Effects of Light Availability on Aspen Understory Species
Abstract
Trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) is a keystone species found throughout North America. P. tremuloides is a successional species which aids the regeneration of ecosystems after disturbance. However, climate change is altering aspen forest dynamics. Aspen forest die- off in the American Southwest is predicted to increase in the next few years as temperatures and drought increase. As forests change, so does their understory. Forest die-off will affect the understory plant communities, which play crucial role on regional biodiversity. In this study, the effect of aspen canopy light transparency was measured to find its impact on species richness and abundance of aspen understory shrub, grass and forbs in the Gunnison National Forest (Colorado). The hypothesis is that aspen understory forbs will decrease in richness and abundance, aspen understory shrub and grass species will increase in richness and abundance with increasing canopy light availability in the form of LAI. Aspen overstory and understory photographs were taken. The overstory photographs were analyzed for LAI and the understory photographs were analyzed for richness and abundance. The results of the analysis did not express any negative relationships between forbs and light availability. The results did not show any positive relationship between grasses/shrubs and light amiability. Indicating that LAI does not affect understory species richness and abundance.
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