Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2011, Environment and Natural Resources

Declining oak (Quercus spp.) regeneration in eastern forests of North America has become a concern to wildlife biologists and foresters as the loss of oaks as a major overstory component impacts wildlife habitat and timber resources. Consequently, specialized forest treatments utilizing a combination of mechanical thinning and prescribed fire have been developed to favor oak regeneration over that of more shade-tolerant species. Despite increasing and widespread use of these techniques, little is currently known about the effects these activities have on bats (Chiroptera), which are sensitive to changes in forest canopy coverage and clutter. This study quantified bat activity levels in response to changes in canopy clutter resulting from overstory thinning and prescribed burning. Bat activity levels were acoustically monitored using Anabat II bat detectors from May to September in 2006, 2009 and 2010 in two Ohio state forests across 12 treatment areas and 96 plots. Measures of individual tree crowns were made on all plots in 2006 and on a subsample of 30 plots during 2009 and 2010 to estimate changes in canopy volume. Bat activity was negatively correlated with structural volume, and was greater in harvested stands than control stands in all years. Total activity did not change between 2006 and 2009, despite increases in understory structural volume. In contrast, activity levels following prescribed fire were significantly lower, and were not related to decreases in clutter. Activity levels within burned stands were greater than levels within unthinned, unburned control stands. Species specific responses to fire were variable, with big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) being more fire tolerant than red bats (Lasiurus borealis) and Myotis bats. The results of this study suggest that while prescribed burning may decrease bat activity within thinned stands, activity will still be greater than in unthinned stands.

Committee: Stanley Gehrt (Advisor); Roger Williams (Committee Member); Robert Gates (Committee Member) Subjects: Ecology; Forestry; Natural Resource Management; Wildlife Management

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2012, Biology

Most pryrogenic ecosystems are endangered due to encroachment of fire-sensitive species and loss of fire-tolerant species caused by altered fire regimes, especially fire suppression. Restoration of these degraded systems typically involves the reintroduction of fire via prescribed burning. I evaluated the efficacy of prescribed fire in reducing woody plant encroachment in fire-suppressed oak-dominated ecosystems in the Bluegrass Region of southern Ohio. In the first study, I tested the effects of biennial fire and a fire surrogate (clipping) on woody and herbaceous vegetation abundance in oak barrens. I found that fire and clipping produce similar responses in vegetation, and although these treatments reduce the aerial cover of shrubs, they do not lessen shrub resprouting or promote herbaceous plants. Next, I described the characteristics of oak-dominated forests prior to the reintroduction of fire. My snapshot of seedling layer vegetation in these forests highlights the variation in vegetation and environmental factors over small and large spatial scales. Despite their distinctions in composition, the structural patterns at all the forest stands provide evidence for a general shift in composition from oak (Quercus) to maple (Acer) dominance. Oaks are failing to regenerate and are being replaced by actively recruiting maples. Fires are predicted to reverse this shift by acting as a filter for maples resulting in the promotion oaks. In my final study, I tested this prediction and evaluated the effects of fire season and topkill with and without heating on forest seedling composition and abundance. I found no clear effect of fire season, or heating, and only limited support for the prediction that fires act as a filter for maples. Overall, these results indicate that fire might maintain initial vegetation conditions, but is not effective in reversing encroachment in oak-dominated ecosystems. Despite the limited spatial and temporal scale of my studies, these results a (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Joseph Koonce PhD (Advisor); Roy Ritzman PhD (Committee Chair); Robin Snyder PhD (Committee Member); David Burke PhD (Committee Member); Michael Benard PhD (Committee Member); Matthew Dickinson PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Ecology; Forestry

Bachelor of Science, Wittenberg University, 2020, Biology

In the Huron-Manistee National Forest, standing dead trees (snags) have great ecological value because they have cavities, which provide critical habitat for many animals. Snags are created in red pine timber plantations to simulate the number of snags typically found in naturally growing forests. This study compares the value of snags created by topping in 2011 to snags created during a prescribed burn in 2010. Creating snags via topping appears to be worth the investment as wildlife appears to use topped snags as much as snags created in a prescribed burn (topped = 49 cavities; burned = 59 cavities). GIS/GPS was used to locate and mark snag clumps. Height, DBH, decay class (1-5), and cavity presence was recorded for each clump (group of snags) and compared between and across snag creation type. The burned snags were planted in 1936 or 1938 and the topped snags were planted in 1936 or 1965 but the average DBH of each was similar (burned x = 10.8in; topped x = 10.5in). The presence of cavities below 20ft was compared between burned and topped snags. The average height for burned snags was 42.5ft and topped snags were cut at 20ft, but cavities appeared to be located near the tops of snags regardless of their height. The majority of cavities (83.7%) in topped snags were in decay classes one (59.2%) and two (24.5%). In burned snags, the majority of cavities (87.0%) were in decay classes one (22.2%), two (35.2%) and three (29.6%) with decay classes two and three containing the majority of the cavities (64.8%). Below 20ft, topped snags had a greater percentage of cavities (14.9%) than burned snags (6.7%), although there was a greater percentage of cavities in burned snags overall (burned = 22.7%). In the future, studies will also compare snags created during the Meridian wildfire of 2010.

Committee: Richard Phillips (Advisor); Matthew Collier (Committee Member); Doug Andrews (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Ecology; Environmental Science; Forestry; Natural Resource Management; Wildlife Management; Wood; Wood Sciences

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2014, Biological Sciences (Arts and Sciences)

Anthropogenic disturbance has been described as an agent of ecological divergence, yet our understanding of the processes linking these phenomena are limited. The changes in resource availability (i.e., resource limitation) following a disturbance may favor variation in physiology, behavior, or ecology (e.g., habitat use and diet) in a species in order to minimize competition and satisfy life-history demands. Consequently, populations in disturbed environments may differ in these characteristics from populations in environments where resources are abundant. In this dissertation I address these considerations for tree lizards (Urosaurus ornatus) from grassland regions varying in prescribed burn history. In the southwestern US, burning induces environmental shifts towards structural homogenization and grass-dominance, resulting in resource-limited environments. Moreover, tree lizards are polymorphic in reproductive behavior and throat color that is maintained by socially-mediated sexual selection. In the following chapters I first introduce my study system and the role of anthropogenic disturbance in generating environmental variation (Chapter 1). I then validate the use of stable isotope analysis to describe one of the major consequences of resource limitation, trophic niche divergence, among color morphs of my focal taxon (Chapter 2). I then use field-collected isotopic data to demonstrate that color morphs differing in reproductive behavior may also diverge in ecology and morphology (Chapter 3). Thus, color polymorphic species are likely maintained in part by both divergent natural and sexual selection, and consequently, not all morphs may respond equally to environmental perturbations. Using a novel approach, I link morphological and ecological traits with environmental variation, illustrating that U. ornatus color morphs differing in morphological trait combinations also differ in the degree they `fit’ their microhabitats (Chapter 4). Specifically, dominan (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Donald Miles PhD (Advisor); Kelly Johnson PhD (Committee Member); James Dyer PhD (Committee Member); Molly Morris PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Ecology; Morphology; Physiology; Zoology

Master of Science, University of Toledo, 2007, College of Arts and Sciences

Prescribed burning is a major management technique used to restore oak woodlands to previous oak savanna conditions. Burning alters biotic and biophysical variables by combusting the litter layer and heating the soil; however, the net effects of these cool fires on ecosystem processes like soil respiration (SR) are not well understood. This study examined immediate and seasonal responses of biotic variables, biophysical variables, and SR to prescribed burning in Northwest Ohio successional oak woodlands. A chronosequence of treatments (0, 1, 3, and 5 years after burning) was compared with unburned woodland to estimate the duration of fire effects. A paired design limiting landscape variability was incorporated by maintaining a burn exclusion area within the freshly burned treatment (0yr). The relationship between SR and its biotic and biophysical predictors, and the temperature sensitivity of SR (Q10) were also examined across treatments. Measurements were taken weekly between March 2005 and January 2006. Data were primarily analyzed with repeated measures analysis of variance. This study suggested that repeated fires had persistent impacts on forest structure and species composition, and transitory impacts on litter biomass, soil temperature, soil moisture, soil nutrients, SR, and Q10. Generally, changes caused by fire were not significantly different across the chronology; instead, fire effects were only visible within the first year after burning, and were most evident by comparing the paired sites. Fire effects changed by season so that spring SR at the freshly burned site was 18% higher than the paired site, summer SR was 36% lower, and fall SR recovered to unburned rates. Relationships between SR and its predictors changed slightly after burning, but soil temperature remained the dominant predictor across all treatments and seasons. Therefore, the effects of a single fire on successional woodland SR were seen to be weak and short-lived.

Committee: Jiquan Chen (Advisor) Subjects: Biology, Ecology

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2007, Plant Biology (Arts and Sciences)

Oak regeneration failure in the hardwood forests of eastern North America has been well documented. Fire and thinning (fire surrogate) treatments are being studied as possible management tools to promote oak regeneration. We examined oak seed production and acorn weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) diversity from two forests in southeastern Ohio under different silvicultural treatments. Seeds were collected for five seasons from 2001-2005. Overall, stand level treatments only resulted in a slight increase in acorn production in the burn and thin & burn stands (as expected) relative to the control; however, this response was species specific. Masting was not attributable to the treatments. Insect data showed an increase in weevil activity in areas with the greatest acorn production. Stand level treatments did not have a significant impact on weevil abundance patterns. Our data suggest that factors influencing the masting cycle (e.g., climate) account for a much greater proportion of the variability in seed production than do stand level criteria.

Committee: Brian McCarthy (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2002, Biological Sciences (Arts and Sciences)

Avian community structure is determined by many abiotic and biotic factors such as bird-habitat associations, resource partitioning, and species interactions. Disturbance, such as shelterwood harvesting and prescribed burning, alter these patterns of co-existence. I studied avian forest communities at three sites in Southeast Ohio. Each site consists of four treatment plots: control, burn, thin, and thin + burn. I determined differences in species composition, richness, mean abundance, and nest success at each site. Avian species composition and abundance appear most impacted within the burn plots in 2001. Species richness is highest in the thin only and thin and burn plots. Daily nest survival rates are similar across treatments and years. My results are comparable to other studies that found these management practices provide habitat for both gap associated birds and mature forest birds. Further research is needed to determine the impact of other factors that may mask treatment effects.

Committee: Donald Miles (Advisor) Subjects: Biology, General

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2006, Biological Sciences

The effects of management on threatened and endangered species are difficult to discern, and yet, are vitally important for implementing adaptive management. The federally endangered Karner blue butterfly (Karner blue), Lycaeides melissa samuelis, inhabits oak savanna or pine barrens, is a specialist on its host-plant, wild blue lupine, Lupinus perennis, and has two broods per year. The Karner blue was reintroduced into the globally rare black oak/lupine savannas of Ohio, USA in 1998. Current management practices involve burning 1/3, mowing 1/3, and leaving 1/3 of the lupine stems unmanaged at each site. Prescribed burning generally kills any Karner blue eggs present, so a trade-off exists between burning to maintain the habitat and Karner blue mortality. The objective of my research was to quantify the effects of this management strategy on the Karner blue. In the first part of my study, I examined several environmental factors, which influenced the nutritional quality (nitrogen and water content) of lupine to the Karner blue. My results showed management did not affect lupine nutrition for either brood. For the second brood, I found that vegetation density best predicted lupine nutritional quality, but canopy cover and aspect had an impact as well. Relatively lower host-plant nitrogen during the second brood was accompanied by a higher adult foraging rate, which suggests a trade-off of nutritional resources during these different life stages. For the second part of my study, I used surveys and behavior observations to quantify how the Karner blue responded to management treatments. Second brood females and males were more abundant in burned management units, and behavior observations revealed Karner blues avoided ovipositing in unmanaged management units. These management units were unburned for at least four years and were often characterized by a high leaf litter depth (>3.5 cm). Recolonizations of Karner blues from source populations within 120 meters was rapid (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Karen Root (Advisor) Subjects: Biology, Ecology