The Response of Understory Herbs to Soil Depth Gradients in High and Low Diversity Communities

Abstract

This study compares the response of understory herbs to small scale changes in soil depth in low diversity forests in the Adirondack Mountains [New York, USA] and a high diversity cove forest in the Great Smoky Mountains [Tennessee, USA]. The species distributions along the gradient were similar in both areas. The increase in species diversity in the cove forest site was not related to an increase in species packing along the soil depth gradient, but appeared to be related to species'' response to other environmental factors.