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

Atlantic white cedar site comparisons and implications for sustainability

John W. McCoy, National Wetlands Research Center / USGS, Lafayette, LA

John W. McCoy, National Wetlands Research Center / USGS, Lafayette, LA

Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) BSP) are found in the Southeastern United States along rivers, creeks, low lying wet areas, and seeps. Substrates are composed of peats, sands, and loams, and usually saturated for most of the year at or within centimeters of the surface. Flooding above soil surface is usually rain-driven and of short duration. Three study sites were established in Mississippi on private and public land at Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Desoto National Forest at Camp Shelby, and the Black Swamp near Wiggins. AWC was the emergent canopy species on all sites, but not the most abundant of all woody species. Shrub layer species typically are broadleaf evergreen and create shade effects accounting for a sparse herbaceous cover. Herbaceous plants include facultative to obligate wetland species that can be found in pitcher plant bogs. Stand characteristics of these swamp sites demonstrate that indicator values for AWC range from 6.7% to 10.5% frequency, 3.8% to 15.8% density, and 8.8% to 17.4% dominance. This fairly narrow range of indicator values may be related to the limited ability of this species to contend with periodic hurricane disturbance and regeneration requirements within narrow hydrological conditions. AWC can grow on a variety of different soils.

Atlantic white cedar, Mississippi, sustainability, soils, forest, composition, survival, growth

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