The White Pine-Hardwood Vegetation Types of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 3-1979 The White Pine-Hardwood Vegetation Types of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Harry R. DeYoung University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons Recommended Citation DeYoung, Harry R., "The White Pine-Hardwood Vegetation Types of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1979. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/1429 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Harry R. DeYoung entitled "The White Pine- Hardwood Vegetation Types of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. H. R. DeSelm, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Clifford C. Amundsen, Dewey L. Bunting Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Harry R. DeYoung entitled "The White Pine-Hardwood Vegetation Types of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park." I recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Ecology. H. R. DeSelm, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Accepted for the Council: Vice Chancellor Graduate Studies and Research ·rHE \I."HITE ?INE-F..ARDWOOD 'ilEGETATION TYPES OF THE GREA.T SMOKY MOUNTAINS NJ..TIONAL PARK A ·rhesis P!:'eseTJ.ted for the Master of Science The TennesseP., T}niversity of Knoxville R. Harry DeYoung �1arcil 19 79 ACKNOWLEDGI1E:-JTS I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the guidance and encouragement throughout this prolect offered by Dr. H. R. DeSelm., �epartment of served major professor. His was in Bo�any, who ctS help valuable. Thanks are also extended to Qr. Clifford C. Amundsen, De pa��ent of Botany, and Dr. Dewey L. 3cnting, Department of Zoology, for their suggestions.. r::r:.tical re;1ding of the manuscript, and for serving on committee. my Appreciation is extended to the Graduate Program in Ecology for providing financial :tssistance and material snpport. Thanks also go to ��e staff of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for providing in formation and research materials. Sincere thanks go to Paul Schmalzer who graciously gave of his time to help with both collection and analysis of the field data, and to Mr. Don the �niversity of Tennessee Broach of Computer Center for hi s consulting services. For their time and assistance collect.ing field data, in I T..vish to thank Mr. Al Y�sen, Mr. Art Enrico, l�. Julie Thomas, and Mr. Henry Hastings. I especially thank Mrs. Dan Kinsinger for el advi:::e in her h p and the preparation of the manuscript. I would like to acknowledge the interest and assistance given by Dr. A. R. Shields, recently retired Professor of Biology at Maryville College. Through personal contact with him, I was able to unravel por tions of the disturbance history of the Cades Cove area. As a professor, Dr. Shields insisted that one learn to ask the "proper question," and ii iii in so doing , he instilled in me long-lasting appreciation of the a science of ecology. Appreciation is extended t mother, Mrs . Eleanore DeYoung , o my for her interest , support , and enco�ragement. A special note of is ex-cended my wife , Sarah, appreciation to for her encouragement, help, and patience during this project and during all phases of my studies. ABSTRACT The white pine-hardwood type was described by Miller in 1938; however, subsequent researchers of the vegetation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have not described this type. A field study of white pine-hardwood vegetation was conducted in the Park from J1�1e to October, 1977. �he objectives were to relocate and plot sample the white pine-hardwood stands to l) group samples into vegetation types based upon the importance of white pine and its associated taxa, use 2) quantitative vegetation analysis procedure s to describe the white pine hardwood vegetation types, 3) assess the re lat ionship of the vegetation types to environmental characteristics, 4) examine the successional status of the types , and 5) provide a basis for further ecological studie s of these types in the Park. Data were analyzed from 144 sample plot locations in the western portion of the Park in Tennessee at low to middle elevations (312 to 716 meters). Circular 0.0406 hectare (l/10 acre) plots were located in areas which had been previously mapped by Miller in Canopy (over 1941. 10 sapling to 10 em) , subsapling (2.5 diameter and one meter ern), (2.5 ern high) , and herbaceous data were tallied in each plot . Site properties were collected in each plot. Laboratory determinations of soil pH and texture of bot� the A and B horizons were made. Canopy data were used to group plots into vegetation types using an agglomerative clustering technique (Orloci, The seven 1967). corrmunities identified were: white pine-Virginia pine , white pine-red maple , white pine-hemlock, white pine-chestnut oak, white pine-white iv oak , white pine-northern red oak , and wh ite pine types . Re lat ive densities of tree taxa in the canopy , sapling, subsapling, and seedling strata were compared to determine the reproductive success of each type . Disturbance evidence and historical accounts were analyzed to assess the success ional status of the ty pes. Most types have been disturbed through cultivation , logging , and fire although portions of the white pine-chestnut oak , white pine-white oak , white pine-northern red oak , and white pL�e types occurred on sites of limited human dis turbance. The absence of chestnut stumps and the low proportion of sprouts indicated that it had a minimal former presence in the white pine-hardwood types . Simple linear correlations among and between site , soil , and vegetation characteristics we re computed . Significant correlations among soil characteristics indicated that slope angles increased as microtopographic position increased such that steep slope angles occurred predominantly downslope . Site and soil co rrelations indicated that stone vo lume was negatively correlated with elevation: lowe r elevations had an increase in stone material. The increased acidity of litter and the increased leaching due to additional precipitation at higher elevations contributed to a decrease in soil pH. Discriminant analysis of the community types us ing vegetation data indicated that 95 percent of the type s were distinct as classified by the cluster procedure . Discriminant analysis using sele cted environ mental variables indicated that some types were not as distinct environ mentally as they were vegetationally. Disc 1:iminating factors re lated i:o soil mo isture conditions such as stone perce:J.taqes, horizon thickness , vi and total availab le water were important on the first discriminant axis. The second discriminant function appeared to be re lated to both so il moi sture phenomena and slope position, wh ich contributed to the concept that the white pine-hardwood types were segregated by availab le so il mo i sture. The classification success was low with on ly 41 percent of the plots correctly classified . The inability of the me asured environ mental variable s to exactly distinguish the types may be attributed to the successional re lationships the types. among�- Canonical analysis was used to display the arrangement of th e seven vegetation types along the first two canonical axes. The cen troids of each type were arrayed along the first �� is in �� order which closely corresponded to the first and se cond axe s in the discriminant analysis of the environmental variables. From the canonical analysis , it is inferred that so il mo isture wa s important in segregating the white pine-hardwood type s. The diameter distribution of wh ite pine may be of considerable value in inferring the age distribution and stand history of a forest . A direct samp ling of white pine increment cores was conducted . Re gres sion analysis was used to determine the best fit of the collective wh ite pine-hardwood type as well as the individual types. The white pine-Virginia pine , white pine-red map le , white pine-hemlock , and portions of the white pine type were repre sented by relative ly even aged stands resulting from lar ge scale disturbances. The white pine oak types and portion s of the white pine type more closely repre sented all-aged forests. TAB LE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAG E I. INTRODUCTION . l II . AUTECOLOGY AND SILVICULTURE OF WHITE PINE 3 Introduction . 3 Soil and Topography 4 Life History . 6 Growt h . • . • . 8 Principal Enemies 13 Fire .. 15 Re lease 16 Breeding . 18 III. SYNECOLOGY OF WHITE PINE . 19 Northern Range of Wh ite Pine 19 Southern Range of White Pine 21 IV. THE STUDY AREA . 27 Location . 27 Climate . 27 Physiography and Geology . 30 Soils 32 Flora . 34 Vegetation . 35 Human History . 37 v. DATA COLLECTION AND PREPARATION 41 Introduction .

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