<b>Assessing a Federal Cost-Share Program for Invasive Species Management and Biodiversity Restoration in Northern Indiana Forests</b>

<p dir="ltr">Ecosystems worldwide are threatened by invasions of non-native species. Forests in the eastern United States are particularly susceptible to invasions by non-native plants from East Asia, such as <i>Lonicera maackii </i>and <i>Rosa multiflora,</i> which are able to outcompete native plants, alter natural succession, and dominate the understory layer. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), a cost-share program administered by Natural Resources Conservation Service, provides brush management contracts to private landowners to treat invasions of non-native plant species. Effective control of non-native plant species helps maintain the native diversity and productivity of forests. Despite increased investment in EQIP, research examining its ecological and economic effectiveness is lacking. This thesis evaluates the effectiveness of EQIP’s brush management practices by examining the effects of EQIP treatments on non-native species invasion cover and density, native species diversity, and woody species regeneration across 59 EQIP sites and nine untreated reference sites. Using linear mixed effects models, nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination plots, and cost-driven regression and propensity score matching models, we provided insight into the ecological and economic effects of EQIP. We found that EQIP sites had higher herbaceous-layer diversity, lower non-native herbaceous-layer cover, and higher native seedling density than reference sites. Regression models examined the relationships between cost-share dollars invested and community composition and found that for every dollar invested into EQIP significantly lowered non-native herbaceous-layer cover and non-native seedling density, showing the direct positive effect of cost-share investment on reducing invasion severity. Overall, this thesis provides one of the first empirical analyses of the ecological and economic effectiveness of the EQIP brush management program. Our research emphasizes the importance of continuing funding of the program.</p>