During the summer of 1998 an international team of 23 students from the United States and Scotland are conducting field research studies in the Oliver Creek Watershed in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. We will attempt to link characteristics of vegetative communities to abiotic influences of climate and weather that include altitude and aspect. Plant characteristics to be examined include species dominance and diversity, percentage of vegetative ground cover, and tree growth rate. These will be correlated to abiotic conditions such as solar insolation, duration of daily exposure to direct sunlight, and resulting soil temperature and soil moisture.
Two intersecting transects will be used. Results should reflect steeper soil moisture/temperature gradients as conditions change from xeric slope environment to mesic stream valley. Comparisons of the two transects should reveal significant differences in both both soil conditions and plant communities.