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Pine Savanna Overstorey Influences On Ground-Cover Biodiversity, William J. Platt, Susan M. Carr, Matthew Reilly, Jean Fahr
Pine Savanna Overstorey Influences On Ground-Cover Biodiversity, William J. Platt, Susan M. Carr, Matthew Reilly, Jean Fahr
Faculty Publications
Question: Does the overstorey of pine savannas influence plant species biodiversity in the ground cover? Location: Camp Whispering Pines (30°41' N; 90°29' W), eastern Louisiana (USA). Methods: We used ecologically sensitive restoration logging to remove patches of Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) in a second-growth loess plain Pinus palustris savanna managed using frequent lightning season fires. Five years later, we measured numbers of vascular plant species and transmitted light in replicated 100-m2 plots. Treatments involved three different overstorey conditions: no overstorey for 5 years, no overstorey for several decades, and overstorey pines present for decades. Results: Both recent and long-term openings …
Modelling Responses Of Pine Savannas To Climate Change And Large-Scale Disturbance, Brian Beckage, Louis J. Gross, William J. Platt
Modelling Responses Of Pine Savannas To Climate Change And Large-Scale Disturbance, Brian Beckage, Louis J. Gross, William J. Platt
Faculty Publications
Global warming can potentially influence ecological communities through altered disturbance regimes in addition to increased temperatures. We investigate the response of pine savannas in the southeastern United States to global warming using a simple Lotka-Volterra competition model together with predicted changes to fire and hurricane disturbance regimes with global climate change. In the southeastern United States, decreased frequency of both fires and hurricanes with global warming will shift pine savannas toward a forested state. A CO2 fertilization effect that increases the growth rate of tree populations will also push southeastern landscapes from open savannas towards closed forests. Transient dynamics associated …