Treesearch

Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands causes root rot in a number of important forest tree species around the world, including American chestnut (Castanea dentata) and shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata). Conventional methods for detecting P. cinnamomi in forest soils may require too much time and space to permit widescale and long-term screening of the large sample numbers required for landscape-scale distribution analysis. This project compared conventional detection methods (baiting with full rhododendron leaves or leaf discs and subsequent culturing on selective media) with molecular detection...

Fire exclusion over the past century has substantially altered composition, structure, and fuel dynamics in upland oak-hickory (Quercus-Carya) forests in the Southeastern United States. Numerous restoration efforts have been made to re-establish historical disturbance regimes into these altered forests. However, our understanding of the implications of restorative disturbances on stand dynamics has primarily been limited to shifts in species composition and post-disturbance regeneration. Therefore, we examined annual radial growth responses of dominant upland oaks following a combination...

Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense Lour.) is the most common invasive shrub species in the Southern United States, causing biodiversity and economic losses. This study evaluated several treatments found in the literature and conducted a financial analysis to identify the most cost-effective management regimes for controlling this species in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) stands. Simulated scenarios were created to assess these management regimes. Three components were used: infestation levels, herbicide application methods, and herbicides. For each simulated scenario, the financial impact...

Objectives: In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused damage in New Orleans, Louisiana, and much of the land in low-resource neighborhoods became vacant and blighted. In 2014, New Orleans launched a program, Fight the Blight, which remediated properties in 6 neighborhoods. Our objective was to examine changes in crime rates near lots that were remediated (ie, debris removed and vegetation mowed). Methods: We used a quasi-experimental design to test whether crime rates changed from preremediation (January 2013–October 2014) to postremediation (July 2016–March 2017) near 204 vacant lots that were...

Mechanical site preparation is often used to aid with amelioration of compacted soil conditions typically found on former agricultural areas. While immediate reduction in soil compaction through use of cultural treatments is well studied, less research is available regarding longer term mechanical treatment residual effects. Four mechanical site preparation treatments were employed across three Mississippi sites during the winter of 2007. Treatments were installed using 10-foot centers as follows: control, subsoiling, bedding, and combination plowing. Two years post-treatment, 216 paired...

Planting bareroot oak seedlings continues to account for substantial acreage across the South, especially on retired agricultural lands. It is now well established that good seedlings, good planting, and herbaceous weed control (HWC) are the trilogy of factors needed for consistently successful establishment. Survival exceeding 90 percent is now common when all three factors are satisfied. Even though research on HWC for oaks (Quercus spp.) began more than 25 years ago, the list of effective materials available for such use is still very short. Cost efficacy and crop tolerance remain the...

A study was initiated in 1963 to evaluate the stand dynamics associated with three fire frequency treatments (annual burning, 5-year periodic burning, and fire exclusion) on a pyric oak (Quercus spp.)-dominated site in south-central Tennessee. Controlled burns were conducted during the dormant season. The experimental design was a randomized block, blocked on location, with three replications of the three treatments. The purpose of this paper is to report on the overstory structural vegetation changes that accompany these burning treatments after 54 years. Overstory number of stems and...

This report summarizes the most recent inventory of Wyoming’s forests based on field data collected between 2011 and 2015. The report includes descriptive highlights and tables of area, numbers of trees, biomass, carbon, volume, growth, mortality, and removals. Most sections and tables are organized by forest type or forest-type group, species group, diameter class, or owner group. The report also describes the inventory design, inventory terminology, and data reliability. Results show that Wyoming’s forest land covers 10.5 million acres. Fifty-five percent (5.8 million acres) of this...

Growing up in a southern Oregon timber town in a family strongly rooted in logging, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has always been part of my life. The conflicts which embroiled the USFS during my youth are etched in my memory. I vividly remember when the northern spotted owl Strix occidentalis caurina was listed as federally endangered. Mills closed and parades of coffins rolled down the streets with proclamations that the end of federal timber harvest would spell the end of towns like ours. In college, I learned more about public land management for natural resource sustainability....

It is important that species descriptions be accurate. This is especially true with threatened and endangered species, where the scientific literature provides context for species identification and management decisions. In 1953, Bragg documented the advertisement calls of both Southern Crawfish Frogs (Lithobates a. areolatus) and Northern Crawfish Frogs (L. a. circulosus) and concluded L. a. areolatus have lower frequency calls. One of us (M.J.L.) has long felt this observation was incorrect, because adult L. a. areolatus are smaller than L. a. circulosus, and anurans with smaller body...