Ecological zones in the southern Appalachians : first approximation / Steve A. Simon [and 4 others].

Format:

Book

Government document

Contributor:

Simon, Steven A.

United States. Forest Service. Southern Research Station

Series:

Research paper SRS ; 41.

Research paper SRS ; 41

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ecological zones--Appalachian Region, Southern.

Ecological zones.

Southern Appalachian Region.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (iii, 41 pages).

Place of Publication:

Asheville, NC : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station, [2005]

Summary:

"Forest environments of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and their characteristic plant communities are among the most varied in the Eastern United States. Considerable data are available on the distribution of plant communities relative to temperature and moisture regimes, but not much information on fertility as an environmental influence has been published; nor has anyone presented a map of the major, broad-scale ecosystems of the region, which could be used for planning and management of biological resources on forestlands. Our objectives were to identify predominant ecological units, develop a grouping of geologic formations related to site fertility, and model and map ecological zones of the Southern Appalachians. We synthesized 11 ecological units from an earlier analysis and classification of vegetation, which used an extensive database of over 2,000 permanent, 0.10-ha, intensively sampled plots. Eight lithologic groups were identified by rock mineral composition that upon weathering would result in soils of low or high availability of base cations. The presence or absence of ecological zones (large areas of similar environmental conditions consisting of temperature, moisture, and fertility, which are manifested by characteristic vegetative communities) were modeled as multivariate logistic functions of climatic, topographic, and geologic variables. Accuracy of ecozone models ranged from 69- to 95-percent correct classification of sample plots; accuracy of most models was> 80 percent "--Page [1].

Notes:

Title from Web page (viewed on May 5, 2006).

"December 2005"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 27-29).

Electronic reproduction. [Place of publication not identified]: HathiTrust Digital Library. 2023.

Other Format:

Print version: Ecological zones in the southern Appalachians.

OCLC:

70151845

Access Restriction:

Use copy Restrictions unspecified