Graduate Exit Seminar - MK Klenkar

Plan to join MK Klenkar's graduate exit seminar on November 27, 2023, at 10:00 am in Kottman Hall 383B or via Zoom. MK will present, "Effects of invasive species management on ecosystem composition and function in a deciduous hardwood forest."

Abstract: Invasive plant species pose a threat to forest ecosystems and are responsible for disrupting the structure and function of these systems, outcompeting native plant species, and disrupting soil health. This study takes place in an invaded eastern hardwood forest in Coshocton, OH, and investigates (a) management effects on plant communities and (b) decomposition of litter from native and invasive species in managed and unmanaged research plots. In the first chapter of this research, we utilize disturbance-based management practices in invaded forests plots, including mechanical clearing and multiple levels of targeted goat browsing. Our objectives are to (i) investigate how woody plant communities shift with time from treatment and (ii) determine whether treatment effect is contingent upon the passage of time. In the second chapter we investigate decomposition of native and invasive plant litter in managed and unmanaged plots of invaded woodland, comparing decomposition rates between treatment groups and amongst litter of differing origin and nutritional composition. 

Advisor: Dr. G. Matt Davies