An ordination of the Lake McDonald forests, Glacier National Park
Habeck JR. 1963. An ordination of the Lake McDonald forests, Glacier National Park. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 44(2):49
During the summer of 1962, quantative data were collected from forty-nine forest communities in the vicinity of Lake McDonald, located on the west side of Glacier National Park. This area coincides with the eastern-most extension of a Pacific Coast climatic and floristic peninsula which is characterized by moderate rainfall, relatively mild winters, and by the presence of a generally mesophytic vegetation typified by such species as Tsuga heterophylla, Thuja plicata and Taxus brevifolia. The forest communities were ordinated by using the Index of Similarity, programmed for computer analysis. The communities were found to be highly variable in their composition, and a vegetational continum is apparent. Forest composition is influenced both by altitude and past fire disturbance. Climax forests are also variable in their compositions, and this variation is believed to be related to soil moisture. Climax communities on well-drained sites are conspicuously dominated by Tsuga heterophylla, whereas on stream terraces, Thuja plicata is dominant to the near exclusion of Tsuga.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Habeck, James
- Units
- GLAC
- Keywords
- Forest Structure, Glacier National Park, Lake McDonald area, MT, Plant Studies