As the human population in Florida continues to expand, development follows, and tree farms give way to homes and businesses. As parks are established, restoration of these semi-natural plantations may provide critical habitat for species conservation. This study evaluates vegetation response to restoration treatments at two study sites, formerly tree farms, now preserves in NE Florida. Treatments included thinning, clearing, or control (no treatment) within 10m^2 plots. Thinning reduced tree canopy to 20% (2-3 pines/plot) and removed all other vegetation; clearing treatments removed all biomass to bare soil; no herbicides were used. Within these plots richness and abundance was assessed by establishing two parallel transects and counting ramets on a bi-annual basis. Tree diameter at breast height (dbh) was also measured (cm). It was hypothesized that release of resources (thinning and clearing) would increase overall diversity (more so in graminoids and forbs), and encourage more robust tree growth versus control groups. Diversity ANOVA (Simpons & Shannon indices) showed significant differences due to survey date (p< 0.05) at the McGirts Creek site and a significant (p= 0.056) effect for the interaction term at the Tigers Point site. Tree dbh also increased at a significantly greater rate in thinned, versus control groups at the Tigers Point site (p= 0.03) perhaps due to higher initial tree density, but not at the McGirts Creek site (p= 0.85). Placing species into guilds revealed both sites reflected high levels of graminoids in cleared plots, which is consistent with early successional species (pioneer plants). McGirts followed hypothesis as forbs and graminoids were dominant in both thinned and cleared plots and the Tigers Point site had higher levels of vines and shrubs than expected. Restoration goals of increasing vegetative diversity, especially in r-selected species, and robust growth can be met by techniques used in this study.

The Eurasian wood wasp, Sirex noctilio, is considered a secondary pest in its native range; however, it has caused significant economic damage when introduced to pine plantations in the Southern Hemisphere. Sirex noctilio was recently introduced to the northeastern U.S., which has raised concerns about its potential impact on Southeastern pine plantations. This research was conducted to understand how silvicultural management affects populations of a native wood wasp, Sirex nigricornis, a wood wasp with similar ecosystem functions as S. noctilio. Sirex nigricornis abundance was higher in un-managed pine plantations than in managed plantations, mixed, and old growth forests. Additionally, geospatial models were built displaying S. noctilio hazard for the Southeastern U.S. based on oviposition host preference assays and historical outbreak information. Sirex noctilio hazard models will inform land managers about areas of greatest concern under various scenarios and should be used to decrease susceptibility of pine forests to this pest.