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Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
The Mechanisms And Consequences Of Shrub Encroachment On The Virginia Barrier Islands, Lauren K. Wood
The Mechanisms And Consequences Of Shrub Encroachment On The Virginia Barrier Islands, Lauren K. Wood
Theses and Dissertations
Shrub encroachment is a global phenomenon driven by direct and indirect anthropogenic influence which alters plant communities and ecosystem function. Many studies have investigated drivers and consequences of woody plant establishment, but mesic landscapes are underrepresented in the literature. My objective was to assess the mechanisms of Morella cerifera encroachment into coastal mesic grassland, the potential for self-reinforcement, and consequences on community composition, nutrients, and landscape productivity. I studied temperature and water microclimate modification by Morella cerifera presence and removal to understand ecosystem engineering and community composition changes. Additionally, I examined the influence of shrubs on surrounding grassland species traits …
Water Clarity At The River-Estuary Transition Zone: A Comparative Study Of The James, Mattaponi, And Pamunkey Sub-Estuaries, Rachel Henderson
Water Clarity At The River-Estuary Transition Zone: A Comparative Study Of The James, Mattaponi, And Pamunkey Sub-Estuaries, Rachel Henderson
Theses and Dissertations
Water clarity is a key parameter for monitoring water quality and often used to assess habitat suitability for submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Light attenuation, a measure of water clarity, is impacted by colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), and by suspended particulates which include living and non-living components. We anticipated that the relative importance of these factors in regulating light attenuation would vary among the upper portions of three sub-estuaries differing in morphometry, hydrology, and degree of human influence. The James is characterized by eutrophic conditions and high algal abundance, whereas the Mattaponi and Pamunkey exhibit lower phytoplankton production. The Mattaponi …
Successional Changes In Carbon Storage Are Sustained In A Temperate Forest Across Different Initiating Disturbances, Cameron Clay
Successional Changes In Carbon Storage Are Sustained In A Temperate Forest Across Different Initiating Disturbances, Cameron Clay
Theses and Dissertations
Managing forests for carbon (C) sequestration requires an understanding of how disturbance history shapes C pools and fluxes over successional time. At the University of Michigan Biological Station, we examined how two stand establishing disturbances influenced C pools and fluxes over 100+ years of succession, comparing these secondary forests with “legacy” late-successional stands encompassing ages and compositions that would be present in the absence of region-wide stand-replacing disturbance. Our work utilized measurements taken between 2014 and 2020 from separate experimental forest chronosequences initiated following clear-cut harvesting only or clear-cut harvesting and fire, along with three >130-yr-old late successional stands comprising …
A Spatiotemporal Assessment Of Fish Assemblage Response To Land-Use Change And The Evaluation Of Edna Metabarcoding For Describing Diverse Fish Communities, Timothy M. Owen
Theses and Dissertations
Fish assemblages are often assessed as a biological proxy for environmental health. While humans value healthy environments for the ecosystem services and recreational opportunities they provide, it is increasingly evident that such resources can be paradoxically degraded by anthropogenic activities. In this investigation, we studied the relationship between different intensities of anthropogenic land-use change and habitat-driven fish assemblage response across multiple spatiotemporal scales. Secondarily, we explored the efficacy of eDNA metabarcoding against conventional electrofishing techniques for the purpose of describing complete fish communities. This study was conducted in the Tuckahoe Creek basin near Richmond, Virginia. This James River tributary serves …