BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:iCalendar-Ruby BEGIN:VEVENT CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations DESCRIPTION:The Environmental & Plant Biology Colloquium Series presents Dr . Glenn Matlack discussing Human ecology of an Appalachian forest: Economic and demographic drivers of land use change over 230 years” on Oct. 16 at 1 1:50 a.m.\n\nMatlack is Associate Professor of Environmental & Plant Biolog y at Ohio University.\n\nAbstract: The structure and species composition of a second-growth forest is largely determined by its history of human land use and abandonment. To understand the human dimension of forest regenerati on in Southeast Ohio\, my students and I have examined drivers of rural lan d use in three counties around Athens. The land-use effects of mineral extr action\, agriculture\, and developing transportation were reconstructed fro m historical documents and census records over a span of 230 years. In the early 19th century\, the local economy was based on small-scale agriculture \, lumber and salt extraction for local use and for export on the Ohio Rive r. Through the 19th and early 20th century\, the most important land use wa s cereal production and livestock husbandry facilitated by construction of a canal and a railroad network in the mid and late 19th century. Undergroun d coal mining expanded rapidly serving national markets between 1880-1920\, but its long-term legacy has been minor due to its small aboveground footp rint. After 1926\, hard-surfaced roads linked the study area directly to ou tside markets. Agricultural abandonment began ca. 1920 in response to regio nal and national declines in commodity prices\, initiating a phase of natur al forest regeneration. The most rapid abandonment occurred between 1950-19 70 corresponding to a nationwide decline in the dairy industry. However\, a bandonment was moderated by a diversified economy in areas around large tow ns. Thus\, the biological structure and composition of modern forests are a direct result of long-term variation in national commodity markets played out in the context of local site quality and accessibility. DTEND:20201016T165000Z DTSTAMP:20241124T033717Z DTSTART:20201016T155000Z LOCATION: SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:Plant Biology Colloquium | Glenn Matlack on Oct. 16 UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_34716077197239 URL:https://calendar.ohio.edu/event/plant_biology_colloquium_glenn_matlack_ on_oct_16 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR