University of Notre Dame
Browse
- No file added yet -

Conservation Management Under Climate Change: On Tropical Drought Resistance, Non-native Species Response to Increasing Disturbance, and Assisted Migration

Download (465.28 kB)
thesis
posted on 2009-11-12, 00:00 authored by Jillian M Mueller
Climate change presents novel challenges to conservation that require predictive tools and new management strategies. To further predictions of species response, I examine plant functional traits in tropical forests with two goals: 1) identify traits indicative of resistance to projected drought in native seedlings, and 2) ascertain if non-native species can capitalize on disturbance over native species through high growth rates and plasticity. I also use the literature to evaluate the risk of inadvertently creating invasive species through human-aided translocations, or assisted migration. I found that high leaf shedding and high stem density promote drought resistance in tropical evergreens. Non-native species had traits indicative of higher growth rate, but not plasticity, than native species, suggesting that disturbance may promote non-native species. Finally, I found assisted migration's invasion risk is small, but assisted species that do become invasive could have large effects. This work informs proactive management under climate change.

History

Date Modified

2017-06-02

Research Director(s)

Jessica J. Hellmann

Committee Members

David M. Lodge Jason S. McLachlan Timothy J. Curran

Degree

  • Master of Science

Degree Level

  • Master's Thesis

Language

  • English

Alternate Identifier

etd-11122009-174235

Publisher

University of Notre Dame

Program Name

  • Biological Sciences

Usage metrics

    Masters Theses

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC