THE EFFECT OF LOGGING ON SPECIES DIVERSITY AND EXOTIC SPECIES PRESENCE IN TEMPERATE HARDWOOD FOREST
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Date
1999-04
Department
Hood College Biology
Program
Biomedical and Environmental Science
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Abstract
Anthropogenic disturbance is linked to loss of global plant biodiversity through
several processes, including habitat destruction and displacement by introduced
species. I examined the relationship between disturbance severity, changes in plant
diversity, and exotic species invasion in a central Maryland secondary hardwood
forest in which a silviculture demonstration project had been established six years
previously. I compared total species richness, exotic species richness and
percentage of exotic species in plots subject to five different logging regimes
(clearcut, seed tree, shelterwood, single-tree selection and group selection) and
uncut control plots, at one and six years after cutting. I found significantly greater
species richness in even-aged logged plots than in unlogged plots, but no difference
between logged and unlogged plots in uneven-aged stands. There was a significant
increase in total species, exotic species and percentage exotic species along the
increasing disturbance gradient from group selection to clearcut, but no significant
difference in any of the dependent variables between logged plots cut in 1991 and
1997. There was no statistically significant evidence for the intermediate disturbance
hypothesis. The results of the study can be explained largely by the density
effect on diversity; other explanations are discussed. Disagreement between these
findings and the work of other researchers may be eliminated by clarification of
descriptions and definitions of study sites.