USS Bits and Bytes - Electronic Newsletter of the Miami University's Undergraduate Summer Scholars Program (USS)

Vol. 1, #1, August 22, 1997

Tree Species Composition and Canopy Fragmentation along the Urban Gradient
Summer 1997 project of Student Brian Forschner under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Blair, Department of Zoology

Photo of Brian Forschner Henry David Thoreau went to the woods to live and returned an enlightened man. Brian Forschner went to the woods to count and catalog trees and returned an enlightened man with poison ivy. Working on his summer project that focuses on the fragmentation and composition of forest canopies, Brian stepped away from his zoology major towards his greater interest in the environment as a whole.

This project was conceived as a complement to Robert Blair's current research involving birds and butterflies in the forest canopy. For the first part of his investigation, Brian chose six sites in and around Oxford, Ohio based on their levels of urbanization. At one end of the scale, Houston Woods represents Virgin or Old Growth Forest while at the other, Uptown Oxford represents a highly urbanized area The six sites were divided into sixteen plots wherein Brian worked to catalogue all trees with diameter greater than 3 centimeters. For the second part of his project, Brian compared canopy size and fragmentation through aerial photographs of his sites. Although some of the photographs were digitized, Brian became familiar with geographical software to digitize and analyze the rest.

After gathering his data, Brian concluded that the diversity of species in the sites was greater at higher levels of urbanization. In short, though Houston Woods represents Old Growth Forest, Peffer Memorial Park and even uptown Oxford contain a greater variety of tree species. This is directly related to the introduction of nonnative species in the environment especially in the form of ornamental trees. All of his observations will be recorded in a paper and later developed into a presentation for faculty members in Geology.

Observing an increase in diversity of species coincident with an increase in urbanization was one of the surprising finds of his research. In order to further research this trend, Brian is interested in expanding his research to areas more urbanized than Oxford. In addition, based on his interest in the environment as a whole, Brian is curious about the relationship between canopy diversity and diversity of fauna in the canopy.

Originally a zoology major, Brian decided to switch his major to geography based on interest in the greater ecology of the environment and obtaining a minor in urban regional analysis. In the less immediate future, he thinks about a position related to environmental planning of urban areas. For the present, Brian will reflect on the knowledge he gained this summer and try his best to ignore the poison ivy.

Brian Forschner is one of 120 Miami University undergraduates who participated in the 1997 Undergraduate Summer Scholars (USS) Program. This University program is an initiative aimed at heightening the intellectual challenge of the learning environment at Miami University. This program enables Miami undergraduates to do research or other creative activities in the summer under the supervision of faculty.

In 1997, some of the USS activities were supported by a National Science Foundation Grant to Miami University entitled "Creating a Research-Rich Curriculum: A Model for Lifelong and Continuous Learning" (DUE-9652063, Dr. J.A. Czaja, PI). This funding was provided under the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education's program on Institution-Wide Reform of Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology.

Summary and Photo by Cindy (Cynthia) Bubb, a Mass Communication major with a minor in Marketing, Miami University class of 1998.