Changes in Vegetation Composition and Soil Acidity between 1922 and 1985 at a Site on the North Shore of Long Island, New York

Abstract

GRELLER, A. M., D. C. LocKE, V. KIiANowsKI AND G. E. LoTowycz (Biology Department, Queens College, The City University of New York, Flushing, NY 1367). Changes in Vegetation Composition and Soil Acidity Between 1922 and 1985 at a Site on the North Shore of Long Island, New York. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 117: 450-458. 1990.-We have repeated a survey of soil pH and native herbaceous vegetation conducted in 1922 by E. T. Wherry, at a site on Long Island, New York. There has been a dramatic decline in surface soil pH. Ridgetops currently have an average pH of 3.8, slopes 3.9, and bottomlands 4.1; bottomlands are today more acidic than ridgetops were in 1922. There has also been a simplification of dominant flora and a dramatic shift to dominance in all habitats of the site by acid-tolerant taxa such as Maianthemum canadense, Viburnum acerifolium, and Aster divaricatus, and a loss of such taxa as Geranium maculatum, Sanguinaria canadensis, and Medeola virginiana. The influence of acidic precipitation on these changes cannot be demonstrated, but remains the most plausible explanation.