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Keyword: species richness

What drives at-risk species richness? Environmental factors are more influential than anthropogenic factors or biological traits

Publications Posted on: December 17, 2018
Species at risk of extinction are not uniformly distributed in space. Concentrations of threatened species may occur where threatening processes are intense, in refuges from those processes, or in areas of high species diversity. However, there have been few attempts to identify the processes that explain the distribution of at-risk species.

Landscape patterns of understory composition and richness across a moisture and nitrogen mineralization gradient in Ohio (U.S.A.) Quercus forests

Publications Posted on: August 01, 2018
This study quantified relationships of understory vascular plant species composition and richness along environmental gradients over a broad spatial scale in second-growth oak forests in eastern North America. Species frequencies were recorded in 108 25 x 25 m plots in four study sites extending over 70 km in southern Ohio, U.S.A.

Overstory-derived surface fuels mediate plant species diversity in frequently burned longleaf pine forests

Publications Posted on: May 11, 2018
Frequently burned low-latitude coniferous forests maintain a high-diversity understory. Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests and woodlands have exceptionally high diversity at fine scales and very frequent fire return intervals (1–3 yr). Furthermore, the positive association between high-frequency, low-intensity surface fires and high species richness in longleaf pine ecosystems is well documented but poorly understood.

Remarkable fly (Diptera) diversity in a patch of Costa Rican cloud forest: Why inventory is a vital science

Publications Posted on: April 26, 2018
Study of all flies (Diptera) collected for one year from a four-hectare (150 x 266 meter) patch of cloud forest at 1,600 meters above sea level at Zurquí de Moravia, San José Province, Costa Rica (hereafter referred to as Zurquí), revealed an astounding 4,332 species. This amounts to more than half the number of named species of flies for all of Central America.

Monitoring bird communities with citizen science in the Sky Islands

Science Spotlights Posted on: August 25, 2016
This research evaluates the use of citizen science in a region with increased stress from ongoing drought and wildfires. Researchers show how it allows for inexpensive and statistically rigorous monitoring, and fosters greater local involvement in science and conservation. This information will be used to determine optimal protocols for a long-term monitoring plan. Inexpensive and statistically rigorous long-term monitoring fosters local involvement in science and conservation.

Mulching effects on vegetation recovery following high severity wildfire in north-central Washington State, USA

Publications Posted on: August 20, 2016
Straw mulch application after high severity wildfire has gained favor in recent years due to its efficacy in reducing soil erosion hazards. However, possible collateral effects of mulching on post-fire vegetation recovery have received relatively little study.

Avian relationships with wildfire at two dry forest locations with different historical fire regimes

Publications Posted on: May 20, 2016
Wildfire is a key factor influencing bird community composition in western North American forests. We need to understand species and community responses to wildfire and how responses vary regionally to effectively manage dry conifer forests for maintaining biodiversity. We compared avian relationships with wildfire burn severity between two dry forest locations of Arizona and Idaho.

Post-fire logging produces minimal persistent impacts on understory vegetation in northeastern Oregon, USA

Publications Posted on: April 21, 2016
Post-fire forest management commonly requires accepting some negative ecological impacts from management activities in order to achieve management objectives. Managers need to know, however, whether ecological impacts from post-fire management activities are transient or cause long-term ecosystem degradation.

Transect versus grid trapping arrangements for sampling small-mammal communities

Publications Posted on: December 14, 2015
We compared transect and grid trapping arrangements for assessing small-mammal community composition and relative abundance for 2 years in 2 forest cover types in west-central Montana, USA. Transect arrangements yielded more total captures, more individual captures, and more species than grid arrangements in both cover types in both years.

Reserve networks based on richness hotspots and representation vary with scale

Publications Posted on: September 04, 2015
While the importance of spatial scale in ecology is well established, few studies have investigated the impact of data grain on conservation planning outcomes. In this study, we compared species richness hotspot and representation networks developed at five grain sizes.

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