A Study of Sedge-Dominated Areas in the Uinta Mountains
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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-1978 A Study of Sedge-Dominated Areas in the Uinta Mountains George Murchie Briggs Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Briggs, George Murchie, "A Study of Sedge-Dominated Areas in the Uinta Mountains" (1978). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 4719. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/4719 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A STUDY OF SEDGE-DOMINATED AREAS IN THE UINTA MOUNTAINS by George Murchie Briggs A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Biology (Ecology) Approved: UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 1978 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wo uld like to thank my ma jor professor, James MacMahon and my committee, Martyn Caldwell, Arthur Holmgren, Jan Henderson and Neil West, for their help and patience t hroughout this study. I would a lso l ike to thank St eve Hoffman, Peter Beedlow and Cindy Hatley for help and mu~h needed encouragement. Linda Finchum and Shelly An der son typed the manuscript . iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page AWKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii LIST OF TABLES . iii LIST OF FIGURES iv ABSTRACT vi INTRODUCTION 1 LITERATURE REVIEW 1 MATERIALS AND HETHODS 5 Site select ion 5 Field techniques 6 Determination of above-ground biomass 6 Environmental measurements 7 Analysis techniques 8 SITE DESCRIPTIONS 10 Alpine • 10 Wetland 17 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 30 Alpine 30 Vegetation 30 Soil analysis 32 Cryopedogenic processes 34 Cover . 36 Standing crop 36 Relationships between biotic and abiotic factors 38 Ordinat ions 42 Wetland 61 Vegetation 61 Standing crop 65 Ordinations 69 Density and plant weight 69 Phenology 76 CONCLUSIONS 84 LITERATURE CITED 85 iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Species found on the alpine sites . 31 2. Values for soil parameters, slope a nd surface rock characteristics for the a lpine sites . 33 3. Sand analysis of the finest and coarsest a lpine soil s 35 4 . Standing crop and cover values for the alpine s ites . 37 5 . Correlation ma trix for a l pine site parameters . 39 6. R values for simple linear regressions between ordination axes and site parameters 44 7. Species found on the wetland sites 62 8 . Elevation and standing crop values for the we tland sites 66 9 . Density and average shoot weight for Carex aqua tilis , Eleocharis pauciflora, and Scirpus cespitosus. 70 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Map of the King ' s Peak regiou of the Uinta Hountains showing the location of the alpine study sites 12 2 . Map of wetland area SEV 20 3. Map of wetland area TLD 23 4. Map of wetland area SC . 26 5. Map of wetland area FT . 28 6. Ordination of the 18 alpine sites utilizing all the species sampled . 0 46 7. Ordination of the 18 alpine sites utilizing only the important species . 0 48 8. Ordination of 17 alpine sites utilizing a ll of the species sampled. 0 51 9. Ordination of the 17 alpine sites utilizing only the important species 0 53 10. Y-axis values for the 17-site important species ordination plotted against the percentage of rock covered with lichen on that site 0 55 11. Ordination of 13 alpine sites utilizing all species sampled. 0 58 12. Ordination of 13 alpine sites utilizing only the important species 0 60 13. Graph of standing crop versus moisture class for the wetland sites 0 68 14. Graph of the changes in Carex aquatilis plant density throughout the summer 0 72 15. Graph of density of plants versus plant weight for Carex aquatilis on all stagnant sites 0 75 16. Seasonal curves for above-ground s t a nding crop for four wetland sites. 0 78 17. Seasonal curves for above-ground standing crop for four sites where Carex aquatilis was monotypic or nearly so . 0 80 vi LIST OF FIGURES (Continued) Figure Page 18. Grow th of individual Carex aquatilis plants 83 vii ABSTRACT A Study of Sedge- dominated Areas in the Uinta Mountains by George Nurchie Briggs, Nas ter of Science Utah State University , 1978 Najor Professor: Dr. James A. NacNahon Department: Biology (Ecology) Twenty- six sedge-dominated sites in the Uinta Nountains of northeastern Utah were studied. These sites could be placed into two categories, wetland sites (those with water-saturated soils) and alpine tundra sites. The alpine sites had above-ground standing crops between 37 2 and 206 g/m • The soils we r e sandy and low in nutrients. Indirect gradient analysis of the alpine sites showed a relationship between soil s tability and vegetation. No other factors were found to be related to overall vegetation patterns . The wetland sites were dominated by different Carex species than the alpine sites. These wetlands were often patches of mono- typic stands. Above- ground standing crop values ranged from 28 2 360 g/m and we r e strongly dependent upon the stagnation of the water on t he site . (89 pages) INTRODUCTION The genus Carex (Cyperaceae) is one of the largest and most common genera in the northern temperate zone of North America . Although there are several taxonomic treatments of the genus (Mackenzie, 1931-35, 1940) ecological studies on the group are rare (Lewis, 1970). Because the genus is large and species determination is difficult, researchers often consider the entity "Carex spp.". This leads to the i llusion that the genus is homogeneous in its habitat and/or niche, an illusion which is dispelled with closer observation. Sedges (used here to repre sent the genus Carex) are present in most north temperate habitats and may dominate: alpine tundra, sub- alpine meadows and wetlands a t lower elevations . This study investigates several sedge- dominated areas in northeastern Utah. Some structural differences between these sedge dominated ecosystems are described and discussed. LITERATURE REVIEW The best studied aspect of carices' biology is their taxon omy. In addition to the Mackenzie treatment, there are works by Hermann (1970) on Rocky Mountain carices, and Lewis (1958) on the carices of Utah . Recent work of Cr onquist (Hitchcock and Cronquist , 1973; Cronquist~ al., 1977) led to a r eorganization of part of the genus, lumping several species. Cronquist recognizes 93 species of Carex in the Intermountain Region; 78 in Utah. Nomenclature in this document follows Cronquist except as noted. 2 The genus Carex is united by several features, the primary one being the presence of a perigynium around the female flower and achene . Characters which separate species are not as definitive. This is pro bably due to several factors, two of the most important ones being the presence of polyploidy and the large amount of asexual reproduction. The taxonomy of Carex is by no means satisfactorily completed. More work, especially experimental, is needed to define several of the species. But the keys now present are quite functional and do not merit the apprehension with which they are often approached. Studies on the general growth habits of sedges are few. Gorham and Somers (1973) investigated the life history of Carex rostrata, a wetland sedge. They showed that two populations of shoots were pro- duced, one emerging in tlle fall and overwintering as short shoots, and one emerging in the spring. Kershaw (1962) studied the rhizome behavior of Carex bigelowii. Shaver and Billings (1975) studied the rhizome be havior of three arctic wetland plant species including Carex aguatilis and Eriophorum angustifolium (Cyperaceae) . The metabolism of several sedge species has been investigated. Hadley and Bliss (1964) studied the alpine sedge, ~- bigelowii, and found it to have an extremely low light compensation point, one well suited to the foggy environment in which it occurs. Tieszen (1973) studied the annual pattern of productivity and chlorophyll content in Carex aquatilis. Johnson and Caldwell (1975, 1976) investigated gas exchange and water relations of Carex aguatilis. Chapin (1974) and Chapin and Bloom (1976) investigated phosphorus absorption in the same species . 3 Jones (1972a) studied iron and manganese absorption by f . nigra and f · flacca , species which grow in wetland areas having toxic concen trations of these ions. Work on sedge-dominated communities has centered on measurements of standing crop and productivity. Standing crop values for several 2 sedge commu nities were found to vary f r om 300 to 1000 g/m depending on altitude and latitude (Bernard, 1973). Bernard (1974) l ooked at above and below ground productivity in a Car ex lacustris communi t y and found the root:shoot ratio to vary from 3:1 in winter t o 3:8 in summer. Gorham and Somers (1973) and Gorham (1974) investigated the above ground productivit y of wetland sedge areas . Dennis and Johnson (1970) and Shaver and Billings (1975) s tudied the below ground productivity in arctic sedge wetlands . Alpine workers amassed data on the produc tivity of alpine sedge dominated areas (Bliss, 1966; Scott and Billings, 1964; Wi egolaski, 1972) . Kuramoto and Bliss (1970) investigated both above and bel ow ground productivity of subalpine meadows . Many workers have attempted to elucidate the factors which are controlling the species mixes found in sedge-dominated communities . Harris and Marshall (1963) , Rutter (1955), and Auclair e t al. (1973), described the importance of water level in controlling community struc tur e. Arms trong (1967), Armstrong and Boatman (1967) and others stressed the i mpor tance of redox potential in determining community composition .