Forest Sciences Commons^™

An Ecology Against The Right. Learning Uncertainty And Humility From Ecosystems, Pierre L. Ibisch, Mona Eikel-Pohen, Elias Iceman, Jake Snelling

Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics - All Scholarship

This article is a translation from the German to English. The title of the original is:

Ibisch, P.L. (2020): Eine Ökologie gegen rechts. Von Ökosystemen Unsicherheit und Demut lernen. In: Leitschuh, H., A. Brunnengräber, P.L. Ibisch, R. Loske, M. Müller, J. Sommer & E.-U. v. Weizsäcker (eds. J. Sommer, P.L. Ibisch, A. Brunnengräber): Ökologie und Heimat. Jahrbuch Ökologie 2021. Hirzel-Verlag, Stuttgart, 191-205.

The Role Of Leaf Decomposition In Macroinvertebrate Colonization, Bethany Mabel Lian Schorr, Kevin Geedey

Independent Research Projects

Decomposition plays an important ecological role in carbon and nutrient cycling that supply food and energy resources to food webs. This study investigates the potential role that leaf decomposition of different leaf species may play in macroinvertebrate assemblages in upper Midwest streams. We hypothesized that the different decomposition rates experienced with different leaf species and in different streams would have an effect on invertebrate colonization due to the variance in nutrient availability. Due to altered fire regimes and other influences, forests are experiencing declines in fire-adapted, heliophytic species such as oaks and compositional shifts toward shade-tolerant, mesophytic species such as …

Mark-Recapture Study And Habitat Assessment For The Northern Metalmark Butterfly, Calephelis Borealis (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), Weston J. Henry, Kristian S. Omland, Henry Frye, Wagner L. David

EEB Articles

Background: The northern metalmark (Calephelis borealis), is an exceedingly local, globally rare butterfly that is declining across the Midwestern and Northeastern USA. The principal stressors driving colony losses include afforestation and invasive plants that crowd out its larval hostplant (Packera ovata) and nectar resources.

Aims/Methods: To better understand its declines and guide restoration efforts, we 1) performed a mark-recapture study in Connecticut to document population trends where we were actively managing vegetation; 2) conducted a range-wide survey for evidence of phylogeographic structure, using cytochrome oxidase (CO1); 3) investigated abundance determinants of its larval foodplant, Packera ovata …

Using Dendrochronology To Create A Timescale Of Succession On Nurse Logs In The Olympic Temperate Rainforest, Sean Grealish

Summer Research

Previous work on the Olympic peninsula in Washington State has shown that recently fallen trees provide a germination location for seeds that cannot do so on the forest floor due to thick moss mats. My field work over two summers dating and surveying nurse logs yielded a crossover at ~70 years where ground mosses start to dominate over tree mosses and seedling abundance begins to decrease.

Diffuse Light And Wetting Differentially Affect Tropical Tree Leaf Photosynthesis, Z. Carter Berry, Gregory R. Goldsmith

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

‐Most ecosystems experience frequent cloud cover resulting in light that is predominantly diffuse rather than direct. Moreover, these cloudy conditions are often accompanied by rain that results in wet leaf surfaces. Despite this, our understanding of photosynthesis is built upon measurements made on dry leaves experiencing direct light.

‐Using a modified gas exchange setup, we measured the effects of diffuse light and leaf wetting on photosynthesis in canopy species from a tropical montane cloud forest.

‐We demonstrate significant variation in species‐level response to light quality independent of light intensity. Some species demonstrated 100% higher rates of photosynthesis in diffuse light …

What Controls Variation In Carbon Use Efficiency Among Amazonian Tropical Forests?, Christopher E. Doughty, Gregory R. Goldsmith, Nicolas Raab, Cecile A. J. Girardin, Filio Farfan-Amezquita, Walter Huaraca-Huasco, Javier E. Silva-Espejo, Alejandro Araujo-Murakami, Antonio C. L. Da Costa, Wanderley Rocha, David Galbraith, Patrick Meir, Dan B. Metcalfe, Yadvinder Malhi

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Why do some forests produce biomass more efficiently than others? Variations in Carbon Use Efficiency (CUE: total Net Primary Production (NPP)/ Gross Primary Production (GPP)) may be due to changes in wood residence time (Biomass/NPP_wood), temperature, or soil nutrient status. We tested these hypotheses in 14, one ha plots across Amazonian and Andean forests where we measured most key components of net primary production (NPP: wood, fine roots, and leaves) and autotrophic respiration (R_a; wood, rhizosphere, and leaf respiration). We found that lower fertility sites were less efficient at producing biomass and had higher rhizosphere respiration, …

Hummingbird Foraging Preference: The Hierarchical Impacts Of Color, Position, And Concentration On Visitation Frequency, Erin O'Connor

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Hummingbirds are well adapted to efficiently locate high quality nectar sources, but relatively few studies have examined the mechanisms of that process under natural conditions in the field. This study investigates the visual signals that allow hummingbirds to do just that, as well as the external factors that limit their choices in foraging. More specifically, feeder color and nectar concentration were manipulated to determine the effect of those independent variables on visitation frequency. An initial experiment was conducted in order to explore color preference among the visiting species. Red, orange, and blue feeders were filled with nectar of equal concentrations …

The Effect Of Prescribed Fires On Vernal Herbs, Janis Lemaster

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The effects of fire on vernal herbs are little known. David Kem attempted to assess the influences of spring and winter prescribed fires on vernal herbs by collecting abundance data on three sets of research plots located at the WKU Green River Preserve in Hart County, KY, on April 9-10, 2010. On April 10 he conducted spring burns, and on February 22, 2011, he conducted winter burns. He then collected post-fire data on the abundance of the herbs on the 12-19 of March, 2011. He found little influence of fire on overall species richness and the density of common species. …

Microclimate Variation And Epiphyte Distribution In Acer Macrophylum, Jeremy Wood

Summer Research

Habitat heterogeneity plays a key role in supporting biodiversity in both animals and plant life. More diverse environments provide more exploitable niches across gradients in temperature, humidity, light availability, and countless other variables at the landscape and regional scales. In specimens of Acer macrophylum in the Hoh Rainforest, we found significant variation in temperature and relative humidity across particular crown zones, and certain epiphyte species were found to distribute according to such microclimate variation.

Radiocarbon Isotopic Classification Of Deep Tropical Forest Soils, Brooke Butler, Karis J. Mcfarlane, Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Katherine A. Heckman

STAR Program Research Presentations

Tropical forest soils have an important role in global carbon (C) stocks. Small changes in the cycling of C could drastically affect atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and active cycling of carbon in a forest community. Currently, little is understood of how tropical forest soils will respond to the increasing global temperatures. To examine the effects of warming/ drought on losses of older versus younger soil C pools, we implemented radiocarbon (14C) isotopic characterization of various soil plot samples and depths from the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. 14C was measured using Accelerated Mass Spectrometry (AMS) from catalytically condensed carbon …

Striking The Balance: Challenges And Perspectives For The Protected Areas Network In Northeastern European Russia, Svetlana V. Degteva, Vasily I. Ponomarev, Sasha W. Eisenman, Vyacheslav Dushenkov

Publications and Research

Increasing anthropogenic pressure on the largest remaining tracts of old-growth boreal forest in Europe necessitates additional conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity in northeastern European Russia. In a regional network comprising 8 % of the Nenets Autonomous District and 13.5 % of the Komi Republic, 248 areas have varying protected statuses as state nature reserves (zapovedniks), national parks, reserves/sanctuaries (zakazniks), or natural monuments. Due to increased natural resource extraction in this relatively pristine area, designation of additional protected areas is critical for the protection of key ecological sites. The history of ecological preservation in these regions is herein described, and recent …

Soils Of Temperate Rainforests Of The North American Pacific Coast, Dunbar N. Carpenter, James G. Bockheim, Paul F. Reich

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Temperate rainforests have high conservation and natural resource value, but the soils of this bioregion have not previously been studied as a unit. Here we examine the soils of North America's Pacific coastal temperate rainforests, utilizing databases from the United States Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Canadian Centre for Land and Biological Resources Research to (i) identify the soil taxa, (ii) evaluate the soil properties, and (iii) compare soils in temperate and tropical rainforests. There are strong climate gradientswithin these temperate rainforests,with the mean temperature declining from 11.7 °C to 6.1 °C and the mean annual precipitation increasing from …

"Over The River And Through The Woods": An Analysis Of Understory And Canopy Plant Diversity In Urban Riparian Forests, Carlisle R. Evans Peck

Urban Forest Project

As population growth explodes and urban areas expand, studying the ecology of urban areas has become increasingly important. Urban development has been shown to drastically alter native habitats and to severely degrade biodiversity. However, urban landscapes also hold the potential to harbor and support valuable biodiversity especially if managed correctly. We studied the understory herbaceous plant and overstory tree canopy diversity of eight forested ravines in the small cities of Rock Island and Moline IL surrounded by a range of urban development intensity. The goal of the project was to determine whether or not the composition of the plant communities …

Conservation And Restoration Of The Pinus Palustris Ecosystem, Frank S. Gilliam, William J. Platt

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

The well-documented decline of the Pinus palustris ecosystem has resulted from several anthropogenic influences, such as forest clearing (e.g. pine plantation forestry, agriculture) and urban development, both of which are closely related to increases in human populations. Other impacts have arisen from alterations in disturbance regimes responsible for maintaining the structure and function of these ecosystems. Restoration and management of degraded pine savanna ecosystems is critical. Identification of ecological processes that determine the structure and function of the intact system are important because successful restoration efforts should be based on sound scientific understanding. In this paper, we introduce this special …

Natural Disturbances And The Physiognomy Of Pine Savannas : A Phenomenological Model, Frank S. Gilliam, William J. Platt, Robert K. Peet

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Abstract. Question: The decline of the Pinus palustris ecosystems has resulted from anthropogenic influences, such as conversion to pine plantation forestry, agriculture and land development, all of which are closely related to increases in human populations. Other effects, however, have arisen from alterations in disturbance regimes that maintain the structure and function of these ecosystems. How have alterations of the disturbance regime altered the physiognomy of ‘old-growth’ stands, and what are the implications for ecosystem conservation and restoration?

Methods: In contrast to models that emphasize close interactions among the vertically complex strata, we develop a conceptual phenomenological model for the …

Influence Of Nutrient Availability, Stand Age, And Canopy Structure On Isoprene Flux In A Eucalyptus Saligna Experimental Forest, Jennifer L. Funk, Christian P. Giardina, Alexander Knohl, Manuel T. Lerdau

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Eucalyptus plantations occupy approximately 10 million ha of land in the tropics and, increasingly, afforestation and reforestation projects are relying on this genus to provide rapid occupation of degraded sites, large quantities of high-quality wood products, and high rates of carbon sequestration. Members of the genus Eucalyptus are also very high emitters of isoprene, the dominant volatile organic compound emitted by trees in tropical ecosystems, which significantly influences the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere. While fertilization growth response of these trees has been intensively studied, little is known about how fertilization and tree age alter isoprene production from plantations of …

Tiger Restoration In Asia: Ecological Theory Vs. Sociological Reality, Ronald Tilson, Philip J. Nyhus, Neil Franklin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Lighter Shade Of Green: Reproducing Nature In Central Florida, Kevin Archer

All Faculty Scholarship for the School of Graduate Studies and Research

No abstract provided.

Lter Correspondence & Letters, Jerry F. Franklin

Long Term Ecological Research Network

1st. Letter written by Jerry F. Franklin, chair of LTER Network, addressed to David Greenland of the department of Geography. Franklin extends an invitation to the upcoming Coordinating Committee meeting taking place from October 19-21.

2nd. Letter written by Jerry F. Franklin, chair of LTER Network, addressed to Joshua Greenberg of he College of Forest Resources. Franklin extends an invitation to the upcoming Coordinating Committee meeting taking place from October 19-21.

3rd. Letter written by Jerry F. Franklin, chair of LTER Network, he writes on the significant decisions taken place over the LTER/CC meeting held on April 22-24.

4th. Letter …