Restoring longleaf pine ecosystems is essential for managing rare plant and animal species and protecting biological diversity in the southeastern Coastal Plain of the United States. Natural longleaf pine ecosystems range from xeric uplands to poorly-drained flatwoods and savannas. Most existing stands, however, occur on xeric to dry-mesic sites and approaches to restoring longleaf pine to wetter sites traditionally utilize intensive practices. There is little information available on the efficacy of these practices to establish longleaf pine seedlings on poorly-drained sites and their impacts on soil properties, seedling survival and growth, and the understory plant community. A research project was established at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, NC to evaluate the effects of site preparation methods for returning longleaf pine on hydric soils with no natural seed source. Various site preparation treatments were evaluated in a field experiment, and results revealed greater growth and earlier emergence from the grass stage with more intensive site preparation. There was a marginal increase in soil nutrients, and a slight increase in foliar nutrients found with the more intensive treatments. Site preparation influenced seedling growth in the short-term and this was likely due to the cumulative effects of controlling competition and modifying the planting site. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and other Department of Defense installations include both former and remnant longleaf pine ecosystems that support federally protected plants and animals such as the red-cockaded woodpecker - and thus face the challenge of restoring former, poorly-drained longleaf pine ecosystems. A land use history revealed that, largely due to its poorly-drained status and inaccessibility, the majority of disturbance on the research area occurred after the 1920âs and was largely due to forestry activities. Since purchasing the land area of the project in 1996, the Marine Corpsâ challenge has been to balance the mission of training and readiness with the need for restoration and long-term management of longleaf pine ecosystems. The results of this work provide natural resource managers with a scientific foundation for assessing choices to assist in this restoration and management effort.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NCSU/oai:NCSU:etd-04282008-191226 |
| Date | 05 June 2008 |
| Creators | Cohen, Susan Alese |
| Contributors | Dr. Charles B. Davey, Dr. Felipe Sanchez, Dr. Daniel J. Robison, Dr. Barry Goldfarb |
| Publisher | NCSU |
| Source Sets | North Carolina State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04282008-191226/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dis sertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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