The Phytosociological Structure of Upland Forest at Candle Lake, Saskatchewan

Abstract

This study was designed to contribute to a phytosociological understanding of the boreal forest of Central Canada. Quantitative data for trees, herbs, shrubs and mosses as well as preliminary environmental data were collected from 32 forest stands. Ordination techniques were used to express forest structure and its relationship to the environment. A comparison of stand interrelationships between two ordinations,one based on tree species and the other on herb and shrub species, supports the view that quantitative data for a limited part of the total flora suffice to demonstrate the structure of the vegetation as a whole. Using these ordinations, forest structure is explained as a pattern of continuous variation in different parts of which individual species achieve peak performance. These are only six common tree species in these forests and 16 of the 32 stands are dominated exclusively or almost exclusively by only one tree species. Many understory species have distribution patterns specifically relating them to certain canopy species. The distribution of stands on the ordinations suggests that soil texture and a disturbance-succession gradient are related to canopy structure and that shade density, soil pH and soil texture influence understory structure.