Abstract
Many studies have indicated relationships between individual species, but none have related combinations of overstory variables to understory herbaceous vegetation in a Ponderosa pine/Gambel oak ecosystem. Our objective was to determine not only the general relationships between the two sets of variables, but also identify the hyghest contributing variables. We used canonical correlation analysis to relate overstory variables (canopy cover, basal cover and density) to herbaceous vegetation cover variables. Canopy, basal, and ground cover were measured by the line intercept method using a 12.2 m tape as a sample unit. Tree density was measured by the Point-Center-Quarter method. The analysis was made with selected overstory variables and 5 understory herbaceous cover variables. This analysis revealed a significant canonical correlation between the two canonical variables (r=0.69). The analysis showed that among herbaceous cover variables, Oregon grape, Kentucky bluegrass, sedge, and foxtail barley; and among overstory variables, the density and the basal cover of Ponderosa pine indicated the highest positive contribution to the correlation of the two linear combinations while the density and canopy of Gambel oak negatively affected the canonical correlation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Afifi, A. A. & Clark, V. 1084. Computer aided multivariate analysis. Van Nostrand Reinhold company, New York.
Alexander, R. R. 1986. Silvicultural systems and cutting methods for Ponderosa pine forests in the Front Range of the Central Rocky Moutains. USDA For. Ser. Gen. Tech. Report, RM-128.
Bartel, L. E., Rittenhouse, L. R. & Denham, A. H. 1979. Grazing studies on Gambel oak rangeland at the San Juan Basin Research Center. Colo. State Uni. Exp. Sta., Progress report 10.
Baumgartner, D. M. & Lotan, J. E. 1987. Ponderosa pine: the species and its management-symposium proceedings. Wash. State Uni. Spok., Washington.
Bidwell, T. G. & Engle, D. M. 1992. The relationship of fire behavior to tallgrass prairie herbage production. J. Range Manage. 45: 579–584.
Bonham, C. D. 1989. Measurement for terrestrial vegetation John Wiley & Sons.
Carey, A. B. 1979. Discriminant analysis: a method of identifying Foci of Vector-borne diseases. Am. J. Trop. Hyg. 28(4): 750–755.
Clary, W. P., Kruse, W. H. & Larson, F. R. 1974. Cattle grazing and wood production with different basal areas of Ponderosa pine. J. Range Manage. 28(6): 434–437.
Cook, C. W. 1960. The use of multiple regression and correlation in biological investigations. Ecol. 41: 556–560.
Ffolliott, P. F. 1983. Overstory-understory relationship: southwestern Ponderosa pine forest. USDA For. Ser. Western regional research publication No. 1.
Horton, L. E. 1975. An abstract bibliography of Gambel oak (Quercus gambelli Nutt.). USDA For. Ser. Intermountain region. Ogden, Utah.
Jameson, D. A. 1967. The relationship of tree overstory and herbaceous understory vegetation. J. Range Manage. 20: 247–249.
Jameson, D. A. & Dodd, J. L. 1969. Herbage production differs with soil in the Pinion-Juniper type of Arizona. USDA For. Ser. Rocky Mount. Exp. Sta. Res. Note RM-131.
Lauver, C. L. 1986. Determining optimal management strategies for Gambel oak rangelands with control theory. Ph.D. Dissertation. Colorado State University. Fort Collins, Colorado.
Ludwig, J. A. & Reynolds, J. F. 1988. Statistical ecology. A primer on methods and computing. John Wiley & Sons, NY.
Reynolds, H. G. 1966. Slash cleanup in Ponderosa pine forest affects use by deer and cattle. USDA For. Ser. Rocky Mount. Range Exp. Sta. Res. Note RM-64.
SAS Institute Inc. 1988. SAS/STAT user's guide. Release 6.03 Ed. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC.
Sassaman, R. W. & Flight, R. D. 1975. A tool for estimating the financial returns of forage grasses seeded in thinned Ponderosa pine. J. Range Manage. 28(2): 185–189.
Thompson, W. W. & Gartner, F. R. 1971. Native forage response to clearing low quality Ponderosa pine. J. Range Manage. 24(4): 272–277.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nemati, N., Goetz, H. Relationships of overstory to understory cover variables in a Ponderosa pine/Gambel oak ecosystem. Vegetatio 119, 15–21 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00047367
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00047367