INDICATOR SIGNIFICANCE OF VEGETATION IN 
TOOELE VALLEY, UTAH 
By T. H. Kearney , 1 L. J. Briggs , 2 H. L. Shantz , 3 J. W. McUane , 4 and 
R. L. Piemeisel , 5 
Bureau of Plant Industry 
INTRODUCTION 
In the arid portion of the United States the different types of native 
vegetation are often very sharply delimited, the transitions being so 
abrupt that they can not be attributed to climatic factors; this has sug¬ 
gested the possibility of correlating the distribution of the vegetation 
with the physical and chemical properties of the soil. If such correla¬ 
tions can be made, they may be utilized in the classification of land 
with respect to its agricultural capabilities. 
One of the writers 6 has described the correlations which exist in the 
Great Plains between the different types of vegetation and the physical 
characteristics of the corresponding types of land and has pointed out 
how the native growth may be used in that region to determine the 
suitability of the land for dry farming. 
The results obtained in the Great Plains made it desirable to undertake 
similar investigations in the Great Basin region, or that portion of the 
United States lying between the Rocky Mountains on the east and the 
Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges on the west. The problems to be 
solved were: First, what types of vegetation indicate conditions of soil 
moisture favorable or unfavorable to dry farming, and, second, what 
types indicate the presence or absence of alkali salts in quantities likely 
to injure cultivated crops. For the purpose of this investigation it 
was necessary to find a locality where both dry farming and irrigation 
farming are practiced, where much of the land is still covered with the 
original native growth, and where some of the soils contain an excess 
of alkali salts. 
1 Physiologist in Charge, Alkali and Drought Resistant Plant Investigations. 
1 Biophysicist in Charge, Biophysical Investigations. 
1 Plant Physiologist, Alkali and Drought Resistant Plant Investigations. 
4 laboratory Assistant, Biophysical Investigations. 
6 Scientific Assistant, Alkali and Drought Resistant Plant Investigations. 
8 Shantz, H. I*. Natural vegetation as an indicator of the capabilities of land for crop production in the 
Great Plains area. U. S. Dept. Agr. t Bur. Plant Indus. Bui. 201, 100 p., 33 fig., 6 pi. 1911. 
With the exception of the valuable work of Hilgard in Mississippi and of Hilgard and his associates 
in California (see Hilgard, E. W., Soils, New York, 1906, p. 487-548, figs. 77-89), very little had previously 
been done in the United States toward a scientific study of native vegetation from the indicator point of 
view. In Europe, however, the subject has been much investigated, especially as regards “lime- 
loving" and “lime-avoiding" plants. 
Vol. I, No. 5 
Feb. 16,1914 
G—12 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Dept, of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
(365) 
