The vascular flora of the Lula Lake land trust on Lookout Mountain in Walker County, Georgia and a biogeographical analysis of the Coastal Plain element on the Cumberland Plateau

摘要

The vascular flora of the Lula Lake Land Trust (LLLT) atop Lookout Mountain in Walker County, Georgia was surveyed from 2012 to 2014. A total of 60 collecting trips were made with 672 species and lesser taxa documented. Twenty-eight rare species of conservation concern were documented including the federally endangered Spiraea virginiana and four species previously unknown from the state (Calamovilfa arcuata, Chelone lyonii, Populus grandidentata, and Solidago arenicola). This inventory along with the vascular flora of Little River (Cherokee/Dekalb counties, AL) were added to the legacy database of the lab of Joey Shaw (UTC) and used to generate a species-area curve representing the full extent of the Cumberland Plateau. The proportion of Coastal Plain endemic species present in the Cumberland Plateau was compared to the surrounding physiographic provinces using the legacy database. This comparison indicated a significantly higher proportion of Coastal Plain endemics in the Cumberland Plateau than surrounding physiographic provinces.