Soil Range Adjustment

Based on each tree species range of occurrence within the 12 Soil Orders. The natural distribution map of a tree species (from National Audubon Society & Peterson Field Guide) were compared with the Soil Type distribution map (from the Univ. of Idaho). The tree species was considered present in a Soil Order if its' range significantly overlapped the Soil Order boundaries.

Soil Orders were separated into the categories of Major, Minor and Other based on the area occupied by the Soil Order in the Temperate Forest Zone of the Eastern US.

Category Soil Orders
Major ALfisols, Inceptisols, Ultisols [Soil orders that occupy most land area in temperate forest zone (TFZ)]
Minor Entisols, Histosols, Mollisols, Spodosols, Vertisols
Other ANdisols, ARidisols, Gelisols, Oxisols [Soil orders that occupy least, if any, land area in TFZ]

Calculation
Adjust Criteria
+ .3 For each Major Order in which tree occurs
+ .2 For each Minor Order in which tree occurs
+ .1 For each Other Order in which tree occurs
- .7 Adjustment for each tree
Total Max adjustment +- .6

Salt Tolerance Adjustment
Adjust Criteria
- .2 Trees identified as Sensitive or Intolerant of Salt
0 Trees for which there is no literature on Salt Tolerance
+ .2 Trees identified as having some tolerance to Salt
+ .3 Trees identified as highly tolerant of Salt

Sun Growth Strength
Step 1: Growth Rate
Value Growth Rate
1.8 Very Slow
2.5 Slow
3.7 Slow to Moderate
5 Moderate
5.7 Moderate to Rapid
6.5 Rapid
7.3 Rapid to Very Rapid
8 Very Rapid
Step 2: Successional Order
Adjust Successsional Status
+.7 Pioneer Specialist (little to no persistence in later successional stages)
+.3 Pioneer Capable (Can pioneer effectively & persist into some later successional stages)
-.4 Climax Specialist (Ineffective pioneer, tree grows most competitively in late seral to climax communities)
Step 3: Soil Range Adjustment (See above)
Step 4: Salt Tolerance Adjustment (See above)
Step 5: Allelopathy Adjustment
Adjust Species is Allelopath?
0 No or Unknown
+.4 Yes
Step 6: Tree Height Adjustments
Adjust Avg. Height Max. Height
-.3 < 35'  
-.2 35 - 49' < 75'
-.1 50 - 59' 75 - 99'
0 60 - 79' 100 - 125'
+.1 80 - 89' 126 - 150'
+.2 90 - 99' > 150'
+.3 > 150'  
Shade Growth Strength
Step 1: Shade Tolerance
Value Shade Tolerance
1 Very Intolerant
2.5 Intolerant
3.7 - 4 Intolerant to Intermediate
5 Intermediate
5.7 - 6.3 Intermediate to Tolerant
7 Tolerant
8 Very Tolerant
Step 2: Successional Order
Adjust Successsional Status
+.7 Climax Specialist (little to no presence in pioneer communities)
+.3 Climax Capable (Member of some climax communities & can occur in some early successional stages)
-.4 Pioneer Specialist (Does not occur in Climax communities, tree grows most competitively in sunny pioneer conditions)
Step 3: Soil Range Adjustment (See above)
Step 4: Salt Tolerance Adjustment (See above)
Step 5: Allelopathy Adjustment
Adjust Species is Allelopath?
0 No or Unknown
+.8 Yes
Step 6: Tree Height Adjustment
Adjust Avg. Height
-.2 < 45'
-.1 45 - 59'
0 60 - 79'
+.1 80 - 94'
+.2 > 95'
Step 7: Longevity Adjustment
Adjust Year data or Term
-.5 <= 100 yrs  
-.3 101 - 150 yrs Very Short
-.1 151 - 200 yrs Short
0 201 - 300 yrs Moderate
+.1 301-400 yrs Long
+.3 401 - 600 yrs Very Long
+.5 > 600 yrs  

Questions: Please e-mail us with any questions you may have about this datakey or any of the tree species.