Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture

Fact Sheets for Reforestation Strategies under Deer Pressure

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Dead Wood Is Not Dead: The Ecological Functions and Management of Dead Wood

Citizens find it hard to appreciate the ecological qualities of an unorganized forest landscape because they prefer a neat and orderly appearance even though it may not offer ecological benefits (TyrvÃ¤inen et al 2013). Lifeless downed wood or logs give the impression of untidiness and chaos. What the public should understand is the importance of […]

Urban Forest Edge Management Through Public Engagement

Numerous pathways connect Columbiaâ€™s community-centered suburban villages. These well-traveled paths are perfect for dog walkers, runners, and any citizen desiring a connection to nature that is close to home. Columbiaâ€™s paths follow stream corridors, guarded by vegetation, which tends to struggle against the influence of invasive plant species. Creating a means to manage the presence […]

Public Education â€“ Information and Precedents: Effects of Deer Overabundance on Plant Communities

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are present in overwhelming numbers in urban and suburban areas. Forest fragmentation supports populations of the species, which thrives in wooded edges, and those populations drive significant changes to the local plant communities. While researchers and managers know a great deal about these interactions, the general public is not always aware […]

The Value of Planting Trees in the Urban Setting

There is currently a rapid rate of urbanization taking place across the world. It is estimated that by the year 2050, 34 percent of the worldâ€™s population will be living in rural environments and 66 percent will be living in urban environments (UN 2014). With urbanization comes an increase of industry, burning of fossil fuels, […]

Public Education in Invasive Species Management

The mid-term report assessed three environmental education frameworks, exploring how they function and the results of their application to invasive species management or general environmental issues. These frameworks are the public-based learning method, the social learning framework and the identity-based environmental education model. The key idea of the public-based learning method, which is described in […]

The Ecology of Urban Forest Edges

As of 2014, over half (54 percent) of the worldâ€™s population resides in urban areas, a number that is expected to increase to two-thirds of the global population by 2050 (UN 2014). Increased human flow into cities results in increased urbanization, a complex process consisting of people altering the landscape through settlement patterns and spatial […]

Tidy or Tangled: How People Perceive Landscapes

The ways we choose to modify and manage the landscapes around us have enormous local and global consequences. Single-family houses now dominate the suburban landscapes of Washington, D.C., including Columbia, MD. These planned housing developments typically have a clean, tidy appearance with mown grass and trimmed shrubs. Unfortunately, this ordered presentation does not provide the […]

Deer Management Strategies

White tailed deer populations (Odocoileus virginianus) have become troublesome in the United States over the past hundred years. However, deer have not always been a problem in the United States. In the past, natural predators along with hunting by Native Americans, maintained deer populations (Audubon 2003, 3). The arrival of Europeans introduced trade of white-tailed […]

Invasive Vine Management

Whether it is Japanese honeysuckle, Oriental bittersweet, Mile-a-minute weed, or any of the other invasive vines present in northeastern U.S. urban forest systems, vines present a continuous burden on urban forest edges. The effects of invasive vines range from mere nuisances to ecological damage, often by smothering native vegetation. In most cases, given their rapid […]

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University Department: Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture