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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Managing Upland Oak Forests With Disturbance And The Implications For Non-Native Species Invasions, Devin E. Black
Managing Upland Oak Forests With Disturbance And The Implications For Non-Native Species Invasions, Devin E. Black
Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources
Natural and anthropogenic disturbances have influenced forest stand structure and affected species compositions within forests for millennia. Disturbances such as fire, severe weather events, and forest management practices may result in significantly reduced tree biomass. Thus, these disturbances may lower canopy closure and stem density in support of forest management goals, such as open oak woodland restoration, or promote an increase in species richness within the forest understory. However, these types of disturbance may also produce the unwanted consequence of opening pathways for the invasion of non-native species. Once established, these non-native species may threaten native plant communities and biodiversity. …
Vegetation Response To Repeated Prescribed Burning And Varied Wildfire Severity In Upland Forests On The Cumberland Plateau, Kentucky, Zachary W. Poynter
Vegetation Response To Repeated Prescribed Burning And Varied Wildfire Severity In Upland Forests On The Cumberland Plateau, Kentucky, Zachary W. Poynter
Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources
As a result of decades of fire suppression, oaks (Quercus L.) and other disturbance-dependent tree species are experiencing widespread regeneration failure. Today, fire takes the form of relatively low to moderate intensity prescribed fire, used to restore fire adapted ecosystems, and wildfires which often vary in severity. I investigated long-term changes to forest structure and composition in response to repeated prescribed burning followed by an extended period of no fire. Burning reduced total basal area, midstory stem density and sapling stem density. However, the fire-free interval significantly increased sapling layer stem densities of oaks and competitor species. This research …