FLORISTIC QUALITY ASSESSMENT ALONG AN OLD-FIELD CHRONOSEQUENCE

• Published in: Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science Vol. 120; no. 1-2; pp. 12 - 17
• Main Authors: Rothrock, P E, Reber, R T, Misurac, MA
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2011
• ISSN: 0073-6767

Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA), a protocol for quantifying plant community quality relative to one that retains remnant natural condition, has been successfully applied to a suite of natural community types and ecological restoration projects. This study, performed in east central Indiana, examined floristic quality in a natural old-field succession chronosequence. Sites ranged in age from 1 to 50 years. Differences in species richness, mean conservatism, and floristic quality index were assessed at both transect and quadrat level. As hypothesized, richness of non-native species decreased while all other metrics increased with post-disturbance time. The mean conservatism for native species (at both transect and quadrat level) was ca. 2-3 for sites over 30 years of age. Floristic quality index for native species ranged from ca. 9-15 (transect level) and 4-7 (quadrat level). Given FQA expectations in the literature, 50 years of old-field succession was insufficient for mean conservatism or the floristic quality index to even reach levels associated with a degraded remnant natural community.