scholarly journals Metabolomic responses of indigenous and nonindigenous plants to deer exclosure fencing and deer herbivory in a suburban forest

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet A. Morrison ◽  
Melkamu Woldemariam
Keyword(s):  
Forest Understory ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
Percent Cover ◽  
Rosa Multiflora ◽  
Euonymus Alatus ◽  
Lindera Benzoin ◽  
Deer Herbivory ◽  
Deer Browse ◽  
Nyssa Sylvatica

Trees and shrubs in suburban forest understories can be subject to chronic herbivory from abundant white-tailed deer. An undocumented consequence of this stress may be shifts in secondary metabolite production associated with defense. We aimed to learn whether plants protected from deer exhibited different metabolomic profiles compared to those exposed to deer. We tested the indigenous species Nyssa sylvatica and Lindera benzoin and the invasive, nonindigenous species Rosa multiflora and Euonymus alatus within a suburban forest understory in New Jersey, USA, in unfenced plots and plots fenced for 5.3 years. We did untargeted metabolomics by sampling leaves from three plants of each species per 6-7 fenced and unfenced plots, conducting chloroform-methanol extractions followed by LC-MS/MS, and conducting statistical analysis on Metaboanalyst. We also scored each species for deer browse frequency over eight years, and compared their heights and percent cover between unfenced and fenced plots. The analysis identified 2,333 metabolites. The global metabolome diverged significantly between fenced and unfenced plots pooled across species, but for individual species only N. sylvatica exhibited a significant fencing effect. Nyssa sylvatica was one of the most browsed species and was the only one with both greater cover and height in fenced plots, suggesting greater susceptibility to deer browsing. The metabolites most responsible for the fenced/unfenced divergence also were affected by the species-fencing combination, with increases in certain species but decreases in others. The most significant metabolites that were upregulated in fenced plants include some involved in defense-related metabolic pathways, e.g. monoterpenoid biosynthesis. Further study of more species in multiple sites is needed to learn how common metabolomic responses to deer are among forest species, how the intensity of deer pressure influences the responses, which types of metabolites are most affected, and if there are ecological consequences at the physiological, population, and/or community levels.

scholarly journals Allometric Equations for the Aboveground Biomass of Selected Common Eastern Hardwood Understory Species

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 160-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvette L. Dickinson ◽  
Eric K. Zenner
Keyword(s):  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Vaccinium Corymbosum ◽  
Allometric Equations ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
Rosa Multiflora ◽  
Basal Diameter ◽  
Understory Species ◽  
Elaeagnus Umbellata ◽  
Fit Index

Abstract Allometric equations were formulated for predicting the aboveground biomass of six groups of forest understory species (Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb.], blueberry [Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton, Vaccinium corymbosum L., and Vaccinium pallidum Aiton], hawthorn [Crataegus spp.], honeysuckle [Lonicera spp.], multiflora rose [Rosa multiflora Thunb.], and viburnum [Viburnum acerifolium L. and Viburnum dentatum L.]) common to Eastern hardwoods using basal diameter and/or height. As measured by fit index, basal diameter or height alone explained between 51 and 93% of the variation in oven-dry weight; this increased to 75‐96% when both basal diameter and height were used as predictors. Data were collected at four sites throughout Pennsylvania, but an evaluation of the importance of site as a blocking factor found site not to be statistically significant; therefore, the equations presented here may be used in a variety of forested sites within the greater mid-Atlantic region.

Holes and the sums of parts in Ghanaian forest: regeneration, scale and sustainable use

1996 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. 75-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. D. Hawthorne
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Hierarchical Model ◽  
Threatened Species ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Forest Health ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Heat Index ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Indigenous Species

SynopsisThe current state of Ghana's forest is summarised. Considerable changes have occurred in the last decade, since Hall & Swaine's account and classification, due mainly to fire and logging. The requirements and potential for sustainable forest use are explored through a summary of patterns of regeneration, and of local and national distribution of individual species.Incisive indices of forest quality and condition are vital to good forest management. Various forest quality indices, summarising different properties of the plant community, are examined. These indices gloss over the statistically noisy behaviour of single species in small forest areas. The indices are: Forest Type – Hall & Swaine's forest ordination and classification; a Pioneer Index (PI) revealing the balance of ‘regeneration guilds’; a Genetic Heat Index (GHI), based mainly on the rarity value (Star rating) of all forest species, highlighting ‘hotspots’; and an Economic Index (EI) based on the concentration of common species (‘reddish Stars’) threatened by exploitation. Guild and Star are defined for all species and encapsulate trends of local and of global distribution and ecology. The national and local patterns and response to disturbance of the indices derived from the representation of these various guilds and stars are discussed.Scale is crucial to all discussions. A strictly hierarchical model of forest ecology/biogeography is less suitable than a continuum-of-significant-scale, and non-hierarchical model. For instance, refugia are usually perceived as discrete biogeographical units. However, major biological ‘hotspots’, which are often described as refugia and attributed to Pleistocene climatic variation, differ only in position along a continuum of scale from mini-refugia as small as individual plants. The biogeographic Dahomey gap has much in common with a canopy gap, with scale as the main distinction.There are conspicuous trends across Ghana's forests in the abundance of pioneer, rare or economic species. These differ in detail, but ‘hysteresis’ – the forest memory – and other factors related to the concept of refugia apply to all these aspects of forest quality. Major hotspot refugia are crucial to the national framework of biodiversity, but local refugia, between the size of individual plants and single forest blocks, are crucial to local regeneration and sustainable use, as they shape the probability cloud which defines the anatomy of and processes within each species' range. Short-term sustainable use depends on local refugia; longer-term sustainability requires maintenance of refugia on a wider range of scale.The implications of these phenomena to forest management are discussed in conclusion. Forest health is a multi-scale, but particularly a broad-scale, phenomenon. Local processes like the regeneration of forest under canopy gaps, are subordinate to larger-scale patterns and not determined simply by a match between species physiology and gap dynamics or patterns in the physical environment. Success of a species in a certain landscape does not automatically imply the species can be successful in similar conditions in a different landscape elsewhere: the context of the landscape in terms of the broader mosaic is also important. Managers, whether of plantations or natural forest, need to monitor, plan, and protect indigenous species on all scales. Forest managers need also to be aware of and work with the ‘forest memory’ factor. Protective measures for rare or economically threatened species should be based on current refugia and, like them, be arranged on all scales from single trees to large forest blocks.Researchers need to pay more attention to processes between the ecological and biogeographical, if they are to provide information for managers which has a useful synergy with existing types of data. Exploration is needed of the anatomy of the ‘probability clouds’ defining the statistics of dispersal and regeneration of rare or threatened species with respect to parent populations. What are the chances of a mahogany establishing at a point 500 metres from a mother tree? How is this statistic influenced by soil type? There is much to be learnt on scales between the canopy and the Dahomey Gap.

Impacts and Best Management Practices for Erect Veldtgrass (Ehrharta erecta)

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtenay A. Ray ◽  
Joel J. Sherman ◽  
Anna L. Godinho ◽  
Nikki Hanson ◽  
Ingrid M. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Best Management Practices ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
Evergreen Forest ◽  
Percent Cover ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Optimal Method

AbstractErect veldtgrass (Ehrharta erecta Lam.) is an invasive grass actively spreading in California that is capable of invading multiple habitats. Our objective is to contribute to a better understanding of the ecology, impacts, and potential for control of E. erecta in order to guide management practices. In a mixed-evergreen forest in Santa Cruz County, we measured impacts of E. erecta on native plant species richness and abundance in an observational comparison across 11 sites. Strikingly, we measured nearly four times greater total vegetation cover in plots invaded by E. erecta. However, native plants were not significantly less abundant in invaded plots than in reference plots, and native cover was not significantly predicted by E. erecta cover within invaded plots. We did, however, find evidence of change in community composition in response to E. erecta abundance. Our findings demonstrate that native species can persist in the presence of E. erecta, although the long-term impacts on populations of the perennial plants that dominate this forest understory are still unknown.We also compared the effectiveness of mechanical (hand pulling with volunteers) and chemical (glyphosate) management methods. Twenty-two months following management treatments, we found substantial reductions in E. erecta using both mechanical and herbicide treatments, but herbicide application also produced greater reductions in native species cover and species richness. Transplanting native yerba buena [Clinopodium douglasii (Benth.) Kuntze] into management plots following treatment did not slow regrowth of E. erecta. It did, however, increase total native plant percent cover in herbicide and pull treatments, although largely by increasing C. douglasii cover. Effective management is possible using either manual or chemical removal methods; the optimal method may depend on the availability of manual labor and the sensitivity of the habitat to non-target effects on native plants.

Vegetation development on reclaimed lands in the Coal Valley Mine of western Alberta, Canada

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
W L Strong
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Pinus Contorta ◽  
Plant Cover ◽  
Ground Surface ◽  
Plant Litter ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
Vegetation Development ◽  
Reduced Height

Revegetated lands within the Coal Valley Mine were sampled for species composition, woody plant frequencies, and tree heights. The vegetation on 68 sampled sites was dominated by a mixture of Festuca rubra L. and Trifolium repens L. Four distinctive plant communities were present. A Lodgepole pine/Willow/Lindley's aster community represented the most advanced stage of forest development, having a multilayered structure and composed primarily of indigenous species, although only 19 years old. Deciduous shrubs and trees (<50 cm tall) occurred on 43% of the sites (mean 364 plants/ha). Salicaceae were the primary species. Total plant cover averaged >85% in all community types with plant litter covering >75% of the ground surface. There were 123 plant species found growing on the mine with 77% indigenous species, although they represented <5% of the total vegetation cover. The height of planted Pinus contorta Loudon and Picea glauca (Moench) Voss were modelled over a 24-year period. Both species had reduced height growth and significant attrition for several years after planting. On average, however, surviving trees had 8- and 14-year heights similar to local provincial reforestation standards. It is hypothesized that tree canopy closure is a key factor in facilitating the naturalization of forest understory vegetation on reclaimed lands.Key words: succession, plant community development, afforestation, perturbation.

scholarly journals Habitat eradication and cropland intensification may reduce parasitoid diversity and natural pest control services in annual crop fields

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah K. Letourneau ◽  
Sara G. Bothwell Allen ◽  
Robert R. Kula ◽  
Michael J. Sharkey ◽  
John O. Stireman III
Keyword(s):  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Natural Vegetation ◽  
Cabbage Looper ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Percent Cover ◽  
Brussels Sprouts ◽  
Cabbage Aphid ◽  
Parasitism Rates ◽  
Parasitoid Richness

Abstract California’s central coast differs from many agricultural areas in the U.S., which feature large tracts of monoculture production fields and relatively simple landscapes. Known as the nations salad bowl, and producing up to 90% of U.S. production of lettuces, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, this region is a mosaic of fresh vegetable fields, coastal meadow, chaparral shrubs, riparian and woodland habitat. We tested for relationships between the percent cover of crops, riparian and other natural landscape vegetation and the species richness of parasitic wasps and flies foraging in crops, such as broccoli, kale and cauliflower, and interpreted our results with respect to the decrease in natural habitat and increase in cropland cover prompted by a local microbial contamination event in 2006. Our key results are that: (1) as cropland cover in the landscape increased, fewer species of parasitoids were captured in the crop field, (2) parasitoid richness overall was positively associated with the amount of riparian and other natural vegetation in the surrounding 500m, (3) different groups of parasitoids were associated with unique types of natural vegetation, and (4) parasitism rates of sentinel cabbage aphid and cabbage looper pests were correlated with landscape vegetation features according to which parasitoids caused the mortality. Although individual species of parasitoids may thrive in landscapes that are predominantly short season crops, the robust associations found in this study across specialist and generalist parasitoids and different taxa (tachinid flies, ichneumon wasps, braconid wasps) shows that recent food safety practices targeting removal of natural vegetation around vegetable fields in an attempt to eliminate wildlife may harm natural enemy communities and reduce ecosystem services. We argue that enhancing biological diversity is a key goal for transforming agroecosystems for future productivity, sustainability and public health.

scholarly journals Monitoring Non-indigenous Species in Port Habitats: First Application of a Standardized North American Protocol in the Mediterranean Sea

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Tamburini ◽  
Erica Keppel ◽  
Agnese Marchini ◽  
Michele F. Repetto ◽  
Gregory M. Ruiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Environmental Research ◽  
Monitoring Site ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
Percent Cover ◽  
Fouling Communities ◽  
Ligurian Sea ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Monitoring Protocols ◽  
Non Indigenous Species

Baseline port monitoring for fouling communities is an essential tool to assess non-indigenous species (NIS) introduction and spread, but a standardized and coordinated method among Mediterranean and European countries has not yet been adopted. In this context, it is important to test monitoring protocols that allow for the collection of standardized and directly comparable data, replicated across time and space. Here, for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, we tested a standardized protocol developed by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and used now in several countries. The 3-year monitoring survey (2018–2020) was conducted in the Gulf of La Spezia (Ligurian Sea, Italy), with the deployment of a total of 50 PVC panels per year in five different sites (a commercial harbor, three marinas and a site in the proximity of a shellfish farm). A total of 79 taxa were identified, including 11 NIS, ranging from zero to seven NIS for each panel. In comparison with previous surveys, new NIS arrivals were observed in the Gulf of La Spezia: Botrylloides cf. niger, Branchiomma sp., Branchiomma luctuosum, Paraleucilla magna, and Watersipora arcuata. At the end of the 3-year monitoring, mean richness? and percent cover of NIS were measured, and both measures differed across the monitoring sites, with higher values in two marinas and in the commercial harbor. Among years, richness of NIS was relatively stable at each monitoring site. The structure of the fouling was influenced more by native and cryptogenic species than by NIS. Moreover, among the monitoring sites, the density of artificial structures was not a reliable predictor or proxy for local NIS abundance. This first application of the SERC method in the Mediterranean Sea, demonstrates both pros and cons, including the detection of new NIS reported here. Further direct comparisons with other NIS monitoring tools are recommended, and additional tests to assess its effectiveness in this biogeographical area are encouraged. A broader application of this and other standard methods across temporal and spatial scales in the Mediterranean basin should be implemented, providing critical data needed to assess changes in the structure of fouling communities.

Comparing power among three sampling methods for monitoring forest vegetation

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Johnson ◽  
E. L. Mudrak ◽  
E. A. Beever ◽  
S. Sanders ◽  
D. M. Waller
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Forest Vegetation ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Understory Composition ◽  
Tree Communities ◽  
Understory Communities ◽  
Composite Variables

We compared three methods of sampling forest vegetation for their ability to reliably estimate changes in species richness, plant abundance, and overstory basal area and composition. Methods include the US Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) method and two other methods being considered for use in monitoring National Parks in the Northern Great Lakes ecoregion. All methods were successful at detecting changes in composite variables but lacked sufficient enough power to detect a 20% change in the abundance of most individual species. All three methods had high power for detecting changes in overstory tree communities but differed greatly in their ability to track shifts in understory composition and diversity. Although complete walk-through surveys of all species present provided adequate power for tracking changes in diversity, sampling only 12 ground layer quadrats limited the power of the FIA method. Methods that sample the understory more intensively provide a better balance of sampling effort and provide higher power to detect changes in forest understory communities. Aggregating data across sites of similar habitat also provides more powerful estimates of change.

scholarly journals Effects of overstory structure and fire regime upon diversity and abundance of selected understory species in longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests in southeastern Georgia

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (No. 9) ◽  
pp. 395-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Keith Moser ◽  
Yu Chui Kwan
Keyword(s):  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Percent Cover ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Fire Return Interval ◽  
Return Interval

We examined the impacts of variation in overstory structure and burning regime on understory vegetation in the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forest of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Georgia, U.S.A. On sandy upland sites surrounding the Okefenokee Swamp and on islands, we established five randomly-located 0.04-ha plots within each of six study areas. The plots varied in overstory density, past management and fire regime. We measured overstory tree size of longleaf pines in the 0.04-ha plots and percent cover of ground cover species in five 1-m2 subplots nested within each 0.04-ha plot. We also calculated diversity indices for the ground cover species. There was no significant relationship between overstory basal area and any diversity measure. Even at the subplot level, there was no significant relationship observed between the diversity measures and distance to the nearest tree, presumably a surrogate for overstory density. The diameter (DBH) of the nearest tree exhibited a slight influence over the Shannon Index, and the nearest tree&rsquo;s height was significantly related to evenness in each subplot. There were varied relationships between individual species and fire regime or nearest tree measurements. There was a definite, but statistically insignificant, trend of decreasing diversity with increasing years since the last burn. Height of the nearest tree positively influen&shy;ced evenness, probably reflecting the influence of stochasticity and amount of needle deposition (influencing fire behavior) over a wide area. Within the generally equal fire-return interval across sites, individual fire-events and site-specific behavior apparently influence understory diversity. It is not surprising that the last burn would affect species richness, even more so than the number of growing-season burns, other studies support this observation. The presence of obligate seeding and (clonal) sprouting as dominants in the ground cover suggests that the fire-return interval is not regular. The cycling of fire-return intervals, even within the manage&shy;ment-prescribed 2- to 4-year range, and the variation by microsite appear to provide sufficient variability of disturbance to create diversity in the ground-level cohort. Site-specific relationships between particular species and the nearest tree suggest that even a narrowly-prescribed fire management regime can provide sufficient diversity.

Impacts of agricultural land use on the floristics, diversity and life-form composition of a temperate grassy woodland

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 169 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. D. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Life Form ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Conservation Management ◽  
Floristic Composition ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Shrub Species ◽  
Form Type ◽  
Agricultural Impact

This opportunistic study examines the impacts of cropping and grazing management on a eucalypt grassy woodland in northern Victoria. The woodland is an area of uniformity in abiotic attributes, and with significant anecdotal similarity in pre-European floristic composition and abundance. Permanent vegetation quadrats were established within the now named Dookie Bushland Reserve, a 270 ha remnant of White and Grey Box grassy woodland located at Dookie College in northern Victoria. Density and cover for all species, as well as life form type, were evaluated within quadrats in 1992, when agricultural land uses ceased and conservation management was instigated. Results indicate that agricultural impact over a 27 year period had contributed to significant declines in the number and cover of indigenous species, and had resulted in the significant increase in the number and cover of introduced species. The loss of shrub species, juvenile eucalypts, and the dominance of tussock-forming indigenous grasses with increased agricultural impact was observed. Individual species responded differently to increased agricultural impacts. Some species, particularly non-tussock forming indigenous grasses and introduced annuals, were promoted in establishment and cover by increased impact, while others, most notably Orchidaceae and Liliaceae, were intolerant of any impact. Certain groups of indigenous species, particularly the Asteraceae and tussock forming indigenous grasses, were reduced significantly in cover by increasing impact. Grazing increased proportions of therophytic (annuals) and/or hemicryptophytic (rosette-forming) forbs, while lesser impacted sites contained a greater diversity of forbs, greater evenness across life form types, and greater proportions of perennial phanerophytes, chamaephytes and cryptophytes, and with fewer therophytes.

Contrasting responses of lichens and Vaccinium angustifolium to long-term acidification of a boreal forest ecosystem

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 579-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha G. Scott ◽  
Thomas C. Hutchinson ◽  
Marilyn J. Feth
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Growth Parameters ◽  
Light Attenuation ◽  
Net Photosynthesis ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
Permanent Plots ◽  
Percent Cover ◽  
Vaccinium Angustifolium ◽  
Understory Species

Over a 5-year period, we investigated the effects of simulated acidic precipitation on boreal forest understory species. Percent cover, net photosynthetic rate, and growth of three species of subarctic lichens were evaluated. Throughout the growing season, Cladina stellaris, Cladina rangiferina, and Cladina mitis, along with the associated vascular perennial, Vaccinium angustifolium, received twice-monthly sprays of artificial rain adjusted to pH 5.6, 4.0, 3.5, 3.0, or 2.5 using a 2:1 ratio of sulfuric to nitric acids. Changes in percent cover of the flora in permanent plots were measured annually during treatment years and then for a 6th year to monitor postspray recovery. Following 5 years of spraying, combined cover values for the three lichen species had decreased by up to 27% in plots sprayed with rain of less than pH 4.0, while percent cover of V. angustifolium had increased by 55 %. Although losses in net photosynthesis of 65% occurred for lichens receiving rains of pH 2.5, differences were not significant and data were highly variable. However, increasing acidity of the sprays significantly suppressed mean podetial height and dry weight of C. stellaris and C. mitis. The effect on these lichens of shading by the potential competitor V. angustifolium was investigated in a companion study, and it was concluded that the growth suppression of C. stellaris was most likely related to rainfall acidity and not to light attenuation. Cladina mitis was more sensitive to low light levels. Although adversely affected by rain of pH 2.5, C. rangiferina showed stimulation of a number of growth parameters in plots sprayed with rain of pH 3.0. It was concluded that responses of boreal understory species are variable and complex, and that several species (i.e., C. rangiferina and V. angustifolium) are tolerant of rainfall of less than pH 3.5.

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