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- When A Pandemic Knocks on a Restoration Ecologist’s Door
- Abstract: The focus shifts from the restoration of habitats to the struggle to secure public health. We spend years advocating for people to pay attention to nature and then, unbidden, malevolent nature knocks on our door. The coronavirus pandemic has changed our world and we sit, isolated, frightened of our neighbors, unsure how our world is being redesigned by an invisible viral architect. Perhaps our dedication to restoration ecology work should be recalibrated. Just how important is it to reframe our cities with more green spaces and species, to border our farms and rural parks with restored meadows and edge habitats'The link between restoration ecology and public health should not be obscure. Our field has long advanced ... Read More
PubDate: 2020-08-27T00:00:00-05:00
- A Stressors-based Ecosystem Restoration Needs Assessment to Inform Gulf
Coast Restoration Decision Making- Abstract: Ten years ago on April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the northern Gulf of Mexico exploded, releasing an estimated 3.19 million barrels (134 million gallons or 507 million liters) of crude oil into Gulf waters over the course of 87 days. This resulted in the largest offshore marine oil spill in U.S. history, with a total volume more than twelve times that of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. Natural resource trustees concluded that the injuries caused by the spill affected such a wide array of interconnected resources over such an enormous area that the effects constitute an ecosystem-level injury. As a result, fines and penalties resulting from the spill can be used not only to address direct ... Read More
PubDate: 2020-08-27T00:00:00-05:00
- Honoring the Ecological Legacy of the Braun Sisters with Grave Site
Restoration Plantings (Spring Grove Cemetery, Ohio)- Abstract: Dr. Emma Lucy Braun (1889–1971) was a pioneer in the field of Plant Ecology. Her influential book, Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America (Braun 1950), in which she popularized such terms as “mixed mesophytic forest” is a classic. Dr. E. Lucy Braun was the first woman elected president of the Ecological Society of America. Her sister, Dr. Annette Braun (1884–1978), was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati and was a leading authority on microlepidoptera. Dr. E. Lucy Braun was the third woman to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati. During her career Dr. E. Lucy Braun had over 180 publications in the form of journal articles and books (Lafferty 1979). She was a founding member ... Read More
PubDate: 2020-08-27T00:00:00-05:00
- Detecting Invasive Amur Honeysuckle in Urban Green Spaces of Cincinnati,
Ohio Using Landsat-8 NDVI Difference Images- Abstract: Lonicera maackii (Amur honeysuckle) is a predominant invasive mid-level shrub introduced to North America from Asia in the late 1800s as an ornamental shrub. It prohibits native plants from growing over large areas of hardwood forests in the Midwestern and Eastern United States (Luken and Thieret 1996). Lonicera maackii was first documented as an escaped invasive in Hamilton County, Ohio around 1960 (Braun 1961) and has successfully invaded many green spaces in southwest Ohio (Hutchinson and Vankat 1998). When it invades a forest it alters the natural patterns of forest succession, reducing the growth rate of overstory trees by more than 50% (Hartman and McCarthy 2008). Lonicera maackii outcompetes many native ... Read More
PubDate: 2020-08-27T00:00:00-05:00
- Effect of Pseudoroegneria spicata (bluebunch wheatgrass) Seeding Date on
Establishment and Resistance to Invasion by Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass)- Abstract: We seeded the native perennial grass Pseudoroegneria spicata in November 2015 and weekly from April to early May 2016 to determine which seeding date resulted in the best stand establishment and greatest potential to resist invasion by the invasive annual grass Bromus tectorum.Pseudoroegneria spicata stands seeded in fall (November) and early spring (April) had higher plant density and biomass than those seeded later in spring (late April through May).Bromus tectorum was less abundant in P. spicata stands seeded in fall and early spring than in stands seeded in late spring, suggesting larger perennial grasses can limit invasion of annual grasses.Seeding P. spicata after 206 growing degree days (GDD, first week of ... Read More
PubDate: 2020-08-27T00:00:00-05:00
- The Effect of Planting Orientation and Iron Ore Mining Substrates on the
Survival and Growth of Salix planifolia Cuttings in a Greenhouse Experiment- Abstract: Canada is the 8th producer of iron ore worldwide. Most of this production (61%) occurs in Québec province.Iron ore extraction produces overburden (soil and rocks lying above the exploitable ore body) and waste rock (bedrock with low metal concentration) that need to be reclaimed, as they can contaminate the surrounding environment when exposed to wind and precipitation.Given their rapid growth rates and tolerance to heavy metals, willow cuttings are often used in reclamation projects. As their survival is closely associated with early rooting, we tested whether horizontal cuttings, which allow the entire length of the cuttings to contact the substrate, performed better than vertical ones.Horizontal cuttings had ... Read More
PubDate: 2020-08-27T00:00:00-05:00
- Genetic Differentiation and Phenotypic Plasticity of Forest Herbaceous
Species in Iowa, Central United States- Abstract: Forests and the forest herbaceous layer provide valuable ecosystem services. The restoration of key forest species can increase the capacity to provide such services.Secondary woods and native remnant forests that have been subject to human disturbances such as cattle grazing, intense herbivory by deer, or recreational use by humans often degrade herbaceous layer plant communities. These become dominated by generalist species and are missing forest specialists.Herbaceous layer species can be successfully restored to forests and have relatively high survival rates, good vegetative growth, and reproductive success.Phenotypic plasticity may allow both local and non-local genotypes to adapt to local environments ... Read More
PubDate: 2020-08-27T00:00:00-05:00
- Post Burn Restoration Response of Encelia virginensis within a Small Wash
System in the Mojave Desert- Abstract: Restoration studies focused on seedling establishment in wash systems have been rare. Stabilizing slopes in wash systems with vegetation is key to reducing erosion and undercutting within washes.Providing plants with cages and hydrogel (in the first year) proved effective, but without hydrogel additions in the second year, survival in the cage plus hydrogel treatment began to converge on the survival in the cage treatment (statistically not different).The use of cage plus hydrogel increased flower and seed numbers after the second growing period, but small numbers overall suggested that additional research is needed to justify recommending the incorporation of hydrogel with cages as a management practice.Our ... Read More
PubDate: 2020-08-27T00:00:00-05:00
- Dark Diversity in Restorations: What’s missing'
- Abstract: Increasing clonal species that may be more competitive with warm-season grasses in restorations may improve results by providing stability in composition and diversity.Including seldom used but common species in seed mixes may provide a better understanding of their role in plant communities. Other species are included in seed mixes that are not found in remnant grasslands and may contribute to the instability of restorations.When setting goals for an ecosystem restoration project, knowledge of all native species, and their commonness, found in that ecosystem is an important step in designing a local native reference ecosystem model.One of the most fundamental steps in any restoration or reconstruction (hereafter ... Read More
PubDate: 2020-08-27T00:00:00-05:00
- Abstracts
- Abstract: Soil Functional Responses to Natural Ecosystem Restoration of a Pine Forest Peucedano pinetum After a Fire. 2020. Hewelke, E. (Water Centre WULS, Institute of Environmental Engineering, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, Warsaw, Poland, edyta_hewelke@sggw.pl), E.B. Górska, D. Gozdowski, M. Korc, I. Olejniczak and A. Prędecka. Forests 11:286. doi:10.3390/f11030286As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of droughts, fire frequency is also expected to increase, threatening mature forest ecosystems. Fire impacts physical, chemical and biological characteristics of soil, in turn altering abundance, biomass, activity, and diversity of soil bacteria and fungi. Soil water repellency (SWR) is a ... Read More
PubDate: 2020-08-27T00:00:00-05:00 DOI: 10.3390/f11030286As
- Meetings
- Abstract: August 31–September 4. The Society for Ecological Restoration Europe conference will be held in Alicante, Spain. More information at sere2020.org/index.php. (POSTPONED until 2021)September 9–13. The 5th International Water Resources and Wetlands conference will occur in Tulcea, Romania. For more details, visit www.limnology.ro/wrw2020/abstract.html. (POSTPONED until 2021)September 27–October 1. The Annual Conference of the Wildlife Society will be held in Louisville, KY. Further details can be found at wildlife.org/2020-conference. (will be held online September 28–October 2, 2020.)October 4–8. The National Summit on Coastal and Estuarine Restoration and Management will take place in Providence, RI. Further details ... Read More
PubDate: 2020-08-27T00:00:00-05:00
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