Abstract

Southern Appalachian Mountain Bogs are home to several endangered species, one of which is Sarracenia rubra subsp. jonesii, also known as the mountain sweet pitcher plant. These mountain bogs are delicate habitats that are greatly influenced by hydrology of the site. Riverbend, located in Henderson County, NC has undergone many management projects in order to maintain and restore the hydrology of the site. Hydrology and water quality are factors that have been identified to be beneficial in understanding the success of these environments. This study researches the presence of major ions in water samples around the bog in order to understand how the water quality affects the environment. The major ions studied are Na+, K+, NH4+, Mg2+, Ca2+ for cations and HCO3-, Cl-, NO3-, SO4- for anions. Current results compare data from three sample collections from November 2014, September 2015, and October 2015 that show patterns in the ions that classify water sources and also compare to other data collected from previous studies. It was found that the surface water had an impact on the areas surrounding the pitcher plants; the ionic fingerprint of the surface water source near the pitcher plants was varied by the presence of the runoff water source. Also, from this data it is concluded that during heavy flooding, fertilizers and runoff from the farmlands impact the water sources in the bog. Further research should be collected to increase data size of the sources in the Riverbend Bog to determine water quality effects on this environment from all the stressors present and ongoing restoration attempts.

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