Grantee Research Project Results

Effects of Logging on Understory Plant Diversity in Northern Hardwood Forests

EPA Grant Number: U915651
Title: Effects of Logging on Understory Plant Diversity in Northern Hardwood Forests
Investigators: DeJoode, Daniel R.
Institution: University of Michigan
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: August 1, 1999 through August 1, 2002
Project Amount: $92,414
RFA: STAR Graduate Fellowships (1999) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Academic Fellowships , Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Fellowship - Ecology

Objective:

The goals of this research project are to: (1) document community patterns of vascular plant diversity in logged and unlogged forests; (2) describe how different species groups, defined by life history attributes, respond to logging; and (3) test hypotheses to explain why certain species groups are negatively affected by logging.

Approach:

Botanical surveys have been conducted on numerous logged stands and adjacent unlogged mature forest stands on the Menominee Indian Reservation in northeast Wisconsin. These include stands that have been subject to different silvicultural techniques ranging from single tree selective harvest to small scale (5-10 hectare) clear-cuts. Ongoing work includes sampling stands before and after logging to more precisely document the type and rate of changes in the plant community and experiments to explain the response of certain species.

Expected Results:

This study should improve understanding of why ant-dispersed species are less common after logging.

Supplemental Keywords:

logging, temperate forests, plants, diversity, understory, seed dispersal, Midwest, Great Lakes, Wisconsin, WI, ecology, botany, terrestrial., Scientific Discipline, Geographic Area, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Ecology, State, Forestry, Habitat, Environmental Monitoring, Ecology and Ecosystems, logging, habitat use, terrestrial forests, forest inventory and analysis, botanical surveys, habitat disturbance, plant diversity, ecological consequences, terrestrial habitat loss, conservation biology, Wisconsin (WI), Menominee Indian Reservation

Progress and Final Reports:

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.