Forest Sciences Commons^™

Effects Of Dissimilar Silvicultural Techniques On Small Mammal Communities In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Breanna R. Gusick

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Small mammal populations, and predators reliant upon them as food resources, are often challenged by conflicting objectives of timber production and maintenance of quality habitat. With over 70% of the landscape forested, and nearly one-third of the land privately owned, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) is a matrix of independent management strategies. To assess the effects of various silvicultural regeneration methods on small mammal populations in the Upper Peninsula, we trapped small mammals in experimental silviculture plots, whereby treatments varied by regeneration method (amount of residual canopy cover) and site preparation (i.e., control, tip-up, and scarification), and deer exclosures. We used …

Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga Cerulea) And Associated Species Response To Operational Silviculture In The Central Appalachian Region, Gretchen Emily Nareff

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In this study, I assessed the response of Cerulean Warblers (Setophaga cerulea) and 5 additional songbird species to timber harvests prescribed through operational silviculture. The research took place in relatively contiguous mature deciduous forests in 4 states in the central Appalachian region—Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, USA.

For the first part of the study, I collected Cerulean Warbler abundance and territory data through point counts and territory mapping, respectively. I used the point count data to model Cerulean Warbler abundance pre- and post-harvest at 5 study areas (Kentucky [n=1], Virginia [n=2], West Virginia [n=2]) and post-harvest at …

Plant Community Response To Novel Silvicultural Treatments In Great Lakes Northern Hardwoods, Stefan F. Hupperts

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The objective of this dissertation is to assess plant community response across a range of silvicultural disturbances and test ecological hypotheses to better inform ecologists and forest managers. To provide context for the utility of revising silvicultural systems, I review natural disturbance regimes and historical practices that have shaped contemporary Great Lakes northern hardwood forests (Chapter 2). Further, I identify important ways to expand the silvicultural toolbox and better emulate natural disturbance regimes. Building on this theoretical underpinning, I investigate the initial regeneration and plant community response to two novel silvicultural experiments: the Northern Hardwood Experiment for Enhancing Diversity (NHSEED) …