Download A body of research in dry forest community ecology beginning as

Ray, Gary J. 2006. Restoration ecology, community structure and dynamics, and
conservation research on the rare flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.
A body of research in dry forest community ecology beginning in 1988 as dissertation project at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison encompassed plant succession, restoration ecology, longterm monitoring of forest recovery, and rare plant ecology and management. A paper on dry
forest ecological restoration demonstrated that shade house-grown seedlings outperformed
broadcast seeds and rooted cuttings in tests of shaded and non-shaded growth and seedling
survivorship in abandoned pasture lands. Moderate shade is required to maximize survivorship of
most dry forest tree species planted as seedlings. The author teamed with the Smithsonian
Institution’s Monitoring and Biodiversity Program to establish two one-hectare permanent forest
plots within the Virgin Islands National Park. The monitoring has yielded publications that
describe dry forest structure, spatial dispersion, and growth rates of numerous dry forest tree
species. Pending publications compare the effects of drought and hurricane effects on mortality
and survivorship in a Virgin Islands dry forest. Applied ecological research in the field of
restoration ecology of rare plants now dominates research agenda. A key collaboration with Dr.
Alice Stanford, a plant geneticist at the U. of the Virgin Islands, and her students, helps guide insitu and ex-situ conservation and management decisions regarding the fate of the island’s rarest
plants.
PUBLICATIONS:
Ray, G.J., F. Dallmeier and J.A. Comiskey. 1998. The structure of two subtropical dry forest
communities on the island of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. In Dallmeier, F. and J.A.
Comiskey, (eds) Forest Biodiversity in North, Central, and South America, and the
Caribbean: Research and Monitoring, Man and the Biosphere Series, Vol. 21. UNESCO
and the Parthenon Publishing Group, Camforth, Lancashire, UK.
Ray, G.J. and B.J. Brown. 1995. The structure of five successional stands in a subtropical dry
forest, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Caribbean Journal of Science 31(3-4):212-222.
Ray, G.J. and B.J. Brown. 1995. Restoring Caribbean dry forests: evaluation of tree propagation
techniques. Restoration Ecology 3(2):86-94.
Ray, G.J. and B.J. Brown. 1994. Seed ecology of woody species in a Caribbean dry forest.
Restoration Ecology 2(3):156-163.
Brown, B.J. and G.J. Ray. 1993. Restoring Caribbean dry forest: a systems framework for site
analysis and restoration research. In Lieth, H. and M. Lohman (eds) Restoration of
Tropical Forest Ecosystems, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands.
Dallmeier, F., J.A. Comiskey and G. Ray. 1993. User’s Guide to the Virgin Islands Biosphere
Reserve Biodiversity Plot 1, U.S. Virgin Islands. The Smithsonian Institution/Man and
the Biosphere Biological Diversity Program, Washington, DC.
Ray, G.J. 1992. Point of Contact: West Indies. Restoration & Management Notes 10(1):4-8.
Comiskey, J., Ray, G., Dallmeier, F. and E. Gibney. 2006. Comparative effects of severe
drought and hurricane winds on a dry forest community. J. of Ecology. In prep.
Biography: Dr. Gary Ray earned a Ph.D. from the Institute for Environmental Studies at the
University of Wisconsin in 1994 with a focus in restoration ecology of Virgin Islands dry forests.
He has expanded his research recently to include population ecology of rare plants. Dr. Ray
taught botany, ecology and related courses in biology at the University of the Virgin Islands from
1999 to 2005. Presently, he is starting a native plant nursery business aimed at minimizing the
damage to indigenous forest communities from introduced invertebrate pest species imported
mainly via the Florida and Puerto Rico nursery trade. Currently, he is a consulting ecologist
based in St. John, Virgin Islands, where he raises two children.
Dr. Gary Ray, Virgin Forest Restorations, 9901 Emmaus, St. John, VI 00831
(340) 693-0020 (W), (340) 777-9041 (H), [email protected]