Treesearch

High-throughput sequencing of DNA barcodes, such as the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of the 16s rRNA sequence, has expanded the ability of researchers to investigate the endophytic fungal communities of living plants. With a large and growing database of complete fungal genomes, it may be possible to utilize portions of fungal symbiont genomes outside conventional marker sequences for community analysis of short-read data. We designed a bioinformatics pipeline to identify putative fungal coding sequences from 100 bp Illumina reads of DNA extracted from several angiosperm species...

A vast amount of future climate scenario datasets, created by climate models such as general circulation models (GCMs), have been used in conjunction with watershed models to project future climate variability impact on hydrological processes and water quality. However, these low spatial-temporal resolution datasets are often difficult to downscale spatially and disaggregate temporarily, and they may not be accurate for local watersheds (i.e., state level or smaller watersheds). This study applied the US-EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)’s Climate Assessment Tool (CAT) to create future...

Fire is a key ecological driver in determining vegetation composition, biomass, and ecosystem dynamics in coniferous forests of the Laurentian Mixed Forest in the Great Lakes region (Cleland and others 2004, Frelich 1995). Regional projections of future climate conditions indicate warmer temperatures, more variable precipitation patterns, and greater moisture stress (Handler and others 2014). These conditions are likely to increase the occurrence of drought that in turn influences fire risk and severity (Clark 1989, Neary and others 2008). For example, a recent modeling investigation of...

Hurricanes have long been a powerful and recurring disturbance in many coastal forest ecosystems. Intense hurricanes often produce a large amount of dead fuels in their affected forests. How the post-hurricane fuel complex changes with time, due todecomposition and management such as salvage, and its implications for fire behavior remain largely unknown. Therefore, the primary objective of the project was to study posthurricane fuel dynamics and its effect on fire behavior by conducting field measurements and comparing fire behavior for undamaged stands and hurricane-damaged stands in...

Although mostly occurring as associate tree species in forest communities, Persea has a wide native distribution in southeast coastal plains (Shearman and others 2015). Laurel wilt disease (LWD) is a lethal vascular infection of trees in the laurel family (Lauraceae) caused by the fungus Raffaelea lauricola (Fraedrich and others 2008). The fungus is vectored by a nonnative ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus), which was first recorded in the United States in 2002 (Rabaglia and others 2006). Laurel wilt disease was first reported in 2003 in redbay (P. borbonia), and has since spread...

Understanding the impacts of mountain pine beetle (MPB; Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) on fire behavior is important from both an ecological and land management viewpoint. However, numerous uncertainties exist in the linkages of MPB-caused treemortality to changes in canopy and surface fuels (e.g., fuel loading, arrangement, and availability) and the effects on simulated and observed fire behavior in MPB-attacked forests. Current fuel inputs to fire behavior models may be poorly suited to predict fire behavior in these disturbed forests because of inappropriate assumptions, resolutions,...

Spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis) is the primary mortality agent of mature spruce species in Western North America (Jenkins and others 2014a, Schmid and Frye 1977). The species preferentially colonizes hosts with reduced defenses, including diseased trees or downed material produced by wind events, snow avalanches, and landslides, as well as trees affected by abiotic stressors, such as high temperature, drought, and/or fire. The majority of colonization of live spruce occurs following downed tree disturbances in mature spruce forests. Outbreaks modify stand structure and composition...

As forest communities continue to experience interactions between climate change and shifting disturbance regimes, there is anincreased need to link ecological understanding to applied management. Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) and limber pine (P. flexilis) are important high-elevation five-needle pines in the central and northern Rocky Mountains. Populations of both species face considerable challenges from mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), and successional displacement resulting from altered natural disturbance regimes.

A typology of urban vacant land was developed, using Roanoke, Virginia, as the study area. A comprehensive literature review, field measurements and observations, including photographs, and quantitative based approach to assessing vacant land forest structure and values (i-Tree Eco sampling) were utilized, along with aerial photo interpretation, and ground-truthing methods, to identify and catalog vacant parcels of land.; The following types of urban vacant land were identified: post-industrial (3.34 km²), derelict (4.01 km²), unattended with vegetation (17.3 km²), natural (2.78 km²), and...

Quantifying the forest water budget is fundamental to making science-based forest management decisions. This study aimed at developing an improved water budget for the El Yunque National Forest (ENF) in Puerto Rico, one of the wettest forests in the United States. We modified an existing monthly scale water balance model, Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI), to reflect location watershed conditions, by incorporating a new empirical evapotranspiration (ET) equation derived from global eddy covariance data for rainforests. Modeling results indicated that the mean water yield was about 1795 mm...