Treesearch

We describe spatial and temporal variation in the insect herbivore communities associated with the MOFEP, prior to application of contrasting cutting regimes. No pre-treatment differences were found in total insect density on either black (Quercus velutina) or white oak (Q. alba) during 1993-1995. There was great seasonal variation in insect abundance on both host species as well as high variation across years for white oak. White oak on north- and eastfacing slopes tended to have more insects than white oak on southand west-facing slopes. Sites under the auspices of the Missouri Department...

Changes in average basal area and volume per acre were simulated for a 35-year pertod using the treatments designated for sites 4, 5, and 6 of the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project. A traditional growth and yield model (Central States TWIGS variant of the Forest Vegetation Simulator) was used with Landscape Management System Software to simulate and display changes over time. Both the even-aged and uneven-aged treatments exhibited decreasing average basal area per acre and increasing average standing volume per acre over the 35-year period. The no-harvest treatment exhibited both...

Integrating results across disciplines is a critical component of ecosystem management and research. The common research sites, landscape-scale experimental design, and breadth of research subjects in Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project provide circumstances conducive for addressing multidisciplinary questions. Our objectives were to (1) summarize the treatment and block effects for pre-treatment studies, (2) identify potential relationships among taxa at different scales by comparing site and ecological landtype (ELT) pattems of diversity and relative abundance, and (3) explore...

Management practices necessary for sustaining long-term soil productivity (LTSP) afforest lands are being defined from a network of coordinated, long-term experiments established in vartous ecosystems across the United States and British Columbia according to the same basic study plan. The study was established in the Ozark Region of southeastem Missouri in Shannon County in 1995. It is being led by Forest Service Research, with cooperation from the Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri's Department of Conservation and Department of Natural Resources, the Natural Resources Conservation...

Our goal is to understand the repercussions of two different forest management techniques on Neotropical migrant birds in the heavily forested landscape of the Missouri Ozarks. Our objectives are to determine breeding densities of forest birds under even-aged and uneven-aged management regimes and to determine the effects of these practices on songbird demographics. Our methods included spot mapping, nest monitoring, and mist-netting and banding. Analyses of our pre-treatment data show some variation both spatially and temporally, but do suggest that we have adequate baseline data for...

I examined the species composition, species richness, and relative abundance of herpetofaunal communities on southwest-facing and northeast-facing slopes on the MOFEP sites. For the landscape-scale investigations, herpetofaunal communities on southwest- facing slopes were relatively similar, averaged 23.4 species/site, and had relative abundance estimates ranging from 14.4 to 38.2 captures/100 trap days. Communities on northeast-facing slopes were also relatively similar, averaged 23.2 species/site, and had relative abundance estimates ranging from 14.7 to 41.1 captures/100 trap days. For...

We conducted a capture-recapture study on northeast-facing slopes to determine the pre-treatment landscape-scale effect of even- and uneven-aged silvicultural treatments upon the species composition, species richness, and relative abundance of small mammals on Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP) sites. Similarity indices of species composition between sites ranged from 0.29 to 1.00, with an overall mean index of 0.64. Species richness estimates ranged from two to six species per site per year. Overall small mammal relative abundance estimates ranged from 0.93 (s.e. = 0.35) to...

In June 1993, we collected 144 leaf litter samples from 36 plots (4 samples/plot) located in MOFEP forest sites 1, 2 and 3. Half of the plots were placed randomly on northeast-facing stands (ELT 18), and half randomly placed on southwest-facing stands (ELT 17). Arthropods were extracted using Tullgren funnels, and then sorted into morpho-species, counted, and measured. Out of 126 usable samples, we found 22 orders of arthropods, 547 morpho-species, 40,000 individuals, and 30 g of arthropod biomass. ANOVA showed richness, numbers, and mass were higher on northeast- than on southwest-facing...

We quantified current patterns of genetic variation of three woody plant species—Carya tomentosa (Juglandaceae), Quercus alba (Fagaceae), and Sassafras albidum (Lauraceae)—distributed throughout the nine Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP) study sites and evaluated the data in light of the MOFEP experimental design. Genetic variation was estimated using electrophoretically detected isozymes as genetic markers. Results indicate that population level genetic diversity estimates were within the range typical of woody plant species but a comparison of levels of genetic variation of...

We analyzed volume, surface area, and percent cover of down wood to determine if there were pre-treatment differences among the sites in the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project. We also compared pre-treatment values for the number and basal area of snags. We observed no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) among treatment classes for these characteristics. This is the desired condition prior to treatment. The assignment of replicates to blocks was not effective in reducing variability among treatments. The number (12/ac or 30/ha) and basal area (5 ft2/ac or 1 m2/ha) of...