The Daily Bulletin Archive

Please join the Biology Department for the seminar "Plant Communities of Abandoned Industrial Land in Erie County: The Postindustrial Ecosystem Syndrome," presented by Dave Spiering of Tifft Nature Preserve on Monday, October 27, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Technology Building 160.

All faculty, staff, and students are welcome.

Seminar Abstract
Abandoned industrial lands can cover large areas where former industrial activity has not been redeveloped and spontaneous vegetation has established. Data on plant community characteristics, as well as soil properties, were collected on postindustrial sites in Erie County to examine plant community composition and look for filters in community assembly and drivers of successional change. These data will be summarized and placed in the context of the limited but growing body of literature on postindustrial ecosystems. Combining field data with published literature, I will present several symptoms of the postindustrial ecosystem syndrome and what these say about drivers of community change and potential restoration of these ecosystems.