The Role of Alnus viridis ssp. crispa (Ait.) Pursh (green alder) in Boreal Jack Pine Forests in Southeastern Manitoba.

Abstract

I compared understorey communities under Alnus viridis ssp. crispa (Ait.) Pursh (green alder) and Corylus cornuta Marsh. (beaked hazel) in two boreal jack pine forests. There was no difference in inorganic soil nitrogen, but alder plots had lower species richness at Star Lake and higher evenness in the Sandilands. I incubated chopsticks and litterbags containing natural litter assemblages underneath A. crispa and C. cornuta in the field, and litterbags containing artificial litter mixes in a dark growth chamber. There was no significant difference between treatments for litterbags or chopsticks in the field, nor between mixes with or without alder in the growth chamber.