Exploring Plant Diversity in Pre and Post Burned Agricultural Plots in Central Appalachia
Disciplines
Environmental Monitoring | Natural Resources and Conservation
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Prescribed burns are a type of habitat restoration technique used to help restore land to a more ecologically diverse state, by increasing area for native plant growth. Fields that regularly get burned allow native species that are adapted to disturbances to establish healthier habitats. Appalachian Headwaters’ Wood Thrush Park, in Lewisburg, West Virginia, is a landscape that was previously used for cattle grazing. It is being actively managed to restore native habitat. In the summer of 2024, sampling was done on two different fields; one that was burned in 2019 and 2022 and the other that had not been burned prior to the study. On each field four transect lines were used to sample the species present by ten one-meter by one-meter quadrats across four sampling transects per site. Plant species were recorded and to find the diversity of native species a Shannon diversity index was used. After using the Shannon diversity index for each transect it was found that there was not a significant difference in the diversity from each transect, the next step is to look at the diversity of each field. A comparison of plant community diversity between burned and unburned fields will help us understand whether prescribed burns are an appropriate restoration technique for the fields in this study system. This will allow us to create an effective management plan to use moving forward.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CSM - Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Merri Collins
Exploring Plant Diversity in Pre and Post Burned Agricultural Plots in Central Appalachia
Prescribed burns are a type of habitat restoration technique used to help restore land to a more ecologically diverse state, by increasing area for native plant growth. Fields that regularly get burned allow native species that are adapted to disturbances to establish healthier habitats. Appalachian Headwaters’ Wood Thrush Park, in Lewisburg, West Virginia, is a landscape that was previously used for cattle grazing. It is being actively managed to restore native habitat. In the summer of 2024, sampling was done on two different fields; one that was burned in 2019 and 2022 and the other that had not been burned prior to the study. On each field four transect lines were used to sample the species present by ten one-meter by one-meter quadrats across four sampling transects per site. Plant species were recorded and to find the diversity of native species a Shannon diversity index was used. After using the Shannon diversity index for each transect it was found that there was not a significant difference in the diversity from each transect, the next step is to look at the diversity of each field. A comparison of plant community diversity between burned and unburned fields will help us understand whether prescribed burns are an appropriate restoration technique for the fields in this study system. This will allow us to create an effective management plan to use moving forward.