My research centers in plant population ecology and extends into community ecology. One major focus is the invasion of forests by exotic plant species. I seek to understand the importance of the factors that shape the invasion process, particularly disturbance, landscape connectivity, and seed dispersal (especially by birds, humans, and other animals). I also study the impacts invasive plants have on native species, both directly and indirectly through soil fungi. Three invasive plant species investigated by my lab are Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), and wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius).

I am also interested in the effects that human activity has on the population biology of rare or economically important plant species. Currently, I am investigating the effects of leaf harvesting and livestock browsing on an understory palm in the El Cielo Biosphere Reserve in Mexico and the effects of rhizome harvests on Goldenseal, a medicinal herb, in Ohio forests.

Other interests include the regeneration of tropical rain forest after logging and seed dispersal by birds and bats.

Rondon, X.J., D.L Gorchov, F. Cornejo. In press Tree species richness and composition 15 years after strip clear-cutting in the Peruvian Amazon. Plant Ecology DOI 10.1007/s11258-008-9479-x.

Berry, E.J, D.L. Gorchov, B.A. Endress, and M.H.H. Stevens. 2008 . Source-sink dynamics within a plant population: the impact of substrate and herbivory on palm demography. Population Ecology 50: 63-77.

Hochstedler, W.W. and D.L. Gorchov. 2007. The effects of June precipitation on Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) growth, density, and survival. Ohio Journal of Science. 107: 26-31.

Resasco, J., A.N. Hale, M.C. Henry and D.L. Gorchov. 2007. Detecting an invasive shrub in a deciduous forest understory using late-fall Landsat sensor imagery. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 28: 3739–3745.

Bartuszevige, A.M., R.L. Hrenko, and D.L. Gorchov. 2007. Effects of leaf litter on establishment, growth, and survival of invasive plant seedlings in a deciduous forest. American Midland Naturalist. 158: 472-477.

Hochstedler, W.W., B.S. Slaughter, D.L. Gorchov, L.P. Saunders, and M.H.H. Stevens. 2007. Forest floor plant community response to experimental control of the invasive biennial Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard). Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society.134: 155-165.

Slaughter, B.S., W.W. Hochstedler, D.L. Gorchov, and A.M. Carlson. 2007. Response of Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) to five years of fall herbicide application in a southern Ohio deciduous forest. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society. 134: 18-26.

Berry, E.J. and D.L. Gorchov. 2007. Female fecundity is dependent on substrate, rather than male abundance, in the wind-pollinated, dioecious understory palm Chamaedorea radicalis. Biotropica 39:186-194.

Endress, B.A., D.L. Gorchov, and E.J. Berry. 2006. Sustainability of a non-timber forest product: Effects of alternative leaf harvest practices over six years on yield and demography of the palm Chamaedorea radicalis. Forest Ecology and Management. 234: 181-191.

Bartuszevige, A.M., M.R. Hughes, A.J. Bailer, and D.L. Gorchov. 2006. Weather related patterns of fruit abscission mask patterns of frugivory. Canadian Journal of Botany 84: 869-875.

Bartuszevige, A.M., D.L. Gorchov, and L. Raab. 2006. The relative importance of landscape and community features in the invasion of an exotic shrub in a fragmented landscape. Ecography 29:213-222.

Bartuszevige, A.M. and Gorchov, D.L. 2006. Avian seed dispersal of an invasive shrub. Biological Invasions 8:1013-1022.

Gorchov, D.L. 2005. Control of forest invasives and responses of native forest floor plants: Case studies of garlic mustard and Amur honeysuckle. Ohio Invasive Plant Research Conference Proceedings. Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Special Circular 196:30-48.

Gorchov, D.L. and B.A. Endress. 2005. La palmilla Chamaedorea radicalis. In Historia Natural de la Reserva de la Biósfera El Cielo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. G. Sánchez-Ramos, P. Reyes-Castillo, and R. Dirzo (eds.). Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, México.

Mulligan, M.R. and D.L. Gorchov. 2004. Population loss of goldenseal, Hydrastis canadensis L. (Ranunculaceae), in Ohio. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 131:305-310.

Carlson, A.M.and D.L. Gorchov. 2004. Effects of herbicide on the invasive biennial Alliaria petiolata (Garlic Mustard) and initial responses of native plants in a southwestern Ohio forest. Restoration Ecology 12: 558-566.

Gorchov, D.L., J.M. Palmeirim, M. Jaramillo, and C. Ascorra. 2004. Dispersal of seeds of Hymenaea courbaril (Fabaceae) in a logged rain forest in the Peruvian Amazon. Acta Amazonica 34: 265-273.

Miller, K.E. and D.L. Gorchov. 2004. The invasive shrub, Lonicera maackii, reduces growth and fecundity of perennial forest herbs. Oecologia 139:359-375.

Endress, B.A., D.L. Gorchov, and R.B. Noble. 2004. Non-timber forest product extraction: effects of harvest and browsing on an understory palm. Ecological Applications 14:1139-1153.

Endress, B.A., D.L. Gorchov, M.B. Peterson and E. Padrón Serrano. 2004. Harvest of the palm Chamaedorea radicalis, its effects on leaf production, and implications for sustainable management. Conservation Biology 18:822-830.

Berry, E.J. and D.L. Gorchov. 2004. Reproductive biology of the dioecious understory palm Chamaedorea radicalis in a Mexican cloud forest: pollination vector, flowering phenology, and female fecundity. Journal of Tropical Ecology 20:369-376.

Dolanc, C.R., D.L. Gorchov, and F. Cornejo. 2003. The effects of silvicultural thinning on trees regenerating in strip clear-cuts in the Peruvian Amazon. Forest Ecology and Management 182:103-116.

Gorchov, D.L. and D.E. Trisel. 2003. Competitive effects of the invasive shrub, Lonicera maackii (Rupr.) Herder (Caprifoliaceae) on the growth and survival of native tree seedlings. Plant Ecology 166:13-24.

Notman, E.M. and D.L. Gorchov. 2001. Variation in post-dispersal seed predation in mature Peruvian lowland tropical forest and fallow agricultural sites. Biotropica 33:621-636.

Jones, F.A. and D.L. Gorchov. 2000. Patterns of abundance and human use of the vulnerable understory palm, Chamaedorea radicalis (Arecaceae), in a montane cloud forest, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Southwestern Naturalist. 45:421-430.

Negron-Ortiz, V. and D.L. Gorchov. 2000. Effects of fire season and postfire herbivory on the cycad Zamia pumila in slash pine savanna, Everglades National Park, Florida. Intl. J. Plant Sci. 161:659-669.

Gould, A.M.A. & D.L. Gorchov. 2000. Effects of the exotic invasive shrub Lonicera maackii on the survival and fecundity of three species of native annuals. Amer. Midl. Nat. 144:36-50.

Meiners, S.J. and D.L. Gorchov. 1998. Effects of distance to Juniperus virginiana on the establishment of Fraxinus and Acer seedlings in old fields. Amer. Midl. Nat. 139:353-364.

Notman, E., D.L. Gorchov, and F. Cornejo. 1996. Effect of distance, aggregation, and habitat on levels of seed predation for two mammal-dispersed neotropical rain forest tree species. Oecologia 106:221-227.

Negron-Ortiz, V., D.L. Gorchov, and G.J. Breckon. 1996. Population structure in Zamia (Zamiaceae) in northern Puerto Rico. II. Seed germination and stage-structured population projection. Intl. J. Plant Sci. 157:605-614.

Mazer, S.J. and D.L. Gorchov. 1996. Parental effects on progeny phenotype in plants: distinguishing genetic and environmental causes. Evolution 50:44-53.

Egan, T.P., N.D. Danielson, and D.L. Gorchov. 1996. Effects of wounding on taxol and baccatin III levels in Taxus media cv Hicksii. Ohio Journal of Science 96:41-44.

Gorchov, D.L., F. Cornejo, C.F. Ascorra, and M. Jaramillo. 1995. Dietary overlap between frugivorous birds and bats in the Peruvian Amazon. Oikos 74:235-250.