Community Ecology
Volume/Issue:
Volume 7: Issue 2
The effect of Juniperus virginiana on plant species composition in an Oklahoma grassland
Authors:
J. Linneman Oklahoma State University Department of Botany 104 Life Sciences East Stillwater OK 74078 USA

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M. Palmer Oklahoma State University Department of Botany 104 Life Sciences East Stillwater OK 74078 USA

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Pages:
235–244
Online Publication Date:
23 Jan 2007
Publication Date:
01 Dec 2006
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/comec.7.2006.2.10
Restricted access

We established transects under twenty Juniperus virginiana trees that invaded an unburned central Oklahoma grassland within the last 20 years to determine their effects on plant species composition. Species richness and stem density increased as distance from the trunk increased. Stem density was also higher towards the south side of trees. Graminoid, forb and total cover were related to distance from the trunk and transect direction. Ordination revealed weak compositional gradients related to “openness” and compass direction. Woody species tended to be most abundant underneath J. virginiana canopies whereas grass and forb species were most abundant in the prairie. Woody and shade-tolerant species preferentially occurred in north transects and quadrats underneath the tree. Conversely, forbs had highest abundance on edge quadrats whereas graminoids dominated south transects and prairie quadrats. Thus, invasion of grasslands by J. virginiana influences species composition in a spatially complex manner.

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Cover Community Ecology
Community Ecology An Interdisciplinary Journal Reporting Progress in Community and Population Studies
Print ISSN:
1585-8553
Online ISSN:
1588-2756

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Community Ecology
Language English
Size A4
Year of
Foundation		 2000
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 3
Founder Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Springer Nature Switzerland AG
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Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
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Publisher		 Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 1585-8553 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2756 (Online)

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