Riparian plant communities in the mountains of southeastern Arizona

Fifteen canyons on the Coronado National Forest in southeastern Arizona were sampled to study the woody riparian overstory. Vegetation and environmental data were collected from 99 high elevation (>1,050 m) sites. Vegetation data included diameter at breast height of each woody tree and root collar diameter of each woody shrub within the sample plots. Environmental site data included elevation, stream gradient, stream width and depth, terrace height, stream direction, and watershed area. Vegetation data for each site were classified into 1 of 6 possible community types using an average linkage/euclidean distance clustering algorithm. In the high elevation (>1,050 m) study areas, dominant riparian community vegetation includes shrub species such as Baccharis and facultative upland species such as Abies, Acer Juniperus, and Quercus. Platanus and Salix were also commonly found, but Populus was rare.