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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Understory Species Patterns And Diversity In Old-Growth And Managed Northern Hardwood Forests, Robert M. Scheller, David J. Mladenoff
Understory Species Patterns And Diversity In Old-Growth And Managed Northern Hardwood Forests, Robert M. Scheller, David J. Mladenoff
Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations
Forest management can significantly affect both the diversity and spatial patterning of understory vegetation. However, few studies have considered both diversity and spatial patterning at a stand scale. Our objective was to evaluate the effects of forest management on understory plant communities in northern hardwood forests and assess the processes governing differences in species composition, diversity, and spatial patterns. We sampled understory vegetation (all speciestall) and percentage of light transmission levels in three forest types in 12 mesic northern hardwood stands in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA: old-growth, undisturbed forests; even-aged forests resulting from clearcut logging …
Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Foraging Behavior In Relation To Midstory Vegetation, D. Craig Rudolph, Richard N. Conner, Richard R. Schaefer
Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Foraging Behavior In Relation To Midstory Vegetation, D. Craig Rudolph, Richard N. Conner, Richard R. Schaefer
Faculty Publications
Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) nest and forage in pine-dominated forests. Research indicates that substantial hardwood midstory encroachment is detrimental to Red-cockaded Woodpecker populations, although the exact mechanisms are unknown. We examined foraging behavior in relation to midstory between August 1989 and February 1990. Red-cockaded Woodpeckers foraged at greater heights in areas of taller and denser midstory in the loblolly-shortleaf pine (Pinus taeda and P. echinata, respectively) habitat, but not in longleaf pine (P. palustris) habitat with less-developed midstory vegetation than typical of loblolly-shortleaf pine habitat. In addition, Red-cockaded Woodpeckers concentrated foraging activities in or adjacent to forest stands or openings …
Monitoring Herpetofauna In A Managed Forest Landscape: Effects Of Habitat Types And Census Techniques, Travis J. Ryan, Thomas Philippi, Yale A. Leiden, Michael E. Dorcas, T. Bently Wigley, J. Whitfield Gibbons
Monitoring Herpetofauna In A Managed Forest Landscape: Effects Of Habitat Types And Census Techniques, Travis J. Ryan, Thomas Philippi, Yale A. Leiden, Michael E. Dorcas, T. Bently Wigley, J. Whitfield Gibbons
Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS
We surveyed the herpetofaunal (amphibian and reptile) communities inhabiting five types of habitat on a managed landscape. We conducted monthly surveys during 1997 in four replicate plots of each habitat type using several different methods of collection. Communities of the two wetland habitats (bottomland wetlands and isolated upland wetlands) were clearly dissimilar from the three terrestrial communities (recent clearcut, pine plantation, and mixed pine–hardwood forest). Among the three terrestrial habitats, the total herpetofaunal communities were dissimilar (P<0.10), although neither faunal constituent group alone (amphibians and squamate reptiles) varied significantly with regard to habitat. Three survey techniques used in the terrestrial habitats were not equally effective in that they resulted in the collection of different subsets of the total herpetofauna. The drift fence technique revealed the presence of more species and individuals in every habitat and was the only one to detect species dissimilarity among habitats. Nonetheless, coverboards contributed to measures of abundance and revealed species not detected by other techniques. We suggest that a combination of census techniques be used when surveying and monitoring herpetofaunal communities in order to maximize the detection of species.