Successional Development of the Forest Floor and Soil Surface on Upland Sites of the East Gulf Coastal Plain

Ecology ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 1162 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. L. Switzer ◽  
M. G. Shelton ◽  
L. E. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Gulf Coastal Plain ◽  
Successional Development

Effects of selected forest management practices on environmental parameters related to successional development on the Tanana River floodplain, interior Alaska

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 1001-1014 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Yarie
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Stage Iii ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Successional Stages ◽  
Stage Viii ◽  
Successional Development

Two mature floodplain white spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss) ecosystems (stage VIII) located on islands in the Tanana River, approximately 20 km southwest of Fairbanks, Alaska, were clear-cut during the winter of 1985–1986 to quantify the effects of clear-cutting on selected environmental characteristics. Clearings in earlier successional stages (poplar–alder (Populus–Alnus), stage V; and open willow (Salix), stage III) were used to contrast the environmental parameters with the earlier stages found in the primary successional sequence. After clear-cutting, total radiation at the soil surface increased to early successional stage III levels. Potential evaporation from the soil surface increased 5-fold as a result of clearing in the stage VIII sites and was substantially greater than that found in the stage III sites by other researchers. Clearing had relatively little effect on air temperature. The concentration of P and K was significantly lower in the forest floor of both clearcuts, and the concentration of C was significantly higher at VIII-A-T (stage VIII–site A–treated (cleared) plot) when compared with the control stands. There was a decrease in total forest floor biomass at both clear-cut plots. Organic matter, total N, available NH4 and P, and extractable Mg and K all decreased after cutting, whereas pH increased. Decomposition of spruce foliage on the forest floor surface was slower in the clearcuts. Nitrogen immobilization occurred during the first 2 years of decomposition. During the third year it appeared that some mineralization was beginning to occur but the levels were very low, averaging only 3 mg N per bag in the clear-cut areas. Plant growth analysis indicated that growth was limited by high mineral soil salt content in the early successional stages (III) and that this limitation was species specific. Balsam poplar (Populusbalsamifera L.) appears to be more tolerant of the high cation content of the stage III sites compared with trembling aspen (Populustremuloides Michx.). By the time successional development has progressed to stage V, the soil has been sufficiently augmented by the inclusion of organic matter from the developing vegetation and the fixation of N by alder to result in higher seedling growth rates in the cleared areas.

Allometry and Paleoecology of Medial Miocene Dwarf Rhinoceroses from the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain

Paleobiology ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald R. Prothero ◽  
Paul C. Sereno
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Gulf Coastal Plain ◽  
Canine Tooth ◽  
Positive Allometry ◽  
Mammalian Faunas ◽  
The Common ◽  
Limb Proportions

Barstovian (medial Miocene) mammalian faunas from the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain contained four apparently sympatric species of rhinoceroses: the common forms Aphelops megalodus and Teleoceras medicornutus, a dwarf Teleoceras, and a dwarf Peraceras. Previous work has suggested positive allometry in tooth area with respect to body size in several groups of mammals, i.e., larger mammals have relatively more tooth area. However, dwarfing lineages were shown to have relatively more tooth area for their body size. Our data show no significant allometry in post-canine tooth area of either artiodactyls or ceratomorphs. Similarly, dwarf rhinoceroses and hippopotami show no more tooth area than would be predicted for their size. Limbs are proportionately longer and more robust in larger living ceratomorphs (rhinos and tapirs) than predicted by previous authors. Limb proportions of both dwarf rhinoceroses and dwarf hippopotami are even more robust than in their living relatives.The high rhinoceros diversity reflects the overall high diversity of Barstovian faunas from the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain. The first appearance of several High Plains mammals in these faunas indicates “ecotone”-like conditions as faunal composition changed. Study of living continental dwarfs shows that there is commonly an ecological separation between browsing forest dwarfs and their larger forebears, which are frequently savannah grazers. This suggests that the dwarf rhinoceroses might have been forest browsers which were sympatric with the larger grazing rhinos of the High Plains during the Barstovian invasion. The continental dwarf model also suggests that insular dwarfism may be explained by the browsing food resources that predominate on islands.

Forest Ecosystems of a Lower Gulf Coastal Plain Landscape: Multifactor Classification and Analysis

2001 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Charles Goebel ◽  
Brian J. Palik ◽  
L. Katherine Kirkman ◽  
Mark B. Drew ◽  
Larry West ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Gulf Coastal Plain
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