Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Rivers CESU

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The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research in floodplain forest canopy dynamics in the Upper Mississippi River.The current conditions and future trajectory of extant floodplain forest (FF) has received increasing attention from Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) managers in recent years. A primary concern is the potential for conversion of forest to non-forested systems dominated by herbaceous species, especially the invasive reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea, RCG). Independent of the specific threat from RCG, there are likely to be trends toward forest decline as current overstory trees age. There appears to be a pattern of insufficient natural forest regeneration in many areas of the UMRS, potentially resulting in a failure to recruit future cohorts of forest trees. Tree mortality caused by invasive pests, especially Dutch elm disease (Ophiostoma ulmi and O. novo-ulmi) and emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) has and will continue to increase the rate of forest canopy loss.

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