Browsing by Author "Donahoe, Daniel"

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    Understanding multitemporal landscape dynamics through remote sensing and paleoecological modeling in the Virginia Tech Environmental Tracking Lab
    Harris, Ryley Capps; Kennedy, Lisa M.; Swift, Troy; Donahoe, Daniel; Burton, Devon (Virginia Tech, 2021-04-30)
    The Environmental Tracking Lab at Virginia Tech currently comprises five graduate students under the direction of Dr. Lisa Kennedy. Our team members have prior training in biogeography, physical geography, biology and ecology, geology, fish and wildlife conservation, ecosystem management and restoration, and geospatial and information science. The diverse training and experiences represented in our lab group provide a broad and integrative approach to understanding ecosystem and landscape change at varied temporal and spatial scales. Our members seek to model the ever-changing landscape, identify drivers of change, and predict future changes. Investigation of shorter-term changes using remote sensing, Lidar, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) technologies, in conjunction with longer-term proxy data modeling, can provide a broad and deep window into environmental and landscape changes. Showcased in this poster are glimpses of a few of our research projects in various stages of execution. This presentation demonstrates some of our capabilities as a laboratory with the goal of increasing recognition and collaboration within our college, the university, and beyond.
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    Using NDVI to Investigate Evergreen Shrub Expansion along Hannah Run in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
    Kennedy, Lisa M.; Donahoe, Daniel (2020-11-06)
    The introduction of invasive species has dramatically altered forests in the eastern United States over the last century and caused die-offs of common overstory trees, especially eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and American chestnut (Castanea dentata) (Ford et al., 2011). These die-offs have increased light incident on the forest floor and promoted the expansion of understory evergreen shrubs like rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) (Cofer et al., 2018). Expansion of R. maximum often initiates a variety of environmental changes harmful to other species, such as dense shading that inhibits canopy tree recruitment, a reduction in soil nutrients, and changes in soil seed bank structure (Atkins et al., 2018) (Cofer et al., 2018). The goal of this research is to assess the possible expansion of evergreen shrubs along Hannah Run, Madison County, Virginia. This first order stream is on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains and has a mean basin elevation of 715m.