Graduate Program

Biological Sciences

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Semester of Degree Completion

2007

Thesis Director

Scott Meiners

Thesis Committee Member

James McGaughey

Thesis Committee Member

Thomas Nelson

Abstract

There is a real need for long term studies of invasions to develop a more complete understanding of the factors that influence species spread. Rosa multiflora was chosen to study to address this issue due to its pervasiveness throughout the study site's successional history. The study-site was composed of 10 abandoned agricultural fields near an old growth forest with fifty years of annual vegetation data collection. R. multiflora colonization and extinction rates were examined along with frequency and coefficient of variance since field abandonment. Environmental factors such as rainfall, tree cover, and common species and their effects on R. multiflora during its invasion and recession were also investigated. R. multiflora showed a 9 year lag when invading, followed by a 20 year period of expansion, stagnation, and eventually a decline as succession progresses. It was found that during all phases of R. multiflora's invasion that there was constant colonization and extinction within plots. Rainfall was found to have a positive effect on R. multiflora during population expansion (R=0.260, P

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