Abstract
The vegetation of a subalpine fen in Colorado was studied. Insight was sought into the community structure and factors influencing species distribution of a vegetation type heretofore undescribed in the southern Rocky Mountains. A vegetational gradient was evaluated using detrended correspondence analysis (DCA). Four types of vegetation were subjectively defined; these same types were distinguished by the DCA. DCA further revealed marked differences in the vegetation occurring on peat hummocks versus in hollows. Species composition was related to environment using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Water-table depth, hummock height, shading, groundwater temperature, and conductivity were significantly correlated with species distribution, accounting for 51% of the total species variance. Univariate regression was used to examine how tree density varied with environment. The above factors, except for shading and conductivity, were also significantly correlated with tree density. It is suggested that the peat hummocks that form on this moderate fen provide an environment similar to that of an ombrotrophic bog and that these "miniature bogs" form in areas unable to support expansive bogs. Further, these hummocks provide small-scale environmental heterogeneity that exerts a strong control over species composition that would not be evident in studies based on samples of a large areal extent. Keywords: Colorado, gradient analysis, ordination, heterogeneity, peatlands, phytosociology.
Published Version
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