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Articles 1 - 16 of 16
Full-Text Articles in Forest Sciences
Response Of Running Buffalo Clover (Trifolium Stoloniferum Muhl Ex. A. Eaton) To Herbaceous Competition And Transplanting In Monongahela National Forest, Ruben E. Sabella
Response Of Running Buffalo Clover (Trifolium Stoloniferum Muhl Ex. A. Eaton) To Herbaceous Competition And Transplanting In Monongahela National Forest, Ruben E. Sabella
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Running buffalo clover (RBC) is a rare perennial plant that grows throughout the American Midwest and the Appalachian Mountains. It requires disturbed forests to establish and proliferate. It has been suggested that, in the past, these conditions were created by buffalo; now logging operations maintain RBC populations. However, forest managers have been looking for ways to create suitable habitat for RBC that do not involve harvesting practices. This could help create new populations in areas that cannot be logged. Once established, competing vegetation might influence RBC abundance and flowering. This study seeks to quantify this influence by measuring the vegetation …
Patterns, Mechanisms, And Characterization Of Carbon Cycling Stability Following Partial Forest Disturbance, Kayla C. Mathes
Patterns, Mechanisms, And Characterization Of Carbon Cycling Stability Following Partial Forest Disturbance, Kayla C. Mathes
Theses and Dissertations
Among the most essential questions in the era of climate change is how the forest carbon (C) cycle will respond to an increase in the extent of biotic disturbances from insects and pathogens. While research has focused on stand-replacing disturbance regimes, less is known about C cycling stability following partial disturbances that produce gradients of disturbance severity. Belowground C cycling responses to disturbance are especially poorly understood, even though temperate forest soils contain up to 50% of total ecosystem C and soil respiration (Rs) accounts for more than half of temperate forest C loss. Interpreting trends and mechanisms …
Coupled Structure-Function Responses To Disturbance: High Structural Complexity Resistance Supports Primary Production Resistance, Kerstin M. Niedermaier
Coupled Structure-Function Responses To Disturbance: High Structural Complexity Resistance Supports Primary Production Resistance, Kerstin M. Niedermaier
Theses and Dissertations
The capacity of forests to resist structural change and retain material legacies–the biotic and abiotic resources that persist through disturbance–is crucial to sustaining ecosystem functioning after disturbance. However, the role of forest structure as both a material legacy and feature supporting carbon (C) cycling stability following disturbance has not been widely investigated. We used a large-scale disturbance manipulation to ask whether LiDAR-derived canopy structures as material legacies drive 3-year responses of NPP to a range of disturbance severity levels. As part of the Forest Resilience Threshold Experiment (FoRTE) in northern Michigan, USA we simulated phloem-disrupting disturbances at a range of …
The Impacts Of Maple Syrup Production On The Herbaceous Layer In Appalachian Hardwood Forests, Logan Scott Ferguson
The Impacts Of Maple Syrup Production On The Herbaceous Layer In Appalachian Hardwood Forests, Logan Scott Ferguson
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Vegetation data were collected from eight maple syrup farms (sugarbushes) and eight undeveloped maple-dominated sites to examine potential differences in understory plant communities due to disturbance effects. Understory plants were identified to the species level and percent cover of aboveground leaf-area for each species was estimated within 600 total quadrats. Overstory data and environmental data were collected to help determine if they had any effect on herbaceous-layer plant communities. Species richness, Shannon diversity, and Pielou’s evenness were calculated, with the analysis showing no significant differences between the site types. The absolute cover of plant functional groups was also compared between …
Forest Disturbance Detection And Aboveground Biomass Modeling Using Moderate-Resolution, Time-Series Satellite Imagery, John B. Kilbride
Forest Disturbance Detection And Aboveground Biomass Modeling Using Moderate-Resolution, Time-Series Satellite Imagery, John B. Kilbride
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Human-induced and natural disturbances are an important feature of forest ecosystems. Disturbances influence forest structure and composition and can impact crucial ecosystem services. However, deriving spatially explicit estimates of past forest disturbance across a large region can prove challenging. Researchers have recognized that remote sensing is an important tool for monitoring forest ecosystems and mapping land use and land cover change. One of the most important sources of remotely sensed imagery is the United States Geologic Survey’s Landsat program which has continuously acquired earth observations since 1972. This repository of imagery has the spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution necessary to …
Forest Structural Complexity And Net Primary Production Resilience Across A Gradient Of Disturbance In A Great Lakes Ecosystem, Lisa T. Haber
Forest Structural Complexity And Net Primary Production Resilience Across A Gradient Of Disturbance In A Great Lakes Ecosystem, Lisa T. Haber
Theses and Dissertations
Forests are an important component of the global carbon (C) cycle and contribute to climate change mitigation through atmospheric C uptake and storage in biomass and soils. However, the forest C sink is susceptible to disturbance, which modifies physical and biological structure and limits spatial extent of forests. Unlike severe, stand-replacing disturbances that reset forest successional trajectories and may simplify ecosystem structure, moderate severity disturbances may instead introduce complexity in ways that sustain net primary production (NPP), leading to the phenomenon of “NPP resilience.” In this study, we examined the linkage between disturbance severity and ecosystem biological and physical structural …
Decadal Vegetation Succession Along A Chronosequence Within Eucalyptus Obliqua Wet Forest, Southern Tasmania, Christine Dobbin
Decadal Vegetation Succession Along A Chronosequence Within Eucalyptus Obliqua Wet Forest, Southern Tasmania, Christine Dobbin
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Southern Tasmania is home to fire dependent mixed forests, which, if not maintained, will eventually be replaced by the rainforest understorey. Wet eucalypt forest succession after disturbance events was investigated through floristic and vertical measurements of four north facing chronosequence plots with labels describing the age class of each, from regrowth to mature sites. This study was possible due to the establishment of permanent 50m x 50m plots in 2007 for longitudinal monitoring and subsequent illustration of forest dynamics following disturbance, including clearfell burns and wildfire. The contents of this report are the comparative analyses of the findings from the …
Toward An Improved Conceptual Understanding Of North American Tree Species Distributions, Paige E. Copenhaver-Parry
Toward An Improved Conceptual Understanding Of North American Tree Species Distributions, Paige E. Copenhaver-Parry
Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science
Species distributions have often been assumed to represent climatic limitations, yet recent evidence has challenged these assumptions and emphasized the potential importance of biotic interactions, dispersal limitation, and disturbance. Despite significant investigation into these factors, an integrated understanding of where and when they may be important is lacking. Here, we review evidence for the factors underlying the historical and contemporary distributions of North American tree species and argue that a cohesive conceptual framework must be informed by an understanding of species ecological and evolutionary history. We further demonstrate that available evidence offers little indication of a significant, independent influence of …
The Effects Of Disturbance And Species Specific Interactions On Diversity In An Agent Based Forest Simulation, Matthew E. Mills
The Effects Of Disturbance And Species Specific Interactions On Diversity In An Agent Based Forest Simulation, Matthew E. Mills
Theses and Dissertations
In ecology literature, there is much data which suggests that conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) and abiotic disturbances increase biodiversity in forests. This thesis elucidates the notion that not only do these two forces increase diversity, but they may also interact with one another in order to achieve higher levels of biodiversity. Abiotic disturbances, like fires and hurricanes, can indirectly impact conspecific effects because when these forces remove individuals from the landscape, the role of the conspecific effects will change. The interaction of these two factors in biodiversity are explored in an agent based forest simulation through a resource surface. …
Forest Stand Structure And Primary Production In Relation To Ecosystem Development, Disturbance, And Canopy Composition, Cynthia M. Scheuermann
Forest Stand Structure And Primary Production In Relation To Ecosystem Development, Disturbance, And Canopy Composition, Cynthia M. Scheuermann
Theses and Dissertations
Temperate forests are complex ecosystems that sequester carbon (C) in biomass. C storage is related to ecosystem-scale forest structure, changing over succession, disturbance, and with community composition. We quantified ecosystem biological and physical structure in two forest chronosequences varying in disturbance intensity, and three late successional functional types to examine how multiple structural expressions relate to ecosystem C cycling. We quantified C cycling as wood net primary production (NPP), ecosystem structure as Simpson’s Index, and physical structure as leaf quantity (LAI) and arrangement (rugosity), examining how wood NPP-structure relates to light distribution and use-efficiency. Relationships between structural attributes of biodiversity, …
The Effect Of Disturbance And Freshwater Availability On Lower Florida Keys’ Coastal Forest Dynamics, Danielle E. Ogurcak
The Effect Of Disturbance And Freshwater Availability On Lower Florida Keys’ Coastal Forest Dynamics, Danielle E. Ogurcak
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Coastal forest retreat in the Florida Keys during the 20th century has been attributed to a combination of sea level rise and hurricane storm surge impacts, but the interactions between these two disturbances leading to forest decline are not well understood. The goal of my research was to assess their effects over a period spanning more than two decades, and to examine the relationships between these press and pulse disturbances and freshwater availability in pine rockland, hardwood hammock, and supratidal scrub communities. Impacts and recovery from two storm surges, Hurricanes Georges (1998) and Wilma (2005), were assessed with satellite-derived …
Nonstructural Carbohydrate Concentrations Of Pine Trees As A Function Of Evolutionary History, Joshua T. Mims
Nonstructural Carbohydrate Concentrations Of Pine Trees As A Function Of Evolutionary History, Joshua T. Mims
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) can supply substrate during periods when current photosynthate is unavailable or inadequate to meet metabolic demands. I hypothesized that natural selection has favored higher nonstructural carbohydrate concentrations ([NSC]) in species that have an evolutionary history of frequent disturbance and tested this using three southern pine species that have evolved under a continuum of disturbance frequencies (evolutionary history of fire ~ longleaf > slash > loblolly). Stem and root samples were collected from 12 similar-sized individual trees of each species during time periods that reflect the annual minimum and maximum [NSC]. A modified colorimetric method was performed on the samples …
Invasion Of Exotic Earthworms Into Ecosystems Inhabited By Native Earthworms, P. F. Hendrix, G. H. Baker, M. A. Callaham Jr., G. A. Damoff, C. Fragoso, G. Gonzalez, S. W. James, S. L. Lachnicht, T. Winsome, X. Zou
Invasion Of Exotic Earthworms Into Ecosystems Inhabited By Native Earthworms, P. F. Hendrix, G. H. Baker, M. A. Callaham Jr., G. A. Damoff, C. Fragoso, G. Gonzalez, S. W. James, S. L. Lachnicht, T. Winsome, X. Zou
Faculty Publications
The most conspicuous biological invasions in terrestrial ecosystems have been by exotic plants, insects and vertebrates. Invasions by exotic earthworms, although not as well studied, may be increasing with global commerce in agriculture, waste management and bioremediation. A number of cases has documented where invasive earthworms have caused significant changes in soil profiles, nutrient and organic matter dynamics, other soil organisms or plant communities. Most of these cases are in areas that have been disturbed (e.g., agricultural systems) or were previously devoid of earthworms (e.g., north of Pleistocene glacial margins). It is not clear that such effects are common in …
Seedbanks And Vegetation Of Disturbed Urban Soils, Lynn Young Janik, Forest Stearns
Seedbanks And Vegetation Of Disturbed Urban Soils, Lynn Young Janik, Forest Stearns
Field Station Bulletins
The composition of urban seedbanks differed considerably from that of the established vegetation. Annuals were more abundant in the seedbank than in the vegetation, while perennials were more abundant in the vegetation. Many species were present in the seedpools and not in the vegetation, and the converse was also true. Seed dispersal and/or longevity was demonstrated by the presence of ten species, not growing in the vegetation, that emerged from the seedbanks of five or more of the six sites. In the vegetation, as in the seedbanks, introduced rather than native plants were the most common, including: bluegrass (Poa pratensis), …
A Comparative Analysis Of Potential Nitrification And Nitrate Mobility In Forest Ecosystems, Peter M. Vitousek, James R. Gosz, Charles C. Grier, Jerry M. Melillo, William A. Reiners
A Comparative Analysis Of Potential Nitrification And Nitrate Mobility In Forest Ecosystems, Peter M. Vitousek, James R. Gosz, Charles C. Grier, Jerry M. Melillo, William A. Reiners
Dartmouth Scholarship
Mobilization in a wide range of forest ecosystems were investigated through a combination of field and laboratory experiments.Trenched plot experiments were performed in 17 forests, and laboratory incubation studies of potential ammonium and nitrate production were made on soils from 14ofthese sites.
Influence Of Logging On Douglas Fir Beetle Populations, R R. Lejeune, L H. Mcmullen, M D. Atkins
Influence Of Logging On Douglas Fir Beetle Populations, R R. Lejeune, L H. Mcmullen, M D. Atkins
The Bark Beetles, Fuels, and Fire Bibliography
All species of bark beetles of economic importance prefer to attack freshly-killed host material. Logging slash, wind-throw, and fire-killed timber provide ideal breeding grounds for bark beetles. A few species, mostly in the Dendroctonus group, are able to kill living trees. When beetles in the group, raised in preferred host material, cannot find any or enough freshly-killed trees, logs, or slash to enter, they may attack living trees. In the interior of British Columbia, infestations of the Douglas fir beetle can often be traced to logging disturbance.