Treesearch

Accurate taxonomy, including species identification and naming, underpins ecological inference, yet taxonomic information in ecological datasets is often inconsistently recorded or weakly standardized. With the increasing integration of ecological datasets across taxa and regions, datasets with poor taxonomic practices can hinder data exchange and propagate errors. We propose 10 rules to improve the storage and management of taxonomic information in ecological datasets. These rules draw on our experiences in plant ecology and taxonomy, but the conclusions may be generalized to other...

Two Sphagnum species thought to be extinct in Puerto Rico were rediscovered. The current distribution range of these species is substantially reduced compared to the historical distribution based on herbarium records. We contribute notes on S. perichaetiale and S. trinitense distribution, habitat, and a checklist of associated plant species. A key to the three extant Sphagnum species found in Puerto Rico is presented along with suggestions for conservation efforts to preserve S. perichaetiale and S. trinitense. The habitat where the species are found, white sand wetlands, is rare in Puerto...

In this study, we used coniferous and non-coniferous hosts to assess the pathogenicity of a Fusarium annulatum isolate derived from southwestern white pine (Pinus strobiformis), along with F. commune isolates derived from coniferous and herbaceous, non-conifer hosts. All isolates of both Fusarium spp. were found to be pathogenic to conifer hosts. For the tested non-coniferous hosts, F. commune isolates were found to be pathogenic to both rice and tomato, whereas F. annulatum was pathogenic to rice and potentially less aggressive on tomato. To investigate the molecular basis of pathogenicity...

Urban forests are multifunctional social-ecological systems that can contribute to both climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation. However, management of urban forests for these objectives are often studied independently. Knowing which measures can be used to assess multiple objectives could enable integrated monitoring efforts and subsequently increase potentials for synergies in management. We compared the use of forest composition metrics in studies focused on carbon storage ( n = 109) and avian diversity ( n = 158) extracted from a published systematic literature map....

Agrilus species (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) often oviposit in bark cracks and crevices to protect their eggs from natural enemies and unfavorable conditions, making field detection of eggs and associated parasitism challenging. Burlap-ribbon traps, which mimic tree bark texture, have been shown to induce emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, to lay eggs on covered ash (Fraxinus sp.) surfaces. We evaluated these traps for detecting eggs of EAB and its congener bronze birch borer (Agrilus anxius Gory), as well as associated egg parasitism, using ash trees exhibiting different...

For decades, foresters have sought cost-effective ways to remove the leftover twigs, branches, and boles—the “waste” of forest operations and fuels treatments—and transform them into a usable resource. Slash piles can be left alone, burned, or used. If left in place, slash piles may fuel the next wildfire or obstruct replanting efforts. Disposal via burning is relatively inexpensive but comes with risk, smoke, and increasingly, shorter burn windows. Before slash can be transported and processed into energy or bioproducts, land managers must inventory and measure the piles. These are often...

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 Mississippi. 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...

Models for adjacency-based association represent an important branch of spatial statistics relevant for measurements associated to areal units or geographical networks. Within this domain, conditional autoregressive (CAR) prior represents a well-known tool for modeling dependence through random effects. However, the usual Markov chain Monte Carlo scheme for this framework requires sequential update of these effects from posterior full-conditional distributions resulting in poor convergence and mixing properties. In this article, we propose two alternative methods utilizing spectral...

When making assessments of forest resources, there is nearly ubiquitous interest in quantifying current status and trends in tree biomass and carbon stocks. While important at various spatial scales, typical estimations pertinent to broad forest management and policy issues are conducted for large areas such as state, regional, and national perspectives. These assessments are usually accomplished using large-area forest inventory data collected by National Forest Inventory (NFI) programs. While NFI efforts commonly collect size data for individual trees, there is often limited information...

Pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) produced during fires plays an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle due to its low microbial availability and resulting high persistence. However, PyOM can be combusted or chemically altered in subsequent fires. To explore the effects of subsequent fire on PyOM, we used a mass loss calorimeter to simulate reburning by delivering realistic heat fluxes to jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) PyOM produced at 350 °C. We tested three heat flux profiles (High, Low, and Control) and three burial depths (Surface, 1 cm, and 5 cm) arranged in a full-factorial...