Vegetatio

, Volume 35, Issue 3, pp 153–163 | Cite as

Analysis of an east tennessee oak hickory forest by canonical correlation of species and environmental parameters

  • J. R. Kercher
  • R. A. Goldstein
Article

Summary

A new multivariate analytical technique, canonical group correlation (CGC) is developed to correlate abiotic and biotic characterization of communities. This technique is applied to the plant communities of a 97.5 ha oak-hickory watershed. This analysis has validated inferences drawn in earlier studies which used only species data. We have concluded that the dominant factors discriminating the four distinct types of vegetation which exist in the region being studied are age and slope position. Slope position is inferred to be correlated with a moisture gradient. This information is depicted by the location of the four community types in two canonical spaces. One space is determined by vegetational parameters (species composition), the other by environmental parameters. A linear transformation between the two spaces is derived. This transformation can be used to predict successional development.

Keywords

Canonical group correlation Carya Environmental parameters Forest Quercus species Tennessee 

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Copyright information

© Dr. W. Junk b.v. - Publishers 1977

Authors and Affiliations

  • J. R. Kercher
    • 1
  • R. A. Goldstein
    • 1
  1. 1.Environmental Sciences DivisionOak Ridge National Laboratory, operated by Union Carbide Corporation for the US Atomic Energy CommissionOak RidgeUSA

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