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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2015
- Title: Functional Diversity in an Agricultural setting
- Author: Brittany R Cavazos (Rice University)
- Abstract:
In the last century, New England has become widely reforested. While these forests provide important services, they are encroaching on open areas crucial not only for agricultural use, but also for the conservation of species unique to open habitats. This project sought to determine if the preservation of open land can benefit both conservation and current agricultural practices using plant community data and grazing treatment with dairy cows. The study site was located at the Harvard Farm in Petersham, Massachusetts. Low-intensity grazing, high-intensity grazing, and control treatments were established over three representative vegetation types. In 27 10x10 meter plots, each with three 1x1 meter subplots, community compositions were recorded before and after the grazing treatment using percent coverage. Plant trait data were also collected, including leaf area, height, leaf angle, SLA, leaf dry matter content, and CN ratios. Functional diversity was used to quantify the range of ecosystem services provided within a community. Initial data indicated functional diversity is strongly driven by vegetation type. Over 100 species were identified and species present within a plot ranged from 5 to 35, highly depending on vegetation type. An overall shift in community composition and functional diversity occurred between the primary and secondary census and functional diversity decreased in the grazing treatment. Further monitoring is needed to conclude agricultural practices can be sustainable over a long period of time. Surveying other taxa in the farm is also crucial to understanding how the ecosystem and services provided are changing over time.
- Research Category: Conservation and Management
