JeriLynn (Jeri) E. Peck, Ph.D.

My background is in plant community ecology in forested ecosystems and in the multivariate analyses used on such data, but I'm a synergistic thinker interested in the application of logic to study design and communication.  At the moment, I provide trainings to ecologists in the art of multivariate community data analysis and collaborate with the Silviculture & Applied Forest Ecology Lab here at Penn State.

Interests:

I teach short-courses on the appropriate use of multivariate data analysis in community ecology, specifically using the PC-ORD software.  These trainings are intended to introduce multivariate statistical concepts,  describe the classification, ordination, and other available tools, and train users in a defensible data analysis approach and process.  The 2016 second edition of my book Multivariate Analysis for Ecologists:  Step-by-Step is meant to supplement these trainings or serve as a stand-alone tool for self-guidance.

I also collaborate with the Silviculture & Applied Forest Ecology Lab here at Penn State and consult on data analysis and scientific manuscript preparation and editing.

Between 1990 and 2010, I was immersed in field research on all aspects of commercial moss harvest.  This included assessing species composition, biomass distribution, cover and biomass growth rates, post-harvest recovery dynamics, and alternative management approaches, mostly in western Oregon.  Oregon State University now maintains the website on this topic.

Selected Annual Publications:

Zenner, E.K., J.E. Peck, M.L. Hobi, & B. Commarmot.  2016.  Validation of a classification protocol: meeting the prospect requirement and ensuring distinctiveness when assigning forest development phases.  Applied Vegetation Science 19:541-552.

Zenner, E.K., J.E. Peck, M.L. Hobi, & B. Commarmot.  2015.  The dynamics of structure across scale in a primeval European beech stand.  Forestry 88:180-189.

Peck, J.E., E.K. Zenner, P. Brang, and A. Zingg.  2014.  Tree size distribution and abundance explain structural complexity differentially within stands of even- and uneven-aged structure types.  European Journal of Forest Research 133:335-346.

Zenner, E.K., Y.L. Dickinson, and J.E. Peck.  2013.  Recovery of forest structure and composition to harvesting in different strata of mixed even-aged central Appalachian hardwoods. Annals of Forest Science, 70:151-159.

Peck, J.E., E.K. Zenner, & B. Palik.  2012.  Variation in microclimate and early growth of planted pines under dispersed and aggregated overstory retention in mature managed red pine in Minnesota.  Canadian Journal of Forest Research 42(2):279-290.

Peck, J.E. & E.K. Zenner.  2011.  Site Classification Systems could link social and ecological management constraints.  The Journal of Forestry 109(2):95-100.

Peck, J.E. & A.R. Moldenke.  2010.  Invertebrate communities of subcanopy epiphyte mats subject to commercial moss harvest.  Journal of Insect Conservation 15(4):733-742.

Zenner, E.K. & J.E. Peck.  2009.  Characterizing structural conditions in mature managed red pine:  Spatial dependency of metrics and adequacy of plot size.  Forest Ecology and Management 257:311-320.

Peck, J.E. & L.E. Frelich.  2008.  Commercial moss harvest does not disrupt successional development of understory epiphytic bryophytes in the Pacific Northwest.  Ecological Applications 18(1):146-158.

Peck, J.E. & P.S. Muir.  2007.  Are they harvesting what we think they're harvesting?  Comparing field data to commercially sold forest moss.  Biodiversity and Conservation 16(7):2031-2043.

Peck, J.E. 2006.  Regrowth dynamics of understory epiphytic bryophytes 10 years after simulated commercial moss harvest.  Canadian Journal of Forest Research 36:1749-1757.

Peck, J.E., J. Grabner, D. Ladd, & D. Larsen.  2004.  Microhabitat affinities of Missouri Ozarks lichens.  The Bryologist 107(1):47-61.

Peck, J.E. & P.S. Muir.  2001.  Estimating the biomass of harvestable epiphytic moss in Central Western Oregon.  Northwest Science 75(2):99-106.

Peck, J.E., B. Daly, B. McCune, & J. Ford.  2000.  Tethered transplants for estimating biomass growth rates of the arctic lichen Masonhalea richardsonii.  The Bryologist 103(3):449-454.

Peck, J.E. & B. McCune.  1998.  Commercial moss harvest in northwestern Oregon:  biomass & accumulation.  Biological Conservation 86:299-305.

Peck, J.E. & B. McCune.  1997.  Effects of green tree retention on epiphytic lichen communities:  A retrospective approach.  Ecological Applications 7(4):1181-1187.

Peck, J.E., W. Hong, & B. McCune.  1995. Diversity of bryophytes on four host tree species on Thermal Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada.  The Bryologist 98(1):123-128.