Subject: Wanted: Info on vegetation near HOT SPRINGS

From: [email-masked] (kate gregory)
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 1995 19:15:10 GMT

I am studying a fossil angiosperm flora which was preserved 
in a carbonate hot spring deposit, with the goal of reconstructing 
the paleoclimate.  However, I am concerned that the 
microenvironment immediately adjacent to the spring might have 
been quite different than the surrounding area.  
	Does anyone know of any research on hot spring-associated 
vegetation?  I have checked Biosys, but no luck.

Thanks very much for the help,
Kate Gregory

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From: Paul van Gardingen <[email-masked]>
Date: 6 Nov 1995 12:53:56 GMT

>Thanks very much for the help,

There have been a number of recent studies on vegetation near hot or mineral 
springs.  Recent interest has been generated from the observation that such springs 
are usually associated with enhanced atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide.  A number 
of sites have been investigated mainly looking at the effects of long-term exposure 
to enhanced CO2.
The high CO2 levels are often associated with pollutants such as SO2 and H2S.  These 
are phytotoxic and influence vegetation processes. The vegetation near mineral 
springs can be quite different from that growing nearby away from the spring.  
Differences include species composition, morphological characteristics and perhaps 
genetics.

There was a conference held on this topic in Italy last year organised by the 
British Ecological Society and Society for Experimental Biology.  The papers are 
being edited and will be published by Cambridge Univ. Press in 1996.

There are a number of other papers already in the literature.

Paul van Gardingen
The University of Edinburgh