Jessica Rouhana

Ecological Methods- Assignment 3

Table 1. Mean % cover under and near English Holly, all quadrats

English Holly Key tree South quadrat (mean + sd) Middle quadrat (mean + sd) North quadrat (mean + sd)
Species (Latin name)
Rubus ursinus 0±0.577350269189626 2±4.04145 5±8.66025
Polystichum munitum 13±15.2753 12±20.2073 12±20.2073
Oelmeria cerasiformis 7±11.547 0 3±4.6188
Unidentified moss 7±11.547 2±4.04145 12±16.0728
pos. Lythrum salicaria 0±0.57735 0 0
Gaultheria shallon 8±13.8564 17±28.8675 27±23.6291
Pteridium (Bracken fern) 2±2.88675 1±2.3094 0
Mahonia nervosa 1±1.73205 3±4.6188 0
Unidentified plant 0±0.57735 0 0
Ilex aquifolium* 0 9±13.8924 0

Total Cover (all species) (mean + sd) 38±14.0119 46±46 58±52.1664

Table 1: One way Anova: F value=0.169 and P value=0.84859

One way Repeated measure test: F value=0.497 and P value=0.64179

Table 2. Mean % cover under and near Western Hemlock, all quadrats

Western hemlock Key tree South quadrat (mean + sd) Middle quadrat (mean + sd) North quadrat (mean + sd)
Species (Latin name)
Gaultheria shallon 62±25.1661 17±24.66441 70±26.45751
Polystichum minuitum 19±27.07297 0 0
Pteridium (Bracken fern) 0±0.57735 0 0
Rubus ursinus 2±4.041452 0 2±2.886751
Unidentified epiphyte 7±11.54701 0 0
Dryopteris erythrosora 2±2.886751 0 0
Tsuga heterophylla 0 0 2±4.041452
Total Cover (all species)
92±29.905 17±24.331 74±29.547
(mean + sd)

Table 2: One way Anova: F value=5.809 and P value=0.03950

One way repeated measure Test: F value=94.949 and P value=0.00043

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Ecological Methods- Assignment 3

Table 3. Mean native plant species richness under and near invasive and native tree species.

English holly Mean W. hemlock Mean

SD SD
Treatment Species Treatment Species
South 3 2.08167 South 3 2
Middle 2 2 Middle 1 0
North 2 1.52753 North 2 0.57735

Table 3:

English Holly One way Anova for repeated measures : F value= 5.200 and P value= 0.07716

W. Hemlock One way Anova for repeated measures: F value=2.800 and P value= 0.17361

Table 4. Mean native plant species diversity (H’ & “True Diversity) under and near invasive

and native trees.

English holly “True” W. hemlock “True”

Mean H’ SD Mean H’ SD
Treatment Diversity Treatment Diversity
South 0.662 0.613002 1.94 South 0.581 0.523639 1.79
Middle 0.574 0.544418 1.78 Middle 0 0 1
North 0.668 0.670511 1.95 North 0.178 0.154371 1.19

Table 4: English Holly One way Anova for repeated measures: F value=1.225 and P value= 0.965

W. Hemlock One way Anova for repeated Measures: F value=3.592 and P value=0.1279
Jessica Rouhana
Ecological Methods- Assignment 3

Summary and Report

Based on all of the data presented in the tables, English holly (Ilex aquifolium) does have an

impact on forest communities. The main impact observed from the I. aquifolium treatment is

that I. aquifolium contributed to there being far less total cover. The mean total percent cover

for I.aquifolium ranges from 38% to 58% with standard deviations ranging from 14.0 to 52.2

whereas the mean total percent cover for Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) ranges from

17% to 92% with standard deviations ranging from 24.3 to about 30. For the T. heterophylla

treatment, the low mean of 17% total cover was measured in the middle quadrat which was

directly under the tree but the South quadrat had a mean of 92% total cover and the North

quadrat had a mean of 74% total cover. The I. aquifolium treatment middle quadrat had a mean

of 46% total cover, the South quadrat had a mean of 38% total cover and the North had a mean

of 59% total cover. We can infer from these results that T. heterophylla may have a negative

effect on the amount of cover from other ground cover and shrub species directly under the

tree but I. aquifolium negatively affects the amount of cover on the South and North quadrats

significantly more than T.heterophylla. Given that T. heterophylla has the densest canopy of any

tree species in the west and especially in middle-aged forests, it is not suprising that the total

mean percent cover of the middle quadrat was very low for the T. heterophylla treatment as

many ground cover and shrub species most likely cannot grow there due to the lack of sunlight

that reaches the forest floor (MacKinnon 2016).

Although I. aquifolium had more species diversity, it does seem that Gaultheria Shallon

was affected by it’s presence. G. Shallon was far less prevalent in the I. aquifolium treatment
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Ecological Methods- Assignment 3

with it’s total percent cover means and standard deviations for the South quadrat being 8±13.9,

the middle quadrat being 17±28.9, and the North quadrat being 27±23.6. In the T. heterophylla

samples, G. Shallon’s total percent cover means and standard deviations for the South quadrat

was 62±25.2, for the middle quadrat was 17±24.7 and for the North quadrat was 70±26.5. The

effect of I. aquifolium on G. Shallon could be due to the invasiveness of I. aquifolium along with

both species being shade-tolerant and having a preference of growing in coniferous

understories (Church 2016). There could also be a large amount of other factors outside of I.

aquifolium’s presence that is limiting the amount of G. Shallon. We would need further

research to draw these conclusions.

It seemed that some plants also were affected by T. heterophylla’s presence such as Oso

berry (Oelmeria cerasiformis) and Oregon Grape (mahonia nervosa). Both of these species were

found in small amounts in the south and north quadrats of the I.aquifolium treatment whereas

none were found in the T. heterophylla treatment. M. nervosa is commonly found in second-

growth closed canopy Douglas-fir forests and O. cerasiformis is commonly found in dry to moist

open woods, streambanks and open areas at low elevations (MacKinnon 2016). T. heterophylla

does provide the necessary habitat for M. nervosa but the plants inability to inhabit this area

could be due to many other reasons such as, for example, resource competition, and parasites

or fungi. O. cerasiformis does not have it’s habitat requirements met as it likes to grow in open

areas and, as mentioned before, T. heterophylla has a very dense canopy that does not allow a

lot of sunlight. As previously mentioned, further research is needed to draw any conclusions on

the lack of these species in the T. heterophylla treatments.

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Ecological Methods- Assignment 3

T. heterophylla does have an impact on the native forest community. Although the

amount of ground cover in the T. heterophylla treatments was higher, it also, overall, had less

diversity. The true diversity of the T.heterophylla treatment ranged from 1 to about 1.8

whereas the true diversity for I. aquifolium ranged from about 1.8 to 2. Although these

differences are statistically negligible, T. heterophylla had the same amount of species richness

in the middle quadrats and less species richness in the north and south quadrats than I.

aquifolium. We could speculate, as before, that this could be due to the dense canopy cover of

the T.heterophylla along with a lack of shade tolerant shrub and ground cover vegetation and

seed sources in the tested areas.

Based off of our results, neither one of these species is a threat to native plant diversity.

Given the significantly less amount of total cover in the I. aquifolium treatments, we can

speculate that I. aquifolium may be having an effect on native ecosystem function which could

be related to factors such as increased root biomass which may create more competition with

native plants for resources within soil, the amount of I. aquifolium leaf in plant litter and also

the amount of shade produced from the leaves on the plant (Church 2016). All of these factors

could make it so habitat requirements for native species are not met (Church 2016). With that

being said, T. heterophylla also begins to lose its lower branches as it grows larger which would

allow the opportunity for more ground cover and shrub vegetation to take the branches place

once more sunlight is able to reach the forest floor. I. aquifolium, on the other hand, does not

lose it’s bottom branches and will continue to increase the amount of area affected by shade

along with also out competing native species for resources and being able to spread rapidly

under many different kinds of conditions (Church 2016). Given these factors, we could predict
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Ecological Methods- Assignment 3

that although I. aquifolium does not have a large effect on native species diversity now, it could

potentially affect native species diversity in the future if allowed to keep spreading and growing

larger along with continuing to outcompete other native species resulting in less total cover and

native ecosystem function which could eventually lead to a lack of native species diversity also.
Jessica Rouhana
Ecological Methods- Assignment 3

Sources Cited
Church, Elliott. “Invasive English Holly (Ilex Aquifolium L.) in Clear-Cut and Forest Units in a
Western Washington Managed Forest.” Scholarly Publishing Services - UW Libraries, 1 Mar.
2016, digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/35586.
MacKinnon, A., and Jim Pojar. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Partners Publishing, 2016.