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Geoecology is a fruitful interdisciplinary field, relating rocks to soils to plant and animal communities and studying the interactions between them. Modern geoecology especially concentrates on showing how geology and soils affect the structure, composition, and distribution of plant communities in a certain research area. This book applies the principles of geoecology to Western North America, and to a specific kind of rock, the fascinating serpentine belts that run along the continental margins of the West Coast from Alaska to Baja. The authors come from different disciplines: Alexander is a soil scientist, Coleman a geologist, Harrison a biological researcher, and Keeler-Wolfe a vegetation ecologist.It begins with an overview of the geology of this rock and this region, covering mineralogy, petrology, and stratigraphy of West Coast serpentine. It will continue with serpentine soils and their development and distribution, and serpentine effects on plants and vegetation and animals. The serpentine geoecology of the different regions of Western North America, concentrating on California, will conclude the study. So, this academic book should appeal to plant ecologists, soil scientists, researchers in geoecology, and students in advanced courses in soil science.
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Serpentine Geoecology of Western North America: Geology, Soils, and Vegetation E. B. Alexander, et al. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Serpentine Geoecology of Western North America This page intentionally left blank Serpentine Geoecology of Western North America Geology, Soils, and Vegetation E. B. Alexander R. G. Coleman T. Keeler-Wolf S. Harrison 3 2007 3 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2007 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Serpentine geoecology of western North America : geology, soils, and vegetation / E.B. Alexander . . . [et al.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13 978-0-19-516508-1 ISBN 0-19-516508-X 1. Rocks, Ultrabasic—West (U.S.) 2. Rocks, Ultrabasic—Northwest, Canadian. 3. Soils—Serpentine content—West (U.S.) 4. Soils—Serpentine content—Northwest, Canadian. 5. Environmental geology—West (U.S.) 6. Environmental geology—Northwest, Canadian. I. Alexander, Earl B. QE462.U4S47 2006 581.7'2—dc22 2005034397 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper PREFACE Ultramafic, or “serpentine” rocks are unique in the continental crust of the earth in that their chemical composition is similar to that of the mantle, which is overlain by 30–70 km of continental crust, or much thinner ocean crust. There are several different kinds of ultramafic rocks that reach the surface of the earth in different ways. Most of those in western North America are derived from the ocean floor. This is a fascinating story, but the main focus of this book is the effects of ultramafic rocks on terrestrial landscapes and e