Abstract Detail

The Cross Timbers: Botany, History, and Current Issues

Taylor, R. John [1], Taylor, Constance E. [1].

Relationship of Forest Vegetation to Soils and Geology in the Gulf Coastal Plain in Oklahoma.

Thirteen forested communities located in Bryan County, Oklahoma growing under uniform climatic conditions were analyzed.  Vegetation data collected by point-centered quarter and quadrant were mean area, frequency, density, size class, basal area, and plants per acre.  Trees, seedlings and saplings, and shrubs and vines were sampled.  The number of plants, basal area of trees, and importance percentage were the most useful parameters.  Forests were located on ten geological formations.  Soil factors studied included soil texture, soil pH, amounts of organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and degree of soil compaction. The most important soil factor influencing the distribution and composition of forest communities was soil texture, a direct result of the geological formations on which the soils had developed.  Coarse textured soils on seven sites supported oak or oak-hickory forests dominated by Post Oak (Quercus stellata), Pignut Hickory (Carya texana), Black Oak (Quercus velutina), and Blackjack Oak (Quercus marilandica). Bottomland alluvium on three sites supported Hackberry (Celtis spp.), Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), Cottonwood (Populus deltoides), and Elm (Ulmus crassifolia and U. rubra). Fine-textured soils covered with forest were dominated by Bois d'arc (Maclura pomifera), Cedar Elm (Ulmus crassifolia), and Hackberry (Celtis laevigata(). The seven cross timber forest with Post Oak and Blackjack Oak were growing on the Antlers Sand, Pawpaw Sand, Woodbine Formation, and Goodland Limestone, all Cretaceous in age. Sand content of 6 soils ranged from 77.8 to 88.9 percent, the seventh had 78 percent sand and silt. Totals of phosphorus, nitrogen, and organic carbon were all lower in the coarse textured soils. The most common sapling was winged elm (Ulmus alata), in coarse soils, and species of hackberry (Celtis spp was most common in fine textured soils.

1 - Southeastern Oklahoma State University,, Biology , Emeritus, 621 S. Pirtle Road, Durant, Oklahoma, 74701, USA

Keywords:
soil texture
post oak,.

Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: 23-6
Location: Salon J - Austin Grand Ballroom/Hilton
Date: Tuesday, August 16th, 2005
Time: 11:00 AM
Abstract ID:110