Plant Succession on Dune Sands in Fremont County, Idaho

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. Ecological Society of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Ecology. Abstract. Active sand dunes in Fremont County, Idaho, move northeastward at an approximate average rate of 3 m/year. Sand deposits, continuous in some areas for several kilometers, extend to windward from the dunes in the form of long ridges, parallel to the wind direction. Five successional vegetation stages, distinct as to dominant species, appear on the deposits as belts transverse to the direction of dune movement. Elymnuts flavascens and Psoralea lanceolata dominate the pioneer stage, which lasts up to about 30 years. The second stage, dominated by Chrysothavnnus nautseosus with an understory of the two pioneer species, lasts for 10 to 70 years. Purshia tridentata then replaces much of the C. itazysosits to form a third stage lasting for about 50 to 70 years. Dominant species in the fourth stage are Arteinisia tridentata, P. tridlen-tta, and in many areas IPrunts virginiana var. deniissa. Very little I. tridentata is found after 700 to 900 years of stabilization, and the final and most extensive stage on deep sand is dominated by dense P. triJentata with clumps of P. virginiana var. demissa. Vegetation on old, shallow deposits has characteristics of both that on deep sand and the Arteinisia/ bunchgrass type on the surrounding native soil. Fields that were plowed and abandoned in the early 1930's now support dense stands of Stipa conata. The presence of dense shrub stands on dunes now topographically sheltered by the wind, but not on migrating dunes, indicates that establishment of a species on sand depends on relative site stability rather than on soil nutrient buildup caused by previous vegetation.Deep sand holds moisture available to plants throughout the dry part of the growing season while the native soil does not, which probably accounts for the greater shrub density and vigor on sand. This paper is based on a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Forestry at the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho.' Original measurements exI)ressed by the English system were converted to their metric equivalents for this caper.' Unless noted otherwise, scientific names for forbs, shrubs, and sedges follow Davis (1952); authority for grasses is Hitchcock (1950).

The influence of different environmental and climatic conditions on vegetated aeolian dune landscape development and response

“…The pioneer grass species (green line in Fig. 1) mimics the physiological attributes of marram grass (Ammophila) or scurf-pea (Psoralea lanceolata), which require burial for optimal growth (Chadwick and Dalke, 1965;Van der Putten et al, 1993;Moore, 1996;Van der Stoel et al, 2002), but have relatively short life cycles, so the inferred physiological range [0, 1] does not extend beyond the geomorphic range. Conversely the successional shrub behaviour (red line in Fig.…”

A review of fire effects on vegetation and soils in the Great Basin Region: response and ecological site characteristics

“…Its seed can be disseminated long distances by wind. Rabbitbrush cover usually decreases in the first post-fire year followed by large increases within the third year both from resprouting and seed (Blaisdell 1953;Countryman and Cornelius 1957;Chadwick and Dalke 1965;Young and Evans 1974). However, although rapid re-colonization occurred within the first three years on a late seral Wyoming big sagebrush ecological site, cover increased only slightly above pre-burn levels during the next four to six years (Rhodes and others 2010).…”

“…Reports on the response of winterfat are mixed. Several authors reported that sprouting was enhanced by fire (Cottam and Stewart 1940;Blaisdell 1953;Chadwick and Dalke 1965). However, in southwestern Idaho, wildfires resulted in nearly 100% mortality of winterfat (Pellant and Reichert 1983;Groves and Steenhof 1988).…”

Plant Responses to an Edaphic Gradient across an Active Sand Dune/Desert Boundary in the Great Basin Desert

“…Although researchers can measure environmental changes, it is often difficult to determine which aspects of the natural environment are most critical in determining the distribution of a given plant population. The abrupt transition between actively moving desert sand dunes and adjacent stabilized dunes (hereafter referred to as ''ondune'' and ''off-dune'' habitats, respectively) provides a natural laboratory to study the effects of resource heterogeneity on desert plants (Chadwick and Dalke 1965;Hennessy et al 1985;Lei 1998). However, the extent to which plant water status, nutrient status, and water use efficiency change in response to resource differences in this habitat boundary is poorly understood.…”