Resource type
Thesis type
(Thesis) M.Sc.
Date created
2006
Authors/Contributors
Author: Chandler, Julia
Abstract
The overall objective of this research was to detect the influence of bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum Pursh) on soils in a conifer forest of southwest British Columbia. Forest floor properties were measured beneath bigleaf maple along six transects and on two 36 m x 36 m plots. Wavelet analysis, kriging, spatial autocorrelation analysis, local indicators of spatial association, and parametric statistics were used to explore and confirm bigleaf maple patterns of influence on surrounding soils. Results indicated that forest floor in close proximity (approximately 2.5 m) to bigleaf maple stems had increased pH, exchangeable cations, and mineralizable N as compared to soils further away from bigleaf maple stems. A buried bag technique and a bioassay with Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] seedlings were used to assess the influence of bigleaf maple on nutrient availability and conifer growth. Bigleaf maple plots had significantly higher net nitrification than Douglas-fir plots.
Document
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author.
Scholarly level
Language
English
Member of collection
Download file | Size |
---|---|
etd2718.pdf | 3.32 MB |