About the project
About the project
Pumphous Park Study Area
Click on map above to see detailed PDF.
Study area summary
The Pumphouse Park study area includes approximately 24.4 acres of park land and was divided into nine management units of various sizes. The lead organization for the baseline study of this park section was Virginia Commonwealth University. The task force field team in this study area identified a total of 23 invasive plant species across all management units, including:
- 10 species ranked with high invasiveness;
- 10 species ranked with medium invasiveness; and,
- 3 species ranked with low invasiveness.
The Pumphouse Park study area was divided into nine management units because: 1) it is bisected laterally by the railroad along the north bank of the river, and 2) the composition of the plant community appears to have greater variance over short distances. Three of the nine management units had less than 20 percent coverage (Cover Class 2) of invasive plants and did not have a single invasive plant recorded as dominant. Only one management unit had between 20 and 50 percent invasive coverage (Cover Class 3), primarily due to a prevalence of Japanese stiltgrass and English ivy. The remaining five management units (i.e., Management Unit 1a, 2a, 3b, 4b, and 5) were observed with 50 to 75 percent coverage (Cover Class 4) of invasive plants; however, individual units had some variable results, including:
- Management Unit 1a and 2a, where tree-of-heaven was observed just above 50 percent cover, but was the only dominant invasive plant.
- Management Unit 3b and 4b, where Amur honeysuckle and Oriental bittersweet were both observed above 50 percent cover, and Chinese privet, Chinese lespedeza, and Japanese honeysuckle were also dominant.
- Management Unit 5, where tree-of-heaven and Chinese privet were both observed above 50 percent cover, and Japanese honeysuckle was also dominant.
The native plant community includes tree species such as red maple, sweet gum, loblolly pine, American holly, willow oak, river birch, American sycamore, tulip tree, black willow, eastern red cedar, flowering dogwood, and paw paw. Other native plants include herbs and vines such as partridgeberry (Mitchella repens), blackberry pokeweed, common milkweed, Virginia creeper, wingstem, boneset, grapvines (Vitis spp.), greenbrier, and poison ivy.
ยป Phase One Baseline Study Data Summary (PDF)
Updates from the study area
None at this time.
