Effects of glacial activity on soil development and vegetaion in northern Michigan.

Abstract

In this study, we examined the soil and took a tree census at a terminal moraine, a ground moraine, and an outwash. We predicted that moraines would have richer soil because they contain more clay. If a richer soil leads to a different species composition and more growth than at a poorer soil site, then we predict that its trees of a given species will be larger on the terminal moraine than on outwashes. Tree species should reflect site differences, and species diversity should be greater at sites with richer soil because fewer tree species are adapted to survive on poor soil. Finally, we predicted that the ground moraine should have intermediate levels of tree growth because of its mixture of till and outwash sand.