Understory

Announcing a Rooted in Research webinar series in May 2024.

This infographic depicts a landscape as a slice of the earth’s surface. This slice acts as the platform to demonstrate the watershed with blue streams braided within a generally green surface layer. The side view of the slice shows the roots moving through the upper soil layers with the lowest gray layer representing the bedrock. The infographic also includes a depiction of the atmosphere and the industrial activities (power plants and open-pit minelands) in the head of the watershed.Smokestacks release pollutants into the sky and then by a cloud with rain drops delivering the sulfur, mercury,...

Each year, research scientists with the Northern Research Station collaborate with researchers and practitioners from academic, government, industrial, and non-profit settings to investigate a range of forest health issues. Their results offer insights and solutions to pressing forest health challenges at local, regional, national, and international scales. That research, however, is only effective if audiences are aware of, and use, the results.This document summarizes 71 publications released in 2023, including 67 peer-reviewed journal articles or technical reports and four Rooted in Researc...

This 2023 annual report features a selection of the work we do in support of the mission, goals, and reputation of the Forest Service and its impacts on the people and ecosystems we serve in our region and beyond. We present a snapshot of our research, outreach, partnerships, accomplishments, and upcoming work toward ensuring healthy forests and a sustainable future for generations to come.

Slide deck for the webinar Ice Storms in the Northeast, part of the Rooted in Research Adapting to Extreme Weather “Wild Cards” series.

Announcing a Rooted in Research webinar series in January 2024.

Announcing a Rooted in Research webinar series for October and November 2023.

Habitat loss and degradation are among the greatest threats to wild bee populations. Since pollinators are a keystone species for agricultural and forested ecosystems, pollinator habitat restoration is critical to ecosystem health and stability worldwide. Log landings, open areas in forests where logs are processed and stacked before being loaded onto logging trucks, are challenged with soil compaction, erosion, residual mulch and logging debris, and invasive species.The Pollinator Habitat in Log Landings (PHiLL) project was designed to investigate the establishment of ephemeral pollinator hab...

Log landings (places where loggers stack, sort, and load timber into trucks) result in soil compaction and the removal of vegetation. Although using dedicated landing sites and skid trails during timber harvests limits heavy machine traffic to specific areas of the forest and minimizes soil and vegetation disturbance, these practices can result in severe soil compaction on the small areas used, which can in turn lead to erosion of unprotected soils and provide opportunities for invasive plant species to gain a foothold. The result can lead to poor quality habitat for local wildlife, including ...

The Pollinator Habitat in Log Landings (PHiLL) Project was designed to investigate the establishment of ephemeral pollinator habitat across three National Forests in the Midwest: Hoosier (Indiana), Shawnee (Illinois), and Mark Twain (Missouri).This project involves conducting field experiments to address the issues of soil compaction and other site characteristics hampering the development of floral resources for native pollinator species.