Cliff Flora of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Cliffs harbor unique ecological communities while facing increasing pressure from human disturbances. How abiotic factors such as surface heterogeneity, slope, and aspect interact locally to drive variation in plant communities remains largely unknown. We surveyed the vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens along 50 vertical transects throughout the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (Tennessee, USA) to characterize the vegetative community and to determine which factors influenced the distribution of cliff vegetation. Across all cliff face plots, the dominant lichen genus was Lepraria; the dominant vascular plant was Dennstaedtia punctilobula; and the dominant bryophyte was Dicranum montanum. We found several rare species including Cladonia pocillum, a boreal disjunct lichen; Vittaria appalachiana, Appalachian shoestring fern; and Cynodontium schisti, a rare bryophyte. Vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens were each influenced by different environmental drivers. West-facing s...