{"id":8344,"date":"2013-10-03T09:38:26","date_gmt":"2013-10-03T13:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=8344"},"modified":"2014-01-25T18:09:49","modified_gmt":"2014-01-25T23:09:49","slug":"professor-janet-morrison-restoring-biodiversity-to-the-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=8344","title":{"rendered":"Professor Janet Morrison: Restoring biodiversity to the forest"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"JanetMorrison1\"<\/a>
Professor Janet Morrison researches the interactions between invasive species that destroy biodiversity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Big, mature trees with no vegetation growing beneath them may look like a healthy forest to most people. Not to Janet Morrison, a biology professor who researches the interactions between invasive species that destroy biodiversity. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire Northeastern seaboard, from Boston to D.C., is a large piece of land, but without a big contiguous forest, only forest patches,\u201d she explains. \u201cTo understand the basic ecology of that part of the world, it\u2019s all about understanding the suburbanizing forest landscape. I think it\u2019s incredibly driven by deer and invasive species.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, Morrison and a team of student researchers are conducting a six-forest study over the next few years with a \u201cplanned invasion\u201d of two non-native species\u2014Japanese stilt grass and garlic mustard\u2014into controlled plots of forestland. By manipulating plant growth in the plotted areas, Morrison can examine the effects of deer browsing, co-invasion (when two species grow together), and competition on biodiversity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese are clearly driving forces in these forests, yet they haven\u2019t been tested experimentally,\u201d explains Morrison. \u201cWhat actually are deer doing? What actually is competition from these invasive species doing? How are deer affecting the actual invasion of the invasive species?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In order to reverse any adverse effects planting invasive species might cause, Morrison will undertake a complicated removal plan once her research concludes. \u201cWe\u2019ll have to take out the cages and do the removals [of invasive species] in all the plots. I\u2019ll organize some invasive species removal days every fall or spring, and get students and community members from local conservation groups to come and help. That will be an opportunity for us to teach people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Her study addresses an unexplored area in research regarding the restoration of biodiversity to the planet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI always thought there was a big missing piece in the invasion biology world,\u201d Morrison says. \u201cLand reserves often implement deer hunting or invasive species removal, but what is most effective? This study is a really powerful experimental approach to understanding these ecological interactions that, I think, are highly responsible for restructuring the plant community as we see it now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, Janet Morrison and a team of student researchers are conducting a six-forest study over the next few years with a \u201cplanned invasion\u201d of two non-native species\u2014Japanese stilt grass and garlic mustard\u2014into controlled plots of forestland. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-spotlight"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}