Southern Research Station

Title: A Pilot Test of Indicator Species to Assess Uniqueness of Oak-Dominated Ecoregions in Central Tennessee

Author: McNab, W. Henry; Loftis, David L.; Schweitzer, Callie J.; Sheffield, Raymond

Date: 2004

Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-73. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 88-93

Description: We used tree indicator species occurring on 438 plots in the Plateau counties of Tennessee to test the uniqueness of four conterminous ecoregions. Multinomial logistic regression indicated that the presence of 14 tree species allowed classification of sample plots according to ecoregion with an average overall accuracy of 75 percent (range 45 to 94 percent). Additional analysis revealed that the largest ecoregion could be subdivided into northern and southern zones based on frequency of occurrence of five other indicator species. Under the premise that tree assem-blages of varying composition indicate areas of differing environmental conditions, results of our test suggest the delineated ecoregions are unique.

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Citation

McNab, W. Henry; Loftis, David L.; Schweitzer, Callie J.; Sheffield, Raymond  2004.  A Pilot Test of Indicator Species to Assess Uniqueness of Oak-Dominated Ecoregions in Central Tennessee.   Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-73. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 88-93.