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David F. Greene, PhD

  • Professor, Geography, Planning and Environment

Research areas: Plant regeneration, natural disturbances (fire, freezing rain), plant biomechanics, forestry practices

Contact information

Biography

Education

PhD (Calgary)

Research interests

A forest ecologist, Dr. Greene studies pollination, seed production, seed abscission and dispersal, and germination, as well as broader issues in forestry and disturbance ecology. He is funded by NSERC and the Canadian Pollination Initiative, and is adjunct with Biology.

Current grants

NSERC Discovery grant (weather and variation in seed production)
CANPOLIN grant (pollination by wind)
NSERC industrial partnership grant (post-fire salvage)

Professional affiliations

Le Centre d'étude de la forêt.

Teaching activities

Graduate Student supervision

2012 - Present Gavreau, S. M.Sc. Concordia University. Using long-term anthesis records to test phenological models. In progress.

2011 - Present Ahearn, T. MSc. The effect of post-fire salvage on seedbeds. In progress.

2011 - Present Pounden, E. PhD. Meteorological factors governing tree seed production. In progress.

2010 - 2011 Ogaa, A. MEnv. Concordia University. Risk assessment in the management of invasives in Australia.

2010 - Present Timerman, D. MSc. In progress. Biomechanics of stamens in relation to pollen abscission. In progress.

2009 - 2012 MacInnins, G. MSc. Testing pollen dispersal models for anemophilous. In progress. species in the boreal forest. In progress.

2010 - Present Splawinski, T. PhD. In progress. Long-term post-fire regeneration dynamics of boreal trees species following different harvesting methods. In progress.

2008 - 2010 Splawinski, T.B. M.Sc. Concordia University. Post-fire regeneration dynamics of black spruce and jack pine following salvage.

2008 - 2010 Ramasamy, A. MEnv. Concordia University. A comparison of invasive control policies in New Zealand and British Columbia.

2008 - 2010 Ghamoushi-Ramandi, E. MEnv. Concordia University. The role of thresholds within the adaptive management component of EIA follow-up and monitoring at Grasslands National Park.

2006 - 2010 Gervais, D. M.Sc. The effect of postfire salvage on xylem-eating beetles.

2005 - 2010 Bedard, R. M.Sc. Zoning and forest utilization in peri-urban environments.

2006 - 2010 Rive, Alix. M.Sc. A field experiment on the effect of scarification on white spruce regeneration following a mast year.

2006 - 2008 Hayden, B. M.Sc. Budburst of tropical deciduous trees as a function of water receipt in Jalisco, Mexico.

Honours students

2010. Kristina Millet. Pollen abscission, wind speed, and wind direction.

2010. David Timerman. Pollen receipt and seed-set in treeline Picea mariana.

2009. Amanda Alfonso. Directional bias in conifer recruitment in mountains due to local wind circulation.

2008. Cory Alder. Seed abscission from ovulate cones in a wind tunnel

2007. Edith Pounden. Do seed collisions with trees significantly affect dispersal
in forests?

2006. B. Splawinski. Germination on moss substrates.

2005. Mike Hesketh. Regeneration after fire in Kootenay National Park, B.C.

Current research projects

Abscission of seeds and pollen.
Regional climate and the mass seeding of white spruce.
Modelling white spruce recruitment in small clearcuts.
The effect of post-fire salvage on tree recruitment

Publications

Non-refereed publications and reports

Hayden, B., and Greene, D.F. 2008. The ecology of tropical dry forests. A chapter in the Encyclopedia of Tropical Ecology and Conservation. (UNESCO).

Greene, D.F., Jones, K.F., and Proulx, O.J. 2007. The biomechanics and population effects of icing damage on trees. In: Plant disturbance ecology: The process and the response. Edited by Johnson, E.A. and Miyanishi, K. Academic Press. Pages: 181-213. Academic Press.

Greene, D.F. 2007. A review of the book “The ecology of seeds” by M. Fenner and K. Thompson. Ecoscience.

Greene, D.F., and V. Crisfield. 2006. Final report on tree regeneration on seismic lines in the uplands and Delta near Inuvik. Gwich’in Renewable Resource Board, Inuvik, NWT.

Greene, D.F., Jones, K.F., and Proulx, O.J. In press. The biomechanics and population effects of icing damage on trees. In: The process-response approach in disturbance ecology. Edited by Johnson, E.A. and Miyanishi, K. Cambridge University Press.

Greene, D.F. In press. A review of the book “The ecology of seeds” by M. Fenner and K. Thompson. Ecoscience.

Greene, D.F., and O.J. Proulx. 2005. Review of the book "Transport processes in nature: propagation of ecological influences through environmental space" by Reiners and Driese. Ecoscience 12: 287-288.

Greene, D.F. 2005. Tree regeneration on seismic lines at arctic treeline. An interim report submitted to the Pipeline Readiness Office.

Refereed publications

Timerman, D., Greene, D.F., Ackerman, J.D., Kevan, P.G., and E. Nardon. Accepted with major revisions. Pollen aggregation and pollination vector. International Journal of Plant Sciences.

Boucher, D., Gauthier, S., Noël, J., Greene, D.F., and Y. Bergeron. Accepted with major revisions. The effect of salvage logging on early post-fire tree composition in Canadian boreal forest. Forest Ecology and Management.

Splawinski, T., Greene D.F., and S. Gauthier. Accepted with major revisions. Modelling tree regeneration following post-wildfire salvage. Ecological Modelling.

Splawinski, T., Gauthier, S., and D.F. Greene. In press. The impact of early pre-commercial thinning of dense jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) stands on the mortality of thinned stems. The Forestry Chronicle.

Michaletz, S., Johnson, E.A., Mell, W.E., and D.F. Greene. 2013. Timing of fire relative to seed development may allow non-serotinous species to recolonize from the aerial seedbanks of fire-killed trees. Biogeosciences 10: 5061-5078.

Gervais, D., Greene, D.F., and T. Work. 2013. Causes of variation in wood-boring beetle damage in fire-killed black spruce (Picea mariana) forests in the central boreal forest of Quebec. Ecoscience 19: 398-403.

Greene, D.F., Splawinski, T., Gauthier, S., and Y. Bergeron. 2013. Seed abscission schedules and the timing of post-fire salvage of Picea mariana and Pinus banksiana. Forest Ecology and Management 303: 20-24.

Nock, C. A., Greene, D.F., Follett, M., Delagrange, S., Fournier, R, and C. Messier. 2013. In situ quantification of ice accretion on tree crowns using terrestrial lidar. PLOS ONE 8(5): e64865.

Pazos, G.E., Greene, D.F., Katul, G.,Bertiller, M.B., and M. B. Soons. 2013. Toward a general model of non-random seed release by wind. Journal of Ecology 101: 889-994.

Robert, E., Brais, S., Harvey, B.D., and D.F. Greene. 2012. Contribution of downed woody debris to tree regeneration in boreal mixedwood following a mast year. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 42: 1446-1455.

Greene, D.F., and M. Quesada. 2011. The effect of updrafts, downdrafts, and horizontal winds on the seed abscission of Tragopogon dubius. Functional Ecology 25: 468-472.

J.M. Contreras Sanchez, Greene, D.F., and M. Quesada. 2011. A field test of inverse modeling of seed dispersal. American Journal of Botany 98: 1-7.
Hayden, B. Greene, D.F., and M. Quesada. 2010. A field experiment to determine the effect of dry-season precipitation on annual ring formation and leaf phenology in a seasonally dry tropical forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 26: 237-242.

Cumming, S.G., Trindade, M., Greene, D.F., and S.E. Macdonald. 2009. Canopy and emergent white spruce in "pure" broadleaf stands: frequency, predictive models and ecological importance. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 39: 1997-2004.

Hesketh, M., Greene, D.F., and E. Pounden. 2009. Early establishment of conifer recruits in the northern Rocky Mountains as a function of post-fire duff depth. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 39: 2059-2064.

Saint-Germain, M., and Greene, D.F. 2009. Salvage logging in the boreal and cordilleran forests of Canada: Integrating industrial and ecological concerns in management plans. Forestry Chronicle 85: 120-134.

Greene, D.F., Quesada, M., and C. Calogeropoulos. 2008. Dispersal of seeds by the tropical sea breeze. Ecology 89: 118-125.

Pounden, E., Greene, D.F., Quesada, M., and Contreras Sanchez, J.M. 2008. The effect of collisions with vegetation elements on the dispersal of winged and plumed seeds. Journal of Ecology 96: 591-598.

Greene, D.F., Gauthier, S., Noel, J, Rousseau M., and Y. Bergeron. 2006. A field experiment to determine the effect of post-fire salvage on seedbeds and tree regeneration. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 4: 69-74.

Greene, D.F. 2005. The role of abscission in long distance seed dispersal by the wind. Ecology 86: 3105-3110.

Greene, D.F., Macdonald, S.E., Cumming, S., and L. Swift. 2005. Seedbed variation from the interior through the edge of a large fire in Alberta. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 35: 1640-1647.

Greene, D.F., and M. Quesada. 2005. Seed size, dispersal, and aerodynamic constraints within the Bombacaceae. American Journal of Botany 92: 998-1005.

Greene, D.F., Noel, J, Bergeron, Y., Rousseau M., and S. Gauthier. 2004. The regeneration of Picea mariana, Pinus banksiana, and Populus tremuloides along a fire severity gradient. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 34: 1845-1857.

Greene, D.F., Canham, C.D., Coates, K.D., and P. LePage. 2004. An evaluation of alternative dispersal functions for trees. Journal of Ecology 92: 758-766.

Pennanen, J., Greene, D.F., Fortin, M-J, and C. Messier. In press. Spatially explicit simulation of long-term boreal forest landscape dynamics: incorporating quantitative stand attributes. Silva Fennica.

Greene, D.F., and E.A. Johnson. 2004. Modelling the temporal variation in North American tree seed production. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 34: 65-75.

Brais, S., Harvey, B.D., Bergeron, Y., Messier, C., Greene, D.F., Belleau, A., Pare, D. 2004. Testing forest ecosystem management in boreal mixedwoods of northwestern Quebec: initial response of aspen stands to different levels of harvesting. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 34: 431-446.

Presentations

Pazos, G.E., Greene, D.F., Katul, G., Bertiller, M.B., Soons, M.B. 2012. Umbales en la abscission de semillas por el viento. 25th Reunion Argentina de Ecologia, September 24-28, Lujan, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Timerman, D., Greene, D.F., Ackerman, J.D., and Urzay, J. 2011. The mechanics of pollination by wind: is anemophily aeroelastically optimized for reproduction? American Physical Society Conference: Division Fluid Dynamics, Baltimore, Maryland. November 20-22.

McCavour, M., Greene, D.F., and Kevan. P. 2011. Attempts to use the free trade agreement as a framework for continent-wide pollinator protection. Annual meeting of the North American Pollinato Protection Campaign. Washington, D.C.

MacInnis G., Greene, D.F., and Timerman D., 2011. Measuring and modeling the dispersal of anemophilous tree pollen. The Canadian Pollination Initiative Annual General Meeting, Guelph, Ontario, February.

Timerman, D. and Greene, D.F. 2011. The abscission and deposition of anemophilous tree pollen at arctic treeline. The Canadian Pollination Initiative Annual General Meeting, Guelph, Ontario, February.

Pounden, E., and D.F. Greene. 2010. Emergence of Morchella ascocarps in response to the intensity of forest floor combustion during wildfire. 9th International Mycological Congress: The Biology of Fungi, Edinburgh, Scotland, August 2010.

Gervais, D.J., Greene, D.F., Work, T.T. 2010. Effects of post-fire salvage logging on the biodiversity of saproxylic beetles. 4ème Colloque Annuel du Centre d'études de la Forêt (CEF), Orford, Québec. March 12-14.

Splawinski, T.B., and Greene, D.F. 2009. Post-fire regeneration dynamics of black spruce and jack pine following salvage. Colloque annuel du Centre d'étude de la Foret, April 19-20, Gatineau, Quebec.

Splawinski, T.B., and D.F. Greene. 2009. Post-fire regeneration dynamics of black spruce and jack pine following salvage. Colloque étudiant UQAM/Concordia. La géographie en perspectives: Regards croisés. April 3, Montreal, Quebec.

Alfonso, A., and D.F. Greene. 2009. Directional bias in seed dispersal of Pinus contorta var. latifolia in the Canadian Rockies following wildfire. Annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers.

Leiffers, V., Macdonald, E., Greene, D.F., Martin-DeMoor, J., Hesketh, M., Curran, I., Grover, G., Greenway, K., and Gaertner, S. 2009. Natural regeneration of aspen-dominated boreal mixedwoods following harvesting. Sustainable Forest Management Network conference, Gatineau, Quebec, April 21-23.

Rive, A.C., Greene, D.F., and Harvey, B.D. 2008. Improving natural regeneration of white spruce by coupling silvicultural techniques with a masting episode. ECANUSA Conference, Orono, Maine. October 16-18, 2008.

Contreras Sanchez, J.M., Quesada, M., and Greene, D.F. 2008 Simulación de dispersión de semillas por viento en un bosque tropical seco: Una prueba en campo al modelo inverso de aproximación máxima. Congreso Mexicano de Ecología 2008, Mérida, Yucatán, México, November 16-21.

Greene, D.F., Quesada, M., and Alder, C. 2008. Experimental evidence of a widespread and strong bias for seed abscission by updrafts. Ecological Society of America annual meeting, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 3-8, 2008.

Rive, A.C., Greene, D.F., and Harvey, B.D. 2008. Improving natural regeneration of white spruce by coupling silvicultural techniques with a masting episode.The 88' Fires: Yellowstone and Beyond. Jackson Hole, Wyoming. September 21-27, 2008

Hayden, B., D.F. Greene, and Quesada, M. 2008. Annual Growth Rings in 6 Tropical Dry Forest Tree Species in Mexico. TRACE (Tree Rings in Archeology, Climatology, and Ecology) annual conference, April, 2008, Zakopane, Poland.

Greene, D.F. 2007. Invited lecture on seed abscission and dispersal at the Instituto de Ecologia at the Universidad Nacionale a Mexico (Morelia). Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. April, 2007.

Greene, D.F., and M. Quesada. 2007. Wind and abscission of pollen and seeds. Association of American Geographers annual meeting, April, 2006, San Francisco.

Gervais, D.J., Greene, D.F., Work, T.T. 2007. Effects of post-fire salvage logging on the biodiversity of saproxylic Coleoptera, James Bay, Qc. 9ème atelier annuel de la Chaire industrielle CRSNG-UQAT-UQAM en aménagement forestier durable, Matagami, Quebec. May 1-3.

Gervais, D.J., Greene, D.F., Work, T.T., 2007. Patterns of post-firesaproxylic beetle damage in black spruce. 134ème réunion annuelle de la Société d'entomologie du Québec (SEQ), Québec, Qc. October 25-26.

Gielau, E.T., Greene, D.F., and Harvey, B. 2006. The effect of pit/mound topography on leaf litter accumulation and white spruce regeneration following understory scarification. 20th Conference for graduate students in forestry and environmental sciences (CONFOR),. Duparquet, Quebec, Canada. February 2-5.

Calogeropoulos, C., Greene, D.F., and S. Dayanandan. 2005. Using molecular markers to test inverse modelling of seed dispersal. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Montreal, August 7-12.

Greene, D.F., and M. Quesada. 2005. The effect of the sea breeze on directionality in seed dispersal by wind near tropical coasts. Association of Tropical Biology annual meeting, Uberlandia, Brazil, July 24-28.

Swift, L., Greene, D.F., and M. Beaudet. 2005. Evaluating the use of inverse modelling in predicting seedling recruitment. Fifth North American Forest Ecology Workshop. Ottawa, Ontario, June 12-16.

Public appearences

Attention media: Will speak on forestry issues.
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