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Piedmont granite rock outcrops in the southeastern United States support a plant community rich in endemic and rare plant species. The ecotones of the granite outcrop and Piedmont oak hickory forest communities are under increasing pressure from exotic invasion and the potential impacts of this invasion on the native plants in these communities are unclear. We conducted an experimental removal of invasive plant species at the ecotone of two granite rock outcrops and monitored species richness and plant occurrence along random belt transects in invaded, uninvaded, and removal plots for three years. These transects captured a representative sample of the plant community from the rock edge 20 m into the forest interior. Hemispherical photographs and soil samples were used to monitor changes in light availability and soil nutrients. Vegetation classes demonstrated spatial distribution patterns related to proximity to rock edge and depth of soil, but removal of invasive species had no apparent effect on percent cover or native plant richness. Sodium, calcium, and magnesium were all found to be significant predictors of invasive species occurrence and sodium and calcium were correlated with soil depth. This research effort suggests that the occurrence of invasive species are not significantly impacting overall species richness in the ecotone of outcrop plant communities, however changes to the species richness of this plant community in response to invasive species removal may take longer to detect.

Effects of removing exotic invasive species from the ecotones of two granite rock outcrops in the southeastern Piedmont of the United States