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Articles 1 - 20 of 20
Full-Text Articles in Forest Sciences
Chinese Tallow Long-Term Impact On Stand Dynamics In A Bottomland Hardwood Forest Following Vegetation Management, Nicklaus R. Langlois
Chinese Tallow Long-Term Impact On Stand Dynamics In A Bottomland Hardwood Forest Following Vegetation Management, Nicklaus R. Langlois
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera (L.) Small) is an invasive tree known to have negative impacts on bottomland hardwood forests. Chinese tallow is proficient in reproducing and surviving in bottomland hardwood forests because it is more flood and shade tolerant than most native trees. The long-term effectiveness of Chinese tallow control is an important topic to research as only a few long-term studies of Chinese tallow control have been conducted. A 10-year re-measurement of 22 paired plots installed in 2012 on the Pineywoods Mitigation Bank near Diboll, Texas following herbicide treatments examined Chinese tallow and native tree stand structure. Each …
Designing A Serious Game To Simulate Ecological Processes On A Post-Eruption Mount St. Helens Landscape, Parker Maynard
Designing A Serious Game To Simulate Ecological Processes On A Post-Eruption Mount St. Helens Landscape, Parker Maynard
Masters Theses
Developing strategies to successfully manage landscapes to meet ecological, economic, and social goals is an increasing concern in a world experiencing anthropogenic global changes. The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state provided a major learning opportunity in managing resource effectively after a major disturbance. This information is explored through Resilience: After The Eruption: a serious game developed as part of this thesis that synthesizes research about ecological recovery and resource management following the eruption of Mount St. Helens. The digital game allows players to take on the role of four different stakeholders performing landscape-based operations while …
Post-Fire Persistance Of Sequoia Semperviens In A Secondary Forest: Examining Drivers Of Basal Resprouting Response, Jackson T. Carrasco
Post-Fire Persistance Of Sequoia Semperviens In A Secondary Forest: Examining Drivers Of Basal Resprouting Response, Jackson T. Carrasco
Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects
Historically frequent-fire forest ecosystems are now facing increased size, frequency, and severity of fires attributed to climate change, intensive forest management, and fire exclusion. Understanding post-fire resilience in forest ecosystems is critical amidst escalating challenges posed by recent increases in fire activity. This study examined the basal resprouting response of coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in a secondary forest two years after the CZU Lightning Complex fire on the central coast of California. Robust allometric equations were developed to quantify redwood resprout biomass and leaf area, revealing strong explanatory power for biomass equations (R² > 0.85). Probability of …
Environmental Biology Masters Capstone, Antonio Gonzalez-Pita
Environmental Biology Masters Capstone, Antonio Gonzalez-Pita
Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)
Human wildlife interactions (HWI) pose a complex challenge for wildlife managers. Human encroachment into wildlife habitat and the growing number of outdoor recreationists are increasing the frequency of contact and conflict, especially in regions such as the Front Range of Colorado. Geographic information systems (GIS), which use a combination of remote sensing and environmental survey data, allow for predictive spatial analyses of where human wildlife interactions are likely to occur. I used publicly reported observations of moose to create spatial predictive maps in a species distribution model framework. Slope and elevation were shown to be the strongest predictors of HWI, …
Patterns And Drivers Of Wiregrass Gap Longleaf Pine (Pinus Palustris Mill.) Woodland Succession As Part Of Restoration Efforts, Armin Weise
All Theses
Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) communities are widespread throughout the Southeastern United States with a dominant understory vegetation of wiregrass (Aristida spp.) in most of its range. A small area in central South Carolina that is naturally free of wiregrass is called the “Wiregrass Gap”. Here, the understory vegetation is dominated by bluestems grasses (Andropogon spp. and Schizachyrium spp.) which drive the disturbance regime of frequent low-intensity fire. The successful establishment of these grasses is key for longleaf pine woodland restoration efforts in this region, but few resources detail the ecological drivers at play that enable successful restoration in these longleaf …
Detection, Occupancy, Abundance, And Mercury Accumulation Of The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys Temminckii) In Texas, David Rosenbaum
Detection, Occupancy, Abundance, And Mercury Accumulation Of The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys Temminckii) In Texas, David Rosenbaum
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Land use practices and physical alterations of ecosystems result in habitat loss and fragmentation, while chemical alterations, such as pollutant input, reduce habitat quality and health of exposed organisms. Here, I investigated the effects of watershed- and local-scale environmental variables on the occupancy, abundance, and mercury accumulation of a threatened aquatic species (Macrochelys temminckii, i.e., alligator snapping turtle) within the southwestern periphery of its distribution. Hierarchical modeling suggested the distribution of the species is more affected by watershed-scale land-cover than local habitat, and provided a baseline estimate of average species abundance across its range in eastern Texas. Abundance …
Making Forests, Making Communities: An Ethnography Of Reforestation In Monteverde, Costa Rica, Megan Brown
Making Forests, Making Communities: An Ethnography Of Reforestation In Monteverde, Costa Rica, Megan Brown
Anthropology Theses and Dissertations
Reforestation is not just planting trees in the ground. More than net increase in forest cover, reforestation is a complex political endeavor undertaken by both humans and non-humans and a popular climate change mitigation tactic. However, little research has examined the dynamics between selection of specific reforestation strategies, health, and community resilience, particularly with attention to entanglements between the lives of both human and non-human forest dwellers. This ethnographic work, based on six months of in-person fieldwork and six months of digital ethnography, examines reforestation and forest relations in Costa Rica’s Monte Verde zone, a region which experienced widespread deforestation, …
Fine Scale Mapping Of Laurentian Mixed Forest Natural Habitat Communities Using Multispectral Naip And Uav Datasets Combined With Machine Learning Methods, Parth P. Bhatt
Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports
Natural habitat communities are an important element of any forest ecosystem. Mapping and monitoring Laurentian Mixed Forest natural communities using high spatial resolution imagery is vital for management and conservation purposes. This study developed integrated spatial, spectral and Machine Learning (ML) approaches for mapping complex vegetation communities. The study utilized ultra-high and high spatial resolution National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) datasets, and Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Complex natural vegetation community habitats in the Laurentian Mixed Forest of the Upper Midwest. A detailed workflow is presented to effectively process UAV imageries in a dense forest environment …
Comparison Of Low-Cost Commercial Unpiloted Digital Aerial Photogrammetry To Airborne Laser Scanning Across Multiple Forest Types In California, James Edward Lamping
Comparison Of Low-Cost Commercial Unpiloted Digital Aerial Photogrammetry To Airborne Laser Scanning Across Multiple Forest Types In California, James Edward Lamping
Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects
Science-based forest management requires quantitative information about forest attributes traditionally collected via sampled field plots in a forest inventory program. Remote sensing tools, such as active three-dimensional (3D) Light Detection and Ranging (lidar), are increasingly utilized to supplement and even replace field-based forest inventories. However, lidar remains cost prohibitive for smaller areas and repeat measurement, often limiting its use to single acquisitions of large contiguous areas. Recent advancements in unpiloted aerial systems (UAS), digital aerial photogrammetry (DAP) and high precision global positioning systems (HPGPS) have the potential to provide low-cost time and place flexible 3D data to support forest inventory …
Carbon Sequestration In A Restored West Michigan Oak Savanna: Implications For Management Practices, Jeffrey A. Heise
Carbon Sequestration In A Restored West Michigan Oak Savanna: Implications For Management Practices, Jeffrey A. Heise
Masters Theses
The savanna system is an ecosystem (i.e. a transitional ecosystem) that lies between forest and grassland ecosystems. They occur across the world in various forms, but in the North American Midwest they are specifically oak savannas: systems where the open overstory is dominated by various species of oak (Quercus spp.) and the understory consists of carbon-rich prairie grasses and forbs. This ecosystem is a highly degraded ecosystem and has lost almost 99% of its former range due to agriculture and fire suppression. Since savannas are fire-evolved systems, they are maintained by and require fire as a regular disturbance to …
Floodplain Forest Regeneration Dynamics In The Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, Whitney Anne Kroschel
Floodplain Forest Regeneration Dynamics In The Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, Whitney Anne Kroschel
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Floodplain forest species diversity is driven, in part, by variation in disturbance regime. Flood patterns create heterogeneity in microsite quality from small differences in elevation across a floodplain which, in turn, influence flood timing and duration. Differences in species’ regeneration niches in relation to hydrologic patterns can account for long-term coexistence of various species. In the past century floodplain forests have exhibited a wide range of changes in stand development and species composition as a result of altered hydrology in rivers and floodplains. I evaluated the role of regeneration in floodplain forest systems of the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley …
Where Birds Chill: An Assessment Of The Habitat Preferences Of Birds Overwintering In Hudson Valley Forests, Elizabeth Claire Axley
Where Birds Chill: An Assessment Of The Habitat Preferences Of Birds Overwintering In Hudson Valley Forests, Elizabeth Claire Axley
Senior Projects Spring 2019
Many avian species overwinter in eastern North America; however, studies on bird populations are rarely undertaken during this critical survival time, and little is known as to their habitat preferences and foraging behavior. In this observational study, we performed a survey of birds overwintering in the Hudson Valley’s temperate, primarily-deciduous forests, assessing avian populations’ habitat preferences through the vegetative structural variables surrounding overwintering birds as they forage. Our results suggest that high canopy cover is critically important to predicting overwintering bird occupancy on a microhabitat scale. Moreover, overwintering birds preferentially occupy forest plots not dominated by sugar maples, in spite …
Plant Community Response To Novel Silvicultural Treatments In Great Lakes Northern Hardwoods, Stefan F. Hupperts
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) …
Drivers Of Post-Fire Vascular Plant Regeneration In The Conifer-Dominated Boreal Forest Of Southern Northwest Territories, Alison White
Drivers Of Post-Fire Vascular Plant Regeneration In The Conifer-Dominated Boreal Forest Of Southern Northwest Territories, Alison White
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)
In recent years, climate warming has led to an increase in the severity and frequency of naturally occurring fires in boreal ecosystems globally. In 2014, an unprecedented 3.4 million hectares of boreal forest burned in the Northwest Territories (NWT). While much research has focused on post-fire succession of serotinous tree species such as Picea mariana (black spruce) and Pinus banksiana (jack pine), the understory community of vascular plants play an important role in ecosystem functioning but less is known about the response of this component of the system to changing fire regimes. Regeneration strategies such as the ability to resprout …
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. …
Effects Of Non-Consumptive Recreation And Environmental Factors On Arkansas State Park Biodiversity, Bennett P. Grooms
Effects Of Non-Consumptive Recreation And Environmental Factors On Arkansas State Park Biodiversity, Bennett P. Grooms
Theses and Dissertations from 2016
State parks serve a dual conservation role by offering protected habitat to many species while also promoting recreational use of natural resources. Non-consumptive recreation activities, however, have long-term negative effects on the behavior, physiology, and reproductive success of state park biotic communities. The purpose of my research was to investigate the possible synergistic effects of non-consumptive trail use, environmental factors, and trail design factors on avian, mesocarnivore, and woody vegetation communities in Arkansas state parks. During 18 May – 7 August 2015, I conducted avian point counts, trail user counts, set camera traps, and sampled vegetation at 227 points on …
Provisioning And Its Effects On The Social Interactions Of Tibetan Macaques (Macaca Thibetana) At Mt. Huangshan, China, Brianna I. Schnepel
Provisioning And Its Effects On The Social Interactions Of Tibetan Macaques (Macaca Thibetana) At Mt. Huangshan, China, Brianna I. Schnepel
All Master's Theses
The dispersal patterns of food resources has a significant effect on the composition of primate groups and social interactions within those groups. Humans often alter the dispersal of food. Non-humans often use affiliative behaviors to elicit tolerance or support from other group members. I investigated whether provisioned food resources alter the social interactions and group dynamics of Macaca thibetana. All-occurrence sampling and scan sampling were used for data recorded by camera traps. Trail-cameras were placed at six locations that contain natural and human food resources and recorded 60-second videos. Social behavior and proximity of the monkeys were recorded. I …
Comparing Population Density Estimation Techniques For Columbia Black-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Hemionus Columbianus): Fecal Standing Crop And Distance Sampling Methods, Jubilee D. Brenneman
Comparing Population Density Estimation Techniques For Columbia Black-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Hemionus Columbianus): Fecal Standing Crop And Distance Sampling Methods, Jubilee D. Brenneman
Honors Projects
I estimated deer density and population size on Blakely Island, WA, using the fecal standing crop (FSC) method described by Martin et al. (2011). I compared the FSC method with a well established and broadly applicable estimation method, distance sampling. Additionally, architecture of a commonly browsed shrub, Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor), was measured as an indicator of browsing pressure. Fecal standing crop was estimated by counting pellet groups along 26, 100 x 2m line transects. Deer density was estimated using these data and the equation derived by Martin et al. (2011). Distance sampling consisted of recording perpendicular distance …
Effect Of Prescribed Burning In The Forests Of Buffalo National River, Arkansas, Francis Ndar Onduso
Effect Of Prescribed Burning In The Forests Of Buffalo National River, Arkansas, Francis Ndar Onduso
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Prescribed burning (also referred to as controlled or hazard reduction burning) refers to the use of fire under controlled conditions to achieve a desired end product or goal. However, the nature and magnitude of the changes that result from prescribed burning are still incompletely known, and this is especially true for the forests of the Ozarks of northern Arkansas. The overall objective of the research project described herein was to obtain the data necessary to develop a better understanding of these changes, particularly as they relate to the use of prescribed burning as a management technique in the Buffalo National …
An Assessment Of Potential Habitat Corridors And Landscape Ecology For Long-Tailed Macaques (Macaca Fascicularis) On Bali, Indonesia, Mark Warren Southern
An Assessment Of Potential Habitat Corridors And Landscape Ecology For Long-Tailed Macaques (Macaca Fascicularis) On Bali, Indonesia, Mark Warren Southern
All Master's Theses
The relationship between Balinese long-tailed macaques, Bali's cultural settings, and Bali's physical settings was studied. A Geographical Information System (GIS) database was developed and analyzed to determine if forest corridors exist on Bali that may provide habitat connectivity between 42 Balinese long-tailed macaque troops. The GIS database was also analyzed to determine if the landscape type that has the highest percentage of overlap with the 42 Balinese long-tailed macaque home range sites is forest. The results indicate that connectivity between troops located within Bali's western region is significantly higher than that for troops located in Bali's eastern region. The results …