Abstract Detail

Ecology

Collings, Jeremy [1], Dávalos, Andrea [2].

Assessing Invasive Plant Management Using Understory Vegetation Surveys.

Plant invasions threaten the diversity of plant communities and are thus a management priority for conservation practitioners and land managers. However, land managers seldom use empirical methods to evaluate whether they are meeting management goals. Additionally, much of the current literature on the effects of invasive plants on native plant communities fail to consider any effects of cooccurring stressors. Invasive plant species have been demonstrated to have synergistic effects along with cooccurring stressors, such as nonnative earthworms, on native plants. Working with the New York State Parks, we compared native plant communities in areas managed for the invasive vine Vincetoxicum rossicum and areas left unmanaged at three forested sites. We also compared native plant communities across different densities of V. rossicum and nonnative earthworms. After two years of management, V. rossicum frequency decreased at managed locations, whereas understory plant diversity did not change. V. rossicum and nonnative earthworm abundance varied by site, but were not associated with lower understory native plant diversity. Further research should be conducted to better understand when these stressors influence native plant community composition, including presence of other invasive plant species and herbivory by white-tailed deer.

1 - 9 Cedar Street, 9 Cedar Street, Cortland, NY, 13045, United States
2 - State University of New York at Cortland, Biology, 32 Graham Ave, Cortland, NY, 13045, USA

Keywords:
Invase plant species
Earthworms
Forest management
biodiversity.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Ecology Posters
Location: Arizona Ballroom/Starr Pass
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2019
Time: 5:30 PM This poster will be presented at 6:15 pm. The Poster Session runs from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Posters with odd poster numbers are presented at 5:30 pm, and posters with even poster numbers are presented at 6:15 pm.
Number: PEC026
Abstract ID:835
Candidate for Awards:Ecological Section Best Undergraduate Presentation Award