Indicator Significance of Some Shrubs in the Escalante Desert, Utah
Citation
Milton Fireman, Indicator Significance of Some Shrubs in the Escalante Desert, Utah: .
Summary
1. Chemical effects of native plants on desert soils were studied. 2. Data are presented which indicate that the pH values of saturated soil pastes and 1: 10 soil-water suspensions, particularly of the surface soil, generally are higher under shadscale and invariably are higher under greasewood than in the adjacent bare areas or under plants such as sagebrush. 3. The pH value of the bare soil is usually highest in greasewood and lowest in sagebrush areas, with shadscale areas either intermediate or similar to those of sagebrush. 4. The exchangeable-sodium percentage of the soil is somewhat higher under shadscale and very much higher under greasewood than in the adjacent bare areas or under other plants such as sagebrush. 5. The soluble-salt [...]
Summary
1. Chemical effects of native plants on desert soils were studied. 2.
Data are presented which indicate that the pH values of saturated soil
pastes and 1: 10 soil-water suspensions, particularly of the surface
soil, generally are higher under shadscale and invariably are higher
under greasewood than in the adjacent bare areas or under plants such as
sagebrush. 3. The pH value of the bare soil is usually highest in
greasewood and lowest in sagebrush areas, with shadscale areas either
intermediate or similar to those of sagebrush. 4. The
exchangeable-sodium percentage of the soil is somewhat higher under
shadscale and very much higher under greasewood than in the adjacent
bare areas or under other plants such as sagebrush. 5. The soluble-salt
content of the soil was appreciably higher under shadscale and
greasewood than in adjacent bare soil or under other shrubs. 6. The
increases in pH, exchangeable-sodium percentage, and, to some extent,
salt content of soil which result from the growth of greasewood are
associated with the size and presumably the age of the plant. That is,
the larger the plant, the higher the pH, soluble-salt content, and
exchangeable-sodium percentage as compared with soil in adjacent bare
areas or under plants such as sagebrush. 7. Chemical analyses of plant
parts and organic litter in relation to the zonation of pH and
exchangeable-sodium percentage are discussed; and a mechanism which
would account for the increase in pH, soluble salts, and exchangeable
sodium is proposed. Published in Botanical Gazette, volume 114, issue 2,
on pages 143 - 155, in 1952.