Treesearch

The European winter moth, Operophtera brumata, is a non-native pest in the Northeastern USA causing defoliation of forest trees and crops such as apples and blueberries. This species is known to hybridize with O. bruceata, the Bruce spanworm, a native species across North America, although it is not known if there are hybrid generations beyond F1. To study winter moth population genetics and hybridization with Bruce spanworm, we developed two sets of genetic markers, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and microsatellites, using genomic approaches. Both types of markers were validated...

The critical role streamside riparian zones play in mitigating the movement of nitrogen (N) and other elements from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems could be threatened by residential development in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Many studies have investigated the influence of agriculture on N loading to streams but less is known about the impacts of residential development. Here we consider the dynamics of changing riparian land use in the southern Appalachians that includes increased residential development at the expense of both forests and agriculture. We hypothesized that...

Reproductive sterility, which can be obtained by manipulating floral organ identity genes, is an important tool for gene containment of genetically engineered trees. In Arabidopsis, AGAMOUS (AG) is the only C-class gene responsible for both floral meristem determinacy and floral organ identity, and its mutations produce sterility. As a first step in an effort to develop transgenic sterile black ash (Fraxinus nigra), an AG ortholog in black ash (FnAG) was isolated using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and rapid amplification of cDNA ends. Analysis of the deduced amino acid...

We tested whether a general spread model could capture macroecological patterns across all damaging invasive forest pests in the United States. We showed that a common constant dispersal kernel model, simulated from the discovery date, explained 67.94% of the variation in range size across all pests, and had 68.00% locational accuracy between predicted and observed locational distributions. Further, by making dispersal a function of forest area and human population density, variation explained increased to 75.60%, with 74.30% accuracy. These results indicated that a single general dispersal...

Context Biological invasions are among the greatest global and regional threats to biomes in the Anthropocene. Islands, in particular, have been perceived to have higher vulnerability to invasions. Because of the dynamic nature of ongoing invasions, distinguishing regional patterns from global patterns and their underlying determinants remains a challenge. Objectives We aim to comparatively examine global versus regional patterns of plant invasions and the possible underlying mechanisms. We also test whether there is a difference in degree of invasion and invasibility between mainland...

The relationship between native and exotic richness has mostly been studied with respect to space (i.e., positive at larger scales, but negative or more variable at smaller scales) and its temporal patterns have rarely been investigated. Although some studies have monitored the temporal trends of both native and exotic richness, how these two groups of species might be related to each other and how their relative proportions vary through time in a local community remains unclear. Re-analysis of early post-fire successional data for a California chaparral community shows that, in the same...

Logistic regression models combined with Bayesian inference were developed to predict locations and quantify factors that influence the siting of biomass-using facilities that use woody biomass in the Southeastern United States. Predictions were developed for two groups of mills, one representing larger capacity mills similar to pulp and paper mills (Group II), and another group of smaller capacity mills similar to the size of sawmills (Group I). “Median Family Income,” “Road Density,” “Slope,” “Timberland Annual Growth-to-Removal Ratio,” and “Forest Land-Area Ratio” were highly significant...

This paper presents an analysis of 3-dimensional engineered structural panels (3DESP) made from wood-fiber-based laminated paper composites. Since the existing models for calculating the mechanical behavior of core configurations within sandwich panels are very complex, a new simplified orthogonal model (SOM) using an equivalent element has been developed. This model considers both linear and nonlinear geometrical effects when used to analyze the mechanical properties of 3DESP by transforming repeated elements from a tri-axial ribbed core for bending. Two different conditions were studied...

This paper serves as documentation for the General Equilibrium Model of Ecosystem Services (GEMES). GEMES is a regional computable general equilibrium model that is composed of values derived from natural capital and ecosystem services. It models households, producing sectors, and governments, linked to one another through commodity and factor markets. GEMES was designed to model the typical resource-dependent economy, and so it has several innovations not found in other general equilibrium models; for example, ecosystem services and natural capital are explicitly modeled, allowing for...

Native Americans have vital interests in promoting forest management decisions based on sound science and consistent with cultural values to sustain and conserve tribal natural resources. Advancing the next generation of natural resource professionals into key positions is essential to advance the self-determination of tribes; yet, there are unique challenges Native American students encounter when pursuing an advanced degree in natural resources. We formed an informal group of Native Americans who have been undergraduate and/or graduate students in natural resource fields to discuss their...