Presenter(s)

Coleman Cryderman, Alexander Owens, Jacquelyn Amaya

Comments

Presentation: 10:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Kennedy Union Ballroom

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Description

Lonicera maackii (Amur honeysuckle) is one invasive species of shrub that grows rampantly in many temperate forests across the United States. The Environmental Research Area, located on the University of Dayton campus, is one such location where the amur honeysuckle thrives. These plants are known to decrease biodiversity and cause harm to the ecosystems they inhabit by outcompeting native plant species, due to their ability to receive more sunlight and secrete an allelochemical from their leaves. Lack of biodiversity is not only bad for forest ecosystems but also can lead to soil degradation. The introduction of invasive species in general can have an impact on soil ecosystem. As such, soil quality may be different across areas of forest where there is a high density of the invasive amur honeysuckle as opposed to areas where there is not. Our research will assess soil quality in areas of forest with different densities of amur honeysuckle at the University of Dayton ERA. We hypothesize that at high densities the amur honeysuckle will decrease soil quality and increase the pH of the soil where it is found. In order to test this hypothesis, five sites were selected based on their varying densities of amur honeysuckle, which spanned from high to low density. Three soil samples were taken at each of these sites using a soil corer and placed into separate bags. Each site was measured to be an area of 4 meters and the exact density of each site was determined. We analyzed soil pH, moisture, bulk density, percent roots, and conductivity. We expect to see a trend of significant changes in the pH and quality of the soil as the density of amur honeysuckle increases across sites.

Publication Date

4-19-2023

Project Designation

Course Project 202310 BIO 459L 01

Primary Advisor

Chelse Prather

Primary Advisor's Department

Biology

Keywords

Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

Effects of the Invasive Shrub Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) on soil properties

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