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Insular ecosystems of the southeastern United States—A regional synthesis to support biodiversity conservation in a changing climate

Professional Paper 1828
By:  and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1828

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Abstract

In the southeastern United States, insular ecosystems—such as rock outcrops, depression wetlands, high-elevation balds, flood-scoured riparian corridors, and insular prairies and barrens—occupy a small fraction of land area but constitute an important source of regional and global biodiversity, including concentrations of rare and endemic plant taxa. Maintenance of this biodiversity depends upon regimes of abiotic stress and disturbance, incorporating factors such as soil surface temperature, widely fluctuating hydrologic conditions, fires, flood scouring, and episodic droughts that may be subject to alteration by climate change. Over several decades, numerous localized, site-level investigations have yielded important information about the floristics, physical environments, and ecological dynamics of these insular ecosystems; however, the literature from these investigations has generally remained fragmented. This report consists of literature syntheses for eight categories of insular ecosystems of the southeastern United States, concerning (1) physical geography, (2) ecological determinants of community structures including vegetation dynamics and regimes of abiotic stress and disturbance, (3) contributions to regional and global biodiversity, (4) historical and current anthropogenic threats and conservation approaches, and (5) key knowledge gaps relevant to conservation, particularly in terms of climate-change effects on biodiversity. This regional synthesis was undertaken to discern patterns across ecosystems, identify knowledge gaps, and lay the groundwork for future analyses of climate-change vulnerability. Findings from this synthesis indicate that, despite their importance to regional and global biodiversity, insular ecosystems of the southeastern United States have been subjected to a variety of direct and indirect human alterations. In many cases, important questions remain concerning key determinants of ecosystem function. In particular, few empirical investigations in these ecosystems have focused on possible climate-change effects, despite the well-documented ecological effects of climate change at a global level. Long-term management of these ecosystems could benefit from increased scientific effort to characterize and quantify the linkages between changing environmental conditions and the ecological processes that sustain biodiversity.

Suggested Citation

Cartwright, J.M., and Wolfe, W.J., 2016, Insular ecosystems of the southeastern United States—A regional synthesis to support biodiversity conservation in a changing climate: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1828, 162 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/pp1828.

ISSN: 2330-7102 (online)

ISSN: 1044-9612 (print)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments 
  • Abstract
  • Chapter A. Introduction
  • Chapter B. Granite Outcrops of the Piedmont 
  • Chapter C. Limestone Cedar Glades
  • Chapter D. Xeric Limestone Prairies
  • Chapter E. Mid-Appalachian Shale Barrens
  • Chapter F. High-Elevation Outcrops and Balds of the Southern Appalachians 
  • Chapter G. Carolina Bays 
  • Chapter H. Karst-Depression Wetlands
  • Chapter I. Riverscour Ecosystems 
  • Chapter J. Conclusions and Implications
  • Glossary 
  • Appendix 1. Ecological System Names According to the International Terrestrial Ecological Systems Classification
  • Appendix 2. Component Associations According to the International Terrestrial Ecological Systems Classification
  • Appendix 3. Selected Plant Taxa of Conservation Concern in Insular Ecosystems of the Southeastern United States
  • References Cited in Appendixes
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Insular ecosystems of the southeastern United States—A regional synthesis to support biodiversity conservation in a changing climate
Series title Professional Paper
Series number 1828
DOI 10.3133/pp1828
Year Published 2016
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center
Description viii, 162 p.
Country United States
State Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, South Carolina, West Virginia
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) Y
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
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