Plant Associations of Subalpine Meadows, Sequoia National Park, California

Abstract

The vegetation of seven subalpine meadows in the southern Sierra Nevada, California, was classified into 19 plant associations. The Braun-Blanquet relevé method was used to collect percent cover data for each vascular species present in a stand. A species-stand matrix was formulated using a Ceska-Roemer program for association analysis. The vegetation data was also analyzed using detrended correspondence analysis to elucidate relationships between associations, and between associations and 16 environmental factors. Moisture (soil moisture, depth to ground water, and depth of standing water) was the environmental factor related to the greatest floristic variation in the vegetation. Secondary factors were water temperature, water movement, water conductivity, and soil frost action. The plant associations and the environments in which they occur are described.