Doctoral Dissertation Research: Fire-Vegetation Dynamics in Highland Pine Forests of the Dominican Republic: An Investigation at Multiple Time Scales

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Numerous natural processes and many different forms of human activity have altered vegetation patterns in different parts of the world. Among the factors that have dramatically altered vegetation regimes are fires, both human-generated as well as those arising from natural causes, especially lightning. Some focused studies have examined natural fires during prehistoric periods when humans were absent from the study locales, while others have examined fires during historic time periods or as modern land-management practices. Little attention has been given to examining the relationships between fires and vegetation in the same area from prehistoric to contemporary time periods. This doctoral dissertation research project will integrate paleontological, dendrochronological, and ecological research to investigate fire-vegetation dynamics at multiple time scales in the central highlands of the Dominican Republic. The student will use different approaches for each time scale. The long-term history of fire as an agent of vegetation change over millennia will be undertaken by analyzing pollen and charcoal in sediments. Fire histories over recent centuries will be examined through analysis of tree-ring cores from two stands of fire-scarred pines, and present vegetation regeneration over the last decade will be analyzed in these two and in eight other stands that recently burned. The integration of these three research approaches will expand understandings of the evolutionary and ecological links between fire and vegetation in the Dominican highlands. The study will provide information about fire-vegetation dynamics and will complement current and planned studies in the region aimed at explaining broader-scale vegetation patterns in the region. The results of this research project should contribute to deeper theoretical understandings of successional pathways in tropical mountain forest communities, and it will provide practical information the can guide land managers in making decisions regarding the use and control of fire in highland environments. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.