Global ETD Search
Search theses and dissertations gathered from participating repositories worldwide. Every result links back to the library that holds it. No account is needed.
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Showing 1 to 20 of 34 for “"Plant Invasions"”.
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Exploring the mechanisms and impacts of plant invasions in grasslands
Non-native plant species are being introduced to ecosystems worldwide at an unprecedented rate. Many of these non-native species become invasive by spreading across their introduced ranges and impacting native biota, ecosystems and human societies. However, the impacts of the majority of non-native …
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Effects of Plant Invasions on Birds Breeding In Desert Grasslands
Over the past 150 years, encroachment by woody plants and invasions by nonnative grasses have altered the structure and composition of plant communities that once dominated desert and semidesert grasslands. These plant invasions have reduced the quantity and quality of habitat for many …
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Using patchy plant invasions to understand how diffuse interactions modify facilitation and competition
<p>Indirect interactions among plants promote conditionality in competitive outcomes that affect plant community structure and function. I utilized spatially patchy distributions of two invasive exotic plants, <i>Centaurea stoebe</i> and <i>Bromus tectorum</i>, to explore conditionality in plant …
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Using patchy plant invasions to understand how diffuse interactions modify facilitation and competition
<p>Indirect interactions among plants promote conditionality in competitive outcomes that affect plant community structure and function. I utilized spatially patchy distributions of two invasive exotic plants, <i>Centaurea stoebe</i> and <i>Bromus tectorum</i>, to explore conditionality in plant …
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Multidimensional Spatial Characterization of Plant Invasions in 'El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar' Biosphere Reserve
… significant effects than global warming. Exotic plant invasions threaten biodiversity and ecosystem viability worldwide. Their effects in the Sonoran Desert ecosystems are a growing concern among ecologists and land managers. We hypothesized that highly dynamic desert environments are unstable, …
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Effects of plant invasions on ecosystem processes: Linking above- and below-ground resource-use strategies of native and invasive species in Eastern U.S. forests
… Here I investigated above- and below-ground plant traits and soil properties associated with resource-use strategies and soil nitrogen (N) dynamics for multiple native and non-native forest understory species in the Eastern U.S. to better understand invader impacts on ecosystem processes. In …
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Pattern and process of plant invasion in an African savanna ecosystem, with emphasis on multiple spatial and temporal scales
Biological invasions are a significant ecological and economic global crisis. Protected areas also suffer from the increased burden that invasions place on their resources and the impacts placed on the ecosystem. However, management requires an ecological foundation which can inform best practice …
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Effects of exotic invasive vegetation on breeding birds along the North Chickamauga Creek
The invasion of exotic plants into riparian areas of southeastern United States is a conservation concern not only for native plant communities, but also for wildlife. Breeding bird community structure could be particularly affected by such invasions and subsequent habitat changes as birds respond …
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Predicting rates and patterns of alien plant spread
The invasion of alien plants into natural ecosystems is a widespread phenomenon that impacts negatively on ecosystem structure and functioning. The invasion and subsequent spread of an alien plant population is equivalent to the processes of colonisation and migration. This implies that the …
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Ecological implications of allelopathic interferences with reference to Phragmites australis
The effects of plant invasions on ecosystem structure and function are well studied but the pathways and mechanisms that underlie these effects remain poorly understood. In depth investigation of invasion mechanisms is vital to understanding why invasive plants impact only certain systems, and why …
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Influence of fire severity in fynbos plant communities and mode of regeneration in the southern Cape Peninsula
… between fire events, such as succession or alien plant invasions, may be more influential than fire severity.
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Blattodea as potential indicators of Peninsula Granite Fynbos restoration following the clear-felling of pine plantations
Alien plant invasions pose a major threat to the biodiversity of the Cape Peninsula; currently facilitating the transformation of native vegetation and alien invertebrate invasions. This threat provided a motive for the removal of alien pine plantations from the lower slopes of Table Mountain, with …
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Toward a More Integrative Approach to Quantifying the Ecological Impacts of Invasive Plants
… In response, identification of invasive plant impacts are one of the top most studied aspects of plant invasions. Yet we still know very little about invasive plant impacts, and many land managers remove invasive plants not because of known negative impacts, but because of the general …
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Exotic Invasive Plants on Private Woodlands of Virginia: Effects on forest composition, structure, and wildlife habitat
Exotic invasive plants have become a significant issue in the Southeastern United States for private landowners. These plants possess characteristics that allow for rapid growth and easy adaptation to many growing conditions, often outcompeting native vegetation and altering wildlife habitat, …
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Diversity, Invasibility, and Stability of Appalachian Forests across an Experimental Disturbance Gradient
For this dissertation, 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 …
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Conservation implications of the invasion of southern Africa by alien organisms
… The extent and ecological impacts of these invasions were assessed. Their control within reserves was also evaluated. Research approaches used were; literature review (which included an international review), a detailed questionnaire survey of alien plant invasions in 307 reserves, rapid …
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Interplay between competition and evolution in invaded and native plant communities
… can also produce rapid evolutionary change in plant communities. Although our understanding of ecological and evolutionary interactions is growing, so far little is known about how competition among plants interacts with evolution to shape communities. In my dissertation, I use species …
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Interplay between competition and evolution in invaded and native plant communities
… can also produce rapid evolutionary change in plant communities. Although our understanding of ecological and evolutionary interactions is growing, so far little is known about how competition among plants interacts with evolution to shape communities. In my dissertation, I use species …
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SEX AND DIVERSITY IN THE INVASIVE PLANT HIERACIUM AURANTIACUM
… when colonizing a new range (Baker’s law), as in plant invasions. This study investigated the population structure of the invasive plant Hieracium aurantiacum. H. aurantiacum is an apomict – producing much of its seed asexually – and has become a common invasive in North America and New Zealand. …
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BIOLOGICAL CONTROL: EFFECTS OF TYRIA JACOBAEAE ON THE POPULATION DYNAMICS OF SENECIO JACOBAEA IN NORTHWEST MONTANA
… insects is a common strategy for controlling plant invasions. However, the efficacy of biological control agents in controlling their host plants is rarely quantified population level. I quantified the impact of a specialist biological control agent, the cinnabar moth <i>(Tyria jacobaeae)</i> …
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