Treesearch

Eutrophication of the northern Gulf of America (NGOA) (also known as northern Gulf of Mexico) due to excess nutrients has resulted in harmful algal blooms, the development of hypoxic zones, and negative impacts on seafood production, recreational activities, and marine transportation. With a growing recognition of afforestation to maximize timber production and improve water quality, there is a critical need to investigate impacts of afforestation on nitrogen (N) loads to the NGOA. Using the Pearl River Basin (PRB) located in Mississippi and Louisiana along with the HAWQS (Hydrologic and...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program provides this resource update yearly as an overview of forest resources in Kentucky. These estimates are derived from field data collected across a systematic network of fixed-radius forest monitoring plots located on both public and private land. New updates are provided annually as a subset of plots within the State are remeasured. Each year, field crews visit and measure a subset of all FIA plots across the entire State (the size of the subset varies by State and year). Combining all...

Alfalfa is a widely cultivated forage crop with high nutritional value, and it relies heavily on pollinators for successful reproduction owing to its keel petal structure. Numerous studies have shown the differences in pollinator diversity at different landscapes and/or regions, subsequently impacting plant reproduction. However, there is still insufficient evidence on variation in pollinator diversity at different sites with different landscapes and its effects on alfalfa reproduction. In this study, we investigated the diversity and abundance of floral visitors, and their impacts on...

Biodiversity can enhance forest resistance to drought, but the forms of diversity involved and conditions under which diversity confers resistance remain unclear. We used Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plot data to examine whether four variables—structural richness (variation in tree heights, stand density, canopy cover and/or spatial heterogeneity), species richness (number of tree species), structural evenness and species evenness—are associated with the resistance of net primary productivity to drought and whether these relationships change with drought severity and by ecoregion....

The Timber Products Output (TPO) survey, administered by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the USDA Forest Service, collects data annually from primary wood processing mills. The survey collects data on the volume of roundwood received and residues generated by the primary forest industry by major tree species and counties of harvest. Prior to 2019, the TPO survey was implemented as a full census of all active mills, with varying frequencies across FIA regions. For Southern FIA, TPO surveys of non-pulp mills were delivered every other year. From 2019 forward, TPO transition...

This comment challenges claims made by the Forest Flows Programme (Meason et al., 2025) regarding the water use of Pinus radiata plantations and the water yield from pine-forested catchments across New Zealand. Using robust, previously established evidence, it is argued here that instead of dispelling some commonly held beliefs, Meason et al. have created new forest hydrological myths by underestimating pine-tree water use and overestimating subsurface flows based on an erroneous conceptualization of key processes and water-balance components. In the authors' view, this not only renders...

Urban forests and other green infrastructures have been viewed as part of the “Nature‐based Solutions” (NbS) to mitigate emerging urban environmental change. This study focuses on the role of evapotranspiration (ET) in regulating water balances of small watersheds in the eastern United States. We compared streamflow and ET patterns at daily, monthly and annual scales and linked these hydrological variables to the physical properties of 11 paired watersheds dominated by forests (FW) or urban (UW) land covers. The annual precipitation ranged from 1028 mm to 1683 mm and potential ET (PET)...

Land use change poses challenges to water supply sustainability. The San Jacinto watershed located in Southeastern Texas is a microcosm of these challenges, with high dependence on surface water supply and projected urban and agricultural expansion by 2070, with a corresponding decline in forest and natural grassland. This study used the Soil and Water Assessment tool (SWAT) to evaluate the effects of these land use changes on water quality and quantity in the San Jacinto watershed. Our results indicated that projected land use change could increase annual average river discharge by as...

Lecanosticta acicola is a fungal pathogen that causes brown spot needle blight (BSNB). It primarily impacts the genus Pinus and has been introduced to much of the Northern Hemisphere. Brown spot needle blight causes a reduction of leaf area and photosynthetic capacity that can lead to reduced growth and mortality in extreme cases. In the southeastern USA, the disease has historically primarily impacted grass stage longleaf pine (Pinus palustris). Around 2015, large areas of plantation loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) were found to be infected with L. acicola, which is outside of historic norms...

The principal findings from the five panels of the 10th forest survey of Florida are presented. In 2018, forests covered more than 16.9 million acres of the State, of which 14.9 million were classified as timberland. Longleaf-slash pine was the most common forest-type group and covered 5.1 million acres of timberland. The second most common forest-type group was oak-gum-cypress, which covered 3.1 million acres of timberland. Nonindustrial private forest ownerships controlled 69 percent of the State’s timberland. Softwood tree species accounted for 57 percent of the 22.8 billion cubic feet...