Download The Cedar Glade Ecosystem

The Cedar Glade
Ecosystem
What is a cedar glade?
• Endangered
Ecosystem
• Characteristics:
– Very thin soil layers
– Exposed limestone
rock
– Surrounded by
junipers
– Dry in summer, wet in
winter
What is a Cedar Glade?
Where are the Cedar Glades?
• Central Basin of Middle TN
Where are the Cedar Glades?
The Zones of the Cedar Glades
•
•
•
•
•
Zone 1- Bare rock, no soil
Zone 2- Gravelly glades; 0-2 in. soil
Zone 3- Grassy glades; 2-8 in. soil
Zone 4- Shrub zone; 8-12 in. soil
Zone 5- Cedar woods zone; 12+ in. soil
The Zones of the Cedar Glades
Zone 1: Bare
rock, No soil
Zone 2: Gravelly
Glade; 0-2 in. soil
Zone 4: Shrub
Zone 3: Grassy
Glade; 2-8 in. soil Zone; 8-12 in. soil
Zone 5:
Cedar
woods; 12
in. soil
What makes the Cedar Glades
Unique?
• Found primarily in Middle TN
– A few other places in the South
• Endemic Plant Species
– What does endemic mean?
– How?
• Adapted to extreme environment
• Can not compete elsewhere
• We have plants in Rutherford Co. that are not
found anywhere else in the world!
Glade Ecosystem Case Study Intro
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBFoN14eyyc
• What is a glade ecosystem?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5iyTkp9d2g
• Characteristics of Glade ecosystems
• Show first 3 minutes, and 6-8
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPYKZ8L9fbU
• Flat rock cedar glades and barrens
A Ridge and Valley limestone barren dominated by
prairie grasses. Tall blazing star (Liatris aspera) is
• Gravelly Limestone /
Dolomite Barren
(Southern Ridge and
Valley Type) near
Dry Creek, The
Cedars Natural Area
Preserve, Lee
County.
• Low herbaceous barrens on a massive diabase
"flatrock" in the northern Virginia Mesozoic Basin.
Near Elklick Run, Fairfax County (Fairfax County
Glades of various types occur across the
southeast and there are unique, endemic
species and rarely occurring species and lots of
diversity specific to each region!!
• http://www.jimbotany.com/lostworld.htm
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9eiY2f4
458
Running Glade Clover: found in
only 7 sites in VA and TN
The Tennessee Coneflower is one of several
species that have adapted to the harsh conditions
found in middle Tennessee cedar glades.
•
•
http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/metadata.htm?//glade-plants/list/glade-plants
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bmV-GfSyWs barrens and the coneflower
• “The Cedars” is a topographic lowland region located in extreme Southwest
Virginia . The extensive karst terrain of “The Cedars” has been rated as one
of seven significant Karst Areas in Virginia . Landscape features include
sinkholes, caves, springs, and sinking streams. Within The Cedars there are:
• Ten major caves and two large springs
• Seventeen rare animal species
• Thirteen are listed as globally rare
• Cave isopod--found no where else in the world
• Cedars millepede--found no where else in the world
• Sixteen species of rare plants
• Two are globally rare
• Running-glade clover is found in only one other site in the world (middle
Tennessee )
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmHDjvbYpek
• http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-areapreserves/thecedars
• Cedars Natural Area, Lee County, VA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBUZLNIl
Amg
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h31vJA4
3MB0
• What is karst topography?
• http://mtsu.edu/glade-center/restoration.php
• Preserving and restoring a glade ecosystem
Copy down these questions on a sheet of paper. You will be answering these for a grade to hand in at the end of the period
1.
2.
3.
Describe the appearance of glades using 2 sentences minimum
Describe the type of plants found in cedar glades (and what kinds
of plants are NOT there).
What adaptations do plants that live in glades have with regards to
how they deal with
-sunlight
-moisture
3. Where in the US do we find cedar glades?
4. What does it mean to say a species is ‘endemic’ to a certain area?
5. What are 2 reasons to conserve cedar glades?
6. What are the major risks faced by glades?
7. What lies underneath the cedar glade landscape? What is karst
topography?
8. What is the relationship between fire and the glade ecosystem?
9. What are the zones of the cedar glades?
10. Describe some unique features of the Tennessee coneflower.
Now here are some important
Cedar Glade Plant species….
Prickly-Pear Cactus
• The only native cactus in Tennessee
• Zones 2 and 3 of the glades
Sunnybell Lily
• Endangered plant
protected by state
law
• Interstate 840 was
rerouted for this
plant
• Zones 2 and 3,
near standing
water
Hoary Puccoon
• Native Americans used flowers as a yellow dye
• Found in zones 2 and 3
Nashville Mustard (glade cress)
• In the mustard family
• Endemic to Middle TN cedar glades; zone 2
Prairie Coneflower
• In the sunflower
family
• 3-4ft tall; found in
zone 3
Price’s Wood Sorrel
• In the Wood Sorrel
family
• Leaves look like clovers
• Endemic to cedar glades;
zone 2
Shrubby St. John’s Wort
• Used as an anti-depressant
• 5 petals, numerous stamens
• Zone 4
Missouri Evening Primrose
• Large yellow flowers up to 5 inches across
• Zone 2
• East of Mississippi River, found only in
Rutherford Co.
Gattinger’s Lobelia
• Dr. Gattinger named this bluepurple flower
• Endemic to the cedar glades;
Zone 2
Blue-Eyed Grass
• This “grass” is really a
flower in the iris
family
• Zones 2 and 3
Wild Petunia
• Blue-violet trumpet-like flowers
• Sweet smell
• Zones 2 and 3
Glade Savory
•
•
•
•
Perennial in the Mint family
Fragrant leaves
Square stem
Zone 3
Gattinger’s Prairie Clover
• Aromatic leaves when crushed/stepped on
• Red stems
• In the pea
family
• Zones 2 and 3
Nashville Breadroot
• Showy flower with large,
swollen root/tuber which
may be used for food
(starchy)
• Endemic to the cedar
glades; zone 3
Tennessee Coneflower
• First federally listed
endangered species
in TN
• Endemic to the cedar
glades; Zone 3
• Petals bent forward,
opposite of other
coneflowers
Pyne’s Ground Plum
• Only found in Rutherford
Co.
• Nowhere else in the world!
• Red, fleshy fruit
• Zones 3 and 4
Shooting Star
• Unusual flowers that
look like rockets
• Zones 3, 4, and 5
Glade Stonecrop
• Form a mat on thin soil over limestone rock
• Zone 2
Redcedar
• Actually a juniper,
not a cedar
• Surrounds the
glade; zone 5