Phytosociological studies of Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, New York.
Item
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Title
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Phytosociological studies of Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, New York.
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Identifier
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AAI9820592
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identifier
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9820592
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Creator
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Wijesundara, Douglas Siril Abeywickrama.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Andrew M. Greller
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Date
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1998
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Biology, Ecology | Biology, Botany
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Abstract
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Vegetation was studied in the North Forty Area of Floyd Bennett Field (FBF), Brooklyn, and New York. FBF is a former airfield constructed by filling several salt marsh islands with various kinds of waste materials including dredge fills, construction debris and domestic waste. There were 125 species belonging to 81 genera and 44 families. Of these, 41 species (33%) were exotic. There were 16 major communities within the North Forty area. In classifying communities in the North Forty, two agglomerative clustering algorithms (Minimum Variance clustering and Complete Linkage) were used to cluster the data matrices constructed using five distance measures (Euclidean Distance, Chord Distance, Geodesic Distance, Bray-Curtis Dissimilarity and Similarity Ratio). Several metric and nonmetric ordination techniques were used to see the relationships of different communities to each other and environmental factors. In spite of the small size of the study area and overwhelming dominance of a few species, Euclidean Distance and Complete Linkage clustering used in this study yielded meaningful clusters corresponding to recognizable plant communities in the field. Two main successional trends were also detected. It is evident that there is a difference in the rate of succession that is due to differences in substrata. Succession in sterile, dry, sandy dredge fill is slower, while in areas filled with domestic waste and construction debris it is much faster.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
