Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy
Title: Research Forester
Unit: Ecological and Economic Sustainability of the Appalachian Forest in an Era of Globalization
Address: Northern Research Station
P.O. Box 404
Parsons, WV 26287
Phone: 304-478-2000 ext. 114
E-mail: Contact Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy
Jump to Publications
Education
- PhD 2011 - West Virginia University, forest sciences
- MS 1992 - State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, resource management/silviculture
- BS 1989 - Davis and Elkins College, pre-forestry
Civic & Professional Affiliations
Society of American Foresters, Ecological Society of America
Current Research
- Fire regimes of the central Appalachians
- Central Appalachian silviculture
- Fire as a silvicultural tool in oak forests
- Witness trees of the Monongahela National Forest
- Red spruce recovery and restoration
Why is This Important
Use of prescribed fire likely to increase and knowledge of fire history will help in determining where to return this disturbance regime.
In a part of the country without the benefit of General Land Office surveys, witness trees represent a snap-shot in time of species distributions. I hope to use the GIS based witness tree database to describe and categorize land-vegetation relationships of the area.
Red spruce forests support rare species and are in slow recovery from era of exploitative forestry. Monongahela Forest Plan places emphasis on recovery and restoration of red spruce and spruce-hardwood forests. Research is needed to help define and achieve goals.
Future Research
I hope to continue to work at two scales, stand and landscape, as I build a body of work that includes both traditional silviculture and landscape ecology. I am interested in carrying on the long-term silvicultural studies of the Fernow Experimental Forest. I am also interested in the use of prescribed fire as a silvicultural tool to aid in oak regeneration and as a landscape-scale disturbance.
Featured Publications
- Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa A.; Strager, Michael P. 2012. European settlement-era vegetation of the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-GTR-101. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 39 p.
- Adams, Mary Beth; Edwards, Pamela J.; Ford, W. Mark; Schuler, Thomas M.; Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa; Wood, Frederica. 2012. Fernow Experimental Forest: Research History and Opportunities. Experimental Forests and Ranges EFR-2. Washington, D.C: USDA Forest Service. 26 p.
- Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa; Strager, Michael; Rentch, James. 2012. Site characteristics of red spruce witness tree locations in the uplands of West Virginia, USA. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society. 139(4): 391-405.
- Adams, Mary Beth; Edwards, Pamela J.; Ford, W. Mark; Johnson, Joshua B.; Schuler, Thomas M.; Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa; Wood, Frederica. 2011. Effects of development of a natural gas well and associated pipeline on the natural and scientific resources of the Fernow Experimental Forest. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-76. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 24 p.
- Adams, Mary Beth; Ford, W. Mark; Schuler, Thomas M.; Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa. 2011. Effects of natural gas development on forest ecosystems. In: Fei, Songlin; Lhotka, John M.; Stringer, Jeffrey W.; Gottschalk, Kurt W.; Miller, Gary W., eds. Proceedings, 17th central hardwood forest conference; 2010 April 5-7; Lexington, KY; Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-78. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 219-226.
Additional
Online Publications
- Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa; Strager, Michael. 2011. Site characteristics of American chestnut, oak, and hickory witness trees on the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia. In: Fei, Songlin; Lhotka, John M.; Stringer, Jeffrey W.; Gottschalk, Kurt W.; Miller, Gary W., eds. Proceedings, 17th central hardwood forest conference; 2010 April 5-7; Lexington, KY; Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-78. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 208-218.
- Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa. 2010. Red spruce as witness tree on the Monongahela National Forest. In: Rentch, James S.; Schuler, Thomas M., eds. 2010. Proceedings from the conference on the ecology and management of high-elevation forests in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains. 2009 May 14-15; Slatyfork, WV. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-64. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 242.
- Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa. 2010. Red spruce restoration modeling in LANDIS. In: Rentch, James S.; Schuler, Thomas M., eds. 2010. Proceedings from the conference on the ecology and management of high-elevation forests in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains. 2009 May 14-15; Slatyfork, WV. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-64. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 229.
- Schuler, Thomas M.; Thomas Van-Gundy, Melissa; Adams, Mary B.; Ford, W. Mark. 2010. Seed bank response to prescribed fire in the central Appalachians.. Res. Pap. NRS-9. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 9 p.
- Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa; Schuler, Thomas M. 2008. Deferred rotation harvests in central Appalachia: 20- and 25-year results. In: Jacobs, Douglass F.; Michler, Charles H., eds. 2008. Proceedings, 16th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; 2008 April 8-9; West Lafayette, IN. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-24. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 423-435.
- Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa A.; Nowacki, Gregory J.; Schuler, Thomas M. 2007. Rule-based mapping of fire-adapted vegetation and fire regimes for the Monongahela National Forest. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-12. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 24 p.
- Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa. 2006. Assigning fire regimes on the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia. In: Dickinson, Matthew B., ed. 2006. Fire in eastern oak forests: delivering science to land managers, proceedings of a conference; 2005 November 15-17; Columbus, OH. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-1. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 300.
Last Modified:
02/15/2012