Forest Communities of the Tellico Lake Area, East Tennessee
Abstract
This paper is the result of a Pilot Project that was initiated by the Tennessee Valley
Authority's (TVA) Natural Heritage Division and The Southeast Heritage Task Force
of The
Nature Conservancy (TNC). The study site consists of approximately 2,700 acres of
land
managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority in Monroe County, Tennessee.
Twenty six community types were described in Tellico Study Area. These types can be
divided into three general types: oak - hickory communities, mixed mesophytic communities,
and
early successional communities. The oak - hickory communities can be divided into
three distinct
types: those dominated by Quercus alba, those dominated by Quercus prinus, and those
dominated by Quercus falcata. The oak - hickory types are found on upland dry mesic
sites
throughout the study area. They can be considered stable types. The mixed mesophytic
communities can be divided into three types: Acer saccharum - Quercus (alba, muehlenbergii),
Fagus grandifoba, and Acer saccharum - Liriodendron tubpifera - Fraxinus americana.
These communities occur on moist, protected upland slopes. They are limited to the
calcareous knobs
and ridges in the southern half ofthe study area. Early successional communities are
found throughout the study area on low - mid slopes that were formerly in agriculture.
These communities can be divided into coniferous types and hardwood types. The coniferous
types, dominated by Pinus virginiana, are associated with dry sites. The hardwood
types are variable in composition and are associated with wetter sites.
Type
Master's projectPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/1375Citation
Andreu, Michael G.; & Tukman, Mark L. (1995). Forest Communities of the Tellico Lake Area, East Tennessee. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/1375.Collections
More Info
Show full item record
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Rights for Collection: Nicholas School of the Environment
Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info