Relating soil chemistry and plant relationship in wooded draws of the northern Great Plains

Authors

Marguerite E. Voorhees, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota
Daniel W. Uresk, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota

Abstract

Soils of the green ash/chokecherry habitat type in northwestern South Dakota were evaluated for 22 properties to determine whether any could be correlated with density of chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) and snowberry (Symphoricarpos occidentalis). Surface soils were moderately fertile, with high levels of all elements except phosphorus and nitrogen. Soils were fine textured with moderately high cation exchange capacity and saturation percentages. However, soils were nonsaline-nonalkaline with low amounts of exchangeable sodium. None of the soil properties showed good correlation with chokecherry and snowberry densities. Greatest correlations were found between each of the shrub species and grass.

Recommended Citation

Voorhees, Marguerite E. and Uresk, Daniel W. (1992) "Relating soil chemistry and plant relationship in wooded draws of the northern Great Plains," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 52: No. 1, Article 5.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol52/iss1/5