Treesearch

Wildfires have significant effects on human populations worldwide. Smoke pollution, in particular, from either prescribed burns or uncontrolled wildfires, can have profound health impacts, such as reducing birth weight in children and aggravating respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. Scarcity in the measurements of particulate matter responsible for these public health issues makes addressing the problem of smoke dispersion challenging, especially when fires occur in remote regions. Previous research has shown that in the case of the 2014 King fire in California, crowdsourced data can...

The principal findings of the tenth forest survey of Alabama (2015) and changes that have occurred since the previous surveysare presented. Topics examined include forest area, ownership, forest-type groups, stand structure, basal area, timber volume,growth removals, and mortality. Alabama’s contribution to the Nation’s forest resources and regional comparisons are detailed.

Whether intentionally or accidentally introduced, non-native woody plants now feature prominently in many ecosystems throughout the world. The dying and deadwood produced by these plants represent novel resources for saproxylic insects, but their suitability to these organisms remains poorly understood. We herein review existing knowledge about the utilization of non-native wood species by saproxylic insect communities and also provide several previously unpublished case studies from the USA, Germany, Portugal/Spain, and New Zealand. The first case study suggests that the relative number...

This article uses research about non-timber forest products (NTFP) gathering in Seattle, Washington, USA to examine how people gain access to natural resources in urban environments. Our analysis focuses on gathering in three spaces: parks, yards, and public rights of way. We present a framework for conceptualizing access, and highlight cognitive mechanisms of access associated with foragers’ internal moral judgments about harvesting. Key findings are: (1) internal moral calculations about whether it is right or wrong to harvest a particular NTFP in a particular place are an important but...

Bioenergy development in the Southern United States was said to promise a future with renewable energy, energy independence, expanded wood markets, and rural development. We view this vision of wood-based bioenergy as a sociotechnical imaginary involving a future where energy and rural development needs are met using sustainably-harvested local resources. While this vision has led to bioenergy development, it has not been universally shared and counter-narratives have circulated. Local people receive multiple messages and have diverse experiences with bioenergy, which affect how they...

Spilogale putorius (Eastern Spotted Skunk) is an increasingly rare species undergoing population declines throughout many portions of its range. We incidentally captured Eastern Spotted Skunks in snake traps during a study examining effects of woodland restoration on herpetofauna in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. We used extensive habitat data collected at each trap site to determine potential characteristics of sites where Eastern Spotted Skunks were more likely to occur during summer. We recorded 18 Eastern Spotted Skunk captures in 10 of our 36 drift-fence traps. Capture rates of...

The effects of mating status, sex, beetle age, host quality, temperature, and wind speed on the propensity of Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) to take flight were evaluated using a free flight test in the laboratory. Time to initiate flight, the angle of flight, and flight capability (when beetles were enticed to take flight) were also evaluated. Host quality, mating status, beetle age, sex, temperature, and the interactions between one or more of these were all found to be significant predictors of flight in A. glabripennis in one or more of the experiments...

Because forest tree species face serious threats including insect and disease epidemics, climate change, and forest fragmentation and conversion, prioritizing species and forests for conservation is an essential management goal. This paper describes a species prioritization approach that incorporates both the rarity of species, because of the increased vulnerability associated with rare species, and their evolutionary distinctiveness (ED), a measure of evolutionary originality. Rarity and ED scores, and scores for the two combined, were calculated for 352 North American forest tree...

Matsucoccus macrocicatrices Richards (Hemiptera: Matsucoccidae) is the only species within this genus that feeds and reproduces on eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.), and at the time of its description, was not observed or known to cause serious damage. With eastern white pine dieback occurring extensively throughout the Appalachian Mountains, researchers are now in search of the contributors to this dieback phenomenon. Since its recent discovery (2007) far outside its historical range, M. macrocicatrices, and cankers associated with Caliciopsis pinea Peck, are regularly present on...

Cogongrass [Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.] is an invasive grass in the southeastern United States, and its impacts strongly affect the region, especially Florida. Herbicide strategies have been limited to glyphosate in natural areas and imazapyr in managed pine forests and non-crop areas where its soil residual activity is of less concern. This lack of options has raised concern for herbicide resistance, which has never been documented for I. cylindrica. Land managers have also reported variable I. cylindrica control, especially with glyphosate. To determine whether herbicide resistance...