I compared composition of plant communities in second growth (60 - 80 years old) and old growth rich coves for evidence of reduced abundance or presence of plant species in the second growth communities. I evaluated the utility of both univariate and multivariate analytical methods. Data were collected from twenty-six 1000 m2 plots located across three distinct mountain ranges and geologies in the southern Appalachians of North Carolina. Comparison of nested and non-nested sampling protocols found no statistical differences in the parameters of species-area curves. Furthermore, I found no difference between the species-area curves of old growth and second growth; but, multiple comparison procedures identified 13 of 79 species with either lower abundance or incidence of occurrence in second growth rich coves. Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (NMS) revealed no age class differences, but detected significant block differences associated with the three mountain ranges. Elevation and base cation concentrations were strongly correlated with the first and third NMS axes, respectively, but there was no strong correlate with the second NMS axis. In comparing univariate and multivariate analysis methods, I found that (1) aggregate univariate methods (like species diversity and species-area relationships) facilitate comparison of unrelated communities (2) multivariate methods support comparison of related communities and (3) univariate, multiple comparison procedures readily detect specific species changes within a community .
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NCSU/oai:NCSU:etd-01042008-123757 |
| Date | 28 April 2008 |
| Creators | Jackson, Barry Clayton |
| Contributors | DR. H. LEE ALLEN, DR. THOMAS R. WENTWORTH, DR. DAVID L. LOFTIS, DR. BRONSON P. BULLOCK |
| Publisher | NCSU |
| Source Sets | North Carolina State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-01042008-123757/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dis sertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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