Treesearch

The Forest Service developed the national Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetics Resources (RNGR) program to provide expert support to State, industrial, and private forest and conservation nurseries throughout the country. The RNGR program includes technical assistance to nurseries, research projects (to address seedling and field issues), and Internet sites. RNGR personnel publish periodicals, handbooks, and scientific articles and host annual nursery conferences and workshops. The National Seed Laboratory (NSL) and a Tribal Nursery Emphasis are also integral components of RNGR's mission.

Invasive species represent one of the single greatest threats to natural ecosystems and the services they provide. Effectively addressing the invasive species problem requires management that is based on sound research. We provide an overview of recent and ongoing invasive species research conducted by Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists in the Intermountain West in order to familiarize managers with the Station and its products. We also provide several links to continuously updated web sites and a periodic newsletter that covers Rocky Mountain Research Station's invasives species...

Exotic plants dramatically impact natural communities and disrupt ecosystem services (Mack and others 2000). Although the bulk of current impacts are caused by relatively few exotic species, many additional exotics that are currently established at low levels are increasing in density and distribution and present substantial imminent threats. Additionally, new exotic plants will likely continue to be deliberately and accidentally introduced, which represents a potential pool of new invasive species. Managers have responded to the threat of invasive species in wildlands with a significant...

Invasive fungal pathogens have caused immeasurably large ecological and economic damage to forests. It is well known that invasive fungal pathogens can cause devastating forest diseases (e.g., white pine blister rust, chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease, dogwood anthracnose, butternut canker, Scleroderris canker of pines, sudden oak death, pine pitch canker) (Maloy 1997; Anagnostakis 1987; Brasier and Buck 2001; Daughtrey and others 1996; Furnier and others 1999; Hamelin and others 1998; Davidson and others 2003; Gordon and others 2001). Furthermore, invasive pathogenic fungi have disrupted...

RMRS research on insect pests focuses mostly on conifer pests. There is a long history of invasive insects causing significant impacts, mortality, and changes in forest ecosystem structure in North America. Perhaps the most evident example is the introduction of the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, into eastern North America in the 1860s (Forbush and Frenald 1896). Although not well understood, it has caused shifts in forest structure and significant resources have been spent in management and control efforts that continue today (http://www.fs.fed.us/ ne/morgantown/4557/gmoth/).

The problem of invasive aquatic species has long been recognized by scientists at the Rocky Mountain Research Station. Fausch and others (2006, 2009) recently overviewed this issue. A point that often distinguishes nonnative aquatic species from nonnatives in other environments is that the presence of some species is frequently prized by managers and the public. For example, many sport fisheries in the Rocky Mountains are based on angling for nonnative brook trout, brown trout, or rainbow trout, which have been implicated in the loss of native cutthroat trout and bull trout (Dunham and...

Within the Interior West, terrestrial vertebrates do not represent a large number of invasive species relative to invasive weeds, aquatic vertebrates, and invertebrates. However, several invasive terrestrial vertebrate species do cause substantial economic and ecological damage in the U.S. and in this region (Pimental 2000, 2007; Bergman and others 2002; Finch and others 2010). About 28 species of mammals have been introduced into the U.S.; these include dogs (Canis familiaris), cats (Felis catus), horses (Equus caballus), burros (E. asinus), cattle (Bos taurus), sheep (Ovis aries), pigs...

Koa (Acacia koa A. Gray [Fabaceae]) seedlings were grown with subirrigation and overhead irrigation systems in an effort to characterize post-nursery field performance. One year following outplanting, we found no differences in seedling height or survival, but root-collar diameter was significantly larger for subirrigated seedlings. This indicates that koa seedlings, with equal or better morphological quality compared with overhead irrigated seedlings, can be effectively produced using subirrigation systems, thus allowing for potential reductions in water use and wastewater during nursery...

We examined genetic variation in the ascomycete pathogen Pyrenophora semeniperda cultured from seeds of the invasive grass Bromus tectorum in the Intermountain West of North America. We sequenced the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear ribosomal RNA genome in 417 monoconidial cultures collected from 20 sites in Washington, Idaho, Utah and Colorado, USA. ITS sequence diversity was surprisingly high; 12 unique haplotypes were identified, averaging 1.3% pairwise sequence divergence. All sites had at least two haplotypes present, and three sites had seven or more. One...

This paper explores the information forest inventory data can produce regarding forest types that were not sampled and develops the equations necessary to define the upper confidence bounds on not-sampled forest types. The problem is reduced to a Bernoulli variable. This simplification allows the upper confidence bounds to be calculated based on Cochran (1977). Examples are provided that demonstrate how the resultant equations are relevant to creating mid-level vegetation maps by assisting in the development of statistically defensible map units.