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Full-Text Articles in Forest Sciences
Effects Of Repeated Intensive Harvesting Practices, Prescribed Burning, And Browsing On Northern Hardwood Forest Plant Communities, Michaela Kuhn
Effects Of Repeated Intensive Harvesting Practices, Prescribed Burning, And Browsing On Northern Hardwood Forest Plant Communities, Michaela Kuhn
Honors College
When extracting large volumes of biomass from our nation’s forests, it is imperative to consider the sustainability of these intensive harvesting practices on future forests and timber products, and wildlife habitat and populations. The goal of this study was to assess if plant density and ecological integrity are affected by strip-cut harvesting silvicultural practices, prescribed burning on slash left on site and slash residue left unburned, and mammalian browse. A summer 2019 inventory of plant species throughout Compartment 33 on the Penobscot Experimental Forest, a management unit that recently was harvested for the second time in the past 55years, which …
Understory Response To Gap-Based, Multi-Aged Silviculture, Maggie R. Mansfield
Understory Response To Gap-Based, Multi-Aged Silviculture, Maggie R. Mansfield
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The ubiquity of managed forests has created a demand for management practices that simultaneously meet traditional management goals and maintain biodiversity. Ecological forestry, which emulates the outcomes of natural disturbances, is assumed to enhance native species survival by creating conditions similar to those under which species have long survived. We assessed this assumption by exploring the herbaceous plant community response to 20 years of gap-based, multi-aged silviculture treatments. Additionally, we assessed the ability of the treatments to meet silvicultural objectives by exploring trends in tree regeneration. The Acadian Forest Ecosystem Research Project (AFERP) is a replicated study established in 1995 …
Ecological Consequences Of Personality In A Guild Of Terrestrial Small Mammals: From Trappability To Seed Dispersal, Allison M. Brehm
Ecological Consequences Of Personality In A Guild Of Terrestrial Small Mammals: From Trappability To Seed Dispersal, Allison M. Brehm
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Individual animals exhibit consistent behavioral tendencies over time and across contexts that have been termed personalities. Personality encapsulates an individual’s unique way of behaving and responding to life’s challenges, and since individuals vary in both personality type and their ability to exhibit behavioural plasticity, there are important links between an individual’s personality and its response to a changing environment; resulting in the study of animal personalities becoming increasingly popular in recent years. Previous research suggests that personality traits measured through standardized behavioural tests predict trappability (i.e. ‘trap happiness’ versus ‘trap shyness’). This relationship has been explored only within single …
Influence Of Silvicultural Treatment, Site Characteristics, And Land Use History On Native And Nonnative Forest Understory Plant Composition On The Penobscot Experimental Forest In Maine, Elizabeth Bryce
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This study investigates forest understory plant diversity and composition in managed and unmanaged stands within the context of a long-term silvicultural experiment in the Acadian Forest of Maine. I examined the effects of silvicultural intensity and past land use on understory plant species diversity and composition. Silvicultural treatments include three variants of the selection system, three variants of the shelterwood system, modified and fixed diameter-limit cutting, and an unregulated harvest. Two types of unmanaged stands were studied: a continuously forested natural area and secondary forest stands on old fields. Chapter 1 presents analysis of understory plant diversity and composition in …
Effects Of Small-Gap Timber Harvests On Songbird Community Composition And Site-Fidelity, Mitschka John Hartley
Effects Of Small-Gap Timber Harvests On Songbird Community Composition And Site-Fidelity, Mitschka John Hartley
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
I investigated effects of small-gap timber harvests on bird communities at nine sites (10 ha each) within the Penobscot Experimental Forest (PEF), grouped into three replicated "blocks" (three sites each). Blocks were randomly treated with three treatments: 10% harvest, 20% harvest, and no harvest (i.e., control). I examined how treatments affected breeding songbird abundance, richness, and site-fidelity over four consecutive summers, including 1-3 years before and after each site was harvested. Ability to detect treatment effects was limited by the small number of replicates, but power analyses indicated that given the experimental design and observed variability, there was a high …