Treesearch

Substantial investments in major economic, policy, and technological development affected activities related to the cultivation and utilization of poplars, willows, and eucalypts in the United States (US) from 2020-2023. Funding for research on the development and application of fast-growing trees came from private and public sectors, and significant shifts in funding priorities occurred across both sectors throughout the reporting period. The National Science Board (NSB), which governs the National Science Foundation (NSF), develops science and engineering indicators, and advises the...

Native bees are an ecologically diverse group of pollinators in global decline due at least in part to invasive species, pesticides, and habitat loss. Although guidelines exist for land managers to restore pollinator habitat, these “best management practices” (BMPs) include other pollinator taxa that may have different requirements than bees, do not give particular attention to rare bee species, or describe practices that are impractical for land managers. Using co-production science, our team of land managers and researchers sampled bee communities in 100 wildlife openings on six National...

Evidence to support nature contact and nature prescriptions to reduce loneliness is scant. A total of 2100 individuals took part in a survey conducted in Australia (n = 525, mean age = 34.1), India (n = 526, mean age = 29.5), Singapore (n = 523, mean age = 36.1), the UK (n = 526, mean age = 37.3), and the US (n = 525, mean age = 43.6) in 2022 (overall age range 18–89yrs). Multilevel logistic regressions adjusted for confounding indicated mean levels of overall loneliness tended to be higher in India (Odds Ratio [OR] 1.21, 95% Confidence Interval [95%CI] 0.90–1.62), Singapore (OR = 1.54,...

Street trees provide ecological and social benefits that sustain urban life, yet their distribution frequently mirrors socioeconomic inequalities, meaning underprivileged social groups also have fewer trees. The distribution patterns of urban trees are least documented in the cities of rapidly evolving middle-income countries. We assessed whether street tree abundance, size, condition, diversity, and composition vary across census-derived socioeconomic strata in Nairobi, Kenya. We sampled 2047 trees across 12 neighborhoods, covering 24 km of street, then used linear regression to understand...

Threats to the future function of forested ecosystems and stability of ecosystem service provisioning due to global change have motivated climate-adaptive forest management strategies that include various forms of tree planting termed “adaptation plantings”. Despite the emergence of these strategies, less is known as to how foresters and other natural resource managers perceive or are engaged with adaptation plantings like forest assisted migration (FAM). This knowledge gap is most pronounced in regions like New England and the North Central US (hereafter, the Northeastern US) where tree...

Forest assisted migration (FAM) is the movement of tree species or genotypes to locations that are projected to be climatically suitable for future growth and survival. FAM can be an integral component of climate adaptation projects. An example of such a project is the Red Pine Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (Red Pine ASCC) experiment in northern Minesota, USA. The experiment includes planting seedlings of northern red oak and bur oak from two different seed sources south of the study area. The primary source for both species was central Minnesota, one seed zone south of the...

In many temperate regions of the world, conifer species have been planted to stabilize soils and promote site recovery on former hardwood sites that were cleared for agriculture. In many areas of eastern North America, these conifer plantings consisted of introduced (non-native) Pinus species planted on abandoned agricultural land once dominated by mesophytic hardwood species. These plantings constitute a shift in overstory composition away from native hardwood species with nutrient-rich litter that decomposes more quickly towards Pinus species with recalcitrant litter that may alter soil...

Air temperature typically decreases with elevation—anyone who has hiked up a mountain is likely to have noticed that the air temperature drops towards the top. Occasionally, however, cold, dense air settles in low-lying valleys and creates an inversion in the temperature gradient. In these locations, lower elevation areas are temporarily cooler than areas higher up. This fine-scale process, called cold-air pooling, is not fully understood and is often missed in climate modeling.

Invasive plant species (IPS) threaten ecological integrity with their aggressive growth habits and ability to outcompete native vegetation. IPS typically have competitive advantage over native species due to traits such as earlier leaf out, prolific reproductive capability, and fewer natural predators. Thus, IPS can dominate a site and decrease the presence of native species, which affects biodiversity in the area.

Ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) species assemblages were studied at sites on the Huron-Manistee National Forests in Newaygo County, Michigan. The goal was to monitor changes in carabid diversity on areas where mature red pine (Pinus resinosa Sol. ex Aiton) was removed during the 1996–1997 winter and compare with carabid diversity at nearby natural dry sand prairie sites, natural oak-pine barrens, and uncut red pine stands. The red pine had been planted on dry sand prairie sites during 1940–1950. Sampling with pitfall traps occurred during May-August in both 1996 and 1997, but only...