Relationship between Mycorrhizal Infection and Diversity in Vegetation: Evidence from the Great Smoky Mountains
Newman EI and Reddell P. 1988. Relationship between Mycorrhizal Infection and Diversity in Vegetation: Evidence from the Great Smoky Mountains. Functional Ecology. 2(2):259-262
Whittaker's data on the forest vegetation of the Great Smoky Mountains are used to test the hypothesis that plant species diversity is related to the type of mycorrhiza prevalent. The type of mycorrhiza, i.e. ecto, vesicular-arbuscular (VA) or ericoid, associated with each tree species was determined from other published sources. Multiple regressions were calculated of species richness and productivity in each vegetation layer against altitude and exposure of the site and various measures of relative abundance of each mycorrhizal type. The number of tree species showed a highly significant decline with increasing altitude but no significant relationship to mycorrhiza. In contrast, herb species richness showed a strong positive relationship to the abundance of trees capable of forming VAM. Possible causes of this relationship are discussed; it was not associated with variations in herb productivity.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Newman, E; Reddell, P
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC, TN