The vascular flora and vegetative communities of Munsee Woods in Delaware County, Indiana

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Authors
Prast, Zachary B.
Advisor
Ruch, Donald Gene, 1948-
Issue Date
2012-07-21
Keyword
Degree
Thesis (M.S.)
Department
Department of Biology
Other Identifiers
Abstract

An inventory of the vascular flora at Munsee Woods in Delaware County, Indiana revealed 399 species and varieties representing 255 genera and 86 families. The 10 families containing ~52% of the documented species (in order by number of species) were Asteraceae, Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Rosaceae, Brassicaceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Polygonaceae, and Liliaceae. Of the documented flora, 300 were native and 99 were exotics. The Floristic Quality Index (FQI) was 47.7, and the mean Coefficient of Conservation (Cav) was 2.4. A plot-based analysis of the woody vegetation was conducted for the southern mesic, upland woodland. Based on the relative importance values (RIV), the important species in order were Acer saccharum, Quercus alba, Celtis occidentalis, Prunus serotina, and Ulmus americana. Relative importance values were used to compare Munsee Woods to Christy Woods in Delaware County, Ginn Woods in Delaware County, and Yuhas Woods in Randolph County. The results of these comparisons were interpreted with regards to the disturbance history of the site, age of the stand, and the stage of succession.

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