Ordination Studies in Abner's Hollow, A South-Central Ohio Deciduous Forest

We systematically sampled the woody vegetation of a stand of mixed mesophytic forest and used a multidimensional Bray and Curtis ordination to correlate variations in composition and structure with environmental factors. Parent material proved to be the key environmental factor related to the distribution of individual plant communities. The most widespread communities are a mixed mesophytic type on dolomite/limestone and dominated by Liriodendron tulipifera, Fraxinus americana, and Acer saccharum, a chestnut oak type on noncalcareous shale and dominated by Quercus prinus, and a mesophytic type on sandstone and dominated by A. saccharum, A. rubrum, Q. prinus, and Sassafras albidum. Within individual parent materials, vegetation gradients were best correlated with soil moisture gradients or past human disturbance.