Faculty Profile
Martin Dovciak
Associate Professor
459 Illick Hall
On sabbatical leave in 2023. Visiting Fellow at Yale University School of the Environment (Fall Semester).
Research Interests: Plant Ecology, Forest Ecosystems, Global Environmental Change, Biodiversity, Ecosystem Management and Restoration.
CV and Lab Homepage (somewhat out of date, sorry!)
Selected Courses Taught:
- Global Patterns of Forest Understory Diversity (Co-taught; offered at Yale University & ESF)
- Plant Ecology & Global Change
- Flowering Plants: Diversity, Evolution & Systematics
- Tropical Ecology (Co-taught)
- Impacts of Deer on Forests Seminar (Co-taught)
- Natural Resource Management
Examples of Recent Grant Awards:
- National Science Foundation; $293,033; 2023-2025. “Data Science for Global Change -- Does Plant Diversity Imply Forest Resilience?” M. Dovciak (PI).
- National Science Foundation; $322,992; 2018-2023. “Linking Forest Regeneration, Plant Distributions, and Ecotone Dynamics in Changing Mountain Environments”. M. Dovciak (PI).
- USDA McIntire-Stennis Program; $61,784; 2018-2021. "Recent Changes and Future Trajectories of an Ecosystem at the Crossroads: Implications for Planning, Management, and Conservation of Long Island Pine Barrens". M. Dovciak (PI), T. Green, K. Schwager.
- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; $312,213; 2013-2018. “Evaluating Deer Impacts on Forests of New York State”. M. Dovciak (PI), J. Frair, J. Hurst, P. Curtis, P. Smallidge.
- NYSERDA; $200,000; 2015-2017. “Effects of Acidic Deposition and Soil Acidification on Forest Understory Plant Biodiversity in the Adirondack Mountains”. T. Sullivan (PI), M. Dovciak, G. Lawrence, T. McDonnell ($87,001 to M. Dovciak).
Selected Publications (* undergraduate, ** graduate, or *** postdoctoral mentee)
10 most recent papers:
- Tourville J *, Publicover D, Dovciak M (2023) Forests on the move: tracking climate-related treeline changes in mountains of the northeastern United States. Journal of Biogeography, 00, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14708
- Cortese AM *, Drake JE, Dovciak M, Cohen JB, Horton TR (2023) Proximity to an old-growth forest edge and ectomycorrhizal tree islands enhance ectomycorrhizal fungal colonization of Betula lenta L. (black birch) seedlings in secondary forest soils. Plant and Soil https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06237-7
- Tourville JC *, Zarfos MR *, Lawrence GB, McDonnell TC, Sullivan TJ, Dovciak M (2023) Soil biotic and abiotic thresholds in sugar maple and American beech seedling establishment in forests of the northeastern United States. Plant and Soil. doi: 10.1007/s11104-023-06123-2.
- Finley D *, Dovciak M, Dean J (2023) A data driven method for prioritizing invasive species to aid policy and management. Biological Invasions 25, 2293-2307.
- Tourville J *, Dovciak M (2023) Small mammal granivory as a biotic filter for tree establishment beyond elevation range boundaries. Plant Ecology 224:435–447.
- Arias MG*, McGee G, Dovciak M (2023) Persistent effects of land-use history on myrmecochorous plant and epigeic ant assemblages across an ecoregional gradient in New York State. Biodiversity and Conservation 32:965–985.
- Berdugo MB *, Dovciak M, Kimmerer RW, Driscoll CT (2023) The roles of the moss layer in mediating tree seedling environmental stress, mercury exposure, and regeneration in high-elevation conifer forests. Ecosystems 26, 909–923.
- 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, doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13993.
- 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.
- 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.
10 most cited/impactful papers:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. Ecol. Appl. 22: 2049–2064.
- Dovciak M, Halpern CB (2010) Positive diversity-stability relationships in forest herb populations during four decades of community assembly. Ecology Letters 13: 1300–1309.
- 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.
- 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.
- Dovciak M, Reich PB, Frelich LE (2003) Seed rain, safe sites, competing vegetation, and soil resources spatially structure white pine regeneration and recruitment. Can. J. For. Res. 33: 1892–1904.
- 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.
Current Graduate Advisees
Rachel Hopkins
rihopkin@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: MS
- Graduate Advisor(s): Dovciak
- Area of Study: Environmental & Forest Biology
Graduate Research Topic
My research involves examining changes in forest plant communities over time, especially in relation to climate change and land use history.
Joanna Lumbsden-Pinto
jlumsden@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: PHD
- Graduate Advisor(s): Dovciak
- Area of Study: EFB Conservation Biology
Personal Statement
My major area of interest is the interaction between ecosystem dynamics and anthropogenic and climate alterations. I am interested in comprehending how this interaction influences the biota's resilience and adaptability and what its implications could be on its management and restoration. I am inquisitive about investigating topics of this nature so we can develop sustainable approaches, interdisciplinary management, and conservation methodologies that protect and preserve forests, their components, and their inhabitants, such as Indigenous People.
Graduate Research Topic
I investigate how pine barrens ecosystems respond to climate and fire regime changes. The findings will guide stakeholders in managing the forests in light of global warming and changes in land use.
Favorite Quote
"Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching." C.S. Lewis