MUSSELMAN FEATURED IN THE RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH

Lytton John Musselman, the chair of the Old Dominion University Department of Biological Sciences, is a primary source quoted in a Richmond Times-Dispatch article about efforts to preserve our remaining stands of native longleaf pines.

The article notes that the pines once covered 90 million acres in the southwestern and southeastern United States, but that over-harvesting and land development have narrowed the expanse to 3 million acres.

"When you think of an ecosystem, that's devastation. This is more devastated than the (tropical) rainforest is, and it's right in our backyard," Musselman told the newspaper. He is Mary Payne Hogan Professor of Botany, and the director of efforts to preserve longleaf pines in the 300-acre Blackwater Preserve owned by ODU.

The article, which ran on Dec. 26, can be found at: http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Common%2FMGArticle%2FPrintVersion&c=MGArticle&cid=1149192348475&image=timesdispatch80x60.gif&oasDN=timesdispatch.com