Doctoral Dissertation Research: Forest Ecosystem Recovery After Catastrophic Wind Disturbance

本研究将探讨龙卷风后的回收采伐和控制燃烧对生态系统恢复的影响。管理受自然干扰森林的战略对于支持生态系统产品和服务的持续供应至关重要。救助性采伐通常在自然干扰之后进行，以部分回收受损或死亡树木的木材产品的经济价值，并减少未来对环境的干扰的风险和严重程度。尽管它具有广泛的社会和经济重要性，但人们对打捞性伐木如何影响非木本植物群落或继续使用规定的火知之甚少。保护生物多样性和提供社会所需的自然、可再生木材产品的战略需要在发生回收采伐和控制燃烧的地区收集和分析数据。作为博士论文研究进步奖，该项目将为研究生建立独立的研究生涯提供支持。自然干扰的频率和严重程度日益增加，促使人们越来越有兴趣研究改变森林恢复速度和轨迹的多种相互作用的干扰。本项目研究(1)在灾难性风干扰后，补救性采伐如何改变木本和草本植物组合；(2)在风干扰和补救性采伐影响不同的地点，规定火灾如何影响森林生态系统恢复。在永久样地收集五个季节的实地数据，能够全面评估多种森林地层和采样单位大小的生物物理场地条件的变化。本研究结果可用于指导其他受干扰森林，特别是适应火的森林的管理。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This study will investigate the impact of salvage logging and controlled burning on ecosystem recovery after tornados. Strategies to manage naturally disturbed forests are critical to support the sustained supply of ecosystem goods and services. Salvage logging is commonly applied after natural disturbances to partially reclaim the economic value of wood products in damaged or dead trees, and to reduce risk and severity of future disturbances to the environment. Despite its widespread social and economic importance, little is known about how salvage logging impacts non-woody plant communities or the continued application of prescribed fire. Strategies to conserve biodiversity and provide the natural, renewable wood products that society needs requires data collection and analysis in areas where salvage logging and controlled burning take place. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this project will provide support to enable a graduate student to establish an independent research career.Increasing frequencies and severity of natural disturbances has motivated increasing interest in research on multiple interacting disturbances that alter rates and trajectories of forest recovery. This project investigates (1) how salvage logging alters woody and herbaceous plant assemblages after catastrophic wind disturbance, and (2) how prescribed fires influence forest ecosystem recovery in sites differentially impacted by wind disturbance and salvage logging. Five seasons of field data collection on permanent plots enable a comprehensive assessment of changes in biophysical site conditions across multiple forest strata and sampling unit sizes. Results of this study can be used to guide the management of other disturbed forests, especially fire-adapted forests.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.