Completed Plant Ecology Research Projects
Succession of Abandoned Cranberry Bogs
Research Questions:
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What is the fate of a cranberry bog when it has been abandoned?
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What does cranberry bog succession look like?
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How do invertebrate populations change over time after abandonment?
Publications from this work:
Biodiversity of Novel Grasslands
With collaborators from Iowa State University and the United States Department of Agriculture, we established the long-term Maintenance of Exotic versus Native Diversity (MEND) experiment in the Blackland Prairie region of central Texas. The MEND study compares species diversity decline in novel exotic and native tallgrass prairie communities. Novel communities are defined as communities that are changed because of invasions and, as a result, species in the system no longer share an evolutionary history. Exotic species are becoming common, even dominant, in grasslands, the most prevalent ecosystem type in North America.
Publications from this work:
Invasion of Coastal Dunes
The exotic Asiatic Sand Sedge (Carex kobomugi) has been invading dunes in New Jersey displacing natives and altering dune health and resilience. We explored a potential management strategy of beach nourishment to control the invasive.
Publications from this work: