Abstract
We conducted a study analyzing the vegetation dynamics in four communities along an elevational gradient in the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains and compared our results with previous research conducted in 1981. The objective of this study was to determine whether the successional plant community trajectories hypothesized by the original investigator (Marr) in 1953 were consistent with plant community parameters measured in subsequent years. The ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir/ponderosa pine communities' herbaceous composition remained relatively constant between 1981 and 1996; however, a few individual species in both communities experienced significant changes in frequency over time. These individual species changes, along with dominant shifts in the forest canopy, were inconsistent with Marr's original successional hypotheses for these stands that stated the ponderosa pine stand would remain dominated by ponderosa pine and grassy openings and the Douglas-fir/ponderosa pine stand would eventually have equal dominance between the two tree species. The aspen herbaceous community experienced the most significant change between 1981 and 1996. Significant decreases in species richness and diversity were recorded along with large changes in species composition and frequencies of individual species. These changes were associated with successional changes in the forest canopy, which was congruent with Marr's successional hypothesis for this stand. The kobresia meadow herbaceous community showed the least change between 1981 and 1996 among the four communities; however, there was variation in frequency percentages for a few individual species over time and a small turnover in species composition. Marr's hypothesis that this stand represented a climax community is consistent with our results.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aplet, G. H., Laven, R. H. & Smith, F. W. 1988. Patterns of community dynamics in Colorado Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir forests. Ecology 69 (2): 312–319.
Bazzaz, F. A. 1996. Plants in changing environments. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Benedict, J. B. 1975. The Murray site: a late prehistoric game drive system in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Plains Anthropologist 20: 161–174.
Billings, W. D. 1988. Alpine vegetation. Pp. 392–420. In: Barbour, M. G. & Billings, W. D. (eds), North American terrestrial vegetation. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Bowman, W. D., Theodose, T. A., Schardt, J. C. & Conant, R. T. 1993. Constraints of nutrient availability on primary production in two alpine tundra communities. Ecology 74 (7): 2085–2097.
Bowman, W. D., Theodose, T. A. & Fisk, M. C. 1995. Physiological and production responses of plant growth forms to increases in limiting resources in alpine tundra: implications for differential community response to environmental change. Oecologia 101: 217–227.
Buckner, D. L. 1985. Point-intercept sampling in revegetation studies: maximizing objectivity and repeatability. American Society for Surface Mining and Reclamation, pp. 110–114.
Goldblum D. & Veblen, T. T. 1992. Fire history of a ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir forest, Colorado Front Range. Phys. Geog. 13: 133–148.
Greig-Smith, P. 1964. Quantitative plant ecology, 2nd ed. Butterworth, London.
Hadley, K. S. 1994. The role of disturbance, topography, and forest structure in the development of a montane forest landscape. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 121 (1): 47–61.
Husted, W. 1965. Early occupation of the Front Range. Am. Antiquity 30: 494–498.
Isard, S. A. 1986. Factors influencing soil moisture and plant community distribution on Niwot Ridge, Front Range, Colorado, USA. Arctic Alpine Res. 18: 83–96.
Keane, R. E., Arno, S. F. & Brown, J. K. 1989. Simulating cumulative fire effects in ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir forests. Ecology 71 (1): 189–203.
Kooiman, M. & Linhart, Y. 1986. Structure and change in herbaceous communities of four ecosystems in the Front Range, Colorado, U.S.A. Arctic Alpine Res. 18: 97–110.
Korb, J. E. 1997. Vegetation dynamics of four ecosystems along an elevational gradient in the Front Range, Colorado. M.B.S. Thesis, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado.
Loeb, R. E. 1990. Measurement of vegetation changes through time by resampling. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 117 (2): 173–175.
Magnuson, J. J., Kratz, T. K., Frost, T. M., Benson, B. J. & Nero R. 1991. Expanding the temporal and spatial scales of ecological research and comparison of divergent ecosystems: Roles for LTER in the United States. Pp. 45–70. In: Risser, P. G. (ed.), Long-term ecological research an international perspective. John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Magurran, A. 1988. Ecological diversity and its measurement. Croom Helm, London.
Marr, J. W. 1961. Ecosystems of the east slope of the Front Range in Colorado. University of Colorado Studies, Series in Biology.
May, D. E. & Webber P. J. 1982. Spatial and temporal variation of vegetation and its productivity on Niwot Ridge, Colorado. pp. 35–62. In: Halfpenny, J. (ed.), Ecological studies in the Colorado alpine, a fetschrift for John W. Marr (Occasional paper number 37). Instituted of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder.
Minnich, R. A., Barbour, M. G., Burk, J. H. & Fernau, R. F. 1995. Sixty years of change in Californian conifer forests of the San Bernadino Mountains. Cons. Biol. 9 (4): 902–914.
Mueller-Dombois, D. & H. Ellenberg. 1974. Aims and methods of vegetation ecology. USA: John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Oosting, H. J. & Reed, J. F. 1952. Virgin spruce-fir of the Medicine Bow Mountains, Wyoming. Ecol. Monog. 22: 69–91.
Parker A. J. & Parker, K. C. 1983. Comparative successional roles of trembling aspen and lodgepole pine in the southern Rocky Mountains. Great Basin Nat. 43 (3): 447–455.
Peet, R. K. 1988. Forest of the Rocky Mountains. Pp. 63–96. In: Barbour, M.G. & Billings, W. D. (eds), North American terrestrial vegetation. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Peet, R. K. 1981. Forest vegetation of the Colorado Front Range. Vegetatio 45: 3–75.
Ramaley, R. 1907. Plant zones in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Science 26: 642–643.
Romme, W. H. & Knight, D. H. 1981. Fire frequency and subalpine forest succession along a topographic gradient in Wyoming. Ecology 62 (2): 319–326.
Rubertus, A. J., Burns, B. R. & Veblen, T. T. 1991. Stand dynamics of Pinus Flexilis-dominated subalpine forest in the Colorado Front Range. J. Veg. Sci. 2: 445–458.
Sievering, H., Burton, D. & Caine, N. 1992. Atmospheric loading to Rocky Mountain alpine tundra and a subalpine coniferous forest. Global Biog. Cycles 6: 339–346.
Sokal, R. R. & Rohlf, F. J. 1981. Biometry, 2nd ed. Freeman, San Francisco.
Stohlgren, T. J. 1994. Planning long-term vegetation studies at landscape scales. Pp. 209–241. In: Powell, T. M. & Steele, J. H. (eds), Ecological Times Series. Chapman & Hall, New York.
Tansley, A. G. 1935. The use and abuse of vegetational concepts and terms. Ecology 16: 284–307.
Tilman, D. 1989. Ecological experimentation: strengths and conceptual problems. Pp. 136–157. In: Likens, G. E. (ed.), Long-term studies in ecology. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Veblen, T. T. 1986. Age and size structure of subalpine forests in the Colorado Front Range. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 113 (3): 225–240.
Veblen, T. T. & Lorenz, D. C. 1986. Anthropogenic disturbance and recovery patterns in montane forest, Colorado Front Range. Phys. Geog. 7 (1): 1–24.
Veblen, T. T. & Lorenz, D. C. 1991. The Colorado Front Range — A century of ecological change. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
Veblen, T. T., Hadley, K. S. & Reid, M. S. 1991. Disturbance and stand development of a Colorado subalpine forest. J. Biog. 18: 707–716.
Walker, M. D., Webber, P. J., Arnold, E. H. & Ebert-May, D. 1994. Effects of interannual climate variation on aboveground phytomass in alpine vegetation. Ecology 75 (2): 393–408.
Weber, W. A. & Wittmann, R. C. 1994. Catalog of the Colorado flora: A biodiversity baseline. University Press of Colorado, Niwot.
Weber, W. A. & Wittmann, R. C. 1996. Colorado Flora — Eastern Slope. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.
Weatherhead, P. J. 1986. How unusual are unusual events? Am. Nat. 128: 150–154.
Whipple, S. A. & Dix, R. L. 1979. Age structure and successional dynamics of a Colorado subalpine forest. Am. Midland Nat. 101 (1): 142–157.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Korb, J.E., Ranker, T.A. Changes in stand composition and structure between 1981 and 1996 in four Front Range plant communities in Colorado. Plant Ecology 157, 1–11 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013772220131
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013772220131