Dovciak Lab in Plant Ecology
State University of New York, College of Environmental Science & Forestry, Syracuse, NY
Department of Environmental and Forest Biology — SUNY ESF — 1 Forestry Drive — Syracuse — NY 13210
Publications
 
Papers in Refereed Journals (Lab members in bold)

Tourville J, Wason J, Dovciak M. 2022. Canopy gaps facilitate upslope shifts in montane conifers but not in temperate deciduous trees in the northeastern United States. Journal of Ecology (accepted).

Woodbridge M, Dovciak M. 2022. Logging legacies in a plant biodiversity hotspot: Altered distribution and abundance patterns of the shrub layer in the southern Appalachians. Forest Ecology and Management 516:120245. PDF

Hecking M, Zukswert JM, Drake JE, Dovciak M, Burton JI. 2022. Montane temperate-boreal forests retain the leaf economic spectrum despite intraspecific variability. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 4:754063. PDF

Beeles KL, Tourville JC, Dovciak M. 2022. Characterizing canopy openness across large forested landscapes using spherical densiometer and smartphone hemispherical photography. Journal of Forestry 120:37-50. PDF

Wason J, Battles J, Berdugo MB, Casson P, Tourville J, Dovciak M. 2021. Sentinel research sites in global change research: Whiteface Mountain, New York. Northeastern Naturalist 28: 47–63. PDF

Griffin-Nolan RJ, Mohanbabu N, Araldi-Brondolo S, Ebert AR, LeVonne J, Lumbsden-Pinto JI, Roden H, Stark JR, Tourville J, Becklin KM, Drake JE, Frank DA, Lamit LJ, Fridley JD. 2021. Friend or foe? The role of biotic agents in drought-induced plant mortality. Plant Ecology 222: 537-548.  PDF

Stašiov S, Kubovčík V, Čiliak M, Diviaková A, Lukáčik I, Dovciak M. 2021. Harvestmen (Opiliones) community structure varies across forest-meadow ecotones in a biodiverse karst region. Biodiversity and Conservation 30: 1101-1117. PDF

Russavage E, Thiele J, Lumbsden-Pinto J, Schwager K, Green T, Dovciak M. 2021. Characterizing canopy openness in open forests: Spherical densiometer and canopy photography are equivalent but less sensitive than direct measurements of solar radiation. Journal of Forestry 119: 130-140. PDF

Langdon SF, Dovciak M, Leopold DJ. 2020. Tree encroachment varies by plant community in a large boreal peatland complex in the boreal-temperate ecotone of northeastern USA. Wetlands 40: 2499-2511. PDF

Stašiov S, Diviaková A, Svitok M, Novikmec M, Dovciak M. 2020. Hedgerows support rich communities of harvestmen (Opiliones) in upland agricultural landscape. Basic and Applied Ecology 47: 73-82, PDF

Wason JW, Beier CM, Battles JJ, Dovciak M. 2019. Acidic deposition and climate warming as drivers of tree growth in high-elevation spruce-fir forests of the Northeastern US. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 2: 63, doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2019.00063. PDF

Lesser MR, Dovciak M, Wheat R, Curtis C, Smallidge P, Hurst J, Kramer D, Roberts M, Frair J. 2019. Modelling white-tailed deer impacts on forest regeneration to inform deer management options at landscape scales. Forest Ecology and Management 448: 395–408. PDF

Berdugo MB, Dovciak M. 2019. Bryophytes in fir waves: Forest canopy indicator species and functional diversity decline in canopy gaps. Journal of Vegetation Science 30: 235–246. PDF

Zarfos MR, Dovciak M, Lawrence GB, McDonnell TC, Sullivan TJ. 2019. Plant richness and composition in hardwood forest understories vary along an acidic deposition and soil-chemical gradient in northeastern United States. Plant and Soil 438, 461–477. PDF

Álvarez-Yépiz J, Búrquez A, Martínez-Yrízar A, Dovciak M. 2019. A trait-based approach to the conservation of threatened plant species. Oryx 53, 429–435. PDF

Stašiov S, Kubovčík V, Čiliak M, Diviaková A, Lukáčik I, Pätoprstý V, Dovciak M. 2019. Heterogeneity in millipede communities (Diplopoda) within a forest–forest edge–meadow habitat complex. Acta Oecologica 98, 6–13. PDF

Berdugo MB, Quant JM, Wason JW, Dovciak M. 2018. Latitudinal patterns and environmental drivers of moss layer cover in extratropical forests. Global Ecology and Biogeography 27: 1213–1224. PDF

Parobeková Z, Bugala M, Kardoš M, Dovciak M, Lukáčik I, Saniga M. 2018. Long-term changes in dwarf pine (Pinus mugo Turra) cover and growth in the Orava Beskid Mountains, Slovakia. Mountain Research and Development 38: 342-353. PDF

Lawrence GB, McDonnell TC, Sullivan TJ, Dovciak M, Bailey SW, Antidormi MR, Zarfos MR. 2018. Soil base saturation combines with beech bark disease to influence composition and structure of sugar maple-beech forests in an acid rain-impacted region. Ecosystems 21: 795–810. PDF

McDonnell TC, Reinds GJ, Sullivan TJ, Clark CM, Bonten LTC, Mol-Dijkstra JP, Wamelink GWW, Dovciak M. 2018. Feasibility of coupled empirical and dynamic modeling to assess climate change and air pollution impacts on temperate forest vegetation of the eastern United States. Environmental Pollution 234: 902-914.

Wason JW, Dovciak M. 2017. Tree demography suggests multiple directions and drivers for species range shifts in mountains of Northeastern United States. Global Change Biology 23: 3335–3347. PDF

Wason JW, Bevilacqua E, Dovciak M. 2017. Climates on the move: Implications of climate warming for species distributions in mountains of the northeastern United States. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 246: 272–280. PDF

Wason JW, Dovciak M, Beier CM, Battles JJ. 2017. Tree growth is more sensitive than species distributions to recent changes in climate and acidic deposition in the northeastern United States. Journal of Applied Ecology 54, 1648–1657. PDF

Jaloviar P, Saniga M, Kucbel S, Pittner J, Vencurik J, Dovciak M. 2017. Seven decades of change in a European old-growth forest following a stand-replacing wind disturbance: A long-term case study. Forest Ecology and Management 399: 197-205. PDF

Alvarez-Yepiz JC, Burquez A, Martinez-Yrizar A, Teece M, Yepez EA, Dovciak M. 2017. Resource partitioning by evergreen and deciduous species in a tropical dry forest. Oecologia 183: 607-618. PDF

Wiezik M, Gallay I, Wiezikova A, Ciliak M, Dovciak M. 2017. Spatial structure of traditional land organization allows long-term persistence of large Formica exsecta supercolony in actively managed agricultural landscape. Journal of Insect Conservation 21: 257–266. PDF

Raney PA, Leopold DJ, Dovciak M, Beier C. 2016. Hydrologic position mediates sensitivity of tree growth to climate: Groundwater subsidies provide a thermal buffer effect in wetlands. Forest Ecology and Management 379: 70–80. PDF

Alvarez-Yepiz JC, Dovciak M. 2015. Enhancing ecosystem function through conservation: threatened plants increase local carbon storage in tropical dry forests. Tropical Conservation Science 8: 999-1008. PDF

Dovciak M, Hrivnak R, Ujhazy K, Gomory D. 2015. Patterns of grassland invasions by trees: insights from demographic and genetic spatial analyses. Journal of Plant Ecology 8: 468-479. PDF and Cover

Wiezik M, Svitok M, Wiezikova A, Dovciak M. 2015. Identifying shifts in leaf-litter ant assemblages (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) across ecosystem boundaries using multiple sampling methods. PLoS ONE 10(7): e0134502. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0134502. PDF

Westerband A, Dovciak M, La Quay-Velázquez G, Medeiros JS. 2015. Aspect reduces soil moisture and tree cover, but not nitrogen mineralization or grass cover in semi-arid pinyon-juniper woodlands of the southwestern United States. The Southwestern Naturalist 60: 21-29. PDF

Steen DA, Osborne PA, Dovciak M, Patrick D, Gibbs JP. 2015. A preliminary investigation into the short-term effects of a prescribed fire on habitat quality for a snake assemblage. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 10: 263−272. PDF

Alvarez–Yepiz JC, Burquez A, Dovciak M. 2014. Ontogenetic shifts in plant-plant interactions in a rare cycad within angiosperm communities. Oecologia 175: 725-735. PDF

Dovciak M, Brown J. 2014. Secondary edge effects in regenerating forest landscapes: vegetation and microclimate patterns and their implications for management and conservation. New Forests 45: 733-744. PDF

Giencke L, Dovciak M, Mountrakis G, Cale J, Mitchell M. 2014. Beech bark disease: Spatial patterns of thicket formation and disease spread in an aftermath forest in the northeastern United States. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 44: 1042-1050. PDF

Halpern CB, Dovciak M, Urgenson LS, Evans SA. 2014. Substrates mediate responses of forest bryophytes to a gradient in overstory retention. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 44: 855-866. PDF

Alvarez-Yepiz JC, Cueva A, Dovciak M, Teece M, Yepez E. 2014. Ontogenetic resource-use strategies in a rare long-lived cycad along environmental gradients. Conservation Physiology 2 (1): doi:10.1093/conphys/cou034.​ PDF

Dovciak M, Osborne PA, Patrick DA, Gibbs JP. 2013. Conservation potential of prescribed fire for maintaining habitats and populations of an endangered rattlesnake, Sistrurus c. catenatus. Endangered Species Research 22: 51-60. PDF

Wiezik M, Svitok M, Wiezikova A, Dovciak M. 2013. Shrub encroachment alters composition and diversity of ant communities in abandoned grasslands of western Carpathians. Biodiversity and Conservation 22: 2305-2320. PDF.

Frelich LE, Peterson RO, Dovciak M, Reich PB, Vucetich JA, Eisenhauer N. 2012. Trophic cascades, invasive species, and body-size hierarchies interactively modulate climate change responses of ecotonal temperate-boreal forest. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 367: 2955-2961. PDF.

Halpern CB, Halaj J, Evans SA, Dovciak M. 2012. Level and pattern of overstory retention interact to shape long-term responses of understories to timber harvest. Ecological Applications 22: 2049–2064. PDF.

Beier CM, Stella JA, Dovciak M, McNulty SA. 2012. Local climatic drivers of changes in phenology at a boreal-temperate ecotone in eastern North America. Climatic Change 115: 399-417. PDF

Siefert A, Ravenscroft C, Althoff D, Alvarez-Yepiz JC, Carter E, Glennon K, Heberling M, Jo I, Pontes A, Sauer A, Segraves K, Willis A, & Fridley JD. 2012. Scale dependence of vegetation-environment relationships: a meta-analysis of multivariate data. Journal of Vegetation Science 23: 942-951.

Beier CM, Woods AM, Hotopp KP, Gibbs JP, Mitchell MJ, Dovciak M, Leopold DJ, Lawrence GB, Page BD. 2012. Changes in faunal and vegetation communities along a soil calcium gradient in northern hardwood forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 42: 1141–1152. PDF

Alvarez-Yepiz JC, Dovciak M, Burquez A. 2011. Persistence of a rare ancient cycad: Effects of environment and demography. Biological Conservation 144: 122-130.  PDF

Dovciak M, Halpern CB. 2010. Positive diversity-stability relationships in forest herb populations during four decades of community assembly. Ecology Letters 13: 1300-1309. PDF

Sprugel DG, Rauscher KG, Gersonde R, Dovciak M, Lutz JA, Halpern CB. 2009. Spatially explicit modeling of overstory manipulations in young forests: Effects on stand structure and light. Ecological Modelling 220: 3565-3575. PDF

Dovciak M, Hrivnak R, Ujhazy K, Gomory D. 2008. Seed rain and environmental controls on invasion of Picea abies into grassland. Plant Ecology 194: 135-148. PDF

Wiezik M, Svitok M, Dovciak M. 2007. Conifer introductions decrease richness and alter composition of litter-dwelling beetles (Coleoptera) in Carpathian oak forests. Forest Ecology & Management 247: 61-71. PDF

Dovciak M, Halpern CB, Saracco JF, Evans SA, Liguori DA. 2006. Persistence of ground-layer bryophytes in a structural-retention experiment: initial effects of level and pattern of overstory retention. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 36: 3039-3052. PDF

Dovciak M, Frelich LE. Reich PB. 2005. Pathways in old-field succession to white pine: seed rain, shade, and climate effects. Ecological Monographs 75: 363–378. PDF

Dovciak M, Carlson D, Janecka P, Paule L. 2003. Natural regeneration of common yew (Taxus baccata) in the western Carpathians. Ecological Studies 5: 185-191. (In Slovak).

Dovciak M, Reich PB, Frelich LE. 2003. Seed rain, safe sites, competing vegetation, and soil resources spatially structure white pine regeneration and recruitment. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 33: 1892–1904. PDF

Dovciak M, Frelich LE., Reich PB. 2001. Discordance in spatial patterns of white pine (Pinus strobus) size-classes in a patchy near-boreal forest. Journal of Ecology 89: 280-291. PDF

Books and Monographs

Sullivan TJ, Zarfos MR, Dovciak M, McDonnell TC, Lawrence GB. 2017. Effects of acidic deposition on the biodiversity of forest understory plant communities in the northern hardwood forests of the Adirondack mountains. New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Albany, NY. 86 pages.

Lawrence GB, Sullivan TJ, Burns DA, Bailey SA, Cosby BJ, Dovciak M, Ewing HA, McDonnell TC, Minocha R, Riemann R, Quant J, Rice KC, Siemion J, Weathers K. 2015. Acidic Deposition along the Appalachian Trail Corridor and its Effects on Acid-Sensitive Terrestrial and Aquatic Resources. Results of the Appalachian Trail MegaTransect Study. Natural Resource Report. NPS/NRSS/ARD/NRR—2015/996. Fort Collins, Colorado. Published Report-2223220. 349 pages. PDF

Gomory D, Dovciak M, Gomoryova E, Hrivnak R, Janisova M, Ujhazy K. 2006. Demecological, synecological and genetic aspects of the colonization of abandoned pastures and meadows by forest trees. Vedecké Štúdie, Zvolen Technical University, Zvolen, Slovakia, 93 pages. (In Slovak).

Perry J, Tichy J, Imbert JB, Sudmeier-Rieux K, Dovciak M, Malovesky M, Baranyi A. 2001. Ecosystem management in Central and Eastern Europe: Decision-taking for the future. E. Vanderklein (ed.), Bang Printing, Brainerd, MN, 293 pages.

Selected Extension and Outreach Publications

Quant JM, Nowak CA, Dovciak M. 2016. Human-based spread of invasive plants from powerline corridors in New York State. In J. Doucet (editor). Environmental Concerns in Rights-of-Way Management. Paper presented at Environmental Concerns in Rights-of-Way Management: 11th  International Symposium, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 20-23 Sept. 2015. Utility Arborist Association, Champaign, Illinois, U.S. Pages 87-96. ISBN 978-1-58301-340-3.

Nowak C, Quant J, Dovciak M. 2015. Understanding human-based transport of invasive exotic plants on electric transmission line rights-of-way: Developing an empirical basis for deciding when to clean people and vehicles to minimize inadvertent transport of invasive exotic plants from powerline corridors. Technical Update, Report No. 3002006331. Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA.

Quant J, Nowak C, Dovciak M. 2015. Literature syntheses of select invasive exotic plants common on electric transmission rights-of-way: Biology and ecology. Technical Report, Report No. 300200746, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA.

Nowak C, Quant J, Hopper E, Bartholomew C, Dovciak M. 2013. Cost Effectiveness of Cleaning Techniques for Controlling Human-Based Transport of Invasive Exotic Plants on Electric Transmission Line Rights-of-Way, Technical Update. Report No. 3002001189, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA. 74 pages.

Gomory D, Ujhazy K, Hrivnak R, Janisova M, Dovciak M, Gomoryova E, Strelcova K, Chudy F, Tunak D, Paule L., 2006. Ecology and genetics of tree invasions into non-forest areas of Prislopy mountain pass. In: D. Slavikova (ed.), Polana Biosphere Reserve: Status 15 years after its establishment. Zvolen Tech. Univ., Zvolen, Slovakia. (In Slovak).

Dovciak M. 2003. Population dynamics of the endangered common yew (Taxus baccata L.) and its management implications for biosphere reserves of the western Carpathians. Final Report for UNESCO MAB Program, Paris, France. PDF

Dovciak M. 2002. Dynamics of forest communities and sustainability principles. In R. Midriak (ed.), 4th National Conference on Biosphere Reserves of Slovakia. Roznava, Slovakia, Oct. 28-29, Zvolen Tech. University, Slovak Karst Biosphere Reserve, & Slovak National MAB Committee. p.55-61 (In Slovak).

Dovciak M. 2000. White pine (Pinus strobus) regeneration in Minnesota. In Implementation of the White Pine Initiative. FY99 Report to the Minnesota Forest Resources Council. Division of Forestry, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul, MN, USA.

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