Effects of annual removal of Plethodon cinereus on plant diversity in the E.N. Huyck Preserve and Biological Research Station
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Authors
VanderHam, Ashley E.
Issue Date
2007-04-27
Type
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Biodiversity is essential to ecosystem
maintenance and helps to stabilize ecosystems
by making it easier to recover from
disturbances, human or other (Gibert and
Deharveng, 2002). One way to look biodiversity
is through removal studies which eradicate a
species or group that fills a certain niche and
look at the effects on the ecosystem.
The research presented in the following
documentation is based on the longitudinal
removal of the functional group amphibians
from beech forest plots at the E.N. Huyck
Preserve and Biological Research Station. Taking
advantage of the previously constructed plots, a
survey of the plant community diversity was
completed to examine the effects of removing
the salamanders. The presence or absence of
the red back salamander (Plethodon cinereus)
should cause a difference in the plant diversity
between the control and removal plots. A
difference in plant diversity would show that
the presence ,or absence, of Plethodon cinereus
has an impact on ecosystem function.
Description
1 broadside : ill.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo College