ORGANIZATION OF THE NIAGARA ESCARPMENT CLIFF COMMUNITY .2. CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PHYSICAL-ENVIRONMENT

In cliff-edge forests along the Niagara Escarpment, an array of species, including Thuja occidentalis, is restricted to the cliff edge while different species, including Acer saccharum, are increasingly dominant away from the cliff on the plateau. Lower, more rapidly fluctuating soil moisture levels combined with low photosynthetically active radiation at the cliff edge suggest that conditions there are frequently more severe for plants than in the deciduous forest in summer. The cliff edge was snow free during the winter and the soils were frozen for a more protracted period than the deciduous forest soils. Soil and litter depths decreased significantly from the deciduous forest toward the cliff edge. -from Authors