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Native Plant Allelopathy: A Potential Approach To Limit Invasive Grass Encroachment In Thorn Forest Restoration, Emily A. Mullins Dec 2020

Native Plant Allelopathy: A Potential Approach To Limit Invasive Grass Encroachment In Thorn Forest Restoration, Emily A. Mullins

Theses and Dissertations

Less than 5% of the Tamaulipan thorn forest remains in the United States. For this reason, there have been many attempts at restoration of this ecosystem. Oftentimes these attempts are unsuccessful due to the high prevalence of invasive African grasses that outcompete the seedlings. In an effort to improve the efficacy of these restoration efforts, native plant allelopathy has been examined for its ability to exclude invasive guineagrass. Native species were surveyed and selected species were tested for allelopathy in laboratory bioassays. The species that exhibited allelopathy in the laboratory were then evaluated in pot experiments for their ability to …


Soil Chemistry And Enzyme Data Examining Impacts Of Callery Pear Stem Cutting, Michaela J. Woods, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan Oct 2020

Soil Chemistry And Enzyme Data Examining Impacts Of Callery Pear Stem Cutting, Michaela J. Woods, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan

Five Rivers MetroParks Collaboration Data Archive

This dataset encompasses information following the collection of soil from underneath cut and treated Callery pear stems and untreated Callery pear trees. Soil was assessed for moisture, pH, and enzyme activities.


Public Preferences And Willingness To Pay For Invasive Forest Pest Prevention Programs In Urban Areas, Damian C. Adams, Jose R. Soto, John Lai, Francisco J. Escobedo, Sergio Alvarez, Abu S.M.G. Kibria Sep 2020

Public Preferences And Willingness To Pay For Invasive Forest Pest Prevention Programs In Urban Areas, Damian C. Adams, Jose R. Soto, John Lai, Francisco J. Escobedo, Sergio Alvarez, Abu S.M.G. Kibria

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Invasive forest pests can cause environmental and economic damage amounting to billions of dollars (US) in lost revenues, restoration and response costs, and the loss of ecosystem services nationwide. Unfortunately, these forest pests do not stay confined to wildland forest areas and can spread into suburban and urban areas, imposing significant costs on local governments, homeowners, and management agencies. In this study, a contingent valuation experiment is used to estimate Florida residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) a monthly utility fee that would protect urban forests from invasive pests by implementing a monitoring and prevention program for their early detection and …


Ecological Factors Influencing Wild Pig Damage To Planted Pine And Hardwood Seedlings, Micah P. Fern, James B. Armstrong, Rebecca J. Barlow, John S. Kush Sep 2020

Ecological Factors Influencing Wild Pig Damage To Planted Pine And Hardwood Seedlings, Micah P. Fern, James B. Armstrong, Rebecca J. Barlow, John S. Kush

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Expanding wild pig (Sus scrofa) populations across the southern United States has the potential to impact longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) restoration efforts. The depredation of planted pine seedlings is the most widespread and economically costly damage caused by wild pigs in forest plantations. A better understanding of the ecological factors affecting depredation rates will allow managers to implement best management practices to reduce seedling mortality from wild pigs at their most vulnerable stage of growth. From March 2016 to March 2017, we evaluated wild pig preferences for planted pine and hardwood species at a 34.4-ha cutover …


Ectomycorrhizal Plant-Fungal Co-Invasions As Natural Experiments For Connecting Plant And Fungal Traits To Their Ecosystem Consequences, Jason D. Hoeksema, Colin Averill, Jennifer M. Bhatnagar, Edward Brzostek, Erika Buscardo, Ko-Hsuan Chen, Hui-Ling Liao, Laszlo Nagy, Nahuel Policelli, Joanna Ridgeway, J. Alejandro Rojas, Rytas Vilgalys Jul 2020

Ectomycorrhizal Plant-Fungal Co-Invasions As Natural Experiments For Connecting Plant And Fungal Traits To Their Ecosystem Consequences, Jason D. Hoeksema, Colin Averill, Jennifer M. Bhatnagar, Edward Brzostek, Erika Buscardo, Ko-Hsuan Chen, Hui-Ling Liao, Laszlo Nagy, Nahuel Policelli, Joanna Ridgeway, J. Alejandro Rojas, Rytas Vilgalys

Faculty and Student Publications

Introductions and invasions by fungi, especially pathogens and mycorrhizal fungi, are widespread and potentially highly consequential for native ecosystems, but may also offer opportunities for linking microbial traits to their ecosystem functions. In particular, treating ectomycorrhizal (EM) invasions, i.e., co-invasions by EM fungi and their EM host plants, as natural experiments may offer a powerful approach for testing how microbial traits influence ecosystem functions. Forests dominated by EM symbiosis have unique biogeochemistry whereby the secretions of EM plants and fungi affect carbon (C) and nutrient cycling; moreover, particular lineages of EM fungi have unique functional traits. EM invasions may therefore …


The Relationship Between Forest Fires And Forest Dynamics In California’S North Coast Bioregion: How Altered Fire Regimes Have Affected The Vegetative Outcomes Of Oak Woodlands And Mixed Conifer Forests, Max Bencomo May 2020

The Relationship Between Forest Fires And Forest Dynamics In California’S North Coast Bioregion: How Altered Fire Regimes Have Affected The Vegetative Outcomes Of Oak Woodlands And Mixed Conifer Forests, Max Bencomo

Master's Projects and Capstones

Wildfire is a necessary part of ecosystem function in California, but fire suppression and the spread of invasive species have endangered many ecosystems. The North Coast bioregion of California has seen dramatic shifts in forest ecology and vegetative density, largely due to the disruption of historic fire regimes. Historic fire regimes were previously maintained through indigenous land management, but the arrival of European settlers in the 1850’s initiated the changes reflected in current fire regimes. Not only is the North Coast bioregion the hotbed of recent fire activity, it is experiencing decreased counts of heterogeneity within forests while also seeing …


Pacific Northwest To New England: Exploring The Intersections Of Invasive Ecology, Forest Management, And Alternative Energy, Alexandra N. Neidermeier Jan 2020

Pacific Northwest To New England: Exploring The Intersections Of Invasive Ecology, Forest Management, And Alternative Energy, Alexandra N. Neidermeier

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Invasive species exact important ecologic, economic, and cultural tolls in forests. This research focused on the intersections of invasive ecology, forest management, and a forest commodity. Invasive ecology was explored through an assessment of two potential biological control agents of hemlock woolly adelgid. The two species of silver fly (Leucopis spp.) from the Pacific Northwest were first examined for temporal resource partitioning patterns. The niches of these species were then examined spatially by developing a species distribution model. Leucopis spp. exhibited sinusoidal patterns of daily emergence when examined over a 29-day period, with peak daily abundances that were inversely related. …