Plant communities, habitats and soil conditions of Grand Sable Dunes, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan
Bach DP. 1978. Plant communities, habitats and soil conditions of Grand Sable Dunes, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan. Michigan Technological University
The plant communities, habitats, and soil conditions of the Grand Sable Dunes within Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, MI are identified and described. A review of the literature on the deglaciation of the upper Great Lakes region, dune migration, recent climate and weather records, vegetation history, and human influence is thorough. One hundred six regularly spaced vegetation plots were established along 7 transects. Vegetation in each quadrat was identified and characterized, as applicable, into three strata: ground cover, shrubs, and trees. Data were tabulated by cover-abundance, indices of similarity, and sand movement habitats. Surface soil conditions, soil profiles, and depths to water table were described for each plot. Vegetation analysis by three-axis polar ordination delineated 5 plant communities: active dunelands (characterized by marram grass, Ammophila breviligulata), gravel lags (characterized by dune willow, Salix cordata), stabilizing dunelands (characterized by little bluestem, Andropogon scoparius), pioneer woodlands (dominated in most quadrats by jack pine, Pinus banksiana), and second growth forest (characterized by beech, Fagus grandifolia, and sugar maple, Acer saccharum). Active dunes exhibit the greatest sand movement and the fewest species. Increased soil development is positively correlated with soil stability. From the abstract: "Based on vegetation and soil changes, a possible successional sequence is: active dunelands becoming stabilizing dunelands becoming pioneer woodlands." Appendices include a checklist of plants, including mosses (bryophytes) and soil descriptions from the Grand Sable Dunes. Maps depicting the glacial history of the region and maps illustrating the location of the vegetation plots and transects are included.
- Type
- Academic
- Authors
- Bach, David
- Date of Issue
- 1978
- Publisher
- Michigan Technological University
- Units
- PIRO
- Keywords
- Bryophytes (Bryophyta), Grand Sable Dunes, Habitats, Map, Mosses (Musci), Plant Communities, Plants (Plantae), Plots, Sand Dunes, Soil Profiles, Soil Stability, Soils, Thesis, Transects, Vegetation, Water Table