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Abstract
Species richness and diversity are products of interacting ecological, evolutionary, historical, and geographic processes. Processes varying at broader scales may influence data collected over finer scales, although factors unique to the fine scale of the data may obscure the link to broader-scale processes. Braun-Blanquet relev sampling offers a fast and efficient method for collecting vegetation data. Sampling should be designed in accordance with the specific needs of investigation. However, caution must be applied when submitting relev data to analysis beyond the original intentions of those who collected the data. No broad relationship was demonstrated between species evenness and environmental data. Mantel tests suggest relationships similar to regression results between species richness and environmental variables. The results of this study are not discordant with other similar research, although the relationships demonstrated are not as strong or significant, possibly because of scale differences among data.