Forest Sciences Commons^™

Biogeochemical Hotspots In Forested Landscapes: The Role Of Vernal Pools In Denitrification And Organic Matter, Krista A. Capps, Regina L. Rancatti, Nathan Tomczyk, Aram J K Calhoun, Malcolm L. Hunter Jr.

Publications

Quantifying spatial and temporal heterogeneity in ecosystem processes presents a challenge for conserving ecosystem function across landscapes. In particular, many ecosystems contain small features that play larger roles in ecosystem processes than their size would indicate; thus, they may represent ‘‘hotspots’’ of activity relative to their surroundings. Biogeochemical hotspots are characterized as small features within a landscape that show comparatively high chemical reaction rates. In northeastern forests in North America, vernal pools are abundant, small features that typically fill in spring with snow melt and precipitation and dry by the end of summer. Ephemeral flooding alters soil moisture and the …

Surveys Of Southern Flying Squirrel Activity Following Timber Harvest In Southern Indiana, Joseph W. Eisinger, Elizabeth A. Flaherty, Stephanie E. Trapp

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) are gliding small mammals that are ecologically important seed dispersers and prey species across their wide range, which extends from southern Canada to Central America. Because of their reliance on forest structure for efficient movement and on forest composition for hard mast production to provide winter food items, habitat use by G. volans may be impacted by timber harvest. Responses of G. volans to timber harvests remains understudied throughout their range, and studies are especially lacking within the Central Hardwoods Region that includes Indiana. Our study in the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment (HEE) in southern Indiana …

Mass And Nutrient Loss In Decaying Hardwood Boles At Hubbard Brook, Chris E. Johnson

Chris E Johnson

No abstract provided.

Mass And Nutrient Loss In Decaying Hardwood Boles At Hubbard Brook, Chris E. Johnson

Civil and Environmental Engineering

No abstract provided.

Wire Netting Reduces African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana) Impact To Selected Large Trees In South Africa, Kelly Derham

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are ecosystem engineers in that they substantially alter the environment through their unique foraging and feeding habits. At high densities, elephants potentially have negative impacts on the environment, specifically to large trees. Because of this, recent increases of elephants in the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR) on the Western Boundary of Kruger National Park, South Africa have caused concern regarding the health of several species of tree. My objective was to assess the effectiveness of wrapping protective wire netting around the trunk of the tree in preventing and reducing bark stripping by elephants. 2,668 …

Invasive Plant Erodes Local Song Diversity In A Migratory Passerine, Yvette K. Ortega, Aubree Benson, Erick Greene

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Exotic plant invasions threaten ecosystems globally, but we still know little about the specific consequences for animals. Invasive plants can alter the quality of breeding habitat for songbirds, thereby impacting important demographic traits such as dispersal, philopatry, and age structure. These demographic effects may in turn alter song-learning conditions to affect song structure and diversity. We studied Chipping Sparrows (Spizella passerina) breeding in six savannas that were either dominated by native vegetation or invaded by spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe), an exotic forb known to diminish food resources and reproductive success. Here, we report that the prevalence of older birds was …

An Illustrated Id Guide To The Crayfishes Found In Nebraska Native And Non-Native, Steve Schainost

Nebraska Invasive Species Program

There are five crayfishes native to Nebraska. These are:

Orconectes immunis (papershell crayfish)

Orconectes virilis (northern crayfish)

Orconectes neglectus neglectus (ringed crayfish)

Cambarus diogenes (Devil crayfish)

Procambarus gracilis (prairie crayfish)

Three additional non-native crayfishes have also been found here:

Orconectes rusticus (rusty crayfish) [bait tanks and established in two ponds in Omaha]

Procambarus clarkii (red swamp crayfish) [bait tanks]

Procambarus acutus (White River crayfish) [bait tanks]

I will attempt here to provide a photographic guide to field identification, one species per page.

Quantitative Analysis Of Woodpecker Habitat Using High-Resolution Airborne Lidar Estimates Of Forest Structure And Composition, James E. Garabedian, Robert Mcgaughey, Stephen E. Reutebuch, Bernard R. Parresol, John C. Kilgo, Christopher E. Moorman, M. Nils Peterson

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology has the potential to radically alter theway researchers and managers collect data onwildlife–habitat relationships. To date, the technology has fostered several novel approaches to characterizing avian habitat, but has been limited by the lack of detailed LiDAR-habitat attributes relevant to species across a continuum of spatial grain sizes and habitat requirements. We demonstrate a novel three-step approach for using LiDAR data to evaluate habitat based on multiple habitat attributes and accounting for their influence at multiple grain sizes using federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW; Picoides borealis) foraging habitat data fromthe Savannah River Site (SRS) …