Erin Andrew's Graduate Defense Seminar

A Graduate Defense Seminar will be presented by Erin Andrew, MS Candidate in Forest Science. She will present Compositional Change of Ground Flora in Forest Ecosystems of Southeastern Ohio over Twenty Years in 333 Kottman Hall.

In this study, we investigated the cover and abundance of the ground flora (herbaceous plants, and woody vines and shrubs) taxa of forest ecosystem types on the Athens Unit of the Wayne National Forest. The main objective was to investigate trends in species composition by remeasuring permanent plots in 2016 that had been established in 1994-95.

We found seven new non-native invasive species on our plots, with a significant increase in the abundance of multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), as well as species associated with old-growth forests. The changes in species’ presence and shifts in environmental conditions on our plots suggest an understory stratum is in transition, primarily due to the ongoing process of mesophication. 

David M. Hix, advisor