Long Term Population Dynamics For Rosa Multiflora In A Successional System

Abstract

There is a real need for long term studies of invasions to develop a more complete understanding of the factors that influence species spread. Rosa multiflora was chosen to study to address this issue due to its pervasiveness throughout the study site's successional history. The study-site was composed of 10 abandoned agricultural fields near an old growth forest with fifty years of annual vegetation data collection. R. multiflora colonization and extinction rates were examined along with frequency and coefficient of variance since field abandonment. Environmental factors such as rainfall, tree cover, and common species and their effects on R. multiflora during its invasion and recession were also investigated. R. multiflora showed a 9 year lag when invading, followed by a 20 year period of expansion, stagnation, and eventually a decline as succession progresses. It was found that during all phases of R. multiflora's invasion that there was constant colonization and extinction within plots. Rainfall was found to have a positive effect on R. multiflora during population expansion (R=0.260, P

Date of Award	2007
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	Eastern Illinois University
Supervisor	Scott J. Meiners (Supervisor)