Treesearch

Hawaiian forests provide a wide array of non-timber forest products for both traditional and modern uses. Flowers, vines, and ferns are collected for creating garlands or lei for hula dances and parades. Lei made from materials gathered in the forest are made for personal use and sold, especially during graduation times. Bamboo is harvested for structures and for making traditional Japanese New Year’s ornaments or kadomatsu. Firewood is collected for traditional earth ovens. While some local gathering might impact local resources, little is known about amounts of non-timber forest products...

Assessing the size and structure of non-timber forest product (NTFP) markets is difficult due to a lack of knowledge about NTFP supply chains. Harvesting ginseng and other wild medicinal plants has long provided a source of income and cultural identity in Appalachian communities in the eastern United States. With the exception of ginseng, the extent of the harvest of medicinal forest products is unknown. Surveys with ginseng dealers about other NTFPs generate data on the trade volume for a variety of other products, and the geographic distribution of their harvest. A multi-method approach...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of air pollutants linked to a wide range of adverse health outcomes, including asthma, cancers, cardiovascular disease, and fetal growth impairment. PAHs are emitted by combustion of organic matter (e.g. fossil fuels, plant biomass) and can accumulate in plant and animal tissues over time. Compared to criteria pollutants, such as O3 or NO2, less is known about PAHs in air inhaled by the general population because PAH monitoring is more technically challenging and costly (in Portland, for example, PAHs are measured by only one monitor)....

Lichen chemistry can be used to estimate concentrations of environmental contaminants, ranging from heavy metals and fertilizers to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins, pesticides, herbicides, and flame retardants. We conducted a pilot looking at 26 metals and nutrient anions in 5 widespread lichen species across the upper Midwest, including: As, Al, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, N, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, Se, Si, Sr, and Zn. FIA crews collected 135 lichen samples from 75 plots across IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, WI and an expert collected 128 additional samples near 11 air...

Palau is well known as an area of high plant diversity; indeed, it is considered the most species rich island group within Micronesia (Kitalong et al., 2008). The Palauan archipelago covers only about 535 km² of land area and yet contains an estimated 730 native plants, including 151 endemic species (Kitalong et al., 2008). Broader scientific interest in Palauan forest health and biodiversity is mirrored locally by residents and land managers who seek baseline information to inform resource management decisions. With these concerns in mind, the Data Collection Team at the Pacific Northwest...

The US Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station has been working in the Hawaiian islands since 2010. During this time they have installed a base grid of field plots across all of the Hawaiian Islands and an intensified sample of two experimental forests, the Laupāhoehoe and Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a units of the Hawaii Experimental Tropical Forests (HETF). These intensified plots used the standard P3 FIA plot design but included a number of additional measurements that were designed to address forest health issues specific to Hawai›i›s...

The Forest Service and Esri recently entered into a partnership: (1) to distribute FIA and other Forest Service data with the public and stakeholders through ArcGIS Online, and (2) to facilitate the application of the ArcGIS platform within the Forest Service to develop forest management and landscape management plans, and support their scientific research activities. This partnership (in combination with the Agency’s master agreement with Esri) includes access to ArcGIS Online, the GeoPlanner, story maps, map journals, and business intelligence tools. In this presentation, we review the...

According to the latest data from the US Forest Service National Woodland Owner Survey, there are an estimated 4 million family forest ownerships (with 10+ acres) across the U.S. Approximately 20% of these ownerships have a woman as the primary owner. A great percentage of the other ownerships are owned by a couple where the second owner is a woman and, given normal mortality patterns with woman outliving men, many more women will eventually become the primary decision makers. There has been increasing interest in establishing programs aimed specifically at female forest owners, but there...

We revisit the classic theory of forest succession that relates shade tolerance and species replacement and assess its validity to understand patch-mosaic patterns of forested ecosystems of the USA. We introduce a macroscopic parameter called the “shade tolerance index” and compare it to the classic continuum index in southern Wisconsin forests. We exemplify shade tolerance driven succession in White Pine–Eastern Hemlock forests using computer simulations and analyzing approximated chronosequence data from the USDA FIA forest inventory. We describe this parameter across the last 50 years...

Ownership of the U.S. southern timberland rests largely on private forest landowners’ hands. As such, their harvest and regeneration choices can significantly impact the region’s roundwood supply. In most cases, private forest landowners do not consider timber production among the top reasons for holding their lands. However, most research indicates that favorable timber markets (high demand of wood reflecting in high stumpage prices) can motivate landowners’ participation. It follows then that landowners with access to strong timber markets (strength indicated by the number of primary...