Plants are particularly vulnerable to physical disturbance in low productivity areas, due to the high energetic cost of replacing lost tissue. In the eastern United States, serpentine savannahs are fragmented ecosystems with high concentrations of rare endemic plant species, low concentrations of soil nutrients, and severe deer overpopulation. This study assessed the recovery of flowering plants in a serpentine savannah when deer were excluded. Plant count, flower count, vegetative area, and plant height of 10 serpentine plant species were compared inside and outside of deer exclusion structures throughout an entire growing season. Throughout the growing season and across the plant community, deer exclusion consistently increased values for all plant response traits measured. Species that responded most strongly to deer exclusion included Arabis lyrata (Brassicaceae, the wide ranging lyre-leaf rockcress) and the serpentine near-endemic Symphyotrichum depauperatum (a serpentine aster kn
On July 8, 2021, Charlotte Hartle, 88, entered Heaven due to complications following a stroke.
She was born on July 16, 1932, in West Newton, Pa., the daughter of the late Charles W. and Mary (Povirk) Bergman. She was united in marriage to Dr John E. Hartle on June 1, 1953, in West Newton. They relocated to Everett and were happily married for 40 years. She was preceded in death by John in 1994 and by her half-brother, Charles E. Bergman.
Charlotte is survived by her two sons, Richard and Mark, and three daughters: Lisa Hartle, Amy Stabnau and Rebecca Hartle. She is also survived by three grandsons: Andrew, Alex, and Jonathan, and three granddaughters: Laura, Elizabeth, and Anne; and many nieces and nephews.