Don Faber-Langendoen
Adjunct Assistant Professor in Residence.

448 Illick Hall
SUNY-ESF
1 Forestry Drive
Syracuse, NY 13210

Telephone
ESF: (315) 470-6788
ABI: (315) 673-0921
ESF Fax: (315) 470-6934
Email: dfl@esf.edu or
don_faber-langendoen@natureserve.org

Research Interests

My interests are in the area of vegetation ecology and conservation biology. I conduct field studies of vegetation, focused on sampling of native and disturbed habitats, in order to better understand how natural systems are structured. I apply ecological knowledge to solving conservation questions, focusing on the protection of natural habitats across the U.S. and internationally.

I am particularly interested in various approaches to classifying natural systems, including that of the U.S. National Vegetation Classification (USNVC), the Canadian NVC, and those of state or provincial Natural Heritage Program classifications. My focus is practical, with an emphasis on how such classifications can be used to identify high-quality natural habitats for conservation. I am also interested in various approaches to conducting biodiversity assessments, developing region-wide conservation plans, and ecological monitoring.

Current Activities at ESF
Forest Health Survey of state lands in New York (with Paul Manion and Don Leopold)
Ecological Monitoring seminars (with James Gibbs)

Current Activities with NatureServe

Participant in the development of a National Plots Database (supported by Ecological Society of America, and the National Center For Ecological Analysis and Synthesis).

Ongoing support for the development of the U.S. National Vegetation Classification, the Canadian National Vegetation Classification, and the International Classification of International Communities.

Collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service to integrate all Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plots with the USNVC system.

Selected Publications

Lauver, C.L., K. Kindscher, D. Faber-Langendoen, and R. Schneider. 1999. A classification of the natural vegetation of Kansas. Southwestern Naturalist 44: 421-443.

Faber-Langendoen, D., and M. Davis. 1995. Effects of fire frequency on tree canopy cover at Allison Savanna, East-central Minnesota, USA. Natural Areas Journal 15: 319-328.

Faber-Langendoen, D., and P.F. Maycock. 1994. A vegetation analysis of tallgrass prairie in southern Ontario. Pp. 17-32 in Proceedings of the Thirteenth North American Prairie Conference, 1992, Windsor, Ontario. Department of Parks and Recreation, Windsor, Ontario.

Faber-Langendoen, D., and J. Tester. 1993. Oak mortality in sand savannas following drought in east-central Minnesota. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 120: 248-256.

Faber-Langendoen, D. 1992. Ecological constraints on rain forest management at Bajo Calima, western Colombia. Forest Ecology and Management 53: 213-244.

Faber-Langendoen, D., and A.H. Gentry. 1991. The structure and diversity of rain forests at Bajo Calima, Chocó region, western Colombia. Biotropica 23 (1): 2-11.

Some representative conservation reports

Faber-Langendoen, D., editor. 2001. Plant communities of the Midwest: Classification in an ecological context. Association for Biodiversity Information, Arlington, VA. 61 pp. + Appendix (705 pp.).

Hop, K., D. Faber-Langendoen, M. Lew-Smith, N. Aaseng, and S. Lubinski. 2001. Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota: USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program. U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, WI. 189 p . (+ Appendices).

Faber-Langendoen, D., K. Snow, and L.E. Tyrrell. 2001. Establishing a region-wide network of representative Research Natural Areas (RNAs): an assessment for the eastern region’s RNA framework (Draft, 10 April 2000). U.S. Forest Service, North Central Research Station, Rhinelander, WI. 564 p.

Marriott, H.J., and D. Faber-Langendoen. 2000. Black Hills community inventory, volume 2: plant community descriptions. The Nature Conservancy, Midwest Conservation Science Center and Association for Biodiversity Information, Minneapolis, MN. 326 p.

Faber-Langendoen, D., J. P. Gibbs, and W.F. Porter (principal authors). 2000. Ecological assessment of Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation lands: Moose River site. Final Report, March 2000. College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, NY. 136 p.

Marriott, H.J., D. Faber-Langendoen, A. McAdams, Diane Stutzman, and B. Ward. 1999. Black Hills community inventory, final report. The Nature Conservancy, Midwest Conservation Science Department, Minneapolis, MN. 175 p.

Grossman, D.H., D. Faber-Langendoen, A.S. Weakley, M. Anderson, P. Bourgeron, R. Crawford, K. Goodin, S. Landaal, K. Metzler, K.D. Patterson, M. Pyne, M. Reid, and L. Sneddon. 1998. International classification of ecological communities: terrestrial vegetation of the United States. Volume I. The National Vegetation Classification System: development, status, and applications. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA. 126 p.