Ross J. Phillips

Occurrence of an exotic earthworm ( Amynthas agrestis ) in undisturbed soils of the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA

This study documents the occurrence of an aggressive invasive earthworm species in undisturbed forest soils of the southern Appalachian Mountains of northern Georgia, USA. Earthworms were sorted from samples collected in pitfall traps that had been set in mature, mesic oak-hickory forests in remote, high elevation, locations across northern Georgia. Specimens were continuously collected in these traps over the course of the summer and autumn of 1993, and more than 600 earthworms were collected from 35 different trapping sites. There were at least 9 different earthworm taxa collected during the study including three species not native to North American soils (Amynthas agrestis, Octolasion tyrtaeum, and O. cyaneum). The majority of earthworms collected in the study were A. agrestis. Because large numbers of A. agrestis were trapped at a single site, we made measurements of individuals in an attempt to examine the reproductive status of A. agrestis at that site over time. Small numbers of A. agrestis were trapped in July and August, peak abundance occurred in September, and there was a decline in abundance through November to zero trapped in December. Sexually mature adults were first trapped in small numbers in late August, but made up 80 % of the total population by mid September, and 100 % of the population in October and November.

Restoring Fire-Adapted Forests in Eastern North America for Biodiversity Conservation and Hazardous Fuels Reduction

Fire-adapted ecosystems have degraded over the past 100 years as fuel accumulation and changes in species composition have resulted from fire suppression and altered disturbance regimes. Species that are dependent on or adapted to fire are in decline as fire intolerant species become established, altering stand structure, species diversity, fire susceptibility and fire behavior, nutrient cycling, and other ecosystem properties. Efforts to understand the effects of these changes on fire-adapted communities and to restore biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, through the re-introduction of fire and (or) the use of alternative silvicultural techniques for hazard fuel reduction, are important issues for land managers. These topics and other associated challenges as they are related to fire-adapted forests in eastern North America are discussed in this chapter. In general, re-introduction of fire alone provided mixed results for obtaining restoration goals. Silvicultural treatments can be used in some situations where fire may not be a feasible option (e.g. wildland urban interface), but these treatments do not provide ecosystem functions associated with fire.