Brief Note: Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Status of Spring Ephemerals in Two Ohio Forests

Author Institution: Biology Department, Lakeland Community CollegeNineteen spring ephemerals (7 monocots and 12 dicots) were surveyed for vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae (VAM) in two Ohio forests during spring 1993 and 1994. Eleven of the nineteen species sampled displayed VAM development which was consistent between years and sites, except for Cardamine concatenata (Brassicaceae). Patterns of VAM occurrence primarily reflected the taxonomic classification of the sampled species. In this study, all monocots sampled were mycorrhizal, while only 25% of the dicots developed VAM relationships. The occurrence of VAM in the dicots primarily reflected their taxonomy as well. All Ranunculaceae species were mycorrhizal while those in the other five dicot families were not

Groundlayer Vegetation Ordination and Site-Factor Analysis of the Wright State University Woods (Greene County, Ohio)

Author Institution: Department of Biological Sciences, Wright State UniversityDetrended correspondence analysis (DECORANA) was used to examine groundlayer vegetation variation among seven locations of differing topography and successional age in the Wright State University woods (Greene County, OH). Two young sites (60 and 40 years since agricultural abandonment) and five older sites (one floodplain, one slope, and three uplands) were selected a priori and sampled four times in 1987. Taxon presences were recorded in 100 plots per location, and 12 environmental variables were measured from a subset of these plots. DECORANA ordination revealed that site age was the most important large scale factor affecting groundlayer vegetation. Topography was shown to be an important factor in the old growth sites. Stepwise linear regression with DECORANA plot scores as dependent variables and environmental factors as independent variables indicated that soil moisture content was the most important measured site factor associated with vegetation variation. This relationship was significant for vegetation along the overall successional gradient (r2 = 0.49) with soil moisture content positively correlated with site age. It was also significant along the old growth topographic gradient (r2 = 0.46) with soil moisture content negatively correlated with topographic elevation