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Dr. David J. Mladenoff
Department of Forest Ecology and Management
University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Effects of land use history on vegetation structure in the northwest WI Pine Barrens

Contact  Emilie Grossmann

Background:

The Northwest Wisconsin Pine Barrens (NWPB) is an important region for commercial forestry, biodiversity protection and recreation. Because the region is under growing demands to accommodate these uses, a deep understanding of the ecosystem is critical for balancing them in the future.

Research question:

My primary purpose is to understand plant communities of the region addressing two questions: 'What patterns can we find in recent landscape history?' and 'How does local history interact with soil properties to shape plant communities in the NWPB today?'

Approach:

Because plant communities are shaped by processes operating at multiple scales, I will encompass several scales within the study design (Figure 1). I will use historic airphoto analysis and ArcInfo Geographic Information Systems to describe ecological history through 16 km² study blocks (i.e., 'landscape scale'), and associated vegetation surveys in the field (i.e., 'local scale'). Trends in mosaic stability across the entire NWPB (i.e., 'regional scale') and landscape structure (with respect to patch statistics for open uplands) will be mapped, and then statistically analyzed using regression analysis. Local plant community composition will be related to local canopy coverage, local cover stability, disturbance history and soil conditions. Findings at the local scale will be projected to landscapes across the region to generate new hypotheses about regional-scale plant community structure of the open communities in the NWPB.

Results to date:

Results will apply to plant community, landscape, historic, disturbance and restoration ecology. They will directly apply to forest management planning with respect to pine barrens conservation in the Northwest Wisconsin Pine Barrens, and will inform broader applications for landscape planning forested landscapes elsewhere.

Figure 1:  An illustration of the nested sampling design: a) the NWPB within Wisconsin, b) the Northwest Wisconsin Pine Barrens landscape with study blocks outined.  c) Landcover history map of one study block d)  Vegetation transect, 15m long, with 30 1m X 1m quadrats.