Treesearch

Pine (Pinus spp.) forests are found in many areas with a wide range of bioclimates, providing a myriad of ecosystem services. Pine trees have been widely planted for various purposes such as commercial timber production, soil erosion control and water quality improvement of source waters, urban forestry, wildlife habitat, and bioenergy for carbon sequestration. Quantifying these benefits requires a clear understanding of the hydrological cycle in pine forests, especially the evapo-transpiration processes. This synthesis study aims at synthesizing published litera-ture documenting the water...

Urban forests have been widely recognized as a nature-based solution to address urban environmental changes like urban heat islands. Although previous studies have explored the cooling effects of urban forests, the extent of this effect and related influencing factors remain unclear and have not been comprehensively synthesized yet. To fill this research gap, we conducted a systematic literature review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) method with 20 keywords and their combinations in Web of Science to address 3 main research questions:...

Over the last half‐century, land use changes, including deforestation, urban sprawl, and open‐pit surface mining, have accelerated across the Susurluk Basin in northwestern Türkiye. This study analysed how land use changes, damming and mining activities affected basin hydrology using empirical and analytical methods and the process‐based Water Supply Stress Index Model (WaSSI). The monthly WaSSI water balance model was validated using streamflow data from gaging stations between 1980 and 2005. Two of the eight subbasins exhibited streamflow reductions of about 32%–42%, with mean annual...

Extreme precipitation events, intensified by climate change, are increasingly disrupting nutrient dynamics in large river systems worldwide. Beyond altering the magnitude of individual nutrient fluxes, extreme precipitation may fundamentally reshape nutrient composition and stoichiometric balances, with critical implications for aquatic ecosystem health. Here, we apply an integrated data-model framework to assess how these events have altered nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fluxes across the Mississippi River Basin from 1980 to 2018. We find that extreme rainfall disproportionately...

The natural background contribution from grasslands and forest lands is important to consider in research and management to address the contribution of agricultural, industrial, and urban lands to water quality degradation. To our knowledge, no study has compiled and analyzed reference water quality from small reference grasslands and forests even though land use export coefficients for background water quality are assigned at that scale in decision support tools and models, total maximum daily load projects, and comparative analysis. Thus, our major objective was to summarize nitrogen...

The growing demand for nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change has heightened interest in forest carbon programs, particularly in the southeastern United States, a region with abundant forest resources. Challenges such as additionality, leakage and permanence requirements, and competition between timber and carbon markets are among the complexities of implementing effective forest carbon programs. This study examinesthe impacts of one-year harvest deferral programs on carbon sequestration and timber market dynamics using an agent-based simulation model. The model incorporates...

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 Oklahoma. 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...

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...

Millions of people depend on forests for clean and reliable drinking water supplies. However, land-use change is threatening the ability of forested lands to provide this ecosystem service. Policymakers, water utilities, and land managers need information that links forests, water quantity and quality, and Public Water Systems (PWSs) so that they can make informed decisions regarding water treatment infrastructure investments as well as land use, forest conservation programs, and forest management in critical water supply watersheds. This project used a combination of data synthesis,...

Drought is a natural part of the Southeastern United States climate and a threat to agricultural productivity and profitability. Whether slow developing or rapid onset, drought can have severe impacts on agricultural crops and livestock depending on its timing, severity, and length. Drought is expected to become increasingly common in the Southeast due to increasing temperatures, longer dry periods between rain events, and growing water demand across the region. To help producers remain resilient and productive in the face of this threat, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Southeast...