Drivers of change in temperate forest plant communities - by Don Waller - 28.04.2016

Original Title: Ecological factors driving long-term change in temperate forest plant communities
Various stresses alter the composition, structure, and function of many ecosystems. Temperate forests are often assumed to resist these stresses because they are adapted to disturbances and support low plant diversity. Long-term data, however, are scarce and forests tend to change slowly, making it difficult to test this assumption. Our resurveys of hundreds of sites initially surveyed by John Curtis and his students in the 1950s reveal several patterns of long-term ecological change across Wisconsin's forests. Species differ in how they have shifted in distribution and abundance over the past 50-60 years. Both alpha and beta diversity have declined across most sites, but sites differ in the nature and extent of change. We use these differences among species and sites to infer the drivers of ecological change in these forests. Climate change, ecological succession, habitat fragmentation, invasions of non-native species, overabundant deer, and atmospheric N deposition all appear to be affecting these forests, but their relative strength varies among species, sites and landscapes. We are now assessing the roles of plant functional traits and phylogenetic relatedness in the forces driving community assembly and disassembly.
Dr. Don Waller is an ecologist in the Department of Botany at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who teaches courses in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology. His research focuses on threats to plant and animal diversity, the impacts of deer browsing and invasive species, and the fate of small populations. His research in evolutionary biology and population genetics focuses on the evolution of mating systems and the genetic threat of inbreeding. He works with environmental organizations, land trusts, and state and federal resource agencies and scientists to inject science more effectively into forest and game management. He co-authored Wild Forests: Conservation Biology and Public Policy (Island Press 1994), co-edited The Vanishing Present: Shifts in Wisconsin’s lands, waters, and wildlife (Univ. of Chicago Press 2008), and has authored or co- authored over 100 journal articles. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a former Editor-in-Chief of the journal Evolution and former President of the Society for the Study of Evolution.

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Planets are like humans, we both have a end of life