Source: UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA submitted to NRP
ECOLOGY, MANAGEMENT, AND RESTORATION OF SOUTHERN FORESTS AND AGROFORESTS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
MCINTIRE-STENNIS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1014653
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Dec 6, 2017
Project End Date
Nov 14, 2022
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
G022 MCCARTY HALL
GAINESVILLE,FL 32611
Performing Department
West Florida Research and Education Center, Jay
Non Technical Summary
Human activities and climatic extremes are reshaping structure and function of forest ecosystems, necessitating development of alternative management and restoration systems that will maintain or enhance resiliency and ecosystem services in the changing world. Utilizing operational scale, long-term experiments established in Florida and Alabama, this project will evaluate long-term stand dynamics under even- and uneven-aged silvicultural regimes for multiple benefits in longleaf pine and slash pine forests. Additional experiments will evaluate best management approaches to speed recover hurricane affected sites and effects of legume integration in pine plantations. The findings from the projects will help develop new production and management systems for southern pines to (potentially) enhance productivity and ecosystem services while restoring pine forests.
Animal Health Component
60%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
20%
Applied
60%
Developmental
20%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
12306111070100%
Knowledge Area
123 - Management and Sustainability of Forest Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
0611 - Conifer forests of the South;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;
Goals / Objectives
Overall goal of the project is to study ecology, management, and restoration of southern forests and agroforests. The following are the specific objectivesObjective 1: Evaluateshort- and long-term stand dynamics following alternative management systems in southern forests.1a. Quantifystand structural and compositional changes following even- and uneven-aged management systems.1b. Quantifyenvironmental, groundcover, and regeneration responses to management activities.1c. Examineeffects of site heterogeneity and prescribed burning on survival and growth of natural regeneration.Objective 2: Evaluatelong-term stand dynamics following hurricane damage management and restoration in southern forests 2a. Quantifysurvival, growth, and productivity following restoration in hurricane-affected sites. 2b. Quantifyeffects of herbicide and fertilization treatments on seedling survival, growth, and productivity in hurricane recovery sites.Objective 3. Examineecological interactions in integrated pine-legume production and restoration systems in old-field sites. 3a. Quantifyeffects of legume intercropping on early pine growth.3b. Quantifyeffects of legume intercropping on soil characteristics in integrated pine-legume systems.3c. Examineecological interactions between pines and legumes in integrated systems.
Project Methods
Objective 1: USDA SRS, FFS, and UF have experiments established across Florida and the southern US which will be used in the project. Some of the experimental treatments of interest are installed in Tate's Hell State Forest (for slash pine (Pinus elliottii)), and Blackwater River State Forest in Florida and Escambia Experimental Forest in Brewton, AL (for longleaf pine), which provide excellent opportunities for long-term evaluation of uneven-aged harvest strategies in southern pines. For example, at Tate's Hell State Forest five operational scale uneven-aged conversion harvest treatments (group selection, shelterwood, third row thin, 'cut 2 leave 3' row thin, and staggered third row thin) were installed in in December 2011 in 30-year-old slash pine plantation. Each harvest treatment was 15.4 acre and replicated across three unique, noncontiguous blocks across the forest (Bohn and Sharma 2016). Periodic long-term measurements on natural regeneration, groundcover, and stand structural and functional attributes are made in five random permanent measurement plots (25 m x 25 m) in each harvest treatment plot, following the sampling protocol developed for the project. Continued measurements on microenvironment changes, stand structure and function, regeneration growth and distribution as affected by prescribed burning and site heterogeneity (elevation, vegetative competition, etc.) under these harvest treatments will be studied over time. We will conduct stem mapping of measurement plots and evaluate spatial patterns of regeneration using Ripley's K point pattern process. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests will be used to determine differences among treatments and years for the mean of the variables under the study. Multivariate statistical approaches will be used, wherever applicable, for groundcover recovery assessments. The data generated from the surveys will be input to simulation models for long-term projections of stand dynamics under alternative management scenarios.Objective 2: We will use an existing experimental set up at the Escambia Experimental Forest in Brewton, AL and other relevant sites in the region. This Escambia Experimental Forest cooperative study with Cedar Creek Land and Timber Company of Brewton, AL was initiated in 2007 to identify the most effective approaches for restoring longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) on sites impacted by Hurricane Ivan. Given the predictions for increased frequency and intensity of disturbance in forests of the southern Coastal Plain, the objective of this operational-scale experiment is to test the effects of chemical site preparation and fertilization on reestablishment of productive longleaf pine forests. The experimental design consists of 24 treatment plots (each 2.25 ha in area) with 8 treatments each replicated 3 times: control, hexazinone, imazapyr, or triclopyr (in 2008) with half unfertilized and half receiving P and K after planting (in 2009) (Dyson and Brockway 2014). Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests will be used to determine differences among treatments and years for the mean seedling survival, height, ground level diameter, and number of competing stems.Objective 3: We will establish a new longleaf pine plantation experiment and intercrop 4-6 native legume species individually and in combinations, along with a control (no legumes) and a longleaf pine understory seed mix at the UF Jay Research Facility. Following an intensive old-field site preparation using multiple herbicide applications and disking, we will plant longleaf pine seedlings and sow legumes seeds in the beginning of 2018. Pretreatment measurements on seedlings (root collar diameter, height) and soil characteristics (soil C, soil N, microbial diversity, etc.) will be taken and post treatment measurements will be repeated yearly. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests will be used to determine differences among treatments and years for the legume(s) percent cover, mean pine seedling survival, height, ground level diameter, and soil variables.

Progress 10/01/20 to 09/30/21

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences reached during this period included professional scientists and teachers (national as well as international), extension agents, undergraduate and graduate students, forest managers, private forest landowners, non-profit organizations, and federal and state land management agencies. In total, more than 20 agencies/organizations were reached.? Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During the reporting period, the project has provided training to (a) 5 master-level graduate students and 3 PhD students(b) one technician, (c), 2 undergraduate students, and 2 DoD SkillBridge participants. PI assisted the graduate students to develop their specific thesis/dissertation proposals and protocols, including defining the objectives and hypotheses that would be tested. PI worked closely with the technician to improve their study designs, data management, and data analysis skill sets. The program technician was responsible for carrying out study implementation and assisting the graduate students and undergraduate assistants and students in preliminary data collection. Another significant event during the reporting period was that PI organized a webinar on Titi Management (March 2021). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Workshops, social media, EDIS extension article, presenations inregional, national, and international meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. Search and recruit more graduate and undergraduate students to work on the project. 2. Help graduate students publish their thesis/dissertation research. 3. Expand professional network and research collaborations with other organizations. 4. Continue the field work and long-term data collection and analyze the collected data 5. Publish at least 5 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. 6. Continue to seek grants and collaborations to support research program and explore additional relevant research questions to address issues of southern pine management.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1: We conducted field work and collected dendrochronological data on residual trees and on canopy characteristics and light availability following uneven-aged regeneration harvests in slash pine and longleaf pine at research sites sites in the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama. We also collected data on soils in slash pine flatwoods sites subjected to different burn histories (last burned 1 to 16 years ago). Additinally, we started a dissertation project examining the effect of stress andburn season on longleaf pine sapling growth and mortality. Goal 2: Our work on hurricane effects on forests was published and led to addtional research opportinities and fundings from USDA FIA and Florida Forest Services. New reseacrh plots were stablished and FIA data were analyzed for the hurricane affected plots. Goal 3: Daniel Brethauer's thesis was based on these plots.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Brethauer, D. K., Sharma, A., Vogel, J. G., Miller, D. L., van Santen, E. (2021). Longleaf pine seedling growth and survival: Effects of season and intensity of simulated prescribed burning. Forest Ecology and Management, 502, 119719.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Willis, J.L., Sharma, A., Kush, J.S. (2021) Seasonality of biennial burning has no adverse effects on mature longleaf pine survival or productivity. Front. For. Glob. Change 4:684087
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Susaeta, A., Klizentyte, K., Sharma, A., Adams, D. (2021). Can uneven-aged management improve the economic performance of longleaf pine? Can J. Forest Research,
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Shell, A.B., Ojha, S.K., Sharma, A. (2021). Region-wide characterization of structural diversity of the U.S. Outer Coastal Plain Mixed Forests Province. Forest Ecology and Management, 488, 118979.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Sharma, A., Ojha, S., Dimov, L., Vogel, J., Nowak, J. (2021). Long-term effects of catastrophic wind on southern US coastal forests: Lessons from a major hurricane. PLoS ONE 16(1), e0243362.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Frazier, J. E., Sharma, A., Johnson, D. J., Andreu, M. G., Bohn, K. K. (2021). Group selection silviculture for converting pine plantations to uneven-aged stands. Forest Ecology and Management, 481, 118729
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Prata, G.A., Broadbent, E.N., de Almeida, D.R.A., St. Peter, J., Drake, J., Medley, P., Corte, A.P.D., Vogel, J., Sharma, A., Silva, C.A., Zambrano, A.M.A., Valbuena, R., Wilkinson, B. (2020). Single-pass UAV-borne GatorEye LiDAR sampling as a rapid assessment method for surveying forest structure. Remote Sensing, 12, 4111.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Dyball, R., Bowser, G., Whipple, S., Sharma, A., Leggett, Z. (2021). Collaborations and moving past COVID-19: The Human Ecology and Applied Ecology sections. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 102 (2), e01844.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Ashton Shell (2021). Interactive effects of uneven-aged silviculture and hurricane disturbance on longleaf pine growth, University of Florida.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Benju Baniya (2021). Re-assembly of the longleaf pine ecosystem: Effects of groundcover seeding on fire behavior, understory characteristics, and soil properties. University of Florida
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Cody Poe (2021).Effects of canopy gaps created by Hurricane Michael on longleaf pine and oak sapling growth. University of Florida.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Daniel Brethauer (2021). Longleaf pine seedling growth and survival: Effects of season and intensity of simulated prescribed burning. University of Florida.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Baniya, B., Sharma, A., Bigelow, S. W., Brantley, S., Taylor, R.S., Vogel, J. (2021). Effects of?planting warm season C4 grasses?on ecosystem properties in planted longleaf pine woodlands. 2021 Soc. of American Foresters National Convention.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Shell, A. B., Sharma, A., Vogel, J.G., Willis, J. L. (2021). Influence of harvesting methods and hurricane disturbance on residual longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) growth. 2021 Soc. of American Foresters National Convention.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Shell, A. B., Bohn, K.K., McKeithen, J., Sharma, A., Willis, J. L. (2021). Interactive effects of uneven-aged reproduction and hurricane disturbance on longleaf pine stand dynamics. 9th World Conference on Ecological Restoration, June 21-24, Virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Sharma, A., Willis, J. L. (2021). Long-term burn season effects on an upland longleaf pine forest. 9th World Conference on Ecological Restoration, June 21-24, Virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Sharma, A., Bardhan, S., Ericsson, A. C., Willis, J. L. (2021). Seasonal burns in longleaf pine forests alter soil properties but not microbial characteristics. 9th World Conference on Ecological Restoration, June 21-24, Virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Sharma, A. (2021). Applied Ecological Science for Change and Betterment. 2021 Annual Ecological Society of America meeting, August 2- 6, Virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Baniya, B., Sharma, A., Bigelow, S. W., Brantley, S., Taylor, R.S. & Vogel, J. (2021). Effects of?understory?seeding?on ecosystem properties in planted longleaf pine forest. 2021 Annual Ecological Society of America meeting, August 2- 6, Virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Pope, C., Bigelow, S., Sharma, A. (2021). A Research Prospectus: Effects of canopy gaps created by Hurricane Michael on longleaf pine regeneration. 21st Biennial Southern Silvicultural Research Conference, March 25-27, Virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Willis, J. L., Sharma, A., Kush, J. (2021). 23-Year impacts of bi-annual seasonal burning and alternative understory treatments on longleaf pine productivity. 21st Biennial Southern Silvicultural Research Conference, March 25-27, Virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Goldsmith, G., Huntly, N., and Sharma, A. (2020). Networking session Networking Hour-COVID-19: Impacts on Teaching. 2020 Annual Ecological Society of America meeting, August 3- 6, Virtual.


Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences reached during this period included professional scientists and teachers (national as well as international), extension agents, undergraduate and graduate students, forest managers, private forest landowners, non-profit organizations, and federal and state land management agencies, including USDA Forest Service, Florida Forest Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Changes/Problems:COVID-19 impacted the project in a variety of ways and the project team was compelled to adjust to new modes of engaging in research, teaching and learning, and service work. The components of the project that required the use of labs and field work severely slowed down because of the disruptions in field-based work due to travel and overall research restrictions. These disruptions also limited the collaborative research impacting our interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary work. The field work related to all three objectives of the project could not be conducted in late spring and summer of 2020. Most importantly, prescribed burns in spring 2020 could not be conducted that were required for an experiment. Teaching was both positively and negatively impacted. Positive aspects were related to the fact that COVID-19 pushed the PD to explore alternative ways to teach and led to discovery of innovative methods, contents, new collaborations, and learning of new skills. Negative aspect was that the some of the labs are best conducted in real field conditions, especially in the field of natural resources, and virtual labs could not be perfect substitute. The PD had to transition six face-to-face courses to virtual format during spring and fall 2002, which was a hugely time-consuming task and came at the expense of research time. The PD had several speaking and networking engagements planned for spring and summer of 2020. While some of these speeches, originally planned for in-person conferences, were later delivered virtually, at least one international seminar in India was cancelled due to COVID-19. The project team will make every effort to make up the loss of productivity due to COVID-19 in coming months and year, yet it is reasonable to think the consequences of COVID-19 on the project will be felt for several years. While continue working from home, the PD tried to balance his work with emergency homeschooling and daycare of his children (one newly born in June 2020), this significantly limited his time for research even as he adjusted to new modes of teaching and service. It may be noted that the deliverables (publications, presentations, etc.) reported in this annual report are largely the results of cumulative effort of the past 2 years or so and are necessarily strongly affected by the COVID-19-caused disruptions. It is anticipated the COVID-19 caused disruptions will likely result in declined productivity in the next one or two reporting periods. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During the reporting period, the project has provided training to (a) 4 master-level graduate students and recruited 2 additional students (1 PHD and 1 MS), (b) one technician, (c), and 2 undergraduate students. PI assisted the graduate students to develop their specific thesis/dissertation proposals and protocols, including defining the objectives and hypotheses that would be tested. PI worked closely with the technician to improve their study designs, data management, and data analysis skill sets. The program technician was responsible for carrying out study implementation and assisting the graduate students and undergraduate assistants and students in preliminary data collection. Another significant event during the reporting period was that PI Co-organized and hosted ProForest's Forest Health Training Program at UF Milton campus (26 February). 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?1. Search and recruit more graduate and undergraduate students to work on the project. Target is to recruit at least one more PhD and one MS student. 2. Successfully help four graduate students complete their master's degree and help them publish their thesis research. 3. Expand research addressing objective 1 and 2 to additional sites and add socio-ecological dimensions to research agenda. 4. Expand professional network and research collaborations with other organizations. 5. Get involved in training and outreach activities beyond academic audience. 6. Continue the field work and long-term data collection and analyze the collected data 7. Publish at least 3 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. 8. Seek grants and collaborations to support your research program and explore additional relevant research questions to address issues of southern pine management.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1: We conducted field work and collected dendrochronological data on residual trees and on canopy characteristics and light availability following uneven-aged regeneration harvests in slash pine and longleaf pine at research sites sites in the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama. We also collected data on soils in slash pine flatwoods sites subjected to different burn histories (last burned 1 to 16 years ago). These data will provide insights into how soils change when we introduce fire into an ecosystems at different time intervals (fire chronology). Goal 2: Our preliminary work on this objective during last reporting period led to additional funding for developing methodologies for rapid assessment of damage following hurricanes. We worked on collecting data on timber salvage harvest conducted following Hurricane Michael in Florida. We continued our work on lidar mapping of the hurricane Michael affected area in Florida. A postdoctoral fellow was recruited to assist with the project. Goal 3: Nothing to report.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Sharma, A., Brethauer, D. K., McKeithen, J., Bohn, K. K., Vogel, J. G. (2020). Prescribed burn effects on natural regeneration in pine flatwoods: Implications for uneven-aged stand conversion from a Florida study. Forests, 11(3), 328.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Sharma, A, Cory, B., McKeithen, J, Frazier, J. (2020). Structural diversity of the longleaf pine ecosystem. Forest Ecology and Management, 462, 117987.
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Sharma, A (2019). Uneven-aged silviculture. Emerging Agricultural Enterprises Summit: Crops, Livestock and Aquaculture, December 9-10, Gainesville, FL-USA (Invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Sharma, A (2019). Alternative management systems for southern pine forests. Mattie M. Kelly Environmental Institute (MKEI) distinguished guest speaker, MKEI Annual Symposium, October 18, Niceville, FL-USA (Invited, keynote).
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2020 Citation: Sharma, A. (2020). Forest responses to hurricane. Forest Health In-service Training, Proforest, February 26, 2020, Milton, FL-USA (Invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Sharma, A. (2020). Inspiring collaborations and engaging communities. 2020 Annual Ecological Society of America meeting, August 2- 7, Virtual (Invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Sharma, A., Minogue, P.J., Kunzer, M., Mott, J. (2020). Managing a nuisance native species, titi (Cyrilla racemiflora L.), while restoring ephemeral wetland habitats. 2020 Annual Ecological Society of America meeting, August 2-7, Virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Frazier, J., Sharma, A., Johnson, D., Andreu, M., Bohn, K.K. (2020). Natural regeneration responses to group selection harvests in pine flatwoods. 2020 Annual Ecological Society of America meeting, August 2-7, Virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Frazier, J., Sharma, A., Johnson, D., Andreu, M., Bohn, K.K. (2019). Effects of gap size on natural regeneration dynamics of slash pine (Pinus elliottii) in flatwoods. 2019 Soc. of American Foresters National Convention, Oct 30-Nov 3, 2019, Louisville, KY-USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2020 Citation: Pope, C., Bigelow, S., Sharma, A. (2020). A Research Prospectus: Effects of canopy gaps created by Hurricane Michael on longleaf pine regeneration. The Jones Center at Ichauway Research Conference, June 25, 2020, Virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2020 Citation: Baniya, B., Bigelow, S., Sharma, A. (2020). Effects of understory restoration treatments on ecosystem properties in a longleaf pine plantation: A Research Prospectus. The Jones Center at Ichauway Research Conference, June 25, 2020, Virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Frazier, J., Sharma, A., Johnson, D., Andreu, M., Bohn, K.K. (2019). Within-gap factors affecting natural regeneration of slash pine (Pinus elliottii) in group selection cuttings. 2019 Soc. of American Foresters National Convention, Oct 30-Nov 3, 2019, Louisville, KY-USA.


Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
(N/A)

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1: We conducted field work and collected data on natural regeneration of slash pine in even- and uneven-aged slash pine stands. Prescribed fires were conducted during Winter and Spring of 2019 at different sites in the Florida Panhandle, and post fire regeneration surveys were conducted during summer of 2019. Fire intensity data were also collected. These data were collected as part of MS thesis research. Goal 2: A category-5 hurricane (Hurricane Michael) hit Florida Panhandle in October 2018. We collaborated with Apalachicola National Forest and Florida A&MU to conduct lidar-based assessment of the forest damage caused by the hurricane. This collaboration led to additional projects and funding (USDA Forest Service and UF Joint Venture Project) under which we established a network of plots for long-term monitoring. Goal 3: We seeded four legumes species (Partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculate), slender lespedeza (Lespedeza virginica), Florida ticktrefoil (Desmodium floridanum), Wild Blue Lupine or Sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis)) and longleaf understory (Mix 127) in the young longleaf pine plantation; however our earlier observations showed that the legumes did not do well and were overgrown by the agricultural weeds. We plan to use the experimental set up for an alternative study that will examine fire ecology and longleaf response to prescribed burns in old field restoration sites.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Sharma, A., Bohn, K.K., McKeithen, J., Singh, A. (2019). Effects of conversion harvests on light regimes in a southern pine ecosystem in transition from intensively managed plantations to uneven-aged stands. Forest Ecology and Management 432:140-149.
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Minogue, P., Sharma, A., Osiecka, A., McKeithen, J. (2019). Management of titi (Cyrilla racemiflora L.) in restoration of ephemeral wetlands. Annual Report (year 1), submitted to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, FL.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Sharma, A. (2019). Pine forest management options and their implications: A perspective from the southern USA. Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu, April 2, 2019, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India (Invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Sharma, A. (2019). Business lessons from ecology. Central University of Jammu, April 1, 2019, Bagla, Jammu and Kashmir, India (Invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Sharma, A. (2019). Natural regeneration of longleaf pine. Longleaf Academy, Longleaf Alliance, May 16, 2019, Milton, FL-USA (Invited).


Progress 12/06/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences reached during this period includedprofessional scientists, undergraduate and graduate students, high school students,forestmanagers,and federal and state land management agencies. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During the reporting period, theproject has provided training to onemaster-level graduate student, onetechnician, two summer interns and 2 undergarduate students. PIrecruitedthegraduate studentandassisted themto develop their specific thesis proposaland protocol,including defining the objectives and hypotheses that will be tested. PIworked closely with thetechnician to improve their forestry, study design,data management, and data analysis skill sets. The program technician was responsible for carryingout study implementation and assisting the graduate students and undergraduate interns and students in preliminary data collection. PI hosted local high school students and conducted a tour of the experimental sites and gave a presentation on careers in forestry. Oneundergaduate student presented his undergrduate research findnings at a national meeting. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results were presented at the 2018Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting at New Orleans, LA. Additionally, the PI gave seminars at The Jones Center at Ichuaway, GA, EPA GulfBreeze Division, Gulf Breeze, FL, and Forest Biology Research Cooperative meeting at Gainesville, FL. One seminar was given to the UF faculty at the West Florida Research and Education Center, Milton, FL. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. Search and recruit more graduate and undergraduate students to work on the project. One of the priority is to recruit at least one PhD student. 2. Complete current graduate student's thesis researchfield work focused on understanding slash pine natural regeneration patterns and mechanisms following uneven-aged harvesting methods (Objective 1). 3. Expand researchaddressing objective 2 (hurricane damage and recivery) to additional sites 4. Build network and research collaborations with other organisations. Some of these agencies could be National Forests of Florida, Fish and Wildllife Conservation Commission, The Jones Center at Ichuaway, and The Nature Conservancy. 5. Get involved in training and outreach activities beyong academic audience. 6. Continue the field work and long-term data collection and analyze the collected data 7. Prepare and submitmanuscripts to peer-reviewed journals. 8. Seek grants and collaborations to support your research and explore addtional relevant research questions to address issues of southern pine management.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The reporting periodis the firstyear of the project. The PI is a new faculty. During this period the PI set up his lab at the University of Florida and recruited a graduate student and two undergraduated research assistants to work on different objectives of the project. Progress was made on all three objectives of the project.Accomplishments by objective during the reporting period include: Objective 1: We revisited the long-term project evaluating uneven-aged silvciutural strategies in the Florida Panhandle (Tate's Hell State Forest) and relocated and remarked the study plots. Specifically,at Tate's Hell State Forest,five operational scale uneven-aged conversion harvest treatments (group selection, shelterwood, third row thin, 'cut 2 leave 3' row thin, and staggered third row thin) have been installed. Each harvest treatment is15.4 acre and replicated across three unique, noncontiguous blocks across the forest. Continued measurements on microenvironment changes, stand structure and function, regeneration growth and distribution as affected by prescribed burning and site heterogeneity (elevation, vegetative competition, etc.) under these harvest treatments will be studied over time.During the precribed burning of the plots in the winter of 2017-18, we collected fire intensityand seedling survival data on slash pine natural regeneration. We conducted preliminary analyses of the data and presented it at a national meeting in August 2018. Additionally, we collected data on stand structure and composition responses following chemical and burn treatments in even-aged longleaf pine at the Escambia Experimental Forest, AL. Objective 2: We collaborated with the USDA Forest Service on their project evaluating different methods for fast recovery of longleaf forestsfollowing hurricane damage using intensive silviculture. This project is located at the Escambia Experimental Forest, AL, andwas initiated in 2007 to identify the most effective approaches for restoring longleaf pineon sites impacted by Hurricane Ivan. The objective of thisexperiment is to test the effects of chemical site preparation and fertilization on reestablishment of productive longleaf pine forests. The experimental design consists of 24 treatment plots (each 2.25 ha in area) with 8 treatments each replicated 3 times:control, hexazinone, imazapyr, or triclopyr (in 2008) with half unfertilized and half receiving P and K after planting (in 2009).We obtained archived data for the project from the Forest Service and collected additionaldata on stand structure and composition. The additional data represented longleafpine responses following 8 years of the restoration treatments. Objective 3: In January 2018, we established new longleaf pine plantation on an old-field site at the Jay Research facility of the University of Florida. This plantation was raised using containerised seedlings following site preparation usingmultiple herbicide applications and disking.This plantation will be used for intercropping legumes in the following years.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, A., Bohn, K.K., Jose, S., Miller, D.L. (2018). Seed bank- vegetation dynamics along a restoration gradient in pine flatwoods ecosystems of Florida Gulf Coast. Natural Areas Journal, 38(1): 26-43.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, A., Bohn, K.K., Nowak, J., Dwivedi, P. (2018). Economic feasibility of and vegetation responses to biomass harvest in managed loblolly pine plantations. Journal of Sustainable Forestry 37(5), 445-458.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Brethauer, D., McKeithen, J., Sharma, A. (2018). Determining fire tolerance factors for slash pine (Pinus elliottii) seedlings and saplings in hydric flatwoods of the Southeastern Coastal Plain, U.S.A. 2018 Annual Ecological Society of America meeting, August 5- 10, New Orleans, LA-USA (available at https://eco.confex.com/eco/2018/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/75742)
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, A. (2018). Can slash pine be sustainably managed using uneven-aged silviculture? Joseph E. Jones Ecological Research Center at Ichauway, August 2, 2018, Newton, GA, (Invited).
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, A. (2018). Developing an uneven-aged silvicultural system for slash pine: Initial observations and future projections of stand dynamics. Forest Biology Research Cooperative 22nd Annual Advisory Council Meeting, September 12th  13th, 2018, Gainesville, FL. (Invited)