Invasive plants have the capacity to transform landscapes and alter ecosystem function, causing significant economic and ecological damage. These effects include displacement and reduction of native flora and fauna, altered fire regimes, modification of biotic and abiotic soil properties, as well as local, regional, and global economic impacts. With such...
Functional traits of vascular plants have been an important component of ecological studies for a number of years; however, in more recent times vascular plant ecologists have begun to formalize a set of key traits and universal system of trait measurement. Many recent studies hypothesize global generality of trait patterns,...
Grapevine Trunk Diseases (GTDs) are caused by a group of fungal pathogens that attack the xylem tissue of mature grapevines worldwide. In the past 30 years, their incidence has increased, both in emerging grape-producing regions, as well as those with an extended history of viticulture. In the same time span,...
In recent years, our ecological knowledge of tropical dry forests has increased dramatically. However, whole components of the ecosystem, like lichenized fungi, remain mostly unknown. Crustose lichens in these forests are so abundant, that they are responsible for the characteristic appearance of a “white bark forest” during the dry season....
Forest disturbances, such as wildfires, pine beetle outbreaks, and floods are important features of many landscapes and ecosystems. Many disturbances are increasing in size, frequency, and intensity due to changing climates and land management decisions. The changing ecological and aesthetic conditions following a disturbance can lead to negative short- and...
Despite the importance of plant-pollinator interactions for ecological communities, few long-term observational studies have been conducted of plant-pollinator networks. Using four years of plant-pollinator interaction data from 18 meadows in the Willamette National Forest, Oregon, this thesis examined how meadow size, the amount of nearby meadow habitat, weather, degree days,...