Modern Vegetation and Pollen Rain in Bladen County, North Carolina

Abstract

The different vegetation types within Bladen County, in order of areal dominance, are pine and hardwoods, mixed hardwoods, pocosin, mixed pine, and long—leaf pine. Basal area data from Continuous Forest Inventory (CFI) plots indicate that the most abundant trees, in order of frequency, are Pinus taeda, Liquidambar, Acer rubrum, Pinus serotina, Pinus australis, "bay" shrubs (Gordonia, Magnolia, Persea), Quercus spp., Liriodendron, Nyssa, Taxodium, and Chamaecyparis. The surface pollen spectra from the four lakes studied are extremely similar. The dominant pollen types are, in order of frequency, Pinus, Quercus, Cupressacaea–Taxodium, Nyssa, Liquidambar, Ambrosia, Carya, Corylus, Ericaceae, and Belta. Comparison of vegetation and pollen data indicates that Quercus is only sightly over—represented and Pinus more or less proportionately represented. This is in distinct contrast to findings in other areas. Among those types over—represented are Taxodium, Carya, Betula, Ulmus, Alnus, and Nyssa; those proportionately represented include Fagus, Juglans, Castanea, Populus, Salix, and Itea; those under—represented include Liquidambar, Ilex, Acer, Gordonia, Ericaceae, Cyrilla, Magnolia, and Liriodendron. The size of the lake may influence the character of the pollen rain, and the marginal vegetation mat (bay vegetation) may filter out pollen derived from xerophytes on the bay rims.