Preliminary Study of the Vegetation and Mycorrhizae of the Kalamazoo River Riparian Ecosystem
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Authors
Foster, Sara D.
Issue Date
1994
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Floodplain forests are linear strips of land parallel to an adjacent river
that periodically floods the forest shaping the landscape and creating
differences in elevation. Throughout a floodplain forest, zonation patterns in
the vegetation exist. Three prevalent zones were characterized based on the
vegetation, soil moisture, elevation and soil organic content differences; a
low-lying, wet zone which was virtually vegetationless, a transitional zone
consisting of a few herbaceous species, and an upland zone containing an
abundance of diverse herbaceous species. The factors controlling distribution
of vegetation in the floodplain forest were questioned. Due to the fact that
nearly all vascular plants form symbioses with mycorrhizal fungi and that
fungi generally do not survive under anoxic conditions (such as in saturated
soil), it was hypothesized that mycorrhizae played a role in th3 vegetation
distribution. Soil samples were collected from these zones at four different
locations in the floodplain forest of the Kalamazoo River. From these
samples, roots were extracted, stained, and assessed for abundance of
mycorrhizal colonization. While the greatest abundance of mycorrhizae was
located in the upland zones, additional colonization was found in the wet
zone of the floodplain forest. These results suggest that mycorrhizae do not
control whether a plant species could become established in wet zones.
Instead, there must be other physiological reasons explaining why only
certain plant species are found in the different zones.
Description
vii, 23 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo College
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder.