Diane De StevenAssociate Professor
B.S., Kent State Univ. 1974 M.S., Univ. of Michigan 1977 Ph.D., Univ. of Michigan 1980
Research Interests My research interests are concerned with the ecological processes that shape plant community diversity, and in the application of ecological principles to current problems in biodiversity conservation, natural areas management and plant community restoration. I use a combination of observational and experimental approaches to address questions such as, "How do population processes influence vegetation succession and plant community pattern?", "How do abiotic factors, natural disturbances, and past history shape regional plant diversity?", and "How do we design experiments for plant community restorations?" Recent projects have included long-term study of temporal and spatial variation in seedling regeneration of tropical trees, patterns of tree regeneration following thermal disturbances in swamp forests, and community analysis of depressional wetlands in relation to environmental gradients of landform, soils, hydrology, and land-use history. My graduate students work on diverse problems in plant ecology, such as the effects of ecological management practices in natural areas, processes influencing revegetation of restored wetlands, and factors structuring wetland community patterns. Selected Publications M. Kost and D. De Steven. Prescribed fire effects on plant composition in Wisconsin sedge meadows. Submitted to Natural Areas Journal. De Steven, D. and R.R. Sharitz. Differential recovery of a deepwater swamp forest across a gradient of disturbance intensity. Wetlands 17:476-84, 1997. De Steven, D. and M. Toner. Gradient analysis and classification of Carolina bay vegetation: a framework for bay wetlands conservation and management. Project Report to U.S. Forest Service, Savannah River Site, South Carolina, 1997. De Steven D. Tropical tree seedling dynamics: recruitment patterns and their population consequences. Journal of Tropical Ecology 10:369-83, 1994.
Recent projects have included long-term study of temporal and spatial variation in seedling regeneration of tropical trees, patterns of tree regeneration following thermal disturbances in swamp forests, and community analysis of depressional wetlands in relation to environmental gradients of landform, soils, hydrology, and land-use history. My graduate students work on diverse problems in plant ecology, such as the effects of ecological management practices in natural areas, processes influencing revegetation of restored wetlands, and factors structuring wetland community patterns.
Selected Publications
De Steven, D. and R.R. Sharitz. Differential recovery of a deepwater swamp forest across a gradient of disturbance intensity. Wetlands 17:476-84, 1997.
De Steven, D. and M. Toner. Gradient analysis and classification of Carolina bay vegetation: a framework for bay wetlands conservation and management. Project Report to U.S. Forest Service, Savannah River Site, South Carolina, 1997.
De Steven D. Tropical tree seedling dynamics: recruitment patterns and their population consequences. Journal of Tropical Ecology 10:369-83, 1994.