Inventory and Analysis of the Pteridophytes of Carter Caves State Resort Park, Carter County, Kentucky

Carter Caves State Resort Park (CCSRP) is comprised of 800 ha in Carter County, Kentucky. A field-based inventory of the pteridophytes of the park was conducted from September 2005–October 2007. Additionally, pteridophyte collections at regional herbaria were examined for specimens from the park. These efforts yielded a pteridophyte flora of 46 species and one hybrid for CCSRP; this is 61% of Kentucky's known pteridophyte flora. Index of similarity values with other published floras ranged from 22.2% to 84.5%. CCSRP had over twice the predicted number (21) of pteridophyte species based on a species-area curve constructed with data from other regional floras.