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THE DISTRIBUTION OF DECIDUOUS AND EVERGREEN TREES IN MEXICO: THE ROLES OF COMPETITION AND NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Goldberg, Deborah Esther Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 01/10/2021 17:17:52 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/298669 INFORMATION TO USERS This was produced from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. 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It is customary to begin filming at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. If necessary, sectioning is continued again—beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. For any illustrations that cannot be reproduced satisfactorily by xerography, photographic prints can be purchased at additional cost and tipped into your xerographic copy. Requests can be made to our Dissertations Customer Services Department. 5. Some pages in any document may have indistinct print. In all cases we have filmed the best available copy. University Microfilms International 300 N. 2EEB ROAD. ANN ARBOR. Ml 48106 18 BEDFORD ROW. LONDON WC1R 4EJ, ENGLAND 8102236 GOLDBERG, DEBORAH ESTHER THE DISTRIBUTION OF DECIDUOUS AND EVERGREEN TREES IN MEXICO: THE ROLES OF COMPETITION AND NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY The University of Arizona PH.D. 1980 University Microfilms International 300 N. 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ANN AR30P Ml J8106'313) 761-4700 THE DISTRIBUTION OF DECIDUOUS AND EVERGREEN TREES IN MEXICO: THE ROLES OF COMPETITION AND NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY By Deborah Esther Goldberg A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN ECOLOGY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 80 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Deborah Esther Goldberg entitled The Distribution of Deciduous and Evergreen Trees in Mexico: The Roles of Competition and Nutrient Availability and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy . ;? ? /9 SO Date // -4. / Sffrt MO Date -- <f0 Date /U J w t i%v Date £rX1 QTAUQU.—- c=^-<P (ft) Date V Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. <*/<?/ )&> Dissertation Director Date STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or re production of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the in terests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED I Qjl\j0v~ed\_ AZ-c/t/' 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I owe thanks to Paul S. Martin, H. Ronald Pulliam and Willard Van Asdall for introducing me to this part of the Sierra Madre, and especially to Paul Martin for his continued interest and enthusiasm for this project. He, Raymond M. Turner and Charles H. Lowe, by their excitement in the biology of northern Mexico, helped to keep me from moving to more accessible, but less interesting, systems. C. H. Lowe also kindly made available equipment and laboratory space. William H. Schaffer and James H. Brown have advised, criticized and encouraged me throughout this project. I thank them for stimulating me to ask and attempt to answer difficult questions. The graduate students of the Department of Ecology and Evolu tionary Biology have shared their knowledge, their ideas, and their support to an extent impossible to adequately acknowledge. In particu lar, I thank James Todd for listening and making intelligent response in innumerable discussions, and for constant encouragement. I have been very fortunate in having had an enormous amount of help in the field on this project. I gratefully acknowledge the company, hard work and advice of the following people: W. Cornell, J. A. Endler, C. A. Flanagan, B. Stiling Gebow, J. Goldberg, R. S. Inouye, M. Leibold, L. Leigh, C. H. Lowe, S. Martindale, S. M. McLaughlin, J. P. Michaud, iii iv P. Oshant, D. Philips, J. Silliman, J. Spencer and R. M. Turner. Special thanks go to the members of the Vaca Valley Earth Movers and Myth Makers: R. Abugov, L. S. Anderson, G. S. Byers, R. Frye, C. Menges, J. R. Todd and P. L. Warren. I would also like to thank the Barcelo Mavizca family of Rancho la Laguna, Sonora, Mexico for their many rescues, their hospitality and their friendship. They made fieldwork a pleasure. Financial support has been provided by Sigma Xi, the Graduate Women in Science fund of Sigma Delta Epsilon, the Graduate Student Devel opment Fund of the University of Arizona, and the Goldberg Foundation. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS LIST OF TABLES ABSTRACT CHAPTER 1. DISTRIBUTION OF EVERGREEN AND DECIDUOUS TREES IN THE SIERRA MADRE RELATIVE TO SOIL TYPE AND TWO MODELS 1 Introduction 1 The System 2 Methods 6 Results 7 Discussion 18 General Considerations . 19 Local Considerations 25 Generality of the Competition Model 29 2. FIELD EXPERIMENTS COMPARING THE COMPETITION AND ABIOTIC MODELS 31 Introduction 31 Experimental Sites 34 Nutrient Availability Experiments (OW) 37 Methods 37 Results 43 Lysiloma divaricata 43 Quercus albocincta 44 Competition Experiments (DF) 48 Methods 48 Results 51 Lysiloma divaricata 51 Quercus albocincta 56 Discussion 60 3. GENERAL DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 63 v vi TABLE OF CONTENTS continued Page Evergreen-Deciduous Patterns 63 Competition and the Distribution of Plant Species .... 65 APPENDIX A: PARTIAL LISTING OF PLANT SPECIES FOUND IN THE VICINITY OF THE EXPERIMENTAL SITES AT RANCHO LA LAGUNA 68 REFERENCES 72 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Map showing location of study area 3 2. Photograph of evergreen oak woodland and deciduous forest mosaic 4 3. The relationship between evergreen relative importance value and soil pH 9 4. Soil pH of evergreen oak woodland sites at low and high elevations 12 5. Wisconsin indirect ordination of eleven .02-hectare vegetation samples 13 6. Transects across boundaries between patches of evergreen oak woodland and deciduous forest 16 7. Summary of competition model to explain evergreen and deciduous plant distributions along a nutrient gradient . 23 8. Summary of abiotic model to explain evergreen and deciduous plant distributions along a nutrient gradient . 28 9. Moisture release curves for the four 1978 experimental sites 38 10. Sample block in the 1978 oak woodland experiments .... 40 11. Seedling survival through time in the oak woodland .... 45 12. Seedling height through time in the oak woodland 46 13. Seedling height at 18 months in the oak woodland 47 14. Design of 1979 deciduous forest experiments 50 15. Seedling survival through time in the deciduous forest .