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Education
- Ph.D. Forest Resource
Science, West Virginia University (2001)
- M.S. Environmental
Science, Marshall Univeristy (1995)
- A.B. Political
Science, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (1969)
Employment
History
- Assistant Research
Professor, West Virginia University (2001 - present)
- Adjunct Instructor,
Marshall University (1995 - 1997)
- Engineering Technologist,
American Electric Power (1984 - 1998)
Research
Interests
- Red spruce restoration
- Oak ecology,
silviculture, and management
- Dendrochronology and
stand history reconstruction
- Wetland ecology
Current Research
- Development of a Floristic Quality Index for
West Virginia (with J.T. Anderson)
This project developed a method of quantitatively ranking native
vegetation by their tolerance to disturbance their fidelity to specific
habitats, in order to evaluate and prioritize the relative conservation
value of different natural areas. All wetland taxa in the state were
assigned a coefficient of conservatism from 0 to 10 based on the
following general dichotomy: 0 values were assigned to taxa that are
well-adapted to high levels of disturbance and site degradation, and not
limited to any particular plant community (e.g., exotic or introduced
species), while values of 10 were assigned to taxa that were restricted
to a narrow range of habitat conditions and relatively intolerant of
habitat degradation. Floristic Quality Indices are then computed from
the average C value and the number of native species. This technique may
be used when the objective is to 1) identify natural areas with high
conservation value, 2) compare the floristic quality among similar
community types at different locations, 3) monitor trends in floristic
quality over time, and 4) assess restoration efforts.
- Baseline conditions in mixed northern hardwood-red
spruce stands in the Allegheny Mountains of WV (with
Tom Schuler and Mark Ford, USDA Forest Service) Part I developed
baseline condition data (species composition, stand structure) of stands
with a northern hardwood overstory and a red spruce (Picea rubens)
understory. We also developed trial techniques of red spruce release,
including overstory girdling, overstory herbicide stem-injection, or
overstory cutting. Third, dendrochronological analysis was performed on
each study stand to determine stand origins and patterns of development,
and to predict potential response from treatments under growth
simulations. Part II will determine natural disturbance regimes and
gap-phase dynamics of this forest type, using transect and
dendrochronological techniques. Spruce release clearance work, including
a biological assessment of herbicide use, will occur over the summer of
2006 with initial stem treatment occurring in August-September 2006 or
early summer 2007. Response measurement work will occur in summer 2007
and 2008.
- Dendrochronological analyses for determination of
host plant resistance to hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA)
This project uses
eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) tree-ring data from five
stands, 80 plots, and 200 trees from in the Delaware Water Gap National
Recreation Area (PA) to identify environmental factors that contribute to
host plant resistance to hemlock woolly adelgid at stand and individual
tree scales, and to determine the effect of site, plot, and tree
covariates (crown vigor, plot-level infestation, etc.) on radial growth
during hemlock woolly adelgid infestation. Tree-ring data were
cross-dated and standardized and an index of decline was developed based
on the number of consecutive years that a tree showed substandard radial
growth. Two analysis techniques were tested to determine correlation of
growth (i.e., decline) and crown and site factors: a) a logistic model
was used to estimate regression parameter coefficients and standard
errors of the independent variables, b) we also performed repeat
measures analysis to account for within-subject (tree) covariability. In
this analysis, the response variables were ring width index and raw ring
width values.
- Influence of nutrient availability and hydrology on
plant community composition in three wetland community types in Canaan
Valley, WV (with J. T. Anderson)
Plant community
composition was determined from a 900 m transect that traversed three
community types: herbaceous, emergent, scrub-shrub, and forested
wetland. Three replications of each type were compiled. In each
community, monthly rates of nitrogen mineralization, nitrification, and
plant available NH4, and NO3, along with plant available phosphorus will
be estimated using anion and cation exchange resin bags buried in situ
in 10 sub-plots within each of a total 9 sites along the 800 m belt
transect. Three hypotheses will be tested. 1) As nutrient availability
increases from low, to moderate, to high across a nutrient availability
gradient, productivity (biomass) should also increase from low to
moderate to high, 2) Low, intermediate, and high levels of nutrient availability
should result in plant communities of low, high, and low species
richness, and 3) Plant communities of intermediate biomass and high
species richness should have more rare species associated with them.
- Forest/tree growth trends and stand dynamics along
elevational and aspect gradients in the George Washington National
Forest (with D. W. McGill, J.
Comp, and M. Meador) Tree ring data from representative pine (Pinus
spp.) and oak (Quercus spp.) species are being compared to
determine a) impacts of elevation and aspect on annual radial growth,
and b) tree establishment trends, disturbance frequencies, and patterns
of stand development on dry, mid-elevational plots in three locations in
the George Washington National Forest.
Courses Taught
Professional
Societies
- Allegheny Chapter,
Society of American Foresters
- Southern Appalachian
Botanical Society
- Natural Areas
Association
- Tree-Ring Society 2000
Publications
- Rentch, J. S., T. S.
Schuler, W. Mark Ford, and G. J. Nowacki. 2007. Red spruce stand
dynamics, simulations, and restoration opportunities in the central
Appalachians. Ecological Restoration (accepted for publication).
- Rentch, J. S., and J.
T. Anderson. 2006. A wetland floristic quality index for West Virginia.
West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Bulletin.
Bulletin 2967 (in press).
- Rentch, J.S. and
Anderson, J.T. 2006. A floristic quality
index for West Virginia wetland and riparian plant communities. pp. 67.
- Drohan,
P. J., C. N. Ross, J. T. Anderson, R. H. Fortney, and J. S. Rentch.
2006. Soil and hydrological drivers of Typha latifolia encroachment in a
marl wetland. Wetlands Ecology and Management 14:107-122.
- Rentch,
J. S., R. H. Fortney, S. L. Stephenson, H. S. Adams, W. N. Grafton, R.
B. Coxe, H. H. Mills. 2005. Vegetation patterns
within the lower Bluestone River Gorge in southern West Virginia.
Castanea 70:174-293
- C.
K. Balcombe, J. T. Anderson, R. H. Fortney, J. S. Rentch, W. N. Grafton,
and W. S. Kordek. 2005. A comparison of plant communities in mitigation
and reference wetlands in the mid-Appalachians. Wetlands 25:130-142.
- Rentch,
J. S., R. H. Fortney. S. L. Stephenson, H. S. Adams, W. N. Grafton, and
J. T. Anderson. 2005.
Vegetation-site relationships of roadside plant communities in West
Virginia, U.S.A. Journal of Applied Ecology 42:129-138.
- Rentch,
J. S., and R. R. Hicks, Jr. 2005. Changes in
presettlement forest composition for five areas in the central hardwood
forest, 1784-1990. Natural Areas Journal 25:228-238.
- Colbert,
J. J., M. Schuckers, D. Fekedulegn, J. S. Rentch, M. MacSiurtain, and K.
Gottschalk. 2004. Individual tree basal-area growth parameter estimates
for four models. Ecological Modelling 174:115-126.
- Fekedulegn,
D, J. J. Colbert, J. S. Rentch, and K. W. Gottschalk. 2004. Aspect induced
differences in vegetation, soil, and microclimatic characteristics of an
Appalachian watershed. Castanea 69:92-108.
- Fortney,
R. H., M. Benedict, J. F. Gottgens, T. L. Walters, B. S. Leady and J. S.
Rentch. 2004. Aquatic plant community composition and distribution along
an inundation gradient at two ecologically-distinct sites in the
Pantanal region of Brazil. Wetlands Ecology and Management 12:575-585.
- Rentch,
J. S., and R. R. Hicks, Jr. 2003. Canopy disturbance intervals and early
growth patterns of oak-dominated old-growth forests in the Central
Hardwood Forest region. In Van Sambeek, J.W., J. O. Dawson, F. Ponder,
Jr., E. F. Loewenstein, and J. S. Fralish, eds. Proceedings, 13th
Central Hardwood Forest Conference; Urbana, IL. Gen. Tech. Rep. NC-234.
- Fortney,
R. H. and J. S. Rentch. 2003. Post logging era plant successional trends
and geospatial vegetation patterns in Canaan Valley, West Virginia, 1945
to 2001. Castanea 68:317-334.
- Rentch,
J. S., M. A. Fajvan, and R. R. Hicks, Jr. 2003. Oak establishment and
canopy accession strategies in five old-growth stands in the central
hardwood forest region. Forest Ecology and Management 184:286-297.
- Rentch,
J. S., M. A. Fajvan, and R. R. Hicks, Jr. 2003. Spatial and temporal
disturbance characteristics of oak-dominated old-growth stands in the
central hardwood forest region. Forest Science 49:778-789.
- Rentch,
J. S., Fekedulegn, D, and G. W. Miller. 2002. Climate, canopy disturbance,
and radial growth averaging in a second-growth, mixed-oak stand in West
Virginia, U.S.A. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 32:915-927.
- Rentch,
J. S., Adams, H. S., Coxe, R. B., and S. L. Stephenson. 2000. An
ecological study of a Carolina hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana) community in
southwestern Virginia. Castanea 65:1-8.
- Rentch,
J. S. and R. H. Fortney. 1997. The grass bald communities of West
Virginia. Castanea 63:147-160.
Class
Announcement
- No announcement at
this time
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