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W. Gordon Belser Arboretum

Columbia, Italy

W. Gordon Belser Arboretum

W. Gordon Belser Arboretum is part of the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina, managed by the Department of Biological Sciences. The arboretum serves as a nature preserve, field laboratory and research site for students and faculty. It is open to the public at a monthly open hou

se. A small botanic garden features shrubs and small trees suitable for Columbia's home landscapes. The remaining landscape features southeast native trees and plant communities and is a certified Palmetto Wildlife Habitat. The Lindler Circle Trail is approximately 0.35 mi (0.56 km), and several short spur paths lead to the bald cypress swamp and dam, the central wetland, and an overlook. Topography within the approximately 9-acre (3.6 ha) arboretum changes dramatically. Dry sandy ridges slope into a ravine with bottomland hardwood forest and wetlands. Springs feed a bog and small creek. City storm drains replace natural drainage channels, and feed the arboretum's bald cypress swamp. Stormwater spreads out here, and water that does not infiltrate flows over a dam spillway, through the creek and over a waterfall into the stormwater system, eventually feeding Gills Creek. In 1959, William...

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