DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/WBNS-YE50
Defense Date
1980
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Biology
First Advisor
Michael J. Scanlan
Abstract
Thirty upland deciduous stands were sampled from the mid-coastal Plain to the mid-Piedmont in New Kent, Hanover, and Louisa Counties. Density data for herb and shrub species were collected and soil samples were collected in each stand. A cluster analysis of the vegetation data was performed using Euclidean Distance and "furthest-neighbor" clustering. Four clusters of stands were identified. A cluster of six stands with Euonymus americanus as the dominant species was strongly related to the Coastal Plain, but the other clusters were not physiographically associated. Other important species in the analysis were Vaccinium vacillans, Gaylussacia baccata, and Mitchella repens.
The soil nutrients most strongly correlated with the dominant species were calcium and magnesium. Euonymus americanus and associated species were positively correlated with these nutrients and the ericaceous shrubs were negatively correlated.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
7-7-2016