Treesearch

Background: Pollinators are declining due to habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change. Fire may be an effective management tool for enhancing pollinator habitat in fire-maintained ecosystems. Many studies have demonstrated that fire can promote understory plant biodiversity and cover, but considerably less is known about the effects of fire on floral abundance and pollinators, particularly in mixed-oak forests of the eastern USA. Our goal was to assess the long-term effects of repeated prescribed fire on floral abundance and the abundance of bumble bees, a globally important group of...

A new population of the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis Motschulsky), an invasive species in North America since 1996, was discovered in Charleston County, South Carolina, in 2020. This population is the furthest south Asian longhorned beetle has established in North America. Previous models only estimate development time at this latitude; as such, we examined Asian longhorned beetle phenology in this novel climate. Over 24 consecutive months, we collected 153 eggs, 878 larvae, 37 pupae, and 1 unemerged adult (1,009 total specimens) from the federal quarantine zone in...

While research has documented clear regional differences in environmental attitudes and behaviors, less is understood about the role of shared moral values in shaping these variations. This gap poses a critical challenge to designing effective climate action strategies. Many environmental initiatives rely on “moral framing” to promote proenvironmental behavior, often targeting specific geographical areas like cities or counties. However, these strategies may falter if they fail to account for the unique moral landscapes that shape climate beliefs and actions in different regions. To...

Climate change affects nearly every aspect of the interdependent biophysical and social systems in California’s Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. Mitigating and adapting to these effects will require effective climate governance: referring to the actors, rules, and processes through which decisions are made to prevent and respond to climate change. How governance systems effectively achieve these goals has become an increasingly central question in climate social science and climate policy debates, both at global and local scales. This paper reviews the state of science on climate governance...

Longitudinal data are essential to assessing change in environmental parameters over space and through time. This is particularly true in forest ecosystems where demographic patterns are controlled by many biotic and abiotic factors that may only be observed through repeated measures of tree (e.g., height, diameter, status), stand (e.g., tree density, litter depth), and site conditions (e.g., evidence of disturbance). Data from the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis Program (FIA), support a variety of research and reporting efforts in...

An analysis of the urban forest in Portland, Oregon, revealed that this area had an estimated 7.7 million live trees (≥ 1.0 inch in diameter) or 2.7 million live trees (≥ 5.0 inches in diameter) across public and private lands. The most common tree species (≥ 5.0 inches in diameter) were bigleaf maple, Douglas-fir, northern white-cedar, western redcedar, and red alder. Trees in Portland were estimated to store about 1.6 million tons of carbon (equivalent to 5.9 million tons of carbon dioxide [CO2]) valued at $267.3 million. In addition, these trees were estimated to remove about 50,000...

A 2018 analysis of the urban forest in Washington, DC reveals that this area has an estimated 2 million live trees across all ownerships. The most common tree species by number are American beech, red maple, American holly, yellow-poplar, and American elm. Trees in Washington, DC are estimated to store about 487,163 tons of carbon (1.8 million tons of carbon dioxide [CO2]) valued at $83.1 million. In addition, it is estimated that these trees remove about 15,000 tons of carbon per year (or 55,000 tons CO2 per year, valued at $2.6 million per year, an amount roughly equivalent to the annual...

The first annual Timber Products Output survey was completed for the northern United States for the 2018 production year. We surveyed a randomly selected sample of 1,546 primary wood-using mills from a total population of 2,941 active mills. We received 927 responses, for a 60 percent cooperation rate. Industrial roundwood production (harvested and utilized) in the region was an estimated 2,421.8 million cubic feet (MMCF). Saw logs accounted for 51 percent of production. Pulpwood accounted for 31 percent of production. Hardwood species accounted for 72 percent of roundwood production....

Forest mesophication threatens the regeneration and potential future perpetuation of oak (Quercus spp.) forests throughout southern Appalachia and eastern United States (US). We explored methods to produce stand-scale oak site suitability maps, within the Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina, which can be used to prioritize site-specific treatments to allow for oak regeneration and recruitment using silvicultural strategies to reduce forest mesophication. To establish initial conditions, USDA Forest Service common stand exam quick plot protocol was followed, and plot data collected...

Peatlands store significant amounts of carbon, which is released as greenhouse gases when peatlands are degraded. Restoration and rewetting can help prevent these emissions, while continuous monitoring is critical for evaluating their success. Using satellite-derived observations of essential climate variables, we conducted the first large-scale assessment of how peatland restoration influences land surface temperature (LST), albedo, and vegetation across 72 sites in North America and Europe. Our findings indicated that before restoration, degraded peatlands had a commonly lower daytime...