Vegetation of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona: A Gradient Analysis of the South Slope

作者：R. H. Whittaker, William A. Niering · 发表于：Ecology · 年份：1965 · DOI：10.2307/1934875 · 被引用次数：497 · 研究领域：Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies、Rangeland and Wildlife Management、Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

Vegetation of the southwest slope of the Santa Catalina Mountains of southeastern Arizona was sampled and transects prepared for 1,000—ft (305 m) elevation belts on granite and gneiss soils from the summit forests (2,440—2,750 m) to the base of the mountains (900 m). Transects also represented subalpine forests above 2,750 m in the Pinaleno Mts. and vegetation of the valley plain or bajada below the mountains, and samples were taken from volcanic soils below 900 m in the Tucson Mts. Principal community—types from high elevations to low are: subalpine forest (Picca engelmanni in the Pinaleno Mts. and Abies lasiocarpa), montane fir forest (Abies concolor, Pseudotsuga menziesii), pine forests (Pinus ponderosa, P. strobiformis), pine—oak forests (P. ponderosa, Quercus hypoleucoides), pine—oak woodlands (P. ponderosa, P. chihuahuana, Q. hypoleucoides, Q. arizonica), pygmy conifer—oak scrub (Pinus cembroides, Juniperus deppeana, Q. arizonica, Q. emoryi, Arctostaphylos pringlei, A. pungens, monocot shrubs), open oak woodland (Q. emoryi, Q. oblongifolia, Vauquelinia californica, monocot shrubs, and grasses), desert—grassland (Agave schottii, Haplopappus laricifolius, and grasses), Sonora desert of mountain slopes (north—slope shrub phase, and south—slope spinose—suffrutescent phase), upper bajada desert (Cercidium microphyllum, Franseria deltoidea), and lower bajada desert (Larrea tridentata). Forests of canyons and arroyos are also described. Relations of communities to elevation an...