User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
For my study, I am analyzing whether elevation has an effect on the dominance of black spruce species in terms of frequency, density, and basal area. The ecological process that my hypothesis touches on is the competitive exclusion principle. Black spruce species dominate at higher elevations to avoid competition with other species such as deciduous trees. They dominate at higher elevations because they are adapted to withstand harsher conditions such as less moisture and nutrient in soil, more wind and more sunlight.
