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Forest Sciences

West Virginia University

Theses/Dissertations

Forest ecology

Publication Year

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Leaf Angle And Leaf Stomata Responses To Experimental Drought In Quercus Velutina And Acer Saccharum, Brittany Nichole Casey Jan 2020

Leaf Angle And Leaf Stomata Responses To Experimental Drought In Quercus Velutina And Acer Saccharum, Brittany Nichole Casey

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The possibility of increased severity and frequency of drought conditions, as a result of global climate variability, greatly complicates our ability to forecast future forest functions such as productivity and carbon sequestration. Assessing how tree species vary in their response to drought can aid in predicting the impact on forest ecosystems as a whole. Throughfall exclusion (TfE) experiments are potentially useful tools to simulate realistic drought conditions within intact forest ecosystems. We employed a TfE experiment during the 2018 growing season within the WV Land Trust’s Elizabeth’s Woods Nature Preserve, near Morgantown, WV, to assess the leaf angle and leaf …


Evaluating Post-Fire Plantation Restoration In A Mixed Conifer Forest In The Sierra Nevada, Iris C. Allen Jan 2019

Evaluating Post-Fire Plantation Restoration In A Mixed Conifer Forest In The Sierra Nevada, Iris C. Allen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Forests in the western United States have experienced a shift from historical disturbance regimes in the past century. Many of these changes were induced by European settlers logging the forests and suppressing fires. In the past, the dry mixed conifer forests of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains experience frequent, low to mixed severity fires. This fire regime helped maintain a heterogeneous landscape comprised of groups of trees and openings. However, due to fire suppression and high grading logging, forest structure has changed; there are less openings and more small, fire-intolerant trees that can carry a fire into the forests crown. The …