III. Environment and Natural Resources

A.  Vegetation

 Historic Vegetation

The pre-settlement landscape of the Darby Watershed is considerably different from the current use of land.  Much of the watershed was covered with forests and wet prairies at the time of European settlement.  Map 17 displays the vegetation of the land prior to settlement.  Remnants of native vegetation exist in a few locations and most often occur along railroads, roads, or abandoned pioneer cemeteries where soils experiences minimal disturbance.  Several parks and nature preserves contain historic vegetation (See III. Land Use, G. Preserved Areas).  Appendix H defines the major vegetation types found in the watershed prior to settlement. 

Rare or Threatened Vegetation

The Darby Watershed contains a wide variety of State unique and threatened species.  Many of the plants listed in Figure H1 in Appendix H are prairie species that can be located in prairie remnants across the watershed. 

ODNR keeps a Natural Heritage Database for rare and endangered plants and animals, geologic features, high quality plant communities and breeding and non-breeding animal concentrations.  Records in this database are kept only for the highest quality areas.  This database is not complete for all of Ohio and relies on information supplied by many individuals and organizations.  The Darby Watershed has a large record of information because a large amount of research has occurred in the watershed over the past 30 years.  The complete list of records for rare or threatened vegetation can be found in Figure H1 of Appendix H.  Figure 63 below summarizes the database.

The different levels of protection for vegetation listed above in the Natural Heritage Database are defined in Figure H2 in Appendix H. 

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For problems or questions regarding this website please contact the Darby Watershed Coordinator.
Last updated: July 16, 2008.