Treesearch

Upland hardwood forest managers are increasingly burning during the growing-season in hopes of improving wildlife habitat and attaining or accelerating other restoration goals, highlighting the need for research ad- dressing how season of burning affects wildlife, including breeding birds. We used 1-ha strip transects in nine units before (2011) and after (2013–2016) treatments to experimentally assess how breeding birds respond to early growing-season (26 April 2013; GSB) and dormant season (5 March 2014; DSB) burns, and controls (C). Burn effects on forest structure were minor and transitor...

Occupancy modeling may be the most effective tool for studying the occurrence of secretive fossorial squamates. Our objective was to use occupancy models to test whether Florida Crowned Snakes (Tantilla relicta) are a suitable model species for other, more-secretive fossorial squamates. Tantilla relicta are easier to study than other fossorial squamates and likely respond to habitat management (e.g., fire frequency) similarly to these harder-to-study species of concern. We sampled T. relicta using 24 groups of drift fences in longleaf pine–wiregrass sandhills, Ocala National Forest,...

Wildfires are a natural part of most forest ecosystems, but due to changing climatic and environmental conditions, they have become larger, more severe, and potentially more damaging. Forested watersheds vulnerable to wildfire serve as drinking water supplies for many urban and rural communities. The highly variable nature of wildfire behavior combined with spatially complex patterns in vegetation, landscape, and hydrologic factors create uncertainty surrounding the postfire effects on water supplies. Wildfires often cause dramatic changes in forest vegetation structure and soil conditions,...

Microbially-mediated iron (Fe) cycling controls the fate of organic matter, contaminants, and nutrients in terrestrial ecosystems including wetland soils. However, the effects of temperature variations due to seasonal differences on Fe(III) reduction rates and kinetics in such ecosystems remains poorly understood. To evaluate the potential temperature impact on dissimilatory microbial Fe(III) reduction it is crucial to determine environmentally-relevant reaction rates and kinetic parameters. Here, we investigate the relationship between soil temperature and microbial Fe(III) reduction...

Full sets of elastic constants of green Chinese larch (Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr) with 95% moisture content at four different cross-section sampling positions (from pith to sapwood) were determined in this work using three-point bending and compression tests. Variations in the material constants of green Chinese larch from pith to sapwood were investigated and analyzed. The results showed that the sensitivity of each elastic constant to the sampling position was different, and the coefficient of variation ranged from 4.3% to 48.7%. The Poisson’s ratios νRT measured at four different...

The northern tamarisk beetle Diorhabda carinulata (Desbrochers) was approved for release in the United States for classical biological control of a complex of invasive saltcedar species and their hybrids (Tamarix spp.). An aggregation pheromone used by D. carinulata to locate conspecifics is fundamental to colonization and reproductive success. A specialized matrix formulated for controlled release of this aggregation pheromone was developed as a lure to manipulate adult densities in the field. One application of the lure at onset of adult emergence for each generation provided long term...

Landscape-scale prescribed burning may be appealing for natural community restoration due to operational efficiency and possible heterogeneity in fire effects across broad spatial scales. We monitored plant community responses for >15 years with variable prescribed fire frequencies applied across a Missouri Ozarks landscape stratified into distinct ecological site types. Through the study period, burning had no effect on the overstory tree density or basal area. Midstory stem densities decreased rapidly in periodically burned units and more gradually with annual fire. Burning increased...

Managing forests to store carbon has focused on increasing forested area, decreasing area lost to logging and clearing, and increasing forest carbon density. Warming, drought, and wildfires challenge the stability of carbon stored in forests. What has been missing is the explicit use of disturbance ecology to factor tree mortality risk. For wildfire and other impactful disturbances, our understanding is sufficient to incorporate these risks into policy mechanisms that enhance forest carbon storage. Doing so would substantially improve global forest carbon policy for climate mitigation....

Sirex noctilio F. (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) is a major exotic pest of pines (Pinus spp.) in the Southern Hemisphere and has become established in northeastern North America. We investigated the suitability of bolts of six economically and ecologically important U.S. pine species grown in the southeastern United States, including eastern white (P. strobus L.), loblolly (P. taeda L.), longleaf (P. palustris Miller), shortleaf (P. echinata Miller), slash (P. elliottii Engelmann), and Virginia (P. virginiana Miller) pines and its native Eurasian host, Scots pine (P. sylvestris L.), for S....

Recently burned coniferous forests host wildlife communities that respond to variation in burn severity, post-fire habitat structure, and patch configuration. Habitat selection theory predicts that birds inhabiting these variable post-fire landscapes will select nesting locations that confer an adaptive advantage through increased fitness and reproductive success. Understanding the effect of post-fire habitat on avian nesting ecology can provide valuable information to guide restoration and management after wildfire. The Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus) is strongly associated...