| dc.description.abstract | This thesis reports on a study of roadside floristic patterns and revegetation
(cultural methods) of newly constructed roadsides by using native plants along Trans
Canada Highway (TCH) in Terra Nova National Park (TNNP), Newfoundland.
Recognizing the need for developing natural and self-sustained roadside
vegetation cover to mitigate road effects, the first chapter of this thesis examines two
aspects of the roadside floristic patterns: a) the nature of plant community composition
across the roadside habitats with respect to microtopographic features, substrate
properties and maintenance disturbances and b) the nature of above and below ground
architectural characteristics and biomass allocation patterns of selected dominant plants
across roadside microhabitats. The combined knowledge about floristic patterns and
autecological attributes of roadside plants should help in selecting desirable native plants
for roadside revegetation in order to mitigate road effects. The vegetation survey and soil
sampling were conducted across the right-of-way along 10-15 years old section of the
Trans Canada Highway (TCH) in Terra Nova National Park (TNNP), Newfoundland.
The Multi-response Permutation Procedure (MRPP) confirmed the zonation of plant
community across the right-of-way by distinguishing four plant communities occurring
on four roadside microhabitats, such as shoulder, side slope, ditch and hack slope. The
Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) showed that the composition of roadside
plant communities in different microhabitats was related to soil moisture content, bulk
density, organic, matter depth and pH. | |
