July 2009: James Sowerwine will present thesis on native plant interactions and implications for moose forage

Today, Aug. 6, 10-11 a.m.
Engineering, Room 342

Here is the abstract for James Sowerwine's thesis presentation:

Invading plants have been shown to have numerous and multi-faceted effects on native plants and plant communities. Yet to date, no evaluation has been made of the effects of invading plants on native browsers.

Native browsers may depend on native plants to provide nutritional forage, and as such, may be negatively impacted by biochemical changes wrought in native plant communities by the introduction of invading plants.

To explore this subject, we evaluated the role of tannin production and total phenolic production in the boreal native Salix alaxensis under differing scenarios of invasion by the invader Melilotus alba.

Additionally, we evaluated whether different population of M. alba in Alaska suspected of having different introduction histories varied in competitive ability. We found that while the implications of plant invasion on native browsers may vary, the introduction of M. alba to uninvaded regions should not negatively impact moose populations.

James Sowerwine will present his thesis on Thursday, Aug. 6 from 10-11 a.m. in Engineering, Room 342.