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Showing 1 to 16 of 16 for “"Appalachian forests"”.
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Diversity, Invasibility, and Stability of Appalachian Forests across an Experimental Disturbance Gradient
… I measured how plant communities in Appalachian forests responded to disturbances caused by forest management activities. I had two primary objectives including (1) testing theories of biological diversity and invasions by nonnative species; and (2) providing empirical data that will …
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Modeling spatial patterns of mixed-species Appalachian forests with Gibbs point processes
… a mixed-species hardwood forest in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. Although the 2nd-order potentials of both the pairwise interaction and triplets processes were allowed to be purely or partially attractive, the proposed Gibbs point process models were demonstrated …
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Evaluation of the use of remotely sensed images to speciate mixed Appalachian forests
… was to determine the ability to speciate mixed Appalachian hardwood forests using the Airborne Data Acquisition and Registration (ADAR) System 1000, and to determine the optimal spatial resolution and the optimal scale of the acquired images. Digital images of a 200-ha area in west central West …
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Assessing the cumulative impact of disturbance on canopy structure and chemistry in Appalachian forests
Eastern forests experience a range of disturbance events over time, from stand-replacing disturbances, such as clear cuts, to ephemeral disturbances, such as insect outbreaks. By understanding the cumulative impact of disturbances on canopy structure and chemistry, we can gain insight into …
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Effects of understory vegetation manipulation on hardwood regeneration recruitment and growth in southern Appalachian forests
… regeneration of mature oak (<i>Quercus</i> spp.) forests is thought to be dependent on the presence of oak advance regeneration. However, the advance regeneration must be of sufficient size and density for oak to be competitive and become a dominant species after harvest. The presence of a dense …
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The Influence of Dense Understory Shrubs on the Ecology of Canopy Tree Recruitment in Southern Appalachian Forests
… Rhododendron maximum L. (Ericaceae) in southern Appalachian forests is an issue of major concern because of the potential impacts on forest productivity, hydrology and wildlife habitat. Many studies have investigated the causes of seedling inhibition beneath dense shrub understories, but few have …
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The Importance Of Surface Mining As A Landscape Variable In Shaping Wild Bee Communities In Central Appalachian Forests
<p>Anthropogenic disturbance has led to widespread losses in biodiversity. Native bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) provide essential pollination services and have been declining in abundance dramatically in recent years. One potential cause of these declines is anthropogenic disturbance. Eleven sites …
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Spatial Patterns and Variations of Tornado Damage as Related to Southeastern Appalachian Forests and Terrain from the Franklin County, Virginia EF-3 Tornado
Strong tornadoes have impacted the central Appalachian Mountains multiple times in recent years. The topography of this region leads to unique spatial patterns of tornado damage as the tornado vortices pass over ridges in forested areas, and this damage can be detected with vegetation indices …
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Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) habitat ecology in the central and southern Appalachians
Ruffed grouse populations are low in Appalachian forests, possibly because low habitat quality negatively affects survival, condition, and reproduction. Through the Appalachian Cooperative Grouse Research Project (ACGRP) researchers tracked >1500 radioed grouse at 10 study sites (1996__2002). To …
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Leveraging the Landsat Archive to Track Understory Evergreen Shrub Expansions in the Coweeta Basin, North Carolina
… have permanently altered the overstory canopy of Appalachian forests by causing the dramatic die-offs of two ecologically significant tree species, American chestnut (Castanea dentata) and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). These canopy dominants once had significant roles in regulating …
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Effectiveness of Treatments to Reduce Rhododendron maximum and Promote Tree Seedling Regeneration in the Southern Appalachians
… shrub that plays a dynamic role in the southern Appalachian forests. Commonly located on mesic sites, this understory shrub forms dense thickets that greatly reduce the amount of light available to herbaceous and woody plants found on the forest floor. Past research has shown that silvicultural …
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The Short Term Responses of Benthic Macroinvertebrates to the Removal of Riparian Rhododendron in Southern Appalachian Streams
The southern Appalachian forests of the United States are undergoing changes due to the death of hemlock trees attacked by the hemlock wooly adelgid. This paper addresses the management impacts of Rhododendron maximum removal in the riparian and upslope areas previously occupied by hemlock. This …
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A stable isotope and macro-charcoal sediment record spanning the Pleistocene-Holocene transition from Maple Pond in the southern Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, USA
… characteristic of presettlement fire-adapted Appalachian forests. Geochemical and fire history patterns at Maple Pond demonstrate broad consistency with paleoenvironmental reconstructions from nearby sites (Browns Pond, Spring (aka Hack) Pond, Twin Pond and Cranberry Glades), supporting the …
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Distribution and Dynamics of the Evergreen Understory Layer in Central Appalachian Highland Forests
… sequestration, and nutrient retention in central Appalachian forests, but their distribution and ecological importance are poorly understood at the regional scale. The distribution, temporal dynamics, and biomass of the evergreen understory layer were examined in the Ridge and Valley and Allegheny …
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Soil microbial response to land management practices and wildfire in Appalachian ecosystems
… with many other ecosystem effects. In Southern Appalachian forests, over a century of fire-exclusion has caused changes in forest structure and vegetative growth under a characteristically wet climate. More intense drought events are projected to reduce vegetative moisture, creating fuel that …
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Ecological Impact of Glaze Storm Damage in an Appalachian Oak Forest
… glaze storm at Fishburn Forest in the central Appalachian mountain region. The survey sites were stratified according to aspect and landform, and sample plots were randomly assigned to each topographic category. The canopy trees in the plots were tallied and their damage was visually …