| The impact of forest edges on understory plant population dynamics is poorly known. In a sugar maple stand in Southern Quebec, we observed variations in understorey plant richness and spatial pattern as a function of distance to the edge and tried to link these variations to different environmental variables. At a 2-m2 scale, richness tends to decrease with distance, as does "beta" diversity. Erythronium americanum patch size increases with distance from the edge, maybe because of differences in clonal growth along the gradient. Path analyses reveal significant links between environmental and biotic variables, but only a low proportion of variance is explained. However, resource availability seems to be a better determinant of richness and understorey plant species cover than resource heterogeneity. |
