Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
Gopher Tortoises In The Anthropocene: Investigating The Effects Of Fire, Temperature, And Competition On An Ecosystem Engineer, Weston Curtis Thompson
Gopher Tortoises In The Anthropocene: Investigating The Effects Of Fire, Temperature, And Competition On An Ecosystem Engineer, Weston Curtis Thompson
Theses and Dissertations
Gopher tortoises are ecosystem engineers whose burrows provide habitat to >350 species. Prescribed fire is used to manage tortoise habitat, but fire timing is mostly restricted to the vegetative dormant season. Restricted fire timing in combination with white-tailed deer competition may negatively affect tortoises. To address these concerns, we quantified these species’ dietary overlap and conducted a field experiment to examine impacts of fire phenology on plants and animals. Although tortoises and deer consumed ~75% of the same plants, their diets were statistically dissimilar. Fire altered plant community composition and increased foliar crude protein and phosphorus while decreasing calcium. Deer …
Effects Of Fire Phenology And Stump Sprouting On Summer Nutritional Carrying Capacity For White-Tailed Deer, Rainer Nichols
Effects Of Fire Phenology And Stump Sprouting On Summer Nutritional Carrying Capacity For White-Tailed Deer, Rainer Nichols
Theses and Dissertations
Prescribed fire is commonly used to manage white-tailed deer habitat. However, nutrition is still limited during the summer for deer in the Southeast and prescribed fire is commonly restricted to the dormant season. Knowledge of fire phenology effects on summer nutrient availability is relatively unknown. Stump sprouts may also affect available nutrition, which could be important when managing for summer nutrition. To address this summer nutritional stress period, I examined impacts prescribed fire phenology and mechanical stump sprouting had on summer nutritional carrying capacity for deer. Results indicated implementing prescribed fire in both dormant and growing-seasons led to increased summer …
Effects Of Fire On Acorn Removal And Deer Mediated Community Level Indirect Effects Of Mast Seeding, Charles Moriah Boggess
Effects Of Fire On Acorn Removal And Deer Mediated Community Level Indirect Effects Of Mast Seeding, Charles Moriah Boggess
Theses and Dissertations
Declining oak (Quercus spp.) dominance across the eastern U.S. is often attributed to fire exclusion and abundant white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Fire restoration can negatively affect acorn germination and survival directly but also indirectly through impacts on seed predation. Similarly, masting events could influence oak regeneration success by altering deer behavior. To date, virtually no information exists assessing indirect effects of acorn consumers on oak regeneration. I developed two experiments to address this knowledge gap. In the first experiment, I determined if burning acorns affects predator removal rates. In the second experiment, I assessed the indirect effects of mast seeding …
Effects Of Tree Morphology On Rainwater Partitioning In An Upland Oak Forest, Natasha Drotar
Effects Of Tree Morphology On Rainwater Partitioning In An Upland Oak Forest, Natasha Drotar
Theses and Dissertations
Due largely to fire exclusion and land use changes, upland oak ecosystems in the central and eastern U.S. are shifting dominance from fire-tolerant oaks (Quercus spp.) to shade-tolerant, fire-sensitive species (mesophytes). This shift has been hypothesized to occur via a positive feedback loop termed mesophication, where mesophytes create shaded understory that limits oak growth and wetter fuels and soils, decreasing forest flammability. To determine how canopy water partitioning varies between oaks and mesophytes, I measured stemflow, throughfall, and surface soil moisture monthly over a 14-month period for overstory and midstory trees of oaks (Q. alba, Q. falcata) and hypothesized mesophytes …