ANNUAL REPORT: June 1, 2008 – May 31, 2009
(i.e., Summer 2008, AY 2008-2009)
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND FOREST BIOLOGY
SUNY-ESF
NAME:
Martin Dovciak
I. INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES
1. Regular Course Offerings
Course No.
Title
Credit
Hrs.
No.
Students
No. of Lab.
Sections
SUMMER:
EFB 202
Plant Ecol./Taxonomy Section
(3)
34
-
FALL:
EFB 535
Systematic Botany
3
6
2
SPRING:
EFB 445
EFB 645
Plant Ecology
Plant Ecology
3
3
28
11
2
2
Credit
Hrs
No.
Students
2. Non-Scheduled Course Offerings (e.g., 496, 899, 999)
Course No.
EFB 498
EFB 798
EFB 899
EFB 999
Title
Resrch Prob / Env.& For. Bio.
Resrch Prob / Env. & For. Bio.
Masters Thesis Research
Doctoral Thesis Research
4/yr
8/yr
5/yr
5/yr
1
1
2
1
3. Continuing Education and Extension (short courses, workshops, etc.) – None
Faculty participant, The Bridge: Classroom to Community Connection, Center for Urban Environment,
Syracuse, April 23, 2009; ~ 35 attendees.
4. Guest Lecture Activities
Course No.
BIO 415/615
EFB 326
Title
Biology Seminar (Connecticut College, CT)
Conservation Biology (Syracuse University)
Diversity of Plants (SUNY-ESF)
No. of Lectures
1
1
1
5. Other Teaching Activities
EFB 202 Ecological Monitoring & Assessment: Evaluations of student research projects at CLBS.
II. STUDENT ADVISING
A. Number of undergraduates for whom you are the student’s official advisor __14_ and unofficial advisor _5_
B. Graduate Students: (Name, degree sought, starting date, month & year; if a degree was completed, please give
date and full citation for the thesis or dissertation).
MAJOR PROFESSOR
1. Juan Carlos Alvarez Yepiz, Ph.D., August 2008
2. Michael Lee Davis, M.S., August 2008
3. Lisa Giencke, M.S., August 2007
4. Portia Osborne, M.S., August 2009
CO-MAJOR PROFESSOR
1. Juliana Quant, M.S., August 2009 (with D. J. Leopold)
MEMBER, STEERING COMMITTEE (other than those listed above)
1. Michael O’Brien (M.S., T. Horton)
2. Kimberly McEathron (M.S., M. Mitchell)
3. Shana Gross (M.S., R. Kimmerer)
4. Tera Galante (M.S., T. Horton)
5. Peter Rockerman (M.S., M. Fierke)
6. Jon Cale (M.S., J. Castello)
CHAIRMAN OR READER ON THESIS EXAMS, ETC.
1. Russell Aicher (M.S., ERFEG)
2. Ayesha Prasad (Ph.D., EFB)
3. Sumanta Bagchi (Ph.D., Biology, Syracuse University)
4. Artem Treyger (Ph.D. candidacy, FNRM)
MENTOR, NSF UMEB PROGRAM
1. Jordan Brown
III. RESEARCH COMPLETED OR UNDERWAY
A. Departmental Research (unsupported, boot-legged; title - % time spent)
 Plant community responses to forest harvest in the Pacific Northwest: Demonstration of Ecosystem
Management Options (DEMO) study and ecological restoration in the Cedar River watershed (10%).
 Dynamics of forest understory plant communities at Andrews Experimental Forest (10%).
 Climate-vegetation gradients in the Adirondacks and potential effects of global climate change (~ 5 %).
 Spatial dynamics and effects of beech bark disease in the Adirondacks (~ 5 %).
 Microclimate and plant community changes across forest edges created by clear-cutting (~ 5 %).
 Mechanisms of coexistence in the ancient cycad Dioon sonorense, Mexico (~ 5 %).
B. 1. Grant-supported Research (source, subject, amount - total award and current year, award period starting
and ending dates; list graduate research assistants supported by each grant)
 NSRC, Importance of calcium-rich substrates for supporting refugia of biodiversity and productivity in an
increasingly acidified landscape, $48,173; 2009-2010; C. Beier, M. Mitchell, J. Gibbs, D. Leopold, M.
Dovčiak
B. 2. Research Proposals pending (as in B.1., above)
 NSF GRS; Characterizing Adirondack forest health under changing climate conditions; $385,646; 2009 –
2012; J. Im, M. Dovčiak, C. Beier, W. Porter (pending)
 NSRC; Effects of understory beech saplings on plant species diversity and forest structure on protected lands
within New York’s Adirondack Park; $42,338; 2009 – 2010; R. Nyland, G. McGee, M. Dovčiak, S. Nulty
(pending)
 NPS; Appalachian trail MEGA-transect deposition effects; 2010-2012; G. Lawrence, T. Sullivan, K.
Weathers, S.W. Bailey, M. Dovčiak, D.J. Leopold, D.A. Burns, R. Minocha, K.C. Rice, A.C. Ellsworth
(pending)
 USDA McIntire-Stennis Program, Quantifying climate controls on Adirondack forest communities for
adaptive forest management under changing climate; $81,271; 2009 – 2012; M. Dovčiak, C. Beier (not
funded)
 USDA McIntire-Stennis Program, Hyperspectral remote sensing monitoring of forest health in the
Adirondacks; $78,106; 2009 – 2012; J. Im, M. Dovčiak (not funded)
 SUNY-ESF Seed Grants Program, Spatial patterns of beech bark disease spread and tree recruitment in the
Adirondacks; $ 7,984; 2009 – 2010; M. Dovčiak (not funded)
 The Conservation, Food, & Health Foundation; Strategies and capacity-building for conservation, restoration,
and sustainable use of endangered endemic cycads in Mexico; $18,930; 2009 – 2010; M. Dovčiak (not
funded)
IV. PUBLICATIONS (Full bibliographic citation, i.e., do not use "with Jones," or "Jones, et al."; please list only
publications published, in press, or actually submitted during this reporting period --- do not list manuscripts
in preparation).
A. Refereed Publications
Sprugel DG, Grieve KA, Gersonde R, Dovčiak M, Lutz JA, and Halpern CB. 200x. Spatially explicit modeling
of overstory manipulations in dense, young forests: effects on stand structure and light. Ecological Modelling
(in review).
B. Non-refereed Publications – None
C. Papers Presented at Science Meetings – None
D. Public Service Presentations – None
V. PUBLIC SERVICE
A. Funded Service (include consulting activities)
1. Government Agencies (Federal, State, Local): – None
2. Industrial and Commercial Groups, etc. – None
B. Unfunded Service to Governmental Agencies, Public Interest Groups, etc.
1. NYSDEC – consultations for prescribed fire plan for Cicero Swamp Wildlife Management Area.
2. Jowonio School – ongoing consulting and management of hazards posed by toxic plants (poison ivy) along
the trail system used by preschool children.
3. Jowonio School – tree planting as a part of ESF Campus Day of Service (9/22/2008).
4. Answered e-mail and phone requests for information from public interested in plant related research and
restoration (e.g., Syracuse Botany Club, several environmental consulting firms, SUNY-ESF Trout Bums).
VI. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
A. Professional Honors and Awards (for teaching, research, outreach, etc.) – None
B. 1. Activities in Professional Organizations (offices held, service …) – None
2. Professional Society Membership
Ecological Society of America
Adirondack Research Consortium
3. Other Professional Activities
a. Editorial activity – None
b. Reviewer
Journal(s)
Ecological Applications
Journal of Vegetation Science
Forest Ecology and Management
Annals of Forest Science
Plant Ecology
Journal of Forestry
No. of manuscripts
1
1
1
1
2
1
c. Participation (workshops, symposia, etc.)
Name of workshop, etc.
Date
Place
Ecological Society of America
Odum Conference (biological invasions)
ADK Research Consortium Conference
NEASG
8/3 – 8, 2008
4/30 – 5/1, 2009
5/20 – 21
5/29 – 30, 2009
Milwaukee, WI
Rensselaerville, NY
Lake Placid, NY
Lake Placid, NY
C. Further Education/Re-training Undertaken, Leaves, Workshops, etc.
NSF Workshop, SUNY Binghamton, January 15, 2009
R workshop, SUNY-ESF Syracuse, March 12-14, 2009.
Hardy L. Shirley Faculty Mentoring Colloquium, SUNY-ESF Syracuse, January 10, 2009.
D. Foreign Travel (Where, When, Purpose)
Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia, July 2008: Developed idea and outline for a new manuscript on the
effects of Norway spruce invasions on plant diversity in mountain grasslands (currently in preparation).
VII. ADMINISTRATIVE AND SERVICE RESPONSIBILITIES (include committee participation)
A. Department-level
Chair, Committee for Robert Burgess Graduate Scholarship in Ecology
Member, Graduate Program Advisory Committee (GPAC)
Worked with Terry Ettinger to develop greenhouse collection for EFB 535 (Flowering Plants) and beyond.
B. College-level
Core faculty member, Center for the Urban Environment
C. University-wide, including Research Foundation – None
VIII. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING THIS
REPORTING PERIOD, ESPECIALLY THOSE MOST NOTEWORTHY AND RELATIVE TO THE
COLLEGE’S AND DEPARTMENT’S MISSION.
Students: My main teaching activity during the 2008-09 academic year consisted of developing and teaching
EFB 535 Systematic Botany (a course I taught for the first time), and teaching EFB 445/645 Plant Ecology (for the
second time). This was my first academic year at ESF (and ever) when I taught during both semesters and I feel that I
made good progress in both courses. Student enrollment in EFB 445/645 increased by ~ 20% relative to the last year
and students who took EFB 535 seemed to have enjoyed it (I received an average grade of 4.7 out of 5). I have built a
new Blackboard-based course website for EFB 535 and all course materials are currently on it, including all lecture
slides, lab assignments, student PowerPoint presentations (“featured plants”), video clips, exam reports/suggested
answers, links to assigned readings, and class announcements. I have worked with Terry Ettinger to better develop the
greenhouse collection of flowering plants that could be used in the class. Given the effort, I feel that I now have a
solid course composed of well integrated lecture, lab, and greenhouse materials and that I have a very viable set of
teaching materials. Obviously, improvements can (and will) be made, especially in further improving the greenhouse
collections and course links to the greenhouses. To make this course more attractive to a broader audience, I have
revised the course title and description – it will be offered this Fall as EFB 535 Flowering Plants: Diversity,
Evolution, and Systematics. In addition to teaching my two main courses, I also taught Plant Ecology/Taxonomy
components of EFB 202 (Ecological Monitoring & Assessment) to 34 students at CLBS, evaluated student final
projects in EFB 202 at CLBS, and gave guest lectures in EFB 326 (Diversity of Plants) and BIO 415/615
(Conservation Biology) at Syracuse University. Outside of the classroom, I served as an MP to 3 graduate students (1
Ph.D., 2 M.S.), served on steering committees for 6 other graduate students (two defended their theses this May),
mentored a NSF UMEB student, officially advised 14 undergraduates, and unofficially advised another 5
undergraduate advisees of Dr. Horton while he was on a sabbatical.
Department/College: My main contributions to departmental and college activities included preparations of
several new collaborative research proposals for a variety of funding sources (1 successful, 3 pending). At the
departmental level I continued to serve as the Chair for the Selection Committee for the Robert Burgess Graduate
Scholarship in Ecology and as a member of the Graduate Program Advisory Committee (GPAC). Being involved with
GPAC was especially exciting as we were able to make a number of positive changes, including instituting
departmental super TA’s, which I believe will improve our ability to successfully recruit top grad students. At the
College level, I continued to participate in activities of the Center for the Urban Environment as a core faculty
member, including partaking in The Bridge—Classroom to Community Connection, an exciting educational outreach
activity linking ESF and the broader Syracuse community. Outside of ESF, I continued my service as a reviewer for
major peer-reviewed journals (6 journals, 7 manuscripts)— activities that contribute to the name recognition of both
the college and the department.
Self: Professionally, this was an exciting and busy year for me – I have spent much of my first academic year
of fully teaching by further developing and settling my teaching (see above), research, and building my research
group. With two new graduate students starting this fall, the lab will include 5 graduate students in total (1 Ph.D. and
4 M.S. students). I have redesigned my lab’s webpage to reflect these new developments and further improve my and
departmental recruitment efforts. I have developed and submitted research proposals with my new ESF colleagues
that were worth > $600,000 (several of these are still pending), and so far successfully acquired $48,173 in funding
(with C. Beier et al.). I also continued to be actively involved as a collaborator on three multi-year research projects at
the University of Washington, Seattle. Beyond developing new proposals, my projects at the University of
Washington and Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia, have continued to provide professional challenge and lead
to research products. I have several manuscripts in advanced stages of preparation from my work in both the western
Carpathians in Europe and Andrews LTER, and a manuscript from the forest restoration experiment study in the
Pacific Northwest which is currently under review. I presented some of the work done in my lab at several venues—
at Connecticut College (invited seminar), Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Odum 2009 Conference,
Adirondack Research Consortium Conference, and the Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering.
IX. A. FUTURE PLANS, AMBITIONS, AND POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS FOR YOUR OWN
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE ENHANCEMENT OF THE PROGRAM IN
ENVIRONMENTAL AND FOREST BIOLOGY (brief summary)
The main items on the short-term research horizon are to complete and submit several manuscripts from the PNW and
the western Carpathians, and acquire more substantial research funding. I would like to rework my previously
unsuccessful plant community and climate change proposal from this past academic year by including the data from
the interannual variability study at Andrews LTER as well as additional microclimatic analyses from the current work
of my students in the Adirondacks. Second, I would like to develop a new proposal on timberline ecotone dynamics
that would be based on my dissertation and post-doctoral work on forest-meadow ecotones. Both of these proposals
could provide nice collaborative linkages between SUNY-ESF AEC and my current work at Andrews or in the
western Carpathians. In collaboration, I will pursue additional funding opportunities in the area of plant/forest
ecology, biodiversity, and invasive plant species. In my teaching, I will increase my current contribution by coteaching EFB 797 Adaptive Peaks.
B. PROJECTED ACTIVITIES FOR NEXT YEAR
1. Summer 2009
a. Course(s) to be offered
Plant Ecology section of EFB 202– Ecological Monitoring & Biodiversity Assessment at CLBS
b. Proposed research activity
(i) Continue preparing research proposals
(ii) Complete & submit two manuscripts for peer-review:
Dovčiak M, and Halpern CB. Diversity-stability relationships of forest herbs during four decades of
forest succession at Andrews Experimental Forest. Ecology Letters.
Dovčiak M, Ujházy K, Hrivnák R, and Gömöry D. Patterns of tree invasions into grasslands:
insights from demographic and genetic spatial analyses. Journal of Ecology.
(iii) Continue analyses of vegetation responses to retention harvests in the PNW forests (DEMO
study) and of interannual variability in plant communities at Andrews LTER as appropriate.
(iv) Continue edits of student manuscripts with the goal of submitting the manuscripts this summer
(Brown and Dovciak; Alvarez-Yepiz, Dovciak, et al.).
(v) Continue involvement with the field work of my grad students via e-mail, phone and site visits
as appropriate.
(vi) Visit the Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia, to discuss current manuscripts in
preparation (Dovciak et al., Janisova et al.), and other collaborative opportunities.
c. University, professional society, and public service
Committee service as appropriate.
2. Fall Semester 2009
a. Course(s) to be offered
EFB 535 Flowering Plants: Diversity, Evolution, and Systematics (3 credits)
EFB 797 Adaptive Peaks (1 credit) (with Melissa Fierke)
b. Proposed research activity
(i) Preparation/submission of two new manuscripts from DEMO and Andrews LTER studies.
(ii) Continue advising my students on preparing their theses and manuscripts.
(iii) Continue research proposal development in the area of global climate change effects on plant
communities, invasive plants, and or forest dynamics/biodiversity.
c. University, Professional society, and public service
Continue service in the EFB Graduate Program Advisory Committee (GPAC), Burgess Award
Committee Chair, and other committees as appropriate.
3. Spring Semester 2010
a. Course(s) to be offered
EFB 445/645 Plant Ecology (3 credits)
EFB 797 Adaptive Peaks (1 credit) (with another faculty member)
b. Proposed research activity
(i) Preparation/submission of two new manuscripts from the Carpathian and Adirondack studies.
(ii) Continue advising my students on preparing their theses and manuscripts.
(iii) Continue research proposal development in the area of global climate change effects on plant
communities, invasive plants, and/or forest dynamics/biodiversity.
c. University, professional society, and public service
(i) Continue service in the EFB Graduate Program Advisory Committee (GPAC), Burgess Award
Committee Chair, and other committees as appropriate.
(ii) Attend regional conferences and submit abstracts for at least one national conference.