IMAGE OF THE WEEK
Map of 2014 Pennsylvania Governor’s race election turnout in Centre County created by Aaron Dennis for his presentation on “Mapping State College Election Results” at the January meet-up. Next State College Maptime meet-up is February 24.
GOOD NEWS
The Jennifer Fluri and Amy Trauger Student Essay and Creative Works Competition, sponsored by SWIG, is now accepting submissions.
Due date: March 20, 2016.
NEWS
Coffee Hour with Tom Serfass
Wildlife conservation in North America: Science, policy, and politics portrayed through the eyes of the North American river otter
The reintroduction of mammalian predators often has been met with controversy among citizens near reintroduction sites primarily because of concern for predation of domestic animals and game species (species popular for recreational hunting). The North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) is an example of a predator widely reintroduced in the United States that has in some cases been negatively depicted in the media because of its predatory habits (i.e., fish eating).
- 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.
- Refreshments are offered in 319 Walker Building at 3:30 p.m.
- The lecture begins in 112 Walker Building at 4:00 p.m.
- Coffee Hour To Go Webcast
- Next week: Graduate Student Lightening Talks
Geography students bring open-source mapping group to State College
Two geography students have started a Maptime chapter in State College to support community cartography and teach people how to use and create maps. The endeavor is co-sponsored by The Peter R. Gould Center for Geography Education and Outreach in Penn State’s Department of Geography.
“I really want to put State College on the map—literally,” geography graduate student Carolyn Fish said. “So much open-source mapping is centered in large cities, such as New York, Washington and San Francisco.”
The message in the map: New edition of cartography design book released
Cynthia A. Brewer, head of Penn State’s Department of Geography, has released a new edition of “Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users.” Published by Esri Press, the book guides mapmakers through the process of designing visually pleasing and easily understandable maps.
RECENTLY (OR SOON TO BE) PUBLISHED
Deer feeding selectivity for invasive plants
By Kristine M. Averill , David A. Mortensen, Erica A. H. Smithwick, Eric Post
In Biological Invasions
DOI: 10.1007/s10530-016-1063-z
Native generalist herbivores might limit plant invasion by consuming invading plants or enhance plant invasion by selectively avoiding them. The role of herbivores in plant invasion has been investigated in relation to plant native/introduced status, however, a knowledge gap exists about whether food selection occurs according to native/introduced status or to species. We tested preference of the native herbivore white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) for widespread and frequently occurring invasive introduced and native plants in the northeastern United States.
Tamm Review: Management of mixed-severity fire regime forests in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California
By Paul F. Hessburg, Thomas A. Spies, David A. Perry, Carl N. Skinner, Alan H. Taylor, Peter M. Brown, Scott L. Stephens, Andrew J. Larson, Derek J. Churchill, Nicholas A. Povak, Peter H. Singleton, Brenda McComb, William J. Zielinski, Brandon M. Collins, R. Brion Salter, John J. Keane, Jerry F. Franklini, Greg Riegel
In Forest Ecology and Management
DOI:10.1016/j.foreco.2016.01.034
Increasingly, objectives for forests with moderate- or mixed-severity fire regimes are to restore successionally diverse landscapes that are resistant and resilient to current and future stressors. Maintaining native species and characteristic processes requires this successional diversity, but methods to achieve it are poorly explained in the literature. In the Inland Pacific US, large, old, early seral trees were a key historical feature of many young and old forest successional patches, especially where fires frequently occurred.