Urban Woodland Ecology and Pedagogy: Assessing Plant-Soil-Herbivore Interactions and the Efficacy of Community-Engaged Learning

Interactions between plants, soil, and herbivores can shape plant community dynamics and ecosystem processes. My research addresses gaps in understanding of plant-soil-herbivore interactions in urban woodlands and how to improve critical thinking and literacy about urban woodland ecology through community-engaged learning. I employed greenhouse experiments to investigate the effects of simulated herbivory on plant-soil feedback (PSF) dynamics of native and invasive woodland plants. Simulated herbivory eliminated PSFs among a native woodland plant community and a common invasive plant, but this effect depended on invasion context. Investigating a wider suite of native and invasive woodland species, I found neutral feedbacks among most species pairs regardless of herbivory treatment, suggesting that PSFs may not be strong drivers of success for these woodland plants and that simulated aboveground herbivory is not a source of context dependence in PSFs for individually-grown native and invasive woodland plants. Deer herbivory is known to constrain woodland plant success, and I employed deer exclosures to determine whether municipal deer culls reduced herbivore pressure sufficiently to restore native understory vegetation. Results suggest that deer culling efforts may be effective in promoting the success of native restoration plantings, but repeated culling may be necessary to promote long-term native plant recovery. I developed a novel protocol to study the efficacy of community-engaged learning vs. traditional lecture-based learning in developing student understanding of urban woodland ecology and overall appreciation for urban woodlands. The protocol employed pre- and post-surveys assessing learning at different levels of Bloom's taxonomy as well as affective traits. By advancing understanding of urban woodland ecology and pedagogy, my dissertation research will help to achieve more successful restoration efforts and increased student involvement in and appreciation for these habitats. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]