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Simulating the interactions of forest structure, fire regime, and plant invasion in the southern Appalachians using LANDIS

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Southern Appalachian forests face multiple environmental threats, including periodic fires, insect outbreaks, and more recently, exotic invasive plants. Past studies suggest these multiple disturbances interact to shape species-rich forest landscape, and they hypothesize that changes in fire regimes and increasing landscape fragmentation may influence invasive processes. However, long-term impacts of these multiple factors, landscape-scale processes that drive invasion, and forest management practices required to reduce damage from invasive plants are still unclear.

Parent Publication

Citation

Xi, Weimin; Chen, Szu-Hung; Birt, Andrew G.; Waldron, John D.; Lafon, Charles W.; Cairns, David M.; Tchakerian, Maria D.; Klepzig, Kier D.; Coulson, Robert N. 2011. Simulating the interactions of forest structure, fire regime, and plant invasion in the southern Appalachians using LANDIS. In: McManus, Katherine A; Gottschalk, Kurt W., eds. 2010. Proceedings. 21st U.S. Department of Agriculture interagency research forum on invasive species 2010; 2010 January 12-15; Annapolis, MD. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-75. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 143.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/37679