Browsing by Author "Howe, Henry F."

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Stature of Juvenile Trees in Response to Anthropogenic Fires in a Tropical Deciduous Forest of Central India
(2006) Saha, Sonali; Howe, Henry F.
"Fire is an integral component of many temperate and tropical ecosystems, but it can be disruptive when it occurs in normally fire-free environments. Tropical deciduous forests in India have experienced annual anthropogenic fires for hundreds of years. We examined the effects of anthropogenic fires and fire exclusion on the stature of juvenile trees (≤1.5 m) in a tropical deciduous forest in central India. Plots burnt for 2 consecutive years showed no difference in juvenile size-class distribution before and after the treatment was imposed, while the juvenile trees in plots protected from fires showed a significant increase in height and attained greater stature. In plots protected from fire, juvenile trees exhibited some die-back as a result of dry season drought; however, the proportion of juveniles that died back was significantly smaller than the plants that experienced die-back in burnt plots. Relative growth rate of juvenile trees was significantly greater in unburned plots than in plots burned consecutively for 2 years (P < 0.05). Thus, our results suggest that anthropogenic fires stunt the growth of juvenile trees."
What Do Ecological Paradigms Offer to Conservation?
(2010) Ale, Som B.; Howe, Henry F.
"Ecological theory provides applications to biodiversity management—but often falls short of expectations. One possibility is that heuristic theories of a young science are too immature. Logistic growth predicts a carrying capacity, but fisheries managed with the Lotka-Volterra paradigm continue to collapse. A second issue is that general predictions may not be useful. The theory of island biogeography predicts species richness but does not predict community composition. A third possibility is that the theory itself may not have much to do with nature, or that empirical parameterization is too difficult to know. The metapopulation paradigm is relevant to conservation, but metapopulations might not be common in nature. For instance, empirical parameterization within the metapopulation paradigm is usually infeasible. A challenge is to determine why ecology fails to match needs of managers sometimes but helps at other. Managers may expect too much of paradigmatic blueprints, while ecologists believe them too much. Those who implement biodiversity conservation plans need simple, pragmatic guidelines based on science. Is this possible? What is possible? An eclectic review of theory and practice demonstrate the power and weaknesses of the ideas that guide conservation and attempt to identify reasons for prevailing disappointment."