Articles

When Molokaʻi/Maui Invasive Species Committee (MoMISC) officials identified the presence of invasive coconut rhinoceros beetles (Oryctes rhinoceros) in traps near Kaunakakai, on the Hawaiian island of Molokaʻi, the discovery raised an important question: were the beetles isolated adults, or was the invasive pest already breeding somewhere out of sight?Coconut rhinoceros beetles are known dest...

Armillaria root disease is widespread across western North American forests, in part because it is hard to detect before significant damage has already occurred. Fortunately, thanks to advances in DNA sequencing, just a teaspoon of soil now opens up a giant window into the complex ecosystems of microbes, revealing potential management strategies.

SlashScan is a new mobile application for iPhone and iPad that field-going foresters, fuels managers, and contractors can use to simultaneously estimate slash pile volume and generate location data in real time without additional equipment.

The age-old question asks, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make sound?” While philosophers and scientists alike have pondered this question for centuries, the more relevant question for today’s recreation and wildlife managers is, does it matter what makes the sound?For keystone predators in Alaska’s forests, their reality is an acoustic soundscape ...

To better understand changes in tree size-abundance relationships following disturbance, and to make it easier to estimate forest structure using remote sensing, Jonathan Knott, a Forest Service research forester, recently collaborated on research led by the University of Maine. The research team leveraged long-term forest monitoring networks in two studies, one to better understand the effects of disturbance on tree size-abundance relationships and one to develop a way to accurately estimate tree size distribution using readily available remotely sensed data. Together, these studies apply ecological theory to practical use, and their findings take steps towards more accurate predictions of forest structure across time and space.

Thanks to a powerful new online tool—the Spruce Budworm Atmospheric Transport Model (SBW-ATM)—managers can now forecast when, where, and how these moth swarms will emerge, travel, and land.

The Wildfire Risk to Communities data viewer is the latest addition to the suite of tools developed to help communities understand, explore, and reduce wildfire risk. The new data viewer makes the entire suite of WRC data available to anyone, without the need for GIS software or managing large data files.

Research has led to an unexpected new cost-effective approach to producing a key ingredient in life-saving medications.

User feedback is key to future improvements of the Interagency Fuel Treatment Decision Support System. In 2023, partners from the University of Idaho interviewed 47 IFTDSS users to gain a better understanding of how users use the system, what they like, and what they’d like to change. This feedback will help the tool evolve to continue to meet the needs of the fuels management community.

Changing fire regimes combine with improvements in wildfire risk technology to impact the spatial pattern and magnitude of simulated wildfire transmission to communities.

For 25 years, ranchers in South Dakota have used the South Dakota Drought Tool to estimate forage productivity of grazing lands. This crucial information helps them gauge whether to increase or decrease their herd size the following year.

Ecological restoration and fuel hazard reduction are compatible—variable retention treatments that create structural heterogeneity for wildlife and plant diversity can achieve substantial fire behavior reductions when surface fuels and small trees are treated.

We show that commonly used stream restoration practices can increase riparian soil carbon stocks. These gains in carbon were only seen when restoration also increased soil moisture. While elevated moisture can also stimulate methane emissions, these emissions did not offset the climate benefit of increased soil carbon.

Precipitation can impact correlations between leaf functional traits and associations between these traits and gene expression.

Understanding the processes involved in polyploid formation are critical in assessing plant abilities to adapt to the unprecedented rates of environmental change. Our study provides support that Artemisia and likely other plants have dual pathways, described as one- and two-step. Our study provides further support for a paradigm in which polyploidy is an important, recurrent mechanism in generating genomic diversity, occurring on generational timescales.

Rather than maximizing partner involvement in coproduction at all stages of the research process, we emphasize designing collaborative processes that enhance partner buy-in and research relevance and impact while acknowledging resource constraints. Because researchers recognized that excessive involvement could create undue burdens, leading to collaboration fatigue and logistical challenges. Non-researchers were engaged most heavily during research interpretation, and the dissemination and application phases.

A new innovation from the Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory, Washington State University, and the University of Florida could reduce food waste while providing a new outlet and use for wood pulp. Barrier coatings for fruit made from naturally-derived, biodegradable compounds could be a safe and effective way to preserve fruit. These coatings are applied to the exterior of fruit peels with the intention of keeping the fruit fresher for longer.

The USDA Forest Service’s Centennial Research Facility at Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2025, marking over a decade of groundbreaking research, partnerships, and advancements in wood science that support a sustainable future.

Updated tax tips are available as a forest landowner resource for the 2025 tax season.

The mountains of the West have been remarkably bare this winter. Low snow levels and unseasonably warm temperatures have caused a widespread snow drought, which makes many parts of the West more vulnerable to other disturbances this year. Thirteen scientists with Forest Service R&D weighed in on what this snow drought might mean for national forests and grasslands.