On August 29, 1995, the long-awaited removal of the heavy rhododendron subcanopy was conducted on a riparian site at the Coweeta LTER site in North Carolina. This experiment will be used to assess the functional role that Rhododendron maximum L. plays on the hydrological, nutrient, and light components of riparian sites in the Southern Appalachians. The area occupied by rhododendron in this region continues to increase over time and is expected to play a large role as a link between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The removal treatment was preceded with more than two years of baseline data collection in both control and treatment plots and will be followed by at least two years of post-treatment data collection.
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