Projects What we do Environmental history of Wisconsin Understanding the past is the basis for thinking about the future. Vegetation cover prior to European settlement reflects past ecosystem structure and processes. We entered the General Land Office surveyor records for the entire state into a GIS database and completed presettlement vegetation and landscape change studies in northwestern Wisconsin .
Ongoing research examines the northern hardwood region and southern oak savannas.
The Old Growth Project is an interdisciplinary study comparing old growth and managed forests in the northern hardwood region of Wisconsin. Together with an extensive group of collaborators, we conducted comparative studies on forest structure , understory vegetation , coarse wood debris , nutrient cucling , nitrogen dynamics , birds , beetles and lichens . Pine barrens Our research goal is to provide a framework for ecosystem management of the northwestern Wisconsin Pine Barrens. We completed studies on the pre-settlement vegetation , jack pine serotiny patterns , landscape changes since European settlement , jack pine budworm defoliation , the relationship between landscape pattern and budworm populations , and the effects of salvage cutting on the landscape . Ongoing research includes research on housing density patterns in the Pine Barrens and simulation modeling of management scenarios.