Contact Info:
Dave Ellum
Assistant Professor, Sustainable Forestry
Warren Wilson College
CPO #6291
Asheville, NC 28815
(828) 771-3072
dellum@warren-wilson.edu
Literature on understory herbs, light, disturbance and forest management. If there are any papers here that you
would like to have, but can not access, please feel free to contact me and I will try to get you a copy.
*Indicates especially good reviews.
Aikens, M.L., Ellum, D., McKenna, J., Kelty, M., Ashton, M. 2007. The effects of disturbance intensity on
temporal and spatial patterns of herb colonization in a southern New England mixed-oak forest. Forest
Ecology and Management. 252(1-3): 144-158.
Bartemucci, P., C. Messier, C. Canham. 2006. Overstory influences on light attenuation patterns and understory
plant community diversity and composition in southern boreal forests of Quebec. Canadian Journal of
Forest Research. 36:2065-2079.
Battles, J.J., A. Shlisky, R. Barrett, R. Heald, B. Allen-Diaz. 2001. The effects of forest management on plant
species diversity in a Sierran Conifer Forest. Forest Ecology and Management. 146: 211-222.
Beatty, S. 1984. Influence of microtopography and canopy species on spatial patterns of forest understory
plants. Ecology. 65(5):1406-1419.
*Bierzychudek, P. 1982. Life histories and demography of shade-tolerant temperate forest herbs: A review.
New Phytologist. 90:757-776.
Brosofske, K.D., J. Chen, T. Crow. 2001. Understory vegetation and site factors: implications for a managed
Wisconsin landscape. Forest Ecology and Management. 146:75-87
Canham, C.D. 1988. An index for understory light levels in and around canopy gaps. Ecology. 69(5):16341638.
*Canham, C.D., J. Denslow, W. Platt, J. Runkle, T. Spies, P. White. 1990. Light regimes beneath closed
canopies and tree-fall gaps in temperate and tropical forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research.
20:620-631.
*Collins, B. S., K. Dunne, S.T.A. Pickett. 1985. Responses of Forest Herbs to Canopy Gaps. In The Ecology of
Natural Disturbance and Patch Dynamics. Eds. S.T.A. Pickett and P.S. White. 218-234. Academic Press.
San Diego, CA.
Duffy, C.D., A. Meier. 1992. Do Appalachian herbaceous understories ever recover from clearcutting?
Biological Conservation. 6:196-201.
Elliot, K.J., D. Loftis. 1993. Vegetation diversity after logging in the southern Appalachians. Conservation
Biology. 7:220-221.
Elliot, K.J., J. Knoepp. 2005. The effects of three regeneration harvest methods on plant diversity and soil
characteristics in the southern Appalachians. Forest Ecology and Management. 211:296-317.
Ellum, D.S. 2007. Demographic patterns and disturbance responses of understory vegetation in a managed
forest of southern New England: Implications for sustainable forestry and biodiversity maintenance.
PhD. Dissertation. Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Fladeland, M.M., M. Ashton, X. Lee. 2003. Landscape variations in understory PAR for a mixed deciduous
forest in New England, USA. Forest Ecology and Management. 118:137-141.
Ford, W.M., R. Odom, P. Hale, B. Chapman. 2000. Stand-age, stand characteristics, and landform effects on
understory herbaceous communities in southern Appalachian cove-hardwoods. Biological Conservation.
93:237-246.
Gilliam, F.S., N. Turrill, M.Adams. 1995. Herbaceous-layer and overstory species in clearcut and mature
central Appalachian hardwood forests. Ecological Applications. 5(4):947-955.
*Gilliam, F.S., M. Roberts, Eds. 2003. The Herbaceous Layer in Forests of eastern North America. Oxford
University Press. New York, NY.
Humbert, L., D. Gagnon, D. Kneeshaw, C. Messier. 2007. A shade tolerance index for common understory
species of northeastern North America. Ecological Indicators. 791):195-207.
Huebner, C.D., J. Randolph, G. Parker. 1995. Environmental factors affecting understory diversity in secondgrowth deciduous forests. The American Midland Naturalist. 134(1):155-165.
Johnson, A.S, W. Ford, P. Hale. 1993. The effects of clearcutting on herbaceous understories are still not fully
known. Conservation Biology. 7:433-435.
Lindenmayer, D.B., J. Franklin, J. Fischer. 2006. General management principles and a checklist of strategies to
guide forest biodiversity conservation. Biological Conservation. 131:433-445.
*Meier, A.J., S. Bratton, D. Duffy. 1995. Possible ecological mechanisms for loss of vernal-herb diversity in
logged eastern deciduous forests. Ecological Applications. 5(4): 935-946.
Oliver, C.D. 1981. Forest development in North America following major disturbances. Forest Ecology and
Management. 3:153-168.
Phillips, D.L., D. Shure. 1990. Patch-size effects on early succession in southern Appalachian forests. Ecology.
71(1):204-212.
*Roberts, M.R., F. Gilliam. 1995. Patterns and mechanisms of plant diversity in forested ecosystems:
implications for forest management. Ecological Applications. 5(4):969-977.
Rothstein, D.E., D. Zak. 2001. Photosynthetic adaptation and acclimation to exploit seasonal periods of direct
irradiance in three temperate, deciduous herbs. Functional Ecology. 15:722-731.
Runkle, J.R. 1985. Disturbance regimes in temperate forests. In The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and Patch
Dynamics. Eds. S.T.A. Pickett and P.S. White. Academic Press. San Diego, CA. pp. 17-33.
Small, J.C., B. McCarthy. 2002. Spatial and temporal variation in the response of understory vegetation to
disturbance in a central Appalachian oak forest. Journal Torrey Botanical Society. 129(2):136-153.
Small, J.C., B. McCarthy. 2005. Relationship of understory diversity to soil nitrogen, topographic variation, and
stand age in an eastern oak forest, USA. Forest Ecology and Management. 217:229-243.
Thomas, S.C., C. Halpern, D. Flak, D. Ligouri, K. Austin. 1999. Plant diversity in managed forests: understory
responses to thinning and fertilization. Ecological Applications. 9(3):864-879.
*Whigham, D.F. 2004. Ecology of woodland herbs in temperate deciduous forests. Annual Review of Ecology
and Systematics. 35:583-621.