The Ecology and Management of Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) 2012 SYMPOSIUM June 12, 13 and 14, 2012 Hilton Garden Inn on the waterfront in Suffolk, VA

Effect of hydrology on post-fire survival and growth of containerized seedlings, rooted cuttings, and naturally regenerated Atlantic white cedar in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

J.W. Bayley Cook, Emily M. Foster, Robert B. Atkinson, Christopher Newport University, Center for Wetland Conservation.

J.W. Bayley Cook, Christopher Newport University

Atlantic white cedar (AWC) peat swamps are globally threatened ecosystems and the acreage of this swamp type has been reduced by drainage and logging. The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge contained extensive stands of AWC that were severely damaged by Hurricane Isabel and in 2008 by the South One Fire. In 2010, thirty two 10 meter-squared plots were established throughout the Refuge, and rooted cuttings (RC) and containerized seedlings (CS) were planted in June. They were monitored in August, along with natural regenerants (NR), and survival and growth were quantified again in 2011. The effect of soil saturation and inundation on survival and morphometric growth indicators including height, canopy diameter, and stem diameter were quantified. Inundation during the growing season and non-growing season reduced survival. The highest survival occurred with 55 days of inundation during the non-growing season and 28 days during the growing season. Survival of CS was more negatively impacted by inundation than were either RC or NR. Saturation was generally negatively related to growth. These findings emphasize the importance of water level management to improve initial AWC recruitment and establishment.

morphometric parameters, hydrology, growth, seedling survival, restoration, Chamaecyparis thyoides

• Edited Paper