Systematics — Jessica L. Allen and James C. Lendemer
Ecology — Lauren F. Howard
The Richard and Minnie Windler Award recognizes the authors of the best systematics and ecology articles published in Castanea during the previous year. For 2016, authors of two articles were selected as winners: Jessica L. Allen and James C. Lendemer for their work entitled ‘‘Japewiella dollypartoniana, a New Widespread Lichen in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern North America’’ (Castanea 80[1]:59–65), and Lauren F. Howard for his work entitled ‘‘A Quarter-Century of Change Without Fire: The High-Elevation Pitch Pine Community on Panther Knob, Pendleton County, West Virginia’’ (Castanea 80[3]:193–210).
Jessica Allen and James Lendemer described a new species of lichen, Japewiella dollypartoniana J.L. Allen & Lendemer, sp. nov., widespread throughout the Appalachian Mountains but also occurring on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Using morphological and chemical characteristics, they were able to differentiate the new species from other previously named species, and include a key to both the species of Japewiella and Japewia.
Jessica Allen earned a B.S. in biology from Eastern Washington University, and a Ph.M. in biology from the City University of New York. She is currently completing her Ph.D. at the City University of New York and the New York Botanical Garden, studying lichen conservation and biodiversity in southeastern North America. James Lendemer earned his B.A. in biology at the University of Pennsylvania, and his Ph.M. and Ph.D. in biology from the City University of New York. He is the staff lichenologist and assistant curator at the New York Botanical Garden, where he works on biodiversity and conservation of North American lichens.
Lauren Howard compared current community composition and dynamics of an unusual central Appalachian pitch-pine community with those surveyed in a 1985 study. A decline in recruitment of pitch pine (Pinus rigida Mill.) seedlings because of the lack of disturbance did not indicate that the pitch pine community was in imminent danger but did inspire a model of community succession on Panther Knob, raising questions about the role of fire in the conservation of this type of community. Lauren Howard earned his B.S. in biology from Norwich University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in plant biology from the University of New Hampshire. He is currently an assistant professor in the biology department at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania, where he studies the history and role of fire in high-elevation pine communities.
—Christopher P. Randle, Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, Chair, Windler Award Committee 2016.