University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ph.D. Biology

Clemson University, MS Forestry.

Clemson University, BS Forest Resources

Ohio University, BBA, Finance

Population Biology Bio 112/114

Biodiversity Bio 231

Introductory Seminar Bio 261

Dendrology Bio 377

Intro to Environmental Science ENS 111/113

Plants and Civilization GST 314W

I am the past (2010-2012) and current (2012-2014) Chair of the Southeast Chapter of the Ecological Society of America.

I am the current Faculty Fellow for the Residential Campus at Elon.

I am a plant ecologist and my research seeks to understand pattern and process in ecological communities. I have research in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, along the Haw River in the North Carolina Piedmont, and in Elon Forest and other areas near Elon.

Below is a list of projects students have worked on with me at Elon:

• Kudzu management on Elon University Forest
• Seed longevity of eastern forest trees
• Geographical range and allelopathy in beech trees
• Biological resources of Elon University Forest
• Diversity and abundance of bark epiphytes in high-elevation beech forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• Ecological variation in the concentration of podophyllotoxin in mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)
• Effect of two introduced disturbances, European wild boar (Sus scrofa) and beech bark disease, on the vernal flora of high-elevation beech forests in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• Composition and structure of Haw River riparian forests: importance of the soil seed bank
• Spatial dimensions of plant invasion of Haw River floodplain forests
• Flame atomic absorption analysis of tree cores collected from high-elevation hardwood forests in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• Experimental shading of a wintergreen plant, Crane-fly orchid (Tipularia discolor)
• Changes in spring ephemeral emergence and density due beech bark disease
• Temporal changes in the high-elevation deciduous forests of western Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• Patterns of woody succession in high-elevation beech forests affected by beech bark disease
• The effects of hog rooting on plant biodiversity in the high-elevation beech forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• Maintenance of beech dominance in high-elevation beech gaps: could allelopathy be a cause?
• Analysis of the vegetative composition of hog-exclosures and control plots in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
• Biotic and environmental factors associated with invasive species success in Battle Park, Chapel Hill, N.C.
• Community diversity and habitat preference of medicinal plants in the Piedmont of North Carolina.

Poteat, M. and D.B. Vandermast.  2010.  On the scarcity of red spruce (Picea rubens) and Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) in the beech gaps of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Journal of the North Carolina Academy of Science 76(3): 98-104.

Vandermast, D.B.  2008.  Book Review of American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree by Susan Freinkel.  American Scientist 96: 345-346.

Drake, J.M., E.E. Cleland, M.C. Horner-Devine, E. Fleischman, C. Bowles, M.D. Smith, K. Carney, S. Emery, J. Gramling, D.B. Vandermast, J.B. Grace.  2008.  Do non-native plant species affect the shape of productivity-diversity relationships?  American Midland Naturalist 159:55-66.

Fridley, J.D., D.B. Vandermast, D. Kuppinger, M. Manthey and  R.K. Peet.  2007.  On the measure of niche width: a co-occurrence based assessment of habitat generalists and specialists for trees of the Southeastern United States.  Journal of Ecology 95(4): 707-722.

Cleland E.E., M.D. Smith, S.J. Andelman, C. Bowles, K. Carney, M.C. Horner-Devine, J. Drake, S. Emery, J. Gramling, D.B. Vandermast.  2004.  Invasion in space and time: non-native species richness and relative abundance respond to interannual variation in productivity and diversity.  Ecology Letters 7:947-957.

Vandermast, D.B., C.E. Moorman, K.R. Russell, D.H. Van Lear.  2004.  Initial vegetative response to prescribed fire in some oak-hickory forests of the South Carolina Piedmont.  Natural Areas Journal 24(3):216-222.

Vandermast, D.B., D.H. Van Lear, and B.D. Clinton.  2002.  American chestnut as an allelopath in the southern Appalachians.  Forest Ecology and Management 165 (1-3): 173-181.

Vandermast, D.B. and D.H. Van Lear. 2002. Riparian vegetation in the Southern Appalachian Mountains (USA) following chestnut blight. Forest Ecology and Management 155(1): 97-106.

Giencke, L., S. Keith, C.A. McCormick, A. Weakley, D.B. Vandermast, and P.S. White.  2010 (in print).  Conservation Plan for Battle Park. North Carolina Botanical Garden, 359 pp.

Vandermast, D.B.  2005.  Disturbance and long-term vegetation change in the high-elevation deciduous forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Ph.D. Dissertation, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.  209 pp.

Vandermast, D.B.  2004.  Seeing the Forest for the Trees.  Great Smoky Mountains National Park Resource Management Newsletter 232, September 21, 2004.

Van Lear, D.H.; Vandermast, D.B.; Rivers, C.T.; Baker, T.T.; Hedman, C.W.; Clinton, B.D.; Waldrop, T.A. 2002. American Chestnut, Rhododendron, and the Future Of Appalachian Cove Forests Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–48. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. Pp. 214-220.

Vandermast, D.B., and D.H. Van Lear.  1999.  Vegetative composition of riparian forest once dominated by American chestnut.  General Technical Report SRS-30.  Asheville, N.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station, 1999.

Parke, R. and D.B. Vandermast. 1999.  American chestnut: The continuing story.  Wild Earth 9(2): 23-27.

Vandermast, D.B. 1999. Antipredator behavior of Elaphe obsoleta.  Herpetological Review 30(3): 169.

Vandermast, D.B. 1999. Riparian forest recovery in the southern Appalachians following the chestnut blight.  M.S. Thesis, Clemson University, Clemson, S.C. 96 pp.

Ma, P*, R. Kirk, and D. Vandermast.  2012.  Land-use history and the composition and structure of Elon University Forest, a successional hardwood forest in the North Carolina Piedmont.  73^rd Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Athens, GA.

Browning, K*, and D. Vandermast.  2012.  An interaction between European wild boar (Sus scrofa)  and beech bark disease in the high-elevation beech gaps of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  73^rd Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Athens, GA.

Hayleck, M*, and D. Vandermast.  2012.  Impact of beech bark disease on epiphyte diversity and cover in high-elevation beech gaps in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  73^rd Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Athens, GA.

Hoopes, S*, and D. Vandermast.  2012.  The effect of geographic range and seasonality on concentration of podophyllotoxin in Podophyllum peltatum.  73^rd Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Athens, GA.

Sigmon, L*, and D. Vandermast.  2012.  Composition of the soil seedbank in a highly altered riparian forest in the central Piedmont of North Carolina.  73^rd Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Athens, GA.

Salpeter, K*, P. Ma*, and D. Vandermast. 2011.  Evidence for biotic resistance to invasion across spatial scales in riparian forest vegetation.  72^nd Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Huntsville, AL.

Sigmon, L*, P. Ma*, and D. Vandermast.  2011.  The structure and composition of deciduous riparian buffers along the Haw River. 72^nd Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Huntsville, AL.

Furniss, J*, and D. Vandermast.  2011.  Atmospheric pollution and tree core chemistry in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  72^nd Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Huntsville, AL.

Matson, S*, and D. Vandermast.  2011.  Effects of experimental shading on a wintergreen perennial, Crane-fly orchid (Tipularia discolor) in the Piedmont of North Carolina.  72^nd Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Huntsville, AL.

Sigmon*, Lora, Patrick Ma*, and D. Vandermast.  2011.  The structure and composition of deciduous riparian buffers along the Haw River.  2011 North Carolina Academy of Sciences annual meeting, Elon, NC.

Vandermast, D.  2010.  Twenty-four years (1985-2009) of demographic changes in the high-elevation beech forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  71^st Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Asheville, NC.

Poteat*, Monica, and D. Vandermast.  2010.  Inhibition of germination and growth as an explanation for the scarcity of red spruce (Picea rubens) and Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) in the beech gaps of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  71^st Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Asheville, NC.

Galliher*, Sarah, and D. Vandermast.  2010.  The effect of beech bark disease on the abundance and diversity of spring ephemeral herbs in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  71^st Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Asheville, NC.

Roberts*, Julia, and D. Vandermast.  2009.  The composition and structure of beech gaps in Great Smoky Mountains National Park 15 years after beech bark disease infestation.  70^th annual meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Birmingham, AL.

Galliher*, Sarah and D. Vandermast.  2009.  Effects of Beech Bark Disease on Regeneration of High Elevation Beech Forests in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  70^th annual meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Birmingham, AL.

Kay*, Alexandra, and D. Vandermast.  2009.  30 years of European wild boar (Sus scrofa) rooting on herbaceous plant diversity in beech gap forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  70^th annual meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Birmingham, AL.

Vandermast, D.B. 2008.  Temporal trends in diameter, basal area, and aboveground biomass in the high-elevation beech forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Great Smoky Mountains National Park Science Colloquium, Gatlinburg, TN. (invited presentation)

Corbyons*, Caroline, and David Vandermast.  2007.  Biotic resistance to invasion across spatial scales: does evidence from North Carolina Piedmont forests support theory? 68^th Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Columbia, SC.

Iacarella*, Lucas, and David Vandermast.  2007.  Does North Carolina contain a cornucopia of medicinal plants?  68^th Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Columbia, SC.

Vandermast, D.B., M.A. Jenkins, and P.S. White.  2004.  Tree population and community change over 25 years in the high-elevation deciduous forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee.  89^th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR.

Vandermast, D.B., M.A. Jenkins, and P.S. White.  2004.  Soil chemical and environmental correlates of long-term vegetation change in the high-elevation hardwood forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  65^th Annual Meeting of Southeastern Biologists, Memphis, TN.

Vandermast, D.B., J.D. Fridley, D. Kuppinger and R.K. Peet.  2003.  Assessment of species habitat specialization of Southeastern trees using large-extent co-occurrence data.  88^th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Savannah, GA.

Fridley, J.D, J. Gramling, T. Jobe, J.A. Kaplan, M. McKnight, A. Senft, D.B.  Vandermast, and R.K. Peet.  2003.  Fine-scale species-area relationships of the vascular flora of the Southeast.  88^th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Savannah, GA.

Vandermast, D.B. and P.S. White.  2003.  Long-term vegetation change in high-elevation beech forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Abstracts of the 64^th Annual Meeting of Southeastern Biologists, Washington, DC. Southeastern Biology 50:166.

Vandermast, D.B.  2002.  Effects of an introduced pathogen in a monodominant forest: beech bark disease in high-elevation beech forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Abstracts of the 63^rd Annual Meeting of Southeastern Biologists, Boone, NC. Southeastern Biology 49:212.

Vandermast, D.B. and D.H. Van Lear. 1999.  Riparian forest recovery in the southern Appalachians following chestnut blight.  Proceedings of the 2^nd Annual Forest Ecology Seminar, Orono, ME.

Vandermast, D.B. and D.H. Van Lear. 1999. Vegetative composition of riparian forest once dominated by American chestnut.  Proceedings of the 10^th Biennial Southern Silvicultural Research Conference, Shreveport, LA.