Abstract
The spatial relationship between the parent plants and the distribution of their pollen rain is extremely important for the survival and health of natural ecosystems. In our modern societies there is a continuous and extensive need for wood products, therefore, the health and productivity of the forest ecosystems should be primary concerns for practitioners and researchers. Southern yellow pine forested biomes consist of four major pine species that have been extremely important as American timber sources and as income for the lumber industry. Currently, the intensive harvesting and exploitation of southern pine forests have created a series of highly fragmented forest biome regions. As the distance between individual forest patches increases, the potential intensity of gene transfer decreases. The result is forested patches with limited gene plasticity, which can affect the health of individual trees and of the natural forested ecosystems. The purpose of this research is to establish correlation between spatial distributions of pine forest biome and dispersion of pine pollen. Once the relationship between the pollen rain distributional data and the vegetational biomes are determined, then those correlations will enable researchers to produce projected pollen rain distribution maps for certain regions of North America where existing pollen rain data is absent.
Original language | Undefined/Unknown |
---|---|
Journal | Faculty Publications |
State | Published - Jan 1 2006 |