Keywords

Introduced organisms -- Florida -- Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Introduced organisms -- Massachusetts -- Martha's Vineyard, Land use -- Florida -- Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Land use -- Massachusetts -- Martha's Vineyard, Restoration ecology -- Florida -- Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Restoration ecology -- Massachusetts -- Martha's Vineyard, Soil fertility -- Florida -- Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Soil fertility -- Massachusetts -- Martha's Vineyard

Abstract

Restoration of abandoned, nonnative species-dominated agricultural lands provides opportunities for conserving declining shrubland and grassland ecosystems. Land-use legacies, such as elevated soil fertility and pH from agricultural amendments, often persist for years and can favor nonnative species at the expense of native species. Understanding the factors that limit native species establishment on abandoned agricultural lands can provide important insights for restoration and conservation of native species on human-modified lands. I conducted two field experiments on abandoned agricultural lands: a former pasture on Martha’s Vineyard, MA and a former citrus grove at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) in Titusville, FL. In these experiments I tested how soil chemical properties affect native and nonnative species abundance and how different methods of removing nonnative, invasive species affect native and nonnative species abundance. In the first experiment, specifically I tested how restoration treatments affect competition between existing nonnative agricultural plant species and native plant species that are targets for sandplain grassland restoration on Martha’s Vineyard, MA. At MINWR, I examined how lowering soil fertility with carbon additions and lowering soil pH by applying sulfur affects nonnative species richness and cover (in two former citrus groves that were historically scrub/ scrubby flatwoods. Overall, I found that biotic factors, such as competition with nonnative species, play a stronger role in limiting native species establishment than soil chemical properties. Likewise, control of nonnative, invasive species is most effective with mechanical treatments to physically reduce cover, rather than altering soil chemical properties

Notes

If this is your thesis or dissertation, and want to learn how to access it or for more information about readership statistics, contact us at STARS@ucf.edu

Graduation Date

2012

Semester

Spring

Advisor

VonHolle, Mary

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Biology

Degree Program

Biology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0004323

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0004323

Language

English

Release Date

May 2015

Length of Campus-only Access

3 years

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Sciences, Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic

Download

Included in

Biology Commons

Share

COinS