Disturbance impacts on understory plant communities of the Colorado Front Range
| dc.contributor.author | Fornwalt, Paula J., author | |
| dc.contributor.author | Romme, William H., advisor | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-03-13T19:26:17Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-03-13T19:26:17Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2009 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Pinus ponderosa - Pseudotsuga menziesii (ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir) forests of the Colorado Front Range have experienced a range of disturbances since they were settled by European-Americans approximately 150 years ago, including settlement-era logging and domestic grazing, and more recently, wildfire. In this dissertation, I explored the impacts of these disturbances on understory plant communities. I investigated the long-term effects of settlement-era logging and grazing on forest understories by comparing understory composition at a historically logged and grazed site to that of a site that was protected from past use. I found little to no evidence of long-term logging and grazing impacts on understory richness, cover, and composition in upland forests. Long-term changes in richness, cover, and composition due to past logging and grazing were somewhat apparent in riparian forests, however, where these activities were likely the most intense. I analyzed data collected before (1997) and after (2003-2007) the 2002 Hayman Fire to examine wildfire effects on understory communities. Some declines in species richness and cover were observed immediately following fire, but by 2007, richness and cover often exceeded prefire conditions, even in severely burned areas. Fire-induced changes in community composition were apparent in all postfire years; regardless of fire severity, these changes were primarily due to new species recruitment, particularly short-lived native forbs, rather than due to a loss of prefire species. While exotic richness and cover generally increased as fire severity and time since fire increased, they remained low at the end of the study, and have not yet interfered with the recovery of the native understory community. I conducted a literature review to examine the mechanisms through which Front Range understory species establish after fire (i.e., by sprouting, establishing from soil-stored seed, and/or establishing from offsite seed). I found that postfire establishment mechanisms for many species are poorly understood, although some broad patterns did emerge. Short-lived forbs appear to establish postfire primarily through soil-stored seed, while sprouting is the most common postfire establishment mechanism for long-lived forbs, graminoids, and woody plants. Many species have multiple postfire establishment mechanisms, which helps to ensure their continued presence after fire. | |
| dc.format.medium | born digital | |
| dc.format.medium | doctoral dissertations | |
| dc.identifier | ETDF_Fornwalt_2009_3385154.pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10217/237735 | |
| dc.language | English | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.publisher | Colorado State University. Libraries | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | 2000-2019 | |
| dc.rights | Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright. | |
| dc.rights.license | Per the terms of a contractual agreement, all use of this item is limited to the non-commercial use of Colorado State University and its authorized users. | |
| dc.subject | grazing | |
| dc.subject | logging | |
| dc.subject | understory plant | |
| dc.subject | wildfire effects | |
| dc.subject | ecology | |
| dc.title | Disturbance impacts on understory plant communities of the Colorado Front Range | |
| dc.type | Text | |
| dcterms.rights.dpla | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Ecology | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Colorado State University | |
| thesis.degree.level | Doctoral | |
| thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) |
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