Some Relationships of Vegetation to Soil and Site Factors on Wilson Mountain, Morgan County, Tennessee

INTRODUCTION

In this study, the forest composition of Wilson Mountain, Morgan County, Tennessee, is described and distribution of tree taxa and site factors are related.

The study arose from the need for geographic knowledge of an area where resource understanding is of great national concern, and to provide data for characterization of local forest and soil resources as an aid in their management. Of further interest is characterization of the genetic and ecological amplitude of forest tree taxa in this area close to the center of Deciduous Forest diversity.

The objectives in this study of the vegetation of Wilson Mountain were: (a) to describe the pattern of tree communities, (b) to analyze the variation in environmental factors which may be responsible for the distribution of tree taxa, (c) to evaluate the degree of correlation between environmental factors and vegetational pattern, (d) to determine if variation in characteristics of overstory and understory tree taxa was related to soil characteristics, slope direction and (or) topography.

Tree vegetation occupying approximately 830 acres of Wilson Mountain was sampled during the summer months of 1965.