RONALD H. HOFSTETTER
Associate Professor
Education:
B.S., McMaster University, Ontario, 1962
M.S., McMaster
University, Ontario, 1964
Ph.D., University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, 1969
Research Interests:
My research addresses identification of patterns in the character
and arrangement of plant communities and the factors that affect these
patterns in freshwater wetlands. My current work involves analyses of
hydrology, microclimate, and vegetation in the Florida Everglades. One
line of research examines the ecological role of fire in the natural
communities of south Florida, with a goal of refining the timing of
prescribed fire as a management tool to maintain these communities. I
am also examining the conditions of establishment of exotic pest plant
species in natural communities.
Field:
Wetland ecology; fire ecology; plant community ecology;
conservation ecology.
Recent Representative Publications:
Wade, D., J. Ewel, and R. Hofstetter. 1980. Fire in South Florida
Ecosystems. U. S. Dept. of Agric., Forest Serv.,
Gen. Tech. Rep. SE-17, SE for. Exp. Stn. Asheville, N. C. 125 pp.
Hofstetter, R. H. 1983. Wetlands in the United
States. Pp. 201-224. In: A. J. P. Gore (ed.) Swamp, Bog, Fen and Mire
(Freshwater Wetlands), Vol. 4B in Ecosystems of the World. Elsevier
Scientific Publishing Co., Amsterdam.
Hofstetter, R. H., and
R. S. Sonenshein. 1990. Vegetative changes in a wetland in the
vicinity of a well field, Dade County,
Florida. U. S. Geol. Surv. Wat.-Res. Invest. Report 89-4155,
Tallahassee, FL. 16 pp.