Research Interests
Carbon Sequestration in Bottomland Hardwood Forests
One of my current research interests includes the monitoring CO2 flux in the Russell Sage Wildlife Management area. This facility will broaden the horizons of the students not only at 四色AV but also in the region, as facilities for carbon monitoring in accordance with the AmeriFlux do not exist in the state of Louisiana. I am working with my graduate student and a few undergraduates to collect continuous observations of ecosystem level exchanges of CO2, water, energy and momentum spanning diurnal, synoptic, seasonal, and inter-annual time scales. We will be contributing the data collected at our site to AmeriFlux. This will contribute not only to the understanding and implications of the carbon fluxes at the local and regional levels, but also to the national and global metadata analyses. (See Carbon Tower)
Pit-Mound Micro-topography in Bottomland Hardwood Forests
Currently, I am working on pit-mound micro-topography with my graduate student and two undergraduates in my lab. One of our primary goals is to understand the impacts of canopy opening due to tree-falls and closely monitor the impacts of pit-mounds created by tree-falls in bottomlands. In addition to this, we plan on evaluating how micro-topography in otherwise flat bottomlands, result in structural heterogeneity in forests.
Restoration Ecology
Evaluation of habitat heterogeneity and stand quality improvement through the use of experimental "tree thinning" in planted bottomland hardwood forests in north-east Louisiana. Bottomland hardwoods are critical habitats for wildlife and are oases of biodiversity in this region. Along with one of my graduate students and an undergraduate researcher, I am evaluating the impact of three different experimental tree thinning treatments in a planted forest with trees that are about 28 years old (at the Ouachita Wildlife Management Area). We will analyse the impact of tree removal on the remaining stand quality and determine its effect on structural heterogeneity of these planted forests. This project will further evaluate the trajectory of natural succession within 10 1-acre plots in the WMA that have been left fallow. (See Ouachita WMA)