Treesearch

The Beetles of Michigan project started in 2019 when Bob and I were writing up the results of a beetle survey at Grass River Natural Area that we had done the two previous years (Haack and Ruesink 2020). We wanted to say if anything we found there was a new state record for Michigan, and we discovered that the most recent list of Michigan beetles was published in 1878 (Hubbard and Schwarz 1878). So, we decided to update their list and asked Gary Parsons to join us as a third investigator.

Background: Forest soils are a globally significant carbon-store, including in deep layers (> 30 cm depth). However, there is high uncertainty regarding the response of deep soil organic carbon (DSOC) to climate change and the resulting impact on the total OC budget for forest ecosystems. Managed forests have an opportunity to reduce the risk of DSOC loss with climate change, however, the basic understanding of DSOC is lacking. Planted forests in New Zealand are managed with very limited knowledge of DSOC, both in the amount and the capacity of the soil to continue to store carbon with...

Longstanding theories and models classify mineral-associated organic matter as the large ( ~ 60%) but slow-cycling and persistent portion of soil organic matter. Strong physico-chemical interactions and diffusion limitations restrict the turnover of mineral-associated organic matter, allowing carbon and nitrogen bound therein to persist in soil for as long as centuries to millennia. However, mineral associated organic matter is a chemically and functionally diverse pool with a substantial portion cycling at relatively fast (i.e., minutes to years) timescales. Despite a growing body of...

Nepal is highly vulnerable to severe soil erosion driven by monsoonal rainfall and rugged terrains. Limitations in ground observation networks have hindered comprehensive, high-resolution national assessment of precipitation and rainfall-runoff erosivity (R-factor) across Nepal. This study systematically evaluated eight global gridded precipitation datasets (GPDs) against data from 152 weather stations, identifying the optimal precipitation dataset (TPHiPr) representing Nepal’s complex topography. Based on this high-quality dataset, we provided the first independent, long-term (1979–2020),...

Elevated soil temperatures resulting from reintroduction of prescribed fire into long unburnt stands have been associated with unintended tree mortality. Several models exist to predict soil temperatures resulting from soil heating by fire; however, data to develop and validate these models are limited. A model to predict soil temperature at depths up to 25 inches (0.63 m) was developed from a data set from 46 prescribed burns in coniferous forests in national forests and parks in Arizona and California. Soil temperature was less than 140 °F (60 °C) at depths greater than 6 inches (0.15 m)...

The elm zigzag sawfly (EZS), Aproceros leucopoda Takeuchi (Hymenoptera: Argidae), is a rapidly spreading invasive defoliator threatening North American elms (Ulmus spp.). Native to East Asia, EZS has established itself across Europe and Russia and was first detected in North America in 2020. Its parthenogenetic reproduction, high fecundity, and multiple dispersal pathways facilitate rapid range expansion and by 2025, EZS had been documented in 14 U.S. states and 4 Canadian provinces. In North America, human-assisted dispersal via vehicles, wood products, and potentially nursery soil may...

Public land management relies on accurate visitor counts in order to understand and mitigate environmental impacts and to quantify the value of ecosystem services provided by natural areas. We build and test predictive visitation models suitable for publicly-managed parks, open space, and other protected lands based on multiple sources of digital mobility data including geotagged posts to social media platforms, community science observations, and a mobile device location dataset from a commercial vendor. Using observational visitation data series from the United States’ National Park...

Historical fire exclusion, intensive logging of large trees of fire-tolerant species, and even-aged management have contributed to widespread decline of mature/old-growth coniferous forests across the Western USA. To investigate silvicultural approaches for reducing disturbance risk while accelerating restoration of mature/old-growth forest characteristics, we used 20-year data from the Goosenest Adaptive Management Area study in Northern California, USA. Established to evaluate the alternatives for reducing fuels and accelerating the development of late-seral characteristics in ponderosa...

Many non-native tree species are recognized as problematic to ecosystems they have invaded, and subsequent control efforts have met with varying levels of success. Falcataria falcatais a fast-growing, N-fixing tree that has aggressively invaded landscapes across the Hawaiian Archipelago. Due to their ability to alter Hawaiʻi’s native forest ecosystems, large stature at maturity, and potential for catastrophic tree fall, F. falcatastands pose threats to Hawaiʻi’s native forests, residential communities, and agricultural lands. We investigated responses to chemical control of F. falcatastands...

Forest production chains grounded on applicable laws and regulations are essential for achieving sustainable forestry, circular economies, and climatic mitigation. In Puerto Rico, reactivating the forestry sector as a key player capable of providing ecosystem services, raw materials, and products can signficantly contribute to these goals through the sustainable development of local wood production. However, the lack of wood processing capacity and active managementfor forest products became evident following the hurricanes Irma and María in 2017, which downed large quantities of trees....