Patterns of vegetation in the vicinity of an industrially disturbed ecosystem, Sudbury, Ontario

Abstract

During the past century, forests in the vicinity of Sudbury, Ont., have been either destroyed or disturbed by logging, fires, and industrial pollution. These factors have produced an atypical mosaic of vegetation communities. This study investigates the patterns of plant communities that characterize this disturbed ecosystem.Nine major plant communities were found to predominate. These were determined by classification of the tree stratum with the aid of a hierarchical cluster analysis that was applied to data gathered from 142 quantitatively sampled field sites.These communities tend to be regulated by topography, soils, and distance from pollution sources. They can be grouped into two main types. The barren, birch transition and maple transition communities form a grouping that is attributed to pollution whereas the remaining six types are typical of the hemlock – white pine – northern hardwoods forest. The first three communities are restricted to the industrially disturbed region near Sudbury. Since they are peculiar, their dynamics are unknown and require further autecological research. Such an investigation could provide valuable insights into the pattern of succession in an ecosystem that is regulated by human activities.