| Congaree
National Park, SC Feb 2006 |
Jess
Riddle |
|
Apr
03, 2006 08:02 PDT |
Ents,
Congaree National Park, formerly Congaree Swamp National
Monument, lies in
central South Carolina just below the Fall-line. The Fall-line
marks the
interface between the rolling hills of the piedmont and the
flat, sandy
coastal plain; hence, downstream of the Fall-line rivers slow
down, develop
broad floodplains, and deposit vast quantities of rich sediment
from the
piedmont and mountains. Most years, the Congaree River floods
several
times, so the floodplain forests regularly receive new nutrients
and stay
moist. Within the park, the floodplain averages about two miles
in width
and contains approximately 11,000 acres of old-growth, the
largest remaining
bottomland tract in the eastern U.S. Baldcypress were cut from
much of the
forest, and a few high value species were removed from other
areas, but most
of the bottomland forest remains undisturbed by logging.
In mid-February, several Ents converged on the Congaree to
explore more of
the forest and model some of the giant loblolly pines and
cherrybark
oaks. Spring was already clearly in evidence: the elms and red
maple were
flowering, silver maple had already set seed, and one spring
ephemeral,
butterweed, was just beginning to flower. The rosettes of
butterweed leaves
covered the ground adjacent to wet areas. One grass and one
sedge species
also covered much of the ground in some areas; however, most of
the forest
floor was bare except for leaves, and extensive disturbance by
hogs may
ensure spring herbs do not carpet the ground in some wet areas.
At the time of our visit, water levels in the park were low
making travel
easier, but water still covered many poorly drained areas. The
forests that
inhabit the wet areas vary considerably depending on the depth
and structure
of the depressions. Adjacent to the bluff, the five to ten foot
high rise
that marks the edge of the floodplain, swamp tupelo dominates
the uneven
swampy ground, and Loblolly pines range from absent to abundant
in that
forest. Broad flooded areas also occur in abandoned river
channels that now
lie scattered throughout the floodplain. Water tupelo and
baldcypress
typically form the entire canopy in these areas. Few trees grow
in the
understory, but water-elm (Planera aquatica) may be present.
Cypress and
tupelo also form a pure mixture in the sloughs or guts that wind
through the
floodplain. Sloughs resemble large brown creeks, but the water
flow is
imperceptible. Shallower wet areas form on poorly drained higher
elevation
areas in the floodplain. In those depressions grow bottomland
hardwoods
including overcup oak, laurel oak, persimmon and water hickory.
However, most of the floodplain remains firm dry ground except
when the
river overflows its banks. Diverse mixtures of bottomland
hardwoods occupy
these better drained regions. Sweetgum, which occasionally forms
pure
stands, probably reaches the canopy more often than any other
species, but
most areas contain several hardwood species. Ironwood and paw
paw are
ubiquitous in the midstory, and likely include more individuals
than any
other tree species in the park. American holly is also abundant
in the
midstory, but tends to grow in large, discrete groves, except
near the
river. Possumhaw or deciduous holly can also become an important
component
of the midstory near the river. Spicebush forms the shrub layer
in some
areas, but rivercane is far more abundant although still not
ubiquitous.
Vines grow throughout the floodplain in impressive numbers
regardless of
forest type. Most trees in the park over one foot in diameter
have vines
growing up them. Poison ivy in the floodplain always grows up
tree trunks
rather than creeping across the ground, but still appears to be
the most
common vine species. However, crossvine, supplejack, and grape
vines are
also common. The grape vines can exceed 30" in
circumference, but trumpet
creeper reaches even larger sizes. However, most trumpet
creepers fragment
into several separate living strands before they reach great
size.
For our visit, we were fortunate enough to be able to tap into
Marcas
Houtchings experience. He has worked at the park for four years
and
explored the forests for close to a decade. He was kind enough
to volunteer
to show us several of the park's arboreal highlights. Marcas
first took my
dad, Will Blozan, and I to a slough that the loggers skipped for
some
reason. Ancient cypress stood in a row in the slough and
consistently
exceeded 130' in height. We measured a few trees on our way back
to the
trail then headed down the River Loop Trail, a trail we had
hiked several
times before. A few hours of tree measuring later we arrived at
our second
destination, the state champion cherrybark oak. After modeling
the tree's
trunk with a monocular, we started going back to camp along the
opposite
side of the slough the River Loop Trail paralleled. We stumbled
back into
camp well after sunset, but several height records richer.
The second day we planned to focus more on volume modeling, but
somehow got
distracted by tall trees along the way. John Eichholz, Will,
Marcas, and I
first stopped by a large hornbeam Marcas had found then Marcas
showed us one
of the former national co-champion persimmons. We took a short
detour to
remeasure a tall persimmon my dad and I had found several years
earlier
before heading for our primary target, a loblolly pine grove
that had
supported a 173' individual, the tallest loblolly pine yet
found. In 2000
or 2001 a microburst hit the grove and snapped the 173' pine,
but left
unscathed a 14'7" x 160'+ tree. We planned to model that
large pine, but
this trip we found the rest of the grove decimated. Only three
pines
remained alive; the largest tree was not among them. Somewhat
letdown but
still wanting to model the large pines, we started for the
highly visited
former state champion pine. On the way to that tree, we stopped
to model
the tallest known cherrybark oak. When we arrived at the large
pine, we
quickly set two monoculars to work in the light drizzle. Again,
we stumbled
into camp in late twilight well satisfied with the day.
For our last day at the park, Marcas and John Torrence, another
ranger at
the park, set up a boat trip to see areas they knew about along
the
river. Our first stop was an unusual, 26'4" cbh, twin
cypress. One stem
had snapped off nine feet above the ground, and with a little
help one could
climb inside the tree. Inside, both stems were hollow, and the
ground was
14' below the opening. Many people commented the inside looked
like a cave;
muck and water stood on the floor while cypress knees and odd
fins of wood
grew up all around and were strongly reminiscent of stalagmites.
The five
foot elevation difference between ground outside and ground
inside the tree
may be the result of centuries of siltation by the river.
The same situation appeared to have occurred in adjacent grove
of cypress we
visited. The obviously old cypresses currently grow on dry
ground, and
their lower trunks swell much less than usual. The grove is also
unusual in
that it still exists. The river would have provided easy access
for
loggers, and the grove consists of not just hollow shells but a
complete
forest.
From there we walked to the state champion bald cypress. The
tree grows in
a more typical grove of scattered, remnant, ancient cypress
amidst many
younger cypresses. We also tried to visit the state champion
American elm,
but we were not able to locate that tree from just the map we
had with
us. However, on the way to the tree we walked through an
impressive
riverside forest of green ash, sycamore and sugarberry.
Species Cbh Height
Ash, Green 8'8" 131.8'
Baldcypress 26'0" 124.9'
Baldcypress 10'0" 125.0'
Baldcypress 23'9" 133.3'
Baldcypress 8'6.5" 137.1'
Baldcypress 20'1.5" 137.1'
Baldcypress 18'7.5" 139.9'
Baldcypress Coppice
143.4'
Baldcypress 10'6" 146.7'
Baldcypress Coppice 147.2'
Beech 11'0" 112.9'
Beech 6'10" 115.5'
Beech 9'10" 122.3'
Beech 7'11" 126.3'
Boxelder 5'2" 84.4'
Boxelder 6'11.5" 94.5'
Bumelia, Gum 9" 35.3'
Cottonwood, Swamp 6'2" 114.9'
Cottonwood, Swamp 7'8" 117.6'
Elm, Winged 6'11" 122.6'
Hickory, Water 11'3" 126.2'
Hickory, Water 12'11" 137.2'
Holly, American 5'3.5" 87.4'
Holly, American 5'3" 92.5'
Holly, American 5'4" 96.6'
Hornbeam, American 4'2" 62.6'
Hornbeam, American 3'7" 65.3'
Hornbeam, American 3'1" 70.3'
Hornbeam, American 2'7.5" 76.1'
Oak, Cherrybark 23'6" 146.5'
Oak, Cherrybark 18'8" 151.3'
Oak, Cherrybark 18'8" 156.8'
Oak, Laurel 12'3" 119.4'
Oak, Laurel 16'7" 122.5'
Oak, Laurel 22'1" 130.1'
Oak, Overcup 14'2" 136.5'
Oak, Overcup 9'6" 143.3'
Oak, Shumard 14'6" 139.1'
Oak, Shumard 17'1" 141.6'
Oak, Shumard 8'6.5" 142.1'
Oak, Shumard 13'10" 157.6'
Oak, Willow 12'4" 144.7'
Paw Paw 1'3" 47.8'
Paw Paw 1'3.5" 51.0'
Paw Paw 1'6.5" 58.8'
Persimmon 7'5" 113.9'
Persimmon 7'4" 114.3'
Persimmon 6'9.5" 131.4'
Possumhaw 3'6" 38.1'
Possumhaw 2'1.5" 49.2'
Redbay 2'4" 49.3'
Redbay 2'0" 55.1'
Sugarberry 7'2" 108.0'
Sugarberry 7'11" 109.4'
Sugarberry 8'5" 111.3'
Sugarberry 9'6" 112.4'
Sugarberry 6'3" 112.9'
Sugarberry 6'6" 113.6'
Sugarberry 5'10" 114.2'
Sugarberry 8'0" 115.8'
Sugarberry 9'8" 123.7'
Sugarberry 13'0" 130.5'
Sugarberry 11'1" 133.6'
Sweetgum 11'5" 136.1'
Sweetgum 14'10"
138.8'
Sweetgum 5'10" 141.4'
Sweetgum 13'1" 142.1'
Sweetgum 9'0" 144.1'
Sweetgum 10'3" 146.0'
Sweetgum 10'7" 146.0'
Sweetgum 9'9" 148.8'
Sweetgum 8'8" 151.0'
Sweetgum 9'6" 152.5'
Sweetgum 9'5" 155.2'
Sweetgum 9'10" 157.0'
Sycamore 8'11" 131.5'
Sycamore 16'0" 133.6'
Sycamore 14'6" 133.9'
Sycamore 11'0" 143.3'
Sycamore 9'5" 153.6'
Tupelo, Water 13'2" 118.8'
Tupelo, Water 9'11" 124.8'
*Rucker Index 151.01'*
Loblolly Pine 168.9'
Cherrybark Oak 160.2'
Shumard Oak 157.6'
Sweetgum 157.0'
Sycamore 153.6'
Baldcypress 147.2'
Willow Oak 144.7'
Overcup Oak 143.3'
Swamp Chestnut Oak 140.3'
Bitternut Hickory 137.3'
The 26' circumference baldcypress is the current South Carolina
state
champion. Previously, the tallest confirmed baldcypress was a
144.7' tree
growing in a ravine in Virginia, and the tallest in the Congaree
was 141.0'
The larger boxelder is a potential state co-champion and the
tallest found
thus far in the east.
The swamp cottonwood also sets a new ENTS height record.
The height record winged elm, a 131.1' that grew in the Congaree,
died
during the year since it was measured. The tree appeared healthy
last year,
but some disease, most likely elm yellows, has killed the
tree. Consequently, the 122.6' tree is now the tallest known
living winged
elm.
The 137.2' water hickory is the tallest ENTS knows of, but the
species has
only been measured at a few sites.
The 96.6' American holly is the second tallest known, and the
tallest so far
found in the Congaree.
The 76.1' hornbeam is also the second tallest known of the
species. The
tallest individual also resides in the Congaree.
The 23'6" cbh cherrybark oak is the South Carolina state
champion. The
tree's asymmetrical crown yields branch spreads of 88' and 150'.
The tree's
huge, stabilizing, buttressing roots radiate out from the trunk
like fins
and inflate the tree's circumference. At the top of the basal
flair,
10.5'above the ground, the circumference is 16'4". From
that level,
the trunk
gradually tapers down to slightly over 10' in circumference at
75' above the
ground. Consequently, that lower trunk contains approximately
1066 ft^3 of
wood.
The tallest known cherrybark oak, 160.2', has a more modest cbh
of 20'4.5",
but remains 13'8" in circumference just below the point of
major
branching. That slightly slower taper allows the tree to amass
913 ft^3 of
wood over the first 52' of the trunk. Above that level, the
trunk splits
into tree leads, each at least 2'4" in diameter, and
ascends over 100
additional feet.
The 156.8' cherrybark oak is the second tallest found so far.
Exceptionally large buttress roots support the largest laurel
oak. Two
cracks stretch up the tree's trunk, and the trunk has entirely
rotted away
at ground level leaving the tree standing only on its roots.
However, the
tree still maintains a full crown that spreads 80', and has
enough points by
the American Forests system to qualify as a national champion.
The tree is
also the tallest of the few laurel oaks ENTS has measured.
Previously, ENTS had measured overcup oaks to only approximately
130'.
The former height record for shumard oak was 140.0', so that
record was
shattered by 17.6'. The 17'1" cbh tree is a potential state
champion since
the former record holder in the Congaree fell.
The willow oak ties the tallest ENTS has measured.
This may sound like a broken record by know, but the 58.8' paw
paw is the
tallest ENTS has measured.
The 7'5" persimmon is a former national co-champion, and
the 131.4' tree is
the current height record holder.
The former state champion loblolly pine has a 15'9" cbh,
and the tree's flat
topped crown rises 143.5' above the ground. The tree's trunk
remains over
10' in circumference for the first 75', and is still over eight
feet in
circumference 100' above the ground. That long stem gives the
tree a trunk
volume of 1144 ft^3.
The 3'6" possumhaw shows substantial crown die-back. In its
prime, the tree
may have qualified as a national co-champion. The 49.2' tree
exceeds the
former height record by five feet.
Previously, the tallest known sugarberry was 118.4', and the
tallest known
in the Congaree was 111.6'. We suspected taller individuals were
present in
the Congaree, so John Eichholz focused on the species during
this trip. The
first day of searching yielded several tall individuals
comparable to
previous finds, all of the individuals listed above less than
115', but no
significantly taller individuals. That day was spent near the
trails, and
miles from the river. On the following day, when we ventured
near the
river, we found all of the individuals listed above over 115'.
The
riverside individuals were also far larger in volume than the
more inland
trees, and the 13' cbh tree is a new potential state
co-champion. The
133.6' tree breaks the old height record by 15.2'.
The former height record for sweetgum was 152.7'.
The 153.6' sycamore was previously measured at 144' tall. All
other
sycamores listed grow near the river.
The 151.01' Rucker Index slightly surpass that of the central
Brevard Fault
Zone (150.57') and is the second highest of any eastern US site.
Jess Riddle, Will Blozan, John Eichholz, Marcas Houtchings, and
Doug Riddle |
|