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Northern Research Station
11 Campus Blvd., Suite 200
Newtown Square, PA 19073
(610) 557-4017
(610) 557-4132 TTY/TDD

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Scientists & Staff

[image:] Louis Iverson Louis Iverson

Title: Landscape Ecologist
Unit: Sustaining Forests in a Changing Environment
Previous Unit: Quantitative Methods for Modeling Forest Ecosystems
Address: Northern Research Station
359 Main Road
Delaware, OH 43015
Phone: 740-368-0097
E-mail: Contact Louis Iverson

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Education

  • Ph.D. Biology University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, 1981
  • Fulbright-Hays Scholarship, University of York, England, 1979-1980
  • B.S. Biology, University of North Dakota, 1976

Civic & Professional Affiliations

  • Current Vice President of International Association for Landscape Ecology
  • Former President, Treasurer, Program Chair for US-Chapter, International Association for Landscape Ecology
  • Life Member, Ecological Society of America and Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
  • Book Review Editor and Board of Editors, Landscape Ecology
  • Adjunct Professor, the Ohio State University

Current Research

  • Climate change impacts: we have developed models for 135 tree species and 150 bird species on potential impacts of several scenarios of climate change. We use statistical modeling tools related to classification and regression trees; our current favorite tool is random forest. We also use a simulation of migration over 100 years to estimate potential spread of trees into the new suitable habitat made available via climate change.
  • Emerald ash borer: we are modeling the potential spread of the organism through a migration model. We are also assessing and mapping the basal area of potential host (ash) in the region.
  • Prescribed fire and oak restoration: we are evaluating the role of fire in regenerating oak and other tree species across the landscape, including under mesic, intermediate, and xeric conditions (via the Integrated Moisture Index).
  • GIS modeling: we continue to use GIS in modeling outcomes in a variety of projects, currently including the modeling of damage from the tsunami in Aceh Province, Indonesia, in December 2004.

Why is This Important

  • Estimation of climate change impacts are being requested by many sources to better understand the implications of various scenarios over the next 100 years
  • Estimation of emerald ash borer spread is important to give managers better indications of when the organism will impact their forests
  • Facilitation of oak regeneration is important to provide sustained oak and hickory, and all the economic and ecological benefits they provide, over the long term
  • GIS modeling, like modeling areas susceptible to tsunami damage, can be used for susceptibility mapping and warning

Future Research

I plan to pursue the same lines of research in the future. As a pioneer in GIS modeling in landscape ecology (over 23 years), I know expanding opportunities continue to make the marriage of ecology and GIS/remote sensing more fruitful and applicable to managing our natural resources.. I would like to increase my research into the international arena, like my recent efforts into assessing disaster issues.

Featured Publications

Additional Online Publications

Last Modified: 11/19/2008