Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Winter 2-28-2025
Abstract
Ecotones, the transitional zones between distinct habitats, are vital for ecosystem functioning and habitat diversity. Traditional management practices frequently create abrupt boundaries, leading to stressful conditions for organisms. To address this challenge, an underutilized land management technique called “edge feathering”, which involves gradual thinning of the canopy along the forest edge, has been introduced. This study, con- ducted at Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio, investigated the effects of edge feathering on light availability and understory plant diversity in edge feathered and control treatments. We calculated the coefficient of variation in light availability as light heterogeneity and plant diversity indices at the plot level. Edge feathering increased light heterogeneity by more than 2.5-fold. It also significantly increased biodiversity, yielding twice the species richness and approximately 1.5 times higher Shannon and Simpson’s Diversity (1/D) in- dices compared to unmanaged control plots. Furthermore, greater light heterogeneity exhibited a strong positive correlation with increased understory plant diversity. These effects were observed within just 3.5 years of implementation, underscoring the rapid and measurable benefits of edge feathering for plant community diversity. Our results further suggest the hypothesis that light heterogeneity might be an important driver of small-scale plant community diversity in this system, which could be tested directly in the future.
Keywords
ecotone, edge feathering, forest thinning, forest management, land management
Publication Title
Forests
Rights
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/).
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Kadawatha, A.D.;Mecaskey, J.M.; Swab, R.M.; Burns, J.H. Edge Feathering Across Forest-Meadow Ecotones Increases Light Heterogeneity and Understory Plant Diversity. Forests 2025, 16, 441. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/f16030441
