Jocassee Gorges ecosystem classification project continues

摘要

Interrelationships among plants, animals, and their environment are keys to the function and organization of natural ecosystems. Because of its large size, Jocassee Gorges is a unique forum for broad-scale ecological interrelationships and ecosystem processes.We have been researching the interrelationships and ecosystem diversity of late-successional forests of Jocassee Gorges for the past two years in an ongoing ecosystem classification project. Results from the first two years of this project have provided the first detailed documentation of the soil and geomorphic characteristics of Jocassee Gorges, and is the first study to relate the distribution of plant communities to environmental gradients in this portion of South Carolina.