Category
Basic
Description
Candler’s Mountain is home to a variety of natural communities and flora. With more than 1200 vascular plant species documented in Campbell County, the identification and growing historical record of local flora will support short and long-term recognition of the importance of biodiverse natural communities in central Virginia. This project seeks to (1) document flora diversity in this region, (2) further establish an herbarium teaching and research collection of representative species, and (3) advance our understanding of the flora in relation to natural communities. Identified ecological groups and community types are based upon the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation classification of Natural Community Types. We expect the greatest biodiversity density to occur in the Seepage/Alluvial Swamp areas and the lowest density of biodiversity to occur in the Eastern White-Pine Hardwood area given the predominant species description and structure influencing species richness for this area. By providing an accessible system of primary data centralized in one location, this herbarium plant collection is essential in investigating plant types and plant biodiversity of representative ecosystems. Species of interest will be monitored and used to promote future botanical studies. Planned future work of this herbarium lab include seasonal investigations of plants as optimal host microhabitats of other organisms (e.g. assessing pitcher plants as biological reservoirs in support of Arthropod life histories). Future work will support future conservation efforts of Virginia flora and fauna.
Investigating the Natural Communities and Flora of Candler’s Mountain
Basic
Candler’s Mountain is home to a variety of natural communities and flora. With more than 1200 vascular plant species documented in Campbell County, the identification and growing historical record of local flora will support short and long-term recognition of the importance of biodiverse natural communities in central Virginia. This project seeks to (1) document flora diversity in this region, (2) further establish an herbarium teaching and research collection of representative species, and (3) advance our understanding of the flora in relation to natural communities. Identified ecological groups and community types are based upon the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation classification of Natural Community Types. We expect the greatest biodiversity density to occur in the Seepage/Alluvial Swamp areas and the lowest density of biodiversity to occur in the Eastern White-Pine Hardwood area given the predominant species description and structure influencing species richness for this area. By providing an accessible system of primary data centralized in one location, this herbarium plant collection is essential in investigating plant types and plant biodiversity of representative ecosystems. Species of interest will be monitored and used to promote future botanical studies. Planned future work of this herbarium lab include seasonal investigations of plants as optimal host microhabitats of other organisms (e.g. assessing pitcher plants as biological reservoirs in support of Arthropod life histories). Future work will support future conservation efforts of Virginia flora and fauna.
