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Discerning Competitive Vs. Facilitative Relationships Of Weeds On Forest Restoration Efforts At La Sal Del Rey, Tx, Mylen A. Arias
Discerning Competitive Vs. Facilitative Relationships Of Weeds On Forest Restoration Efforts At La Sal Del Rey, Tx, Mylen A. Arias
Theses and Dissertations
Dryland ecosystems need effective restoration strategies to address severe degradation. It is often assumed that voluntary forb weeds either compete with or have no effect on native seedlings. In contrast, theory and empirical work suggest a potential facilitative role for such forb weeds. We conducted a manipulative weed exclusion experiment at a semi-arid site in South Texas targeted for large scale forest restoration and subsequently dominated by early successional forb weeds to discern the net effect of these weeds on the growth and survival of target thornscrub tree and shrub seedlings. Overall, weed presence did not significantly affect seedling mortality …
Optimizing Species Selection For Forest Restoration In The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Faeqa Mohsin
Optimizing Species Selection For Forest Restoration In The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Faeqa Mohsin
Theses and Dissertations
Over the past four decades, the Lower Rio Grande Valley has been reforested with over 3.3 million native thornscrub plants in old agricultural land through transplanting native species. However, assessments of LRGV forest restoration efforts are scarce, and to address the knowledge gap, this study examined species-specific responses to restoration interventions (RIs) aimed at minimizing seedling mortality for optimizing species selection. A critical period for forest restoration in old croplands is the seedling stage, where high mortality occurs due to the interactive effects of abiotic stress, compromised soil nutrient status from intensive agriculture, and mammalian herbivory. So, we evaluated seedling …