WETLAND DELINEATION IN DEVIL’S KITCHEN BRANCH, GREENEVILLE, TN

Wetlands provide a multitude of ecological, economic and recreational benefits. These benefits include recharging ground water, reducing flooding, and providing clean drinking water. As a part of the range of wetland restoration projects proposed by the National Forest Service within the Paint Creek watershed, Devil’s Kitchen Branch Bog is one area where boundary expansion is of interest. Devil’s Kitchen Branch Bog is an 81 acre bog located in Greene County, TN, within the boundary of the Cherokee National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains physiographic province. The aim of this research was to assess soil hydric properties in a 40-acre plot within the bog to determine the potential for expansion and restoration. Sampling locations were selected using a semi-random strategy of collecting one sample at a random location in each of 58 2 arc second by 2 arc second grid cells (grid area of 743 m²). Soil cores 0.4 m in length were extracted from each grid and evaluated in situ for hydric soil indicators using the United States Army Corps of Engineers wetland determination form, specific to the Eastern Mountains and Piedmont region. Chemical properties of the soil were evaluated in the laboratory: calcium, iron, sulfur, pH, nitrogen, and total exchange capacity. Within the boundary of the bog hydric soil characteristics were identified at 20 sites (35% of sites). A binary logistic regression model using the backwards conditional method to predict the presence of hydric soils retained only iron as the best predictor with a significance of .002. The model was built on 43 sites and tested on the remaining 15. The Nagelkerke R squared value was .802 and 93% of the data was accounted for by the model. A ROC curve was produced with .905 of the area being under the curve. Iron was an important predictor to identify hyrdic soils due to the presence of ferrous iron indicating reduced aquatic conditions. This research can serve as a model for evaluating the presence of hydric conditions in mountain wetland bogs.