IMPROVING FOREST RESILIENCE IN RESPONSE TO CRITICAL ECOLOGICAL STRESSORS: DEER, INVASIVE PLANT SPECIES, AND CLIMATE CHANGE

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: TERMINATED
• Funding Source: MCINTIRE-STENNIS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1000074
• Project No.: NJ17340
• Project Start Date: Jul 11, 2013
• Project End Date: Jun 30, 2016

Project Director
Handel, ST.

Recipient Organization
RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
3 RUTGERS PLZA
NEW BRUNSWICK,NJ 08901-8559

Performing Department
Ecology, Evolution & Natural Resources

Non Technical Summary
Many forests are failing to regenerate, make new individuals, because of damage to seedlings by a huge population of deer and the abundance of invasive plants sweeping through the region. Many economically important trees are at risk, as is the quality of habitat around these trees. Also, climate change, especially summer drought, is expected to increase tree mortality and decrease the initiation rate of new seedlings. If we can better understand pragmatic ways to decrease the impact of these stressors, we can improve forest products and the ecological services such as ground water protection and air quality that woodlots give us. Our experiments in the field, at an ancient, publically owned forest near the university, will isolate and measure the effect of eliminating deer damage and invasive plant removal, measured against the condition of adjacent control areas, to try to give us new ideas forimproving and sustainingforest resources. These results will be communicated in scientific and public media to increase information and awareness of the problems facing our woodlots and the proactive steps needed to increase their value.

Animal Health Component

0%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

60%

Applied

40%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
123	0620	1070	70%
123	0430	1070	20%
135	0620	1070	10%

Knowledge Area
135 - Aquatic and Terrestrial Wildlife; 123 - Management and Sustainability of Forest Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
0430 - Climate; 0620 - Broadleaf forests of the North;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Keywords

invasive plant damage

deer hebivory

hutcheson memorial forest

old growth forest

tree seedling recuuitment

climate change

new jersey

Goals / Objectives
This research project will test ecological protocols for sustainable natural forest habitat and long-term forest resources in the face of modern environmental stressors, over-abundant white-tailed deer, invasive plant species competition, and climate change. Test and control plots will be designed to study short- and long-term changes as these stressors are managed. Modern mapping techniques, never used before here, will enable us to follow stand community structure precisely. During the study, data will be collected on the response of the forest vegetation communities, tree population dynamics, and wildlife to experimental treatments addressing both deer herbivory and invasive plant populations. These data will be compared with long-term forest structure information which is in hand, a unique situation for our region. These data will then be used to model the future trajectory of this old-growth forest under different management practices as the climate change regime unfolds. This will precisely identify the impact of new stressors and the ecological rational for new management techniques, which will be communicated to the land management professionals. In addition, the baseline forest structure data developed here will be a permanent foundation for additional studies as new stressors are identified and their impact atthe test site (Hutcheson Memorial Forest, or HMF)recorded in the coming decades. All experimental work and data collection and analyses will involve undergraduate and graduate students in the ecological disciplines, advancing the training of future forest professionals.

Project Methods
Map existing habitat conditions. We will map all trees and saplings within areas of old growth and adjacent mature forest. We will map using GPS, and tag all trees >10 cm dbh in the fenced portion of the forest as well as an adjacent, unfenced forested area. This data will establish a long-term dataset to understand tree dynamics. Monitor response to treatments. Monitoring in the summer of 2013 (year 1) would provide a baseline of the current status of plant communities and tree populations (age classes) in the forest. In years 2 and 3, monitoring will determine changes after immediate removal of these stressors. Preliminary work has shown that response can be rapid (Knight, et al., 2009). Very significant differences of protected vs. unprotected sites are expected, based on other, less extensive pilot studies. The novelty here is that we will remove BOTH deer and invasive plants. We have the ability to look at plants and birds with our staff's skills. With the new fence installed we can have one of the key locations for understanding climate change over the coming years, just as Hubbard Brook did for nutrient cycling. Birds are highly responsive to vegetation change, and we have decades of data from the past to draw upon here. HMF can be the regional monitoring site for woodlot health and change. These data will establish a new long-term dataset, adding significantly to an understanding of forest dynamics and management in suburban woodlot settings. Compare data sets with historic trajectories. In year three, we will compare the outcome in each treatment type with the known historic vegetation before the stressors appeared. This can determine which species are naturally being recruited today, which species have been extirpated locally, and which species have had their reproductive status changed by the presence of the deer and invasive plant problems. This will inform management needs, such as proactively adding species which have been eliminated by these plagues. If some species from historic data setsnaturally reappear, we will know that seed pools or regional seed dispersal processes are still intact. These data are critical for future sustainable management practices. Model future trajectories. We will also use these data to explore forest change, using a model such as the Forest Vegetation Simulator, FVS (Dixon 2002), under different conditions: 1) current climatic conditions with and without deer herbivory effects; 2) current climatic conditions with and without invasive species removal; 3) climate change scenarios using IPCC climate models (increases of 7-14 oF in winter and 6-12 oF in summer, increase of winter precipitation of 20-30%, increase in the severity of summer droughts by the year 2100); and 4) climate change scenarios with and without deer herbivory in conjunction with invasive plant removal. FVS was developed by the US Forest Service to predict the effects of disturbances on forest composition and structure. It is used throughout the Forest Service and academic communities to inform land managers. Recently, the Climate-FVS was developed to predict the effects of climate change (Crookston et al. 2010). Recommend BMP in mature woods. Results of these experimental treatments will be communicated, not only in the normal scientific literature, but also through white papers at the experiment stations websites and through our partners, such as the website of the Duke Farms Foundation. We regularly run workshops for land management professionals as part of our restoration ecology program. These data will be highlighted as the most modern available information for effects of these management treatments on the future of our woodlands. Train future forest professionals. All phases of the experimental setup, data collection and analysis, and report writing will involve ecological undergraduate and graduate students in our program and from other institutions. This project will directly advance the training of future forest ecology professionals. Efforts to cause change Results from this research will be communicated to cause positive change in several ways: formal classroom instruction in ecology and restoration courses including fieldtrip exercises; workshops for lands managers through Rutgers and our non-profit partners; experiential learning opportunities through our Master Environmental Stewards program; articles in the print mediathataddress woodlot improvements and their importance. Evaluation of our efforts All written, scientific reports are peer reviewed by members of the profession to accuracy, relevance, and timeliness before publication. Classroom and workshop instruction always includes written, quantitative, confidential evaluation of the teaching quality and effectiveness of the materials covered. Additionally, we will ask workshop participants to report back on habitats and locations where management ischanged as a result of applying the findings from this research. All material posted on our website is reviewed for number of visitors to that material.

Progress 07/11/13 to 06/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:University classes and environmental public tours of the site were informed about the thrust and importance of this research program. Classes from Rutgers and regional community colleges were visitors to the field plots. Lectures and reports to the broader scientist community will be addressed as the longer-term data sets are completed. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Throughout this project, field and lab work used PhD graduate students in ecology and natural resources and undergraduate majors in ecology and evolution from our unit. In addition, classes from our large undergraduate Ecology Major have been taken to the site, each term, to understand the thrust and methodology of this experiment, as part of their undergraduate experience. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Public and professional meeting audiences have been addressed, introducing them to the import of this ancient virgin forest and the various threats to its fate, and how this experimental program will assist us in understanding the relative importance of those threats and what actions can be taken to mitigate the problems. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? To understand the impact of these stressors, we completed a 4km long, 3m tall metal mesh fence around this ancient forest, then did a deer drive to chase out the resident deer. (One section of the fence was left open until the deer were driven, then immediately closed up. The fence is checked weekly for damage (falling limbs, vandalism) and repaired as necessary to keep the forest remnant free of re-invading deer. Over one thousand trees in the forest were tagged, measured, and mapped with modern GPS equipment, to allow a precise long-term data set of tree performance to be developed. This will continue beyond the term of this grant study, with private donations and university research funds. All set-up of the experimental plots is completed and analysis of the performance of the individual plots is being completed, now that the growing season has ended for 2016. The computer modelling of forest growth has been delayed as the U.S. Forest Service has not completed and tested the modelling software that was to be used for this aspect of our work. The software in now three years late in development. We have emphasized the field performance and plot data more intensively as the modelling side project is awaiting final software development. Continued analysis of these data in hand and of new data in the now-established test areas will allow ecological change to be recording concurrently with changes in the physical and biotic environments. We have established a university-supported protocol for maintaining the deer-proof fence into the future.

Publications

Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:This experiment is done in the Rutgers research forest which is not open to the public except for guided tours with a member of our science staff. During this period we led groups of the interested public into the site twice a month and explained the impact of invasive species on forest health and our work to understand effects and ways to mitigate negative effects. We also brought University plant ecology classes to the site during the fall to show them experimental techniques for improving forest health and to give them in some detail the story of how climate change and invasives are damaging our natural resources. Finally the 4 km long deer-proof fence was completed during this period and we had 90 members of the University community come to help drive out deer before the gates were closed. The metal fence is 3m tall, paid for with University funds, not this grant. This allowed us to explain to a wider group the issues facing our State's forests and the new threats to their sustainability. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During this reporting period, we have involved two graduate students in ecology and four undergraduates who are ecology and landscape architecture majors in the plot maintenance and data collection activities. Included in this group was a student who is expert on bird identification, by song and sight. Also, the experimental work is shown to university field classes in ecology as an example of field-based forestry research to understand our changing physical and biotic world. The training of these students are supervised by our two PhD-level staff and the PI faculty member working on this project. These people have significant experience and expertise in these experimental approaches and in this forest, in particular. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Intensive recording of the plant regeneration in each plot will begin in the spring and continue through the early fall. This will allow us to see patterns of forest regeneration in the current conditions and with the deer fence totally installed before the 2016 growing season. In addition we will record the bird life in each plot again to begin the long-term data set of change as the forest regenerates with the fence and in plots with and without invasive plant species. Thousands of trees have been tagged and statistical analysis of their distribution and size will be recorded towards understanding the dynamics of this ancient woods. Modelling of effects of different regeneration schedules will be completed and vegetation change in the various plots and treatments will be recorded. The field collection of plant species and abundance data will be a major activity and time need during the 2015 growing season.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We have set up all the experimental plots, including removal again of thousands of invasive plants from one treatment of plots, mapped (physically and by modern GPS units) all other plots, collected data of the vegetation type and species abundances in all plots, and identified, mapped, and permanently tagged trees in and around the plots. These datasets are all necessary to advance the understanding of forest change under the changing conditions. The 3 m high metal fence was completed finally and we conducted an intense deer Drive to push out deer from the old forest. We have a new protocol to allow inspection of the fence every week and after major storms to make sure that the fence is not damaged by falling tree limbs and so on. This inspection and repair procedure will continue weekly for the life of the study. This growing season we also recorded birdlife in each plot from spring through fall and started recording appearance of new seedlings under each of the experimental treatments.

Publications

Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: The plots are used for education to two distinct groups: undergraduate students in ecology and biological science visit the plots during supervised class field trips to learn field experimental techniques and the concepts of dynamic forest change and the impact of stressors (climate change, invasive plantspecies) with superabundant deer populations. Second, we do regularly scheduled public tours of the site, supervised by staff ecologists, for people who are interested in environmental issues and the condition of Hutcheson Memorial Forest, a famous, National Natural Landscape, site. In these ways the importance of the project is communicated to two populations. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? During this reporting period, we have closely involved a graduate student in ecology and three undergraduates who are ecology and landscape majors in the plot preparation and data collection chores. Also, the ongoing work is shown to university field classes in ecology as an example of field-based forestry research to understand our changing physical and biotic world. The training of these students are supervised by our two PhD-level staff working on this project and the professor-in-charge. Thee people have significant experience and expertise in these experimental approaches and in this forest, in particular. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results are still being obtained, and significant public reporting will occur in future years. However, public hearingsand meetings with Township officials have already explained the destruction to biodiversity in this forest and the need for this experimental program to secure and advance forest resources. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? During the next year of work, the deer-proof fence will be completed and the remaining deer population driven out. Tagging, measuring and GPS mappingof all trees in the sample site will be completed and computer based data collection sheets created. Modelling of effects of different regeneration schedules will be completed and vegetation change in the various plots and treatments will be recorded. The field collection of plant speciesand abundance data will be a major activity and time need during the 2015 growing season.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? During this year of work, we have made major progress on several fronts: We have set up all the experimental plots, including removal of thousands of invasive plants from one treatment of plots, mapped (physically and by modern GPS units) all other plots, collected data of the vegetation type and species abundances in all plots, and identified, mapped, and permanently tagged over 2,000 trees in and around the plots. These data sets are all necessary to advance the understanding of forest change under the changing conditions. Also, one aspect of the work is the impact of deer removal. Super-abundant deer have been shown as a major stress to forest health in this region. During the year we have obtained the three state permits needed to install the deer-proof fence, completed the university process to obtaincompetitive bids to install the 4km long fence in a cost-effective manner, secured funding for the fence from non-federal sources,retained a prodessional surveyor to identify the exact location of HMF boundaries and fence location, and communicated to the Township and to adjacent neighbors the importance and necessaity of this fence initiative and how this will allow the experimental program we are undertaking to advance. The township officials, in particular, are fully supportive of this initiative and are assisting with the public understanding needs. These data sets, now in hand, will allow the work of this coming year, hange and recovery of vegetation, additional tagging of adjacent tree vegetation, and modelling of forest dynamics in the various treatment conditions.

Publications

Progress 07/11/13 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience: This project was initiated in July, 2013. Audience during this set-up stage includes undergraduate classes in ecology at Rutgers, researchers at the Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution, general public that attends weekly tours of the Hutcheson Memorial Forest (led by members of our staff), and readers of the website for our forest facility. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? This project is an excellent one for undergraduates and graduate students in our large Ecology and Evolution major and Graduate Program. This is where we select our field workers and data collecton teams. Also, field trips from several ecology classes to this forest are informed about this work, and its relevance to modern climate change questions in community ecology. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? We do regular field trips for registered students and the general public. In future reporting periods, of course, there will be published reports and interviews with the media. The experimental site, Hutcheson Memorial Forest, is famous in New Jersey and beyond, and reporters are always glad to be informed of new initiatives here. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We will complete the experimental set-up and fence construction and initiate the base line data sets in the various treatments.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The initial three months of this project, starting in July 1, 2013, included set-up of the expermental plots. First weinterviewed, selected, and trained undergraduates and a graduate student in plant ecology who were the summer staff for this work. they continued work into the fall of 2013 (the next reporting period), concentrating on invasive plantremovals. The initial tasks in this reporting period were mapping of proposed experimental plots, discovery of past experimental plots with floristics data sets, to compare to the data we will be generating, and removal of invasive herbaceous and woody plant species from the appropriate plots. This is time-intensive. Also we are completing the legal paperwork for the deer-proof fence that will surround many of the plots.Woody debris from Hurricane Sandy's impact on the foresthas to be removed to allow the fence to be properly installed. These manual labor chores are necessary before the biological work can commence.

Publications