Southern Research Station

Title: Systematic Experimental Designs For Mixed-species Plantings

Author: Goelz, Jeffery C.

Date: 2001

Source: Native Plants Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1Fall 2001 p. 90-96

Description: Systematic experimental designs provide splendid demonstration areas for scientists and land managers to observe the effects of a gradient of species composition. Systematic designs are based on large plots where species composition varies gradually. Systematic designs save considerable space and require many fewer seedlings than conventional mixture designs. One basic design incorporates a large triangular plot; in concept this plot is identical to the well-known soil textural triangle. The intent of the designs is to produce a response surface over species composition, rather than test for significant differences between 2 specific species compositions. Another design superimposes a species composition gradient on a Nelder's design, which systematically varies planting density. It is possible to study mixtures in multiple strata, such as overstory trees and herbaceous understory. The systematic mixture designs are most effective when considering 2 to 4 species.

Keywords: competition experiment, diversity, interference, mixture experiments, multiple species, Nelder's design, response surface design

View and Print this Publication (397 KB)

Pristine Version:  An uncaptured or "pristine" version of this publication is available. It has not been subjected to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and therefore does not have any errors in the text. However it is a larger file size and some people may experience long download times. The "pristine" version of this publication is available here:

View and Print the PRISTINE copy of this Publication (1.1 MB)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Goelz, Jeffery C.   2001.  Systematic Experimental Designs For Mixed-species Plantings.   Native Plants Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1Fall 2001 p. 90-96