Vegetation Patterns

Vegetation is influenced by the overall topography of the site.  Vegetation in washes is different from that on hills.  The topography of the site (left figure below) shows elevation from blue (low) to dark red (highest points).  Washes (blue to blue-greens) flow around the hills (yellow to red).  The differences in vegetation in washes can be traced with the first principal component of the vegetation present at a location.  Vegetation was scored at about 15,000 points evenly spaced throughout the site. 

Vegetation is also influenced by the slope at a location.   North facing slopes have different vegetation than south facing slopes.  Below we see the slope at the site (slope toward the North is blue and slope to the South is red--the intensity of the color corresponds to the angle of the slope).  The second principal component of the vegetation corresponds to the slope.  Note the approximately NW-SE stripes of vegetation scores and the hills.