A Community Analysis for Forest Ecosystems with Natural Growth of Persea spp. in the Southeastern United States

ABSTRACT  Persea borbonia and Persea palustris are two species in the Lauraceae family, native to the southeastern USA. Because of their similar morphologies, many authorities treat these two species as varieties of a more broadly defined group, Persea borbonia. Consequently, the species and communities associated with P. borbonia and P. palustris are not well defined. Extensive mortality has occurred in both species because of laurel wilt disease. Our objectives were to (a) determine whether P. borbonia and P. palustris are associated with different communities, (b) describe the communities and associated species in which P. borbonia and P. palustris occur, and (c) determine which communities support larger individuals of Persea spp. We analyzed data collected from 1988 through 2012 by the Carolina Vegetation Survey. To test differences among plant communities with natural growth of P. borbonia and P. palustris, we used ordination and analysis of similarities. We used cluster analyses and species-indicat...