Program: Stochasticity in Plant Communities Year Effects and Priority Effects in Recovery from Disturbance.

Thursday, January 16, 2025, 7:00 pm
Program: Stochasticity in Plant Communities Year Effects and Priority Effects in Recovery from Disturbance.
Speaker: Chhaya Werner, Ph.D
Location: In-person presentation at our chapter meeting at Southern Oregon University Science Building, Room 161. Join us in-person or via Zoom from home.  To register for Zoom, go to https://bit.ly.npsotalks.

As we work to understand and predict ecological interactions in plant communities, we find that timing is an incredibly important component in recovery from disturbance or drought, and the impact and outcome of restoration projects. In particular, the timing and year of community assembly—year effects—and the order of species arrival—priority effects—can have large and lasting impacts on plant communities. We will explore the theory behind these ideas and observations of their impacts in systems including post-fire recruitment, dam removal, and restoration planting.

Dr. Chhaya Werner is an Assistant Professor of Ecology in the department of Environmental Science, Policy & Sustainability at Southern Oregon University. Her PhD work at the University of California, Davis examined the impacts of fire, drought, and priority effects on plant communities, advised by Dr. Truman Young and Dr. Susan Harrison. Her postdoctoral research included developing methods to quantify species interactions in diverse communities, applied to patterns of coexistence in California grasslands. Her current research focuses on mechanisms underpinning plant community dynamics in fire-dependent systems, mountain meadows, and the Klamath reservoirs.