Demographics and host tree relationships of Appalachian forest lianas in relation to land use history

Keywords: Lianas, Appalachia, temperate forests, mountain geography, physical geography
Abstract Type: Poster Abstract

Abstract

Lianas are woody vines rooted in the soil and supported by host trees or snags. Research indicates that land use and associated land cover change is associated with the proliferation of lianas, resulting in forest structural and functional change. Our goal was to characterize native and invasive lianas and their host tree relationships with respect to historical land use. We focus our efforts on the mountainous regions of the Central Appalachian Temperate Forest ecosystems of Virginia. Through field data collection and geospatial techniques, we characterized the abundance, diversity, and density of native and non-native lianas at six secondary forest study areas characterized by four historical land use types (logging, agriculture, low-intensity development, and mining). We sampled host tree and liana composition, abundance, and basal area in both edge and interior plots (1:50 hectares) across the four historical land-use types. We tested for demographic differences in native and non-native lianas at both edge and interior sites using hierarchical ANOVA. Preliminary results reveal that lianas are most dense and abundant at locations formerly associated with coal mining. Across all historical land use types, edge sites exhibited higher liana densities than interior locations. This study will provide information about how historical land use impacts a little-known aspect of eastern temperature forest structure.