Quercus prinus Quercus stellata Sassafras albidum Totals Saplings: Acer rubrum Ilex opaca Betula populifolia Juglans nigra Nyssa sylvatica Pinus rigida

0.02 0.04 0.00 0.01 0.10 0.09 0.01 0.01 0.24 0.01 0.28 0.06 0.03 0.08 1.00

0.04 0.09 0.01 0.02 0.08 0.13 0.02 0.02 0.20 0.02 0.18 0.03 0.04 0.11 1.00

0.00 0.10 0.00 0.00 0.19 0.11 0.02 0.03 0.20 0.00 0.03 0.00 0.01 0.08 0.77

Populus grandidentata
Prunus serotina Quercus alba Quercus coccinea

Quercus ilicifolia Quercus prinus

Quercus stellata Sassafras albidum Totals Shrubs: Gaylussacia baccata/dumosa Gaylussacia frondosa Ilex glabra Ilex opaca Kalmia latifolia Lyonia mariana Myrica pensylvanica Quercus marilandica Smilax spp. Vaccinium corymbosum Vaccinium vacillans Tot als

0.43 0.07 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.07 0.39 1.00

0.25 0.11 0.02 0.01 0.04 0.01 0.06 0.05 0.01 0.17 0.27 1.00

0.39 0.09 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.09 0.37 1.00

Vaccinium vacillans Quercus alba Quercus ilicifolia Nyssa sylvatica Vaccinium corymbosum

Gaylussacia frondosa
Sassafras albidum Quercus coccinea Quercus prinus Ilex opaca Acer rubrum Quercus stellata Myrica pensylvanica Quercus marilandica Prunus serotina Kalmia latifolia Populus grandidentata Juglans nigra Lyonia mariana Ilex glabra Betula populifolia Smilax spp. Amelanchier canadensis Species

A b 0.050 u n d 0.000 a n c e 0.250 S p e 0.200 c i 0.150 e s 0.100 Pinus rigida Gaylussacia Figure 1: Species Abundance Curve for Upland Forest. Data from tables above used.

Table 2. Relative Density, Relative Frequency, and Relative Coverage of Species Found in Transitional Forest. Courtesy of Andrew Fau.

Relative Density Trees#/100m Red Maple Atlantic White Cedar Sweet Bay Magnolia Black Gum Pitch Pine White Oak Scarlet Oak Chestnut Oak Sassafras
2

Relative Frequency

Relative Coverage

Acer rubrum Chamaecyparis thyoides Magnolia virginiana Nyssa sylvatica Pinus rigida Quercus alba Quercus coccinea Quercus prinus Sassafras albidum Total=

0.139 0.018 0.130 0.294 0.157 0.126 0.029 0.067 0.038

0.088 0.025 0.107 0.201 0.220 0.151 0.031 0.088 0.088

0.09 0.00 0.05 0.29 0.33 0.12 0.00 0.09 0.02 1.00

Saplings#/100m Red Maple

Acer rubrum Magnolia virginiana Nyssa sylvatica Quercus alba Quercus prinus Sassafras albidum Total=

0.103 0.132 0.662 0.059 0.015 0.029

0.163 0.143 0.551 0.082 0.020 0.041

0.17 0.13 0.51 0.09 0.07 0.02 1.00

Sweet Bay Magnolia Black Gum White Oak Chestnut Oak Sassafras

Shrubs#/100m

Sweet Pepperbush Tall Huckleberry Winterberry Holly

Clethra alnifolia Galussacia frondosa Illex verticillata

0.169 0.484 0.003

0.213 0.186 0.027

0.16 0.20 0.01

Mountain Laurel Swamp Sweetbells Staggerbush Bay Berry Swamp Azalea Green Briar Highbush Blueberry Scrub oak

Kalmia latifolia Leucothoe racemosa Lyonia mariana Myrica pensylvanicus Rhododendron viscosum Smilax rotundifolia Vaccinium corymbosum Quercus ilicifolia Total=

0.198 0.031 0.006 0.016 0.011 0.010 0.072 0.000

0.247 0.034 0.024 0.055 0.034 0.034 0.137 0.007

0.20 0.05 0.01 0.00 0.03 0.08 0.25 0.01 1.00

Figure 2. Species Abundance Curve for Transitional Forest

0.325 0.300 0.275 0.250 0.225 0.200 0.175 0.150 0.125 0.100 0.075 0.050 0.025 0.000

Species Abundance

Table 3: Shannon Weiner Index Values for Strata and Whole Community. Data is based on the same samples from Table 1 and 2. #/100m2 Shannon Index Trees Saplings Shrubs Whole Community 1.64 2.16 1.60 2.53

Table 4. Shannon Index Values Found in a Transitional Forest. Courtesy of Andrew Fau.

Strata Sampled

Shannon Index Value

Trees#/100m

1.923
2

Saplings#/100m Shrubs#/100m

1.298 1.875 3.854

Entire Community

Table 5. Coefficient of Similarity between Upland and Transitional Forests. Data is based on Table 6 and Table 2. Table 2 is courtesy of Andrew Fau. Number of different species found in upland forest 25 Number of different species found in transitional forest 20 Number of species in common Coefficient of similarity of the two communities

13

0.57

Table 6: Average Density, Standard Deviation, Frequency, and Average Coverage of Species 2 found in Upland Forests on Stockton Campus. Seventy-seven (77) 100m plots were sampled. One 2 plot was randomly chosen and removed (plot # 19). Units are #/100m .

Trees: Acer rubrum Amelanchier canadensis Betula populifolia Ilex opaca Nyssa sylvatica Pinus rigida

Average Density 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.32 0.36 4.01 0.11 0.03 2.31 0.48 0.55 0.07 0.40 8.65

Standard Deviation 0.11 0.11 0.11 1.11 1.33 2.77 0.48 0.23 2.48 1.25 1.63 0.25 0.92 12.79

Frequency 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.13 0.12 0.91 0.05 0.01 0.75 0.21 0.13 0.07 0.24 2.66

Average Coverage 0.54 0.00 0.00 7.30 8.87 90.53 0.00 0.00 39.20 4.24 4.57 0.68 0.13 3.01

Populus grandidentata
Prunus serotina Quercus alba Quercus coccinea Quercus prinus Quercus stellata Sassafras albidum Totals Saplings: Acer rubrum Ilex opaca Betula populifolia Juglans nigra Nyssa sylvatica Pinus rigida

0.05 0.11 0.01 0.03 0.26 0.24 0.03 0.03 0.65 0.02 0.75 0.17 0.09 0.20 2.65

0.27 0.35 0.11 0.16 0.97 0.67 0.16 0.16 2.61 0.13 2.31 1.27 0.49 0.63 10.29

0.05 0.11 0.01 0.03 0.09 0.16 0.03 0.03 0.24 0.03 0.21 0.04 0.05 0.13 1.20

0.00 1.46 0.00 0.00 2.92 1.67 0.24 0.50 3.06 0.00 0.50 0.00 0.13 1.27 11.74

Populus grandidentata
Prunus serotina Quercus alba Quercus coccinea

Quercus ilicifolia Quercus prinus

Quercus stellata Sassafras albidum Totals Shrubs: Gaylussacia baccata/dumosa Gaylussacia frondosa Ilex glabra Ilex opaca Kalmia latifolia Lyonia mariana Myrica pensylvanica Quercus marilandica Smilax spp. Vaccinium corymbosum Vaccinium vacillans Tot als

295.01 51.35 0.39 2.94 1.06 1.28 6.33 9.19 0.07 49.33 270.09 687.04

417.36 120.25 2.47 24.07 3.69 6.82 29.34 33.23 0.49 109.63 305.54 1052.89

0.80 0.36 0.06 0.04 0.13 0.04 0.17 0.14 0.03 0.54 0.84 3.16

0.25 0.06 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.06 0.23 0.64

Fig.3 Species Area Curve for Upland Forest. Data based on the tables above.
30 Cumulative Species Found 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 67 70 73 76 Plot Number

Figure 4. Species Area Curve For Transitional Forest

30 Cumulative Number of Species 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 Plot Number