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Forest communities along soil, acid deposition, and climate gradients of the Appalachian Trail

<p> The global issues of acid deposition and climate change call for a greater understanding of the relative influence of broad gradients of acid deposition, climate, soil, and stand characteristics in montane temperate forests. At each of 30 sites along the Appalachian Trail, I measured overstory composition and density (including snags) using the point-centered quarter method (9 plots) and characterized understory species composition and cover (27 plots, 1 m2 each). Analytical approaches included NMS ordination, multiple linear regression, and beta regression. Spruce-fir sites had lower understory richness, lower understory cover, higher cover of strongly acidophytic understory species, and greater regeneration of canopy trees. Temperature affected understory composition and precipitation increased understory cover. The proportion of snags among canopy trees was highest on cool sites with dense canopies. The impact of nitrogenous deposition was limited, but it may have a fertilizer effect. Sites with acidified (high Al) soil had poor canopy regeneration. </p>

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:1560747
Date10 September 2014
CreatorsQuant, Juliana
PublisherState University of New York Col. of Environmental Science & Forestry
Source SetsProQuest.com
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typethesis

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