{"id":117,"date":"2009-09-15T12:59:47","date_gmt":"2009-09-15T17:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/?p=117"},"modified":"2014-09-23T08:36:04","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T13:36:04","slug":"strawberry-plains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/strawberry-plains\/","title":{"rendered":"Biology Students Assist in Forest Restoration Project at Strawberry Plains"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer study in British Columbia enlightens their research
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi biologists expect a forest
\nrestoration project under way at Strawberry Plains Audubon Center in
\nMarshall County to grow following their three-week study excursion this
\nsummer to the Kootenay National Forest in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.\n<\/p>\n

\n\"rocky-mountain-project.jpg\"<\/p>\n
\nAl Neal (left), Ecosystem Restoration project strategic planner, and Greg Anderson (right), provincial ER manager, show University of Mississippi graduate students Jason Ryndock, Anjel Craig and Erynn Maynard how Canada’s Rocky Mountain Trench Ecosystem Restoration project is progressing in British Columbia.<\/b>\u00a0Photo courtesy Valley Echo.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nAlthough the Kootenay National Forest near Vancouver, British
\nColumbia, is more than 2,500 miles away from the old plantation near
\nHolly Springs, the two sites are closer than ever before, thanks in
\npart to a USDA-funded research project at Ole Miss.\n<\/p>\n

\nOver the
\nlast five years, UM ecologist and biology professor Steve Brewer has
\nled efforts to examine upland forests at the 2,500-acre Strawberry
\nPlains. Assisting with the research, three Ole Miss biology graduate
\nstudents traveled to British Columbia over the summer to participate in
\nan intensive three-week internship in Canada’s Rocky Mountain Trench
\nEcosystem Restoration project, one of the world’s largest forest
\nrestoration programs.\n<\/p>\n

\n“This is arguably the most large-scale, successful forest
\nhabitat restoration program in the world,” said Jason Hoeksema, UM
\nbiology professor and adviser. “The students traveled all over British
\nColumbia to learn the latest forest restoration techniques, monitoring
\ntechniques for plants and animals, as well as interacting with the
\nvarious parties impacted by the project. It was a valuable, broadening
\nexperience.”\n<\/p>\n

\nWhile in Canada, UM graduate biology students Erynn Maynard of
\nAkron, N.Y., Jason Ryndock of Boiling Springs, Pa., and Anjel Craig of
\nPicayune were introduced to the nuts and bolts of on-the-ground
\nrestoration by foresters, burn bosses, fire ecologists, wildlife
\nbiologists, ranchers, range agrologists, naturalists and
\nethnobotanists. The USDA research fellows learned to write restoration
\nlogging prescriptions and conduct prescribed burns, listened to
\nstakeholders discuss economic challenges, helped measure restoration
\nefforts on plant life and heard how restoration contributes to native
\ncultural values.\n<\/p>\n

\nCraig said the greatest lesson she learned in Canada was the cooperation required between the various interest groups.\n<\/p>\n

\n“For restoration programs to be successful, all of the parties
\ninvolved must work toward a common goal,” Craig said. “There’re a lot
\nof different people with different goals, and everyone must work
\ntogether.”\n<\/p>\n

\nCraig described the excursion as an incredible experience and
\nunprecedented opportunity, from hiking atop glaciers to examining
\nabandoned badger burrows. Highlights included a helicopter ride to a
\nremote site in the Kootenay National Forest, she said.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe UM graduate biology program is designed to give students a
\nbroader perspective on ecosystem restoration. Although the Strawberry
\nPlains project is in its early stages and limited in terms of its
\nscope, Craig said a close look at the Rocky Mountain Trench project,
\nacknowledged by the United Nations as a world-class program, gives a
\npoint of comparison for their efforts.\n<\/p>\n

\n“We don’t have anything of that scale, but I’m definitely more
\ninspired now to really work hard,” Craig said. “I’ve seen the recipe
\nfor success.\n<\/p>\n

\n“I hope there’s a greater public appreciation for this type of
\nwork in terms of the environment,” she continued. “We’re working to
\nhelp forests become more resistant to global warming and more resistant
\nto invasive species all the while continuing to perform important
\necosystem processes.”
\n\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

<\/embed><\/object>\n<\/div>\n
\nVideo by Tobie Baker.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


\nAccording to preliminary findings from the UM study, upland
\nforests at Strawberry Plains have been overtaken by lowland trees such
\nas elm and sweet gum, smothering biodiversity at its roots, which
\nimpacts wildlife and their habitats. The research aims to compare
\ncurrent plant species in upland forest to the habitat found there in
\nthe early 1800s, which can be used to help increase wildlife and
\nhabitat quality and plant biodiversity, as well as increase the
\naesthetic appeal of the landscape over time, Brewer said.<\/p>\n

\nThe restoration effort at Strawberry Plains, which consists of
\nthree separate plots totaling about 30 acres, has already seen a 20
\npercent increase in plant diversity along with a huge increase in
\nsavannah-type wildflowers, he said.\n<\/p>\n

\n“In just two years, we’ve seen dramatic increases of species
\nimportant to wildlife, like legumes, specifically wild bean, trefoils
\nand native lespedezas,” Brewer said. “These are important to quail, and
\nover the last 20 years, we’ve seen quail populations drop.”\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Strawberry Plains forest restoration project is funded with
\nnearly $170,000 by the USDA through 2012. To learn more about the
\nStrawberry Plains research, visit http:\/\/www.olemiss.edu\/depts\/<\/wbr>biology\/usda\/index.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summer study in British Columbia enlightens their research OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi biologists expect a forest restoration project under way at Strawberry Plains Audubon Center in Marshall County to grow following their three-week study excursion this summer to the Kootenay National Forest in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Al Neal (left), Ecosystem Restoration projectRead the story …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBiology Students Assist in Forest Restoration Project at Strawberry Plains - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/strawberry-plains\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Biology Students Assist in Forest Restoration Project at Strawberry Plains - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Summer study in British Columbia enlightens their research OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi biologists expect a forest restoration project under way at Strawberry Plains Audubon Center in Marshall County to grow following their three-week study excursion this summer to the Kootenay National Forest in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. 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