Progress 01/01/15 to 12/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences reached during this reporting period have included: staff of the Wayne National Forest; scientists of USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, the Nature Conservancy, and several universities; university undergraduate and graduate students; and participants at meetings (e.g., Society of American Foresters 2018 National Convention, The Wildlife Society 2018 Annual Conference). Individuals from these and other groups have expressed interest and requested information as a result of our project during our presentations. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During this research project we have focused on involving and mentoring both graduate and undergraduate students. Four graduate students have been actively involved in the project, and three of them completed their Master of Science theses. The fourth student has collected the data that will be needed to develop their graduate thesis research. We hired and then trained two new undergraduate students each summer to assist with data collection during the field season. These students gained valuable field experience by assisting us with relocation, the resampling of the permanent plots, and data entry and management. Jointly we supervised the students as they completed all the data entry and checking of the data sets for accuracy. We also employed part-time undergraduate students enrolled in our School to assist with the data sets and equipment maintenance. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have begun to present results from our work at several conferences, conventions, and meetings (e.g., 2016-2019 Society of American Foresters National Conventions) . In a major peer-reviewed article published in 2018 in Forest Ecology and Management, we examined the structural and compositional shifts in forests undergoing mesophication in southeastern Ohio. As chronicled in the Products section, we have had several opportunities to formally present various aspects of this research project at a diversity of professional society and other meetings. The posters and papers we presented at the Society of American Foresters National Conventions were all published in abstract form later in the Journal of Forestry. We have also made presentations explaining how we were assessing change in hardwood forests of the Wayne National Forest of southeastern Ohio (during the 2017 Sustaining oak forests in the 21st century through science-based management Oak Symposium, in Knoxville, TN; and in 2018 at the Central Hardwood Conference in Bloomington, IN). Over the past four years, we have been asked to present research results on multiple occasions to Wayne National Forest, Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Division of Forestry, and Northern Research Station staff, including as part of the work collectively to develop a collaborative and stewardship partnership of forests across southeastern Ohio. In 2019 we provided summary data from our project to be included in the Wayne National Forest assessment phase of their Forest Plan Revision. We will continue to interact with our collaborators about our plans for future field work and analyses, as well as sharing research results, answering questions, and addressing their concerns. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Although this project has terminated, a new project has been initiated that involved this research focal area in southeastern Ohio. We plan to continue the field work of plot relocation and resampling on the third and final unit (Ironton) of the Wayne National Forest. We will again collaborate with our USDA Forest Service cooperators to obtain the necessary equipment and GIS layers for navigation purposes in the field. We plan to resample all the remaining plots on the Ironton Unit that can be correctly relocated. As in the past, we will enter the new data collected on office days during 2020.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this reporting period, we continued analyses of data collected on the Athens and Marietta Units of the Wayne National Forest. As previously reported, we completed the planned data collection on both units of 100 and 88 relocated permanent plots, respectively. Over the 2019 field season, we partially completed the same work on about 40% of the plots on the Ironton Unit. The main focus of this research project is examining the regional compositional shifts and successional trends by remeasuring permanent sample plots in unglaciated southeastern Ohio that were originally established in 1992-1995. A major accomplishment for the Athens Unit was documenting that one of the largest differences after 22 years was that the relative density of red maple (Acer rubrum) large saplings had increased by 25% on uplands, while oaks were no longer recorded in this layer on these ecosystem types. Also, we found an unexpected increase of 15% in the relative density of American beech (Fagus grandifolia) large saplings on southwest-facing upper slopes. Overall, we are addressing our objective of modeling changes in specific forest ecosystem types undergoing mesophication in the Central Appalachian region. Since the foundational taxa of oak (Quercus spp.) and hickory (Carya spp.) are failing to replace themselves in these forests and shade-tolerant, mesophytic tree species are increasingly common in the understory, we investigated in detail the sapling density patterns in relation to selected topographic, edaphic, and stand structural factors using a generalized linear modelling approach. Overall, American beech sapling density nearly doubled between the two sampling periods, while both maple species declined in sapling density by more than half. Our models showed sugar maple (Acer saccharum) was positively associated with high pH, and red maple with low pH. Red maple was positively associated with upper slopes while American beech was positively associated with lower slopes. These results will help forest scientists and managers understand potential future compositions of currently oak-dominated forests, in similar mature stands that have not been recently disturbed. These mesophytic species are likely to increase in forest canopies within our study area, and each species provides different ecosystem services and economic values than oak and hickory. Utilizing our data from the two time periods, mixed logistic regression was used to determine that three red oak subgenus (Erythrobalanus) tree species had higher mortality rates (41.0% of stems) than two white oak subgenus (Leucobalanus) tree species (22.2%). Northern red oak (Quercus rubra) showed more sensitivity to a priori topographic and edaphic predisposing factors than the other four tree species. The species with the highest background mortality rate was scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea; 61.3%), followed by northern red oak (41.4%), black oak (Quercus velutina; 26.7%), pignut hickory (Carya glabra; 23.9%), white oak (23.4%), and chestnut oak (Quercus montana; 19.1%). In our models, northern red oak mortality rate was associated with more mesic slope positions, shallower solum, more acidic soil, and older stand ages. Pignut hickory and chestnut oak mortality rates were associated with higher basal area on the plot, while white oak mortality rate showed the opposite pattern. These data suggest that red oak subgenus trees in mature, unmanaged forests in the study area will become increasingly uncommon relative to white oak subgenus trees, as the result of higher mortality rates particularly on more mesic topographic positions, in shallower or more acidic soil, and in older stands. Oak and hickory are highly valuable to wildlife; therefore, our investigations of their regional mortality patterns can provide information on the future type and longevity of habitat quality for many animal species. In summary, these and our other observed trends in the both the overstory and understory may ultimately lead to shifts in the dominant tree species in unmanaged stands in the region. Our results also suggest that these forest ecosystem types are becoming more susceptible to novel disturbances (e.g., pathogens, insects, drought and climate change, invasive species), which may result in unexpected shifts in successional trajectories.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Radcliffe, D., Hix, D.M., and Matthews, S. 2019. Successional dynamics of oaks and maples in mature second-growth forests, varying by slope aspect in Ohio. Journal of Forestry 117:S153.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Radcliffe, D., Hix, D.M., and Matthews, S.N. 2018. Landscape-scale oak mortality and maple regeneration patterns in mature Ohio forests. Presentation at Society of American Foresters National Convention. Portland, OR.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Radcliffe, D., Matthews, S.N., and Hix, D.M. 2018. Oak Mortality Patterns in Mature Ohio Forests. Presentation at The Wildlife Society Annual Conference. Cleveland, OH.
|
Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences reached during this reporting period have included: staff of the Wayne National Forest, scientists of USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station and the Nature Conservancy, university undergraduate and graduate students, and participants at meetings (e.g., Society of American Foresters 2017 National Convention). Individuals from these and other groups expressed various interests in our project during our presentations. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During this reporting period there we have continued our major focus on involving and mentoring both graduate and undergraduate students. Four graduate students have been actively involved in the project, and two of them completed their Master of Science theses. The third student has collected the data that will be needed to develop their graduate thesis research. As in the past, we hired and then trained two undergraduate students to assist with data collection during the entire field season. These students gained valuable field experience by first assisting us with relocation, and then with the resampling of the permanent plots. We supervised the students as they completed all the Marietta Unit data entry and checking of the data sets for accuracy. These students were either undergraduate or graduate students in our School. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have begun to present some of our results from our work on the Athens and Marietta districts. In a major peer-reviewed article published in Forest Ecology and Management, we examined the structural and compositional shifts in forests undergoing mesophication in southeastern Ohio. As noted in the Products section, we have had opportunities to formally present various aspects of this research project at professional society and other meetings. Specifically, we presented a poster based on local oak and maple dynamics at the 2017 Society of American Foresters National Convention, and the abstract based on the presentation was published in the Journal of Forestry. We also made a presentation about how we are assessing change in hardwood forests of the Wayne National Forest of southeastern Ohio during the 2017 Oak Symposium (Sustaining oak forests in the 21st century through science-based management) in Knoxville, TN. In addition we have informally presented research results to Wayne National Forest, Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Division of Forestry, and Northern Research Station staff as part of our work collectively to develop a collaborative and stewardship partnership of forests across southeast Ohio. We will continue to interact with our collaborators about our plans for the field work during the next field season, as well as sharing research results and answering questions. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the upcoming field season, we plan to undertake plot relocation and resampling on the third and final unit (Ironton) of the Wayne National Forest. We will again work with our USDA Forest Service cooperators to obtain the needed equipment and GIS layers for navigation purposes in the field. In order to make the most efficient use of the crew’s time, we will first sample the plots that were relocated during the 2018 field season. Then, we plan to resample all plots on the Ironton Unit that can be correctly relocated. As in the past, we will enter the new data collected on office days during the summer.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this reporting period, we conducted further analyses of data collected on the Athens Unit of the Wayne National Forest, while we completed the planned data collection from 88 relocated permanent plots on the Marietta Unit. In this research project, we are examining the regional successional trends by remeasuring permanent sample plots in unglaciated southeastern Ohio that were originally established in 1992-1995. In our article entitled, "Structural and compositional shifts in forests undergoing mesophication in the Wayne National Forest, southeastern Ohio" (published in 2018 in Forest Ecology and Management) we were able to address our objective of modeling change in specific forest ecosystem types. Specifically for the Athens Unit we found that the largest difference after 22 years was that the relative density of red maple (Acer rubrum) large saplings had increased by 25% on uplands, while oaks were no longer recorded in this layer on these sites. Another extreme result was the unexpected increase of 15% in the relative density of American beech (Fagus grandifolia) large saplings on southwest-facing upper slopes. We suggest that these and the other observed trends in the understory may ultimately lead to shifts in the dominant trees species in unmanaged stands in the region. Our results also suggest that these forest ecosystem types are becoming more susceptible to novel disturbances (e.g., pathogens, insects, drought), which may result in unexpected shifts in successional trajectories in light of future climate scenarios. As mentioned above, we resampled a total of 88 permanent plots this field season on the Marietta Unit. These plots were originally selected to represent relatively undisturbed forest stands at least 94 years old in 2016. The rates of change across slope aspects and slope positions were examined using our previously developed Ecological Land Type (ELT) classification system. White oak (Quercus alba) was the dominant tree species, as it had highest levels of importance value of any tree species in the initial sampling period (19.7%). This species exhibited its largest decline in importance value on northeast-facing slope aspects (-7.52%), with a very small decline on southwest-facing aspects (-0.79%). In contrast, sugar maple (Acer saccharum) increased in importance value across both of these aspect classes, +6.9% and +7.2% on northeast- and southwest-facing aspects, respectively. Preliminary analyses are indicating that the species of the red oak group have higher mortality rates on these plots compared with those of the white oak group. These results suggest that in these regional forest ecosystems oak species are not replacing themselves in these second-growth ELTs, even in many ecosystem types thought of as favorable to oak species. These changes also have the potential to greatly modify wildlife habitat conditions and impact numerous mammal and bird species.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Radcliffe, D., Matthews, S.N., Hix, D.M., and Goebel, P.C. 2018. Oak decline and maple increase includes favorable aspects. Journal of Forestry 116:S29-S30.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Matthews, S.N., Hix, D.M., Palus, J.D., Andrew, E.E., Goebel, P.C., and Radcliffe, D. 2017. Assessing change in hardwood forests of the Wayne National Forest, southeastern Ohio. p. 40 in Oak Symposium: Sustaining oak forests in the 21st century through science-based management Proceedings. http://www.outreach.utk.edu/Conferences/Sustaining%20Oak%20Forests/Poster.html
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Radcliffe, D., Matthews, S.N., Hix, D.M., and Goebel, P.C. 2017. Oak decline and maple increase includes favorable aspects. Poster presentation. Society of American Foresters National Convention. Nov. 18, 2017. Albuquerque, NM.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Palus, J.D., Goebel, P.C., Hix, D.M., and Matthews, S.N. 2018. Structural and compositional shifts in forests undergoing mesophication in the Wayne National Forest, southeastern Ohio. Forest Ecology and Management 430: 413-420.
|
Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences reached during this reporting period have included: staff of the Wayne National Forest, scientists of USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, university undergraduate and graduate students, and participants at meetings (e.g., Society of American Foresters 2016 National Convention). Individuals in these groups have all shown an interest in how we are examining the compositional and structural changes occurring in Ohio's forest ecosystems in our project. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During this reporting period there has been a major focus on involving and mentoring both graduate and undergraduate students. Three graduate students have been actively involved in the project, and two of them completed their Master of Science theses. The third student collected pilot data during the field season that will be needed to develop their graduate thesis proposal. For the field season, we hired and then trained three undergraduate students in the field to assist with data collection. These students and another undergraduate student gained valuable field experience by assisting us with relocation of the permanent sample plots. As completed for the Athens Unit, we have finished any needed re-entry and checking of the 1993, 1994, and 1995 data sets for the Marietta Unit, and we worked with two undergraduate student research assistants and a graduate student to enter the newly collected data. We are continuously working to ensure excellent data quality and efficient organization and storage of the data files. These students were either undergraduates in our School or from other departments within the University. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have begun to present some of our preliminary analyses based on completed analyses of the data sets. As noted in the Products section, we have had opportunities on five occasions to formally present various aspects of this research project and some results at professional society and other meetings. We also presented two posters based on vegetation-environmental relationships for presentation at the 2016 Society of American Foresters National Convention, and abstracts of both were published in the Journal of Forestry. In addition we have presented preliminary research to Wayne National Forest, Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Division of Forestry, and Northern Research Station staff on our results as we work collectively to develop a collaborative and stewardship partnership of forests across southeast Ohio. We continue to share with our collaborators details concerning planning and executing the field work, as well as data analyses and research results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Using the valuable experience we have gained both in the field and from analyzing the data, during the upcoming field season we will complete the processes of plot relocation and resampling on the Marietta Unit of the Wayne National Forest. We will again work with our USDA Forest Service cooperators to obtain the needed GIS layers to use for navigation purposes in the field. Also, we expect to work cooperatively to plan for relocating plots on the Ironton Unit of the Wayne National Forest. We have learned that visiting and relocating the plots in advance is an efficient approach, which saves time when the crew is focused on plot resampling. If the right personnel, logistical and financial support, and time all align and are available, we may be able to begin resampling plots on the Ironton Unit. We will strive to enter the new data collected before the end of the summer of 2018, as well as complete any needed re-entry and checking of the 1995 Ironton data set.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this reporting period we completed analyses of data collected on the Athens Unit of the Wayne National Forest, and we collected pilot data on the Marietta Unit. In this project, we are examining the regional successional trends by remeasuring permanent sample plots in unglaciated southeastern Ohio that were originally established in 1992-1995. On the 800 2-m2 quadrats sampled on the Athens Unit, seven new non-native invasive species were inventoried. We found an increase in shade-tolerant ground-flora species over time (e.g., Hydrophyllum macrophyllum, Cryptotaenia canadensis), and increases in some old-growth associate indicator species. There was a decline in Gillenia stipulata, an oak-hickory associate species, as well as an overall decline in graminoid relative importance in our plots in 2016. Ground-flora species composition differed significantly among ecological land types within each dataset by four groups based on an ecological classification system (mesic northeasterly slopes, dry southwesterly slopes, bottomlands and uplands), and it differed significantly between the two time periods on mesic northeasterly slopes. To examine if there are environmental factors that may confer resilience to mesophication, we examined the overstory and understory trends on the Athens Unit. While red maple (Acer rubrum) in the understory remains an issue, we documented a much larger increase in American beech (Fagus grandifolia) in the understory, which may ultimately displace red maple if left unmanaged. Ordination analyses showed clear separation of overstory communities across different landscape positions, primarily driven by moisture availability. Variability in the rate and direction of movement in ordination space suggests that xeric ridges have moved toward a similar mesic state, while slopes are more variable in their compositional change. The variability in change on southerly upper slopes may indicate they exist near a threshold and are strongly influenced by minor changes in environmental characteristics and stochastic disturbances. These results suggest that these forests as a whole are increasingly susceptible to novel disturbances (e.g., insects, drought), and their current successional trajectories may exhibit low resilience to conditions predicted under future climate scenarios. During the 2017 field season we expanded our resampling efforts to include Marietta Unit of the Wayne National Forest, which were originally sampled in 1993-95. We used the same methods to resample canopy trees, tree saplings, and understory vegetation on sixteen permanent plots. Our preliminary analyses showed an almost ubiquitous decline in oak and a corresponding increase in maple and beech over the 22-24 year time period. The magnitude of change was greater on southwesterly slopes than on northeasterly slopes, although the pattern was observed on both aspects. White oak (Quercus alba) had relatively large declines in importance value on northeast-facing aspects (+7.52%), with relatively small declines on southwest-facing aspects (-0.79%). These preliminary results suggest that forest management will likely be needed to maintain oak as a major component of southeastern Ohio forests, even in many ecosystems thought of as favorable to oak.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Palus, J.D., Andrew, E.E., Goebel, P.C., Hix, D.M., and Matthews, S.N. 2017. Forest succession and mesophication in oakhickory forests of the Wayne National Forest, southeastern Ohio. Journal of Forestry 115:S132.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Andrew, E.E., Palus, J.D., Hix, D.M., Goebel, P.C., and Matthews, S.N. 2017. Compositional change of ground-flora in the Central Hardwoods Region of southeastern Ohio over two decades. Journal of Forestry 115:S133.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Palus, J.D. 2017. Influence of landscape position on succession in forests undergoing mesophication in southeastern Ohio. Master of Science thesis, The Ohio State University, Columbus.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Andrew, E.E. 2017. Compositional change of ground flora in forest ecosystems of southeastern Ohio over twenty years. Master of Science thesis, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Palus, J.D., Andrew, E.A., Goebel, P.C., Hix, D.M., and Matthews, S.N. 2016.Forest succession and mesophication in oakhickory forests of the Wayne National Forest, southeastern Ohio. Poster presentation. Society of American Foresters National Convention. Nov. 3, 2016. Madison, WI.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Andrew, E.A., Palus, J.D., Hix, D.M., Goebel, P.C., and Matthews, S.N. 2016. Ground-flora compositional change in southeastern Ohio. Poster presentation. Society of American Foresters National Convention. Nov. 3, 2016. Madison, WI.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Palus, J.D., Andrew, E.E., Goebel, P.C., Hix, D.M., and Matthews, S.N. 2017. Factors driving forest succession in oakhickory forests of the Wayne National Forest, southeastern Ohio. Oral presentation. Annual Meeting of the Society for Ecological Restoration Midwest-Great Lakes Chapter. March 24, 2017. Grand Rapids, MI.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Palus, J.D., Andrew, E.E., Goebel, P.C., Hix, D.M., and Matthews, S.N. 2017. Successional trajectories of contrasting ecological land types in the Wayne National Forest, southeastern Ohio. Poster presentation. Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Annual Conference. April 20, 2017. Wooster, OH.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Andrew, E.E., Palus, J.D., Hix, D.M., Goebel, P.C., and Matthews, S.N. 2017. Compositional Change of Ground Flora in Forest Ecosystems of Southeastern Ohio over Twenty Years. Poster presentation. Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Annual Conference. April 20, 2017. Wooster, OH.
|
Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences reached during this initial reporting period have included: staff of the Wayne National Forest, scientists of USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, university students, and participants at meetings (e.g., Ohio Academy of Science Annual Meeting, Cleveland Museum of Natural History Conservation Symposium). Individuals in these groups have all shown an interest in how we are examining the compositional and structural changes occurring in Ohio's forest ecosystems in our project. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During this reporting period there has been a major focus on involving and mentoring both graduate and undergraduate students. Two graduate students who have both been actively involved in the project for one year completed their thesis research proposals and collected their required data during the field season. Under our supervision they have completed any needed re-entry and checking of the data sets collected two decades ago, and they are working with an undergraduate student research assistant to enter the newly collected data. We are working cooperatively to ensure data quality and efficient organization and storage of the data files. In May, we hired and then trained two undergraduate students in the field to assist with many aspects of the data collection. Two other undergraduate students gained valuable field experience by assisting us with relocation of the plots. These students were either undergraduates in our School or from other departments within the University. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have begun to present some of our preliminary analyses based on the 2016 data. As noted in the Products section, we have had opportunities on four occasions to formally present various aspects of this research project and some initial results at professional society and other meetings. We also submitted two abstracts based on vegetation-environmental relationships for poster presentations at the Society of American Foresters National Convention. We continue to share with our collaborators details concerning the intricacies of the field work and data analyses that are underway. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are using our experience in the field and knowledge gained during 2016 plot relocation and resampling for planning our work during the upcoming reporting period. We will work with our USDA Forest Service cooperators to again obtain the needed GIS layers. Also, we expect to work cooperatively to relocate as many plots as possible on the Marietta Unit of the Wayne National Forest. We have learned that visiting and relocating the plots in advance is an efficient approach, which saves time when the crew is focused on plot resampling. Resampling all the plots on the Marietta Unit will be a goal for the 2017 field season.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this reporting period we have primarily focused on data collection and data entry. We have also begun some initial analyses to address our overall research project goal of quantifying and modeling forest change in Ohio and the adjoining region. We are examining the successional trends by remeasuring permanent sample plots in unglaciated southeastern Ohio that were originally established in 1992-1995. This field season we repeated the same field sampling methods for vegetation. Of the 106 original plots on the Athens Unit of the Wayne National Forest we were able to relocate and resample 100. Fourof the plots have been harvested and have not been relocated. There were two plots for which we lacked adequate GPS data or witness trees that we were unable to relocate. At all plot locations, observations about disturbance agents and apparent changes in species compositions of the vegetation layer have been recorded. Upward-facing digital hemispherical photos with a fisheye lens were taken at each plot center to be used to quantify the percent open sky. Both the original plot data and our 2016 field data are being entered into MS-EXCEL spreadsheets for summarization and analysis. We also worked with the USDA Forest Service to collect SILVAH stand examination data from each plot. 121 ground-flora plants were identified to the species-level, 33 to the genus-level, and two to the family-level. Over half of the species (70) had higher cover values than those previously recorded. The non-native invasive species garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), autumn-olive (Elaeagnus umbelata), burningbush (Euonymus alatus), and Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) were recorded for the first time, while Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) and multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) had higher cover class values compared to the initial sampling. Multivariate analyses (MRPP) indicated significant differences in the ground-flora compositions between the two sampling periods on north- and south-facing ecological landtypes. White oak (Quercus alba) remained the most important tree species on south-facing slopes. NMDS ordinations showed clear differences in the sapling and tree compositions by aspect. The modal position of southwest-facing upper slopes changed significantly more in ordination space than northeast-facing lower slopes. Further analyses of the vegetation data in relation to environmental factors and stand structural variables are in the preliminary stages.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Palus, J.D., Andrew, E.A., Goebel, P.C., and Hix, D.M. 2016. Environmental influences on canopy disturbance histories in mature oak-hickory forests in southeastern Ohio. Poster presentation. Annual Conservation Symposium, Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Sept. 9, 2016. Cleveland, OH.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Palus, J.D., Andrew, E.A., Goebel, P.C., and Hix, D.M. 2016. Environmental influences on canopy disturbance histories in mature oak-hickory forests in southeastern Ohio. Poster presentation. Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Annual Conference. April 21, 2016. Wooster, OH.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Palus, J.D., Andrew, E.A., Goebel, P.C., and Hix, D.M. 2016. Environmental influences on canopy disturbance histories in mature oak-hickory forests in southeastern Ohio. Ohio Academy of Science. April 16, 2016. Athens, OH.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Palus, J.D., Andrew, E.A., Goebel, P.C., and Hix, D.M. 2016. Environmental influences on canopy disturbance histories in mature oak-hickory forests in southeastern Ohio. Oral presentation. Annual Meeting of the Society for Ecological Restoration Midwest-Great Lakes Chapter. April 1, 2016. Bloomington, IN.
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Progress 01/01/15 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences reached during this initial reporting period primarily include staff of the Wayne National Forest, scientists of USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, and university students. Individuals in these groups are all very interested in how we are examining the compositional and structural changes occurring in Ohio's forest ecosystems in our project. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?There have been opportunities during the initial months of the project to involve and mentor both graduate and undergraduate students. We have active, ongoing conversations with the two graduate students who are both beginning their thesis research that will be based on this project. They have studied the pertinent literature and learned about the goals of the overall project. They have also worked with the data sets collected two decades ago by organizing files, as well as making conversions to newer versions as necessary. In the field, we have helped the students become familiar with the study area and its forest ecosystems. We have worked together on revising the plot relocation and data collection protocols. This project has already provided opportunities for four undergraduate students to become involved, both in office and field work. These students have been both undergraduates in our School as well as from other departments of the University. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?No analyses have been performed on the preliminary data that has been collected. We have shared with our collaborators about the initial field work that is underway, including the challenges of relocating the permanent plots. Additionally, we have met with our collaborators in the U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station and are working to ensure that the field data collected are compatible with SILVAH software. This data will allow us to model different restorations scenarios focused on restoring oak to those forest ecosystems experiencing mesophication. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?By the end of 2015, we plan to have visited all of the plots on the Athens Unit of the Wayne National Forest. Based on our experience in the field and knowledge gained, the planning for the next field season will begin during the winter months. Our deliberations will be based on our progress during 2015 and discussions among the investigators, students and collaborators about how to best accomplish the data collection during the 2016 field season.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During the first few months of this research project, we have focused on the necessary data file management to support the initial field work. Our overall goal in this research project is to quantify and to model forest change in Ohio and the adjoining region, using several approaches. Our main thrust will be on studying forest succession by remeasuring permanent sample plots in unglaciated southeastern Ohio. During 1992-1995, 378 plots were established in the Wayne National Forest, with 108 on the Athens Unit. We conducted field work during 2015 only on the Athens Unit. Of these plots, we have relocated 69 using a compass, GPS and the original field notes, which included witness tree information. On these plots, at least one of the witness trees was found that had been previously affixed with a metal tag. In several cases, we used the historical information to ascertain that one of the witness trees had died and was now present on the forest floor in the expected spatial position (relative to plot center). We have conducted preliminary searches for 35other plots, but did not relocate any of the witness trees. Two plots were found to have been disturbed by seed-tree harvesting of mature trees. As plot locations have been visited, observations about disturbance agents and apparent changes in species compositions of the vegetation layer have been recorded. Thus far, ten days have been spent in the field relocating the permanent sample plots on the Athens Unit. In addition, there has been considerable work accomplished on entering the original plot tree data into MS-EXCEL spreadsheets, and converting electronic data from no-longer supported file formats (e.g., Quattro-Pro). The increment cores collected from trees on most of the plots from 1993-1995 have been organized in preparation for counting the annual rings and assessing radial growth patterns.
Publications
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