A dynamic reference model: A framework for assessing biodiversity restoration goals in a fire-dependent ecosystem

Ecological Applications

Volumn 23, Issue 7, 2013, Pages 1574-1587

  Kirkman, L Katherine ^a   Barnett, Analie ^b   Williams, Brett W ^c   Hiers, J Kevin ^c   Pokswinski, Scott M ^a   Mitchell, Robert J ^a  

^a JOSEPH W JONES ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH CENTER   (United States)

^b THE NATURE CONSERVANCY   (United States)

^c AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY   (United States)

Author keywords

Eglin Air Force Base; Fire exclusion; Florida; Longleaf pine restoration; Midstory reduction; Nonmetric multidimensional scaling; Pinus palustris; Prescribed fire; Reference sites; USA

Indexed keywords

HERBICIDE;

ANNUAL VARIATION; BIODIVERSITY; CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK; CONIFEROUS TREE; DISTURBANCE; ECOSYSTEM RESPONSE; GROUND COVER; HERBICIDE; LANDSCAPE PROTECTION; PRESCRIBED BURNING; RESTORATION ECOLOGY; SUCCESSION;

ARTICLE; BIODIVERSITY; BIOLOGICAL MODEL; CLASSIFICATION; DRUG EFFECT; FIRE; PLANT; TIME; UNITED STATES;

BIODIVERSITY; FIRES; FLORIDA; HERBICIDES; MODELS, BIOLOGICAL; PLANTS; TIME FACTORS;

FLORIDA [UNITED STATES]; UNITED STATES;

EID: 84886533844     PISSN: 10510761     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1890/13-0021.1     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. Anderson, M. J. 2001. A new method for non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance. Austral Ecology 26: 32-46.
2. Asbjornsen, H., L. A. Brudvig, C. M. Mabry, C. W. Evans, and H. M. Karnitz. 2005. Defining reference information for restoring ecologically rare tallgrass oak savannas in the Midwestern US. Journal of Forestry 103: 345-350.
3. Baer, S. G., J. M. Blair, S. L. Collins, and A. K. Knapp. 2004. Plant community responses to resource availability and heterogeneity during restoration. Oecologia 139: 617-629.
4. Block, W. M., A. B. Franklin, J. P. Ward, Jr., J. I. Ganey, and G. C. White. 2001. Design and implementation of monitoring studies to evaluate the success of ecological restoration on wildlife. Restoration Ecology 9: 293-303.
5. Boyer, W. D. 1998. Long-term changes in flowering and cone production of longleaf pine. Pages 92-98 in T. A. Waldrop, editor. Proceedings of the Ninth Biennial Southern Silviculture Conference. General Technical Report SRS-20. USDA Southern Research Station, Asheville, North Carolina, USA.
6. Brockway, D. G., and K. W. Outcalt. 2000. Restoring longleaf pine wiregrass ecosystems: hexazinone application enhances effects of prescribed fire. Forest Ecology and Management 137: 121-138.
7. Brower, J. E., J. H. Zar, and C. N. von Ende. 1989. Field and laboratory methods for general ecology. C. William, editor. Third edition. William C. Brown, Dubuque, Iowa, USA.
8. Brudvig, L.A. 2010. Woody encroachment removal from Midwestern oak savannas alters understory diversity across space and time. Restoration Ecology 18: 74-84.
9. Brudvig, L. A., and H. Asbjornsen. 2007. Stand structure, composition and regeneration dynamics following removal of encroaching woody vegetation from Midwestern oak savannas. Forest Ecology and Management 244: 112-121.
10. Clewell, A. F. 1985. Guide to the vascular plants of the Florida Panhandle. Florida State University Press, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
11. Creech, M. N., L. K. Kirkman, and L. A. Morris. 2012. Alteration and recovery of slash pile burn sites in the restoration of a fire-maintained ecosystem. Restoration Ecology 20: 505-516.
12. Dufrene, M., and P. Legendre. 1997. Species assemblages and indicator species: the need for a flexible asymmetrical approach. Ecological Monographs 67: 345-366.
13. Freeman, J. E., and S. Jose. 2009. The role of herbicide in savanna restoration: effects of shrub reduction treatments on the understory and overstory of a longleaf pine flatwoods. Forest Ecology and Management 257: 978-986.
14. Fulé, P. Z., W. W. Covington, and M. M. Moore. 1997. Determining reference conditions for ecosystem management of southwestern ponderosa pine forests. Ecological Applications 7: 895-908.
15. Fulé, P. Z., W. W. Covington, H. B. Smith, and J. D. Springer. 2002. Comparing ecological restoration alternatives: Grand Canyon, Arizona. Forest Ecology and Management 170: 19-41.
16. Glitzenstein, J. S., W. J. Platt, and D. R. Streng. 1995. Effects of fire regime and habitat on tree dynamics in north Florida longleaf pine savannas. Ecological Monographs 65: 441-476.
17. Gordon, D. R., L. Provencher, and J. L. Hardesty. 1997. Measurement scales and ecosystem management. Pages 262-273 in S. T. A. Pickett, R. S. Ostfeld, M. Shachak, and G. E. Likens, editors. The ecological basis of conservation: heterogeneity, ecosystems, and biodiversity. Chapman and Hall, New York, New York, USA.
18. Grant, C. D. 2006. State-and-transition successional model for bauxite mining rehabilitation in the Jarrah Forest of western Australia. Restoration Ecology 14: 28-37.
19. Hiers, J. K., R. J. Mitchell, A. Barnett, J. W. Walters, M. Mack, B. Williams, and R. Sutter. 2012. The dynamic reference concept: measuring restoration success in a rapidly changing no-analogue future. Ecological Restoration 30: 27-36.
20. Hiers, J. K., J. J. O'Brien, R. E. Will, and R. J. Mitchell. 2007. Forest floor depth mediates understory vigor in xeric Pinus palustris ecosystems. Ecological Applications 17: 806-814.
21. Hobbs, R. J., and J. A. Harris. 2001. Restoration ecology: repairing the earth's ecosystems in the new millennium. Restoration Ecology 9: 239-246.
22. Jackson, S. T., and R. J. Hobbs. 2009. Ecological restoration in the light of ecological history. Science 325: 567-569.
23. King, R. S., C. J. Richardson, D. L. Urban, and E. A. Romanowicz. 2004. Spatial dependency of vegetation- environment linkages in an anthropogenically influenced wetland ecosystem. Ecosystems 7: 75-97.
24. Kirkman, L. K., R. J. Mitchell, R. C. Helton, and M. B. Drew. 2001. Productivity and species richness across an environmental gradient in a fire-dependent ecosystem. American Journal of Botany 88: 2119-2128.
25. Kirkman, L. K., R. J. Mitchell, M. J. Kaeser, S. D. Pecot, and K. L. Coffey. 2007. The perpetual forest: using an undesirable species to bridge restoration. Journal of Applied Ecology 44: 604-614.
26. Kruskal, J. B. 1964. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling: a numerical method. Psychometrika 29: 115-129.
27. Landres, P. B., P. Morgan, and F. J. Swanson. 1999. Overview of the use of natural variability concepts in managing ecological systems. Ecological Applications 9: 1179-1188.
28. Laughlin, D. C., J. D. Bakker, M. T. Stoddard, M. Daniels, J. D. Springer, C. N. Gildar, A. M. Green, and W. W. Covington. 2004. Toward reference conditions: wildfire effects in an old growth ponderosa pine forest. Forest Ecology and Management 199: 137-152.
29. Martin, K. L., and L. K. Kirkman. 2009. Management of ecological thresholds to re-establish disturbance-maintained herbaceous wetlands of the south-eastern USA. Journal of Applied Ecology 46: 906-914.
30. Matthews, J. W., A. L. Peralta, D. N. Flanagan, P. M. Baldwin, A. Soni, A. D. Kent, and A. G. Endress. 2009a. Relative influence of landscape vs. local factors on plant community assembly in restored wetlands. Ecological Applications 19: 2108-2123.
31. Matthews, J. W., G. Spyreas, and A. G. Endress. 2009b. Trajectories of vegetation-based indicators used to assess wetland restoration progress. Ecological Applications 19: 2093-2107.
32. McCune, B., and M. J. Medford. 2006. PC-ORD multivariate analysis of ecological data. Edition 5.18. MJM Software, Gleneden Beach, Oregon, USA.
33. Menges, E. S., and D. R. Gordon. 2010. Should mechanical treatments and herbicides be used as fire surrogates to manage Florida's uplands? a review. Florida Scientist 73: 147-174.
34. Meyer, C. K., M. R. Whiles, and S. G. Baer. 2010. Plant community recovery following restoration in temporally variable riparian wetlands. Restoration Ecology 18: 52-64.
35. Mitchell, R. J., J. K. Hiers, J. J. O'Brien, and G. Starr. 2009. Ecological forestry in the Southeast: understanding the ecology of fuels. Journal of Forestry 107: 391-397.
36. Myers, R. L. 1990. Scrub and high pine. Pages 150-193 in R. L. Myers and J. J. Ewel, editors. Ecosystems of Florida. University of Central Florida Press, Orlando, Florida, USA.
37. NOAA. 2012. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=tae
38. Oksanen, J., F. G. Blanchet, R. Kindt, P. Legendre, R. B. O'Hara, G. L. Simpson, P. Solymos, M. Henry H. Stevens, and H. Wagner. 2011. vegan: Community Ecology Package. R package version 1.17-11. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package= vegan
39. Outcalt, K. W., and D. G. Brockway. 2010. Structure and composition changes following restoration treatments of longleaf pine forests on the Gulf Coastal Plain of Alabama. Forest Ecology and Management 259: 1615-1623.
40. Overing, J. D., and F. C. Watts. 1989. Soil survey of Walton County, Florida. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Washington, D.C., USA.
41. Palik, B. J., P. C. Goebel, and L. K. Kirkman. 2000. Using landscape hierarchies to guide restoration of disturbed ecosystem. Ecological Applications 10: 189-202.
42. Palmer, M. A., D. A. Falk, and J. B. Zedler. 2006. Ecological theory and restoration ecology. Pages 1-10 in D. Falk, M. Palmer, and J. B. Zedler, editors. Foundations of restoration ecology. Island Press, Washington, D.C., USA.
43. Parker, V. T. 1997. The scale of successional models and restoration objectives. Restoration Ecology 5: 301-306.
44. Peet, R. K. 2006. Ecological classification of longleaf pine woodlands. Pages 51-93 in S. Jose, E. J. Jokela, and D. L. Miller, editors. The longleaf pine ecosystem: ecology, silviculture, and restoration. Springer Science Business Media, New York, New York, USA.
45. Philippi, T. E., P. M. Dixon, and B. E. Taylor. 1998. Detecting trends in species composition. Ecological Applications 8: 300-308.
46. Platt, W. J., and S. I. Rathbun. 1993. Dynamics of an oldgrowth long-leaf pine population. Proceedings of the Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference 18: 275-297.
47. Provencher, L., B. J. Herring, D. R. Gordon, H. L. Rodgers, K. E. M. Galley, G. W. Tanner, J. L. Hardesty, and L. A. Brennan. 2001a. Effects of hardwood reduction techniques on longleaf pine sandhill vegetation in northwest Florida. Restoration Ecology 9: 13-27.
48. Provencher, L., B. J. Herring, D. R. Gordon, L. Rodgers, G. W. Tanner, J. L. Hardesty, L. A. Brennan, and A. R. Litt. 2001b. Longleaf pine and oak responses to hardwood reduction techniques in fire-suppressed sandhills in northwest Florida. Forest Ecology and Management 148: 63-77.
49. Provencher, L., A. R. Litt, and D. R. Gordon. 2000. Compilation of methods used by the longleaf pine restoration project from 1994-1999 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Product to Natural Resources Division, Eglin Air Force Base, Niceville, Florida. Science Division, The Nature Conservancy, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
50. Provencher, L., A. R. Litt, D. R. Gordon, H. L. Rodgers, B. J. Herring, K. E. M. Galley, J. P. McAdoo, S. J. McAdoo, N. M. Gobris, and J. L. Hardesty. 2001c. Restoration, fire and hurricanes in longleaf pine sandhills. Ecological Restoration 19: 92-98.
51. R Development Core Team. 2011. R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. http://www.R-project.org/
52. Roberts, D. W. 2010. labdsv: Ordination and multivariate analysis for ecology. R package version 1.4-1. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=labdsv
53. Seastedt, T. R., R. J. Hobbs, and K. N. Suding. 2008. Management of novel ecosystems: Are novel approaches required? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6: 547-553.
54. Steen, D. A., L. M. Conner, L. L. Smith, L. Provencher, J. K. Hiers, S. Pokswinski, B. S. Helms, and C. Guyer. 2013a. Bird assemblage response to restoration of fire-suppressed longleaf pine sandhills. Ecological Applications 23: 134-147.
55. Steen, D. A., L. L. Smith, L. M. Conner, A. R. Litt, L. Provencher, J. K. Hiers, S. Pokswinski, and C. Guyer. 2013b. Reptile assemblage response to restoration of fire-suppressed longleaf pine sandhills. Ecological Applications 23: 148-158.
56. Suding, K. N., and K. L. Gross. 2006. The dynamic nature of ecological systems: multiple states and restoration trajectories. Pages 190-209 in D. A. Falk, M. A. Palmer, and J. B. Zedler, editors. Foundations of restoration ecology. Island Press, Washington, D.C., USA.
57. Trowbridge, W. B. 2007. The role of stochasticity and priority effects in floodplain restoration. Ecological Applications 17: 1312-1324.
58. Urban, D. L. 2006. A modeling framework for restoration ecology. Pages 238-256 in D. A. Falk, M. A. Palmer, and J. B. Zedler, editors. Foundations of restoration ecology. Island Press, Washington, D.C., USA.
59. Veldman, J. W., W. B. Mattingly, and L. A. Brudvig. 2013. Understory plant communities and the functional distinction between savanna trees, forest trees and pines. Ecology 94: 424-434.
60. Ware, S., C. Frost, and P. D. Doerr. 1993. Southern mixed hardwood forest: the former longleaf pine forest. Pages 447-493 in W. H. Martin, S. G. Boyce, and A. C. Echternacht, editors. Biodiversity of the southeastern United States. John Wiley and Sons, New York, New York, USA.
61. Wayman, R. B., and M. North. 2007. Initial response of a mixed-conifer understory plant community to burning and thinning restoration treatments. Forest Ecology and Management 239: 32-44.
62. White, P. S., and J. L. Walker. 1997. Approximating nature's variation: selecting and using reference information in restoration ecology. Restoration Ecology 5: 338-349.
63. Wunderlin, R. P., and B. F. Hansen. 2003. Guide to the vascular plants of Florida. Second edition. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
64. Wyant, J. G., R. A. Meganck, and S. H. Ham. 1995. A planning and decision-making framework for ecological restoration. Environmental Management 19: 789-796.
65. You, M., L. Vasseur, J. Régnière, and Y. Zheng. 2009. The three dimensions of species diversity. Open Conservation Biology Journal 3: 82-88.