THE USE OF FOREST STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION FOR INTERPRETING VEGETATION-ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIPS

Species structural and functional characteristics are used in concert with forest composition to examine links between the physical environment and vegetation along an elevational transect of thirty forest stands in Yosemite National Park, California. The structural/functional approach promotes communication by allowing direct analysis and presentation of ecologically significant information. Patterns of leaf persistence, shade tolerance/twig thickness, and windthrow susceptibility are related to changes along the altitudinal gradient as an illustration of the interpretive capabilities of the technique.

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ALBERT J. PARKER (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison) is Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.His major research interests are biogeographic—including vegetation ecology and dynamics, and the relationship between vegetation and faunal community structure.