Treesearch

Silvicultural practices and human-induced alterations to natural disturbance regimes have contributed to a dramatic decline in shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) across most of the Upper West Gulf Coastal Plain (UWGCP). The increased preference for faster-growing loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) in natural-origin stands, coupled with the spread of loblolly plantations and less fire on the landscape, have selected against shortleaf pine. While many are interested in reversing shortleaf’s decline, remarkably little is known about the composition and structure of historical UWGCP natural-origin pine...

Shortleaf pine woodland communities were more extensive in the southeastern Missouri Ozarks prior to Euro-American settlement than today. In 2000, the Missouri Department of Conservation initiated a shortleaf pine woodland restoration project on state land in the Ozarks of southeast Missouri at an area called the Midco Pine Flats Restoration Area. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate shortleaf pine woodland restoration efforts at Midco over the 14-year period from 2000-2013. Our analysis suggested that treatments impacting both the overstory and understory, including mechanical...

A study was established in North Carolina to evaluate the viability of underplanting shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) seedlings beneath a residual hardwood overstory as a method of reestablishing the shortleaf pine component to Central Appalachian Piedmont sites. Twenty-eight treatment plots were harvested to retain one of four residual overstory basal areas (RBA): 0, 15, 30, or 45 square feet per acre. Three shortleafpine stock types were established within the RBA treatment plots; bareroot stock (BR), and containerized stock with small plugs (SP), and large plugs (LP). Overstory...

The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) is implementing a demonstration project in the Albemarle Sound for the National Monitoring Network for U.S. coastal waters and their tributaries. The goal of the National Monitoring Network is to provide information about the health of our oceans and coastal ecosystems and inland influences on coastal waters for improved resource management.

Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) ecosystem restoration has been a major management goal in the Ouachita National Forest since the early to mid-1990s. Restoration efforts have focused on periodic prescribed burning and thinning operations to restore disturbance dependent vegetation communities suitable for the recovery of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, as well as other species able to utilize open forests and woodlands. Questions exist about how frequent burning will affect recruitment of shortleaf pine regeneration into larger age and size classes. Determining shortleaf...

Climate change has emerged as a key issue facing agriculture and water resources in the US. Long-term (1968-2012) temperature, precipitation and streamflow data from a small (7.3 km2) watershed in east-central Pennsylvania was used to examine climatic and hydrologic trends in the context of recent climate change. Annual mean temperatures increased 0.38°C per decade, which led to an expansion of the growing season, and increased evapotranspiration (+37.1 mm per decade). Additionally, mean annual precipitation also increased while the overall change in streamflow decreased. In general, the...

The Walnut Gulch LTAR builds on and advances 60 years of research on the USDA-ARS Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed surrounding the town of Tombstone in southeast Arizona. Instrumentation on the watershed was initiated in 1953 and currently approximately 149 square kilometers of semiarid rangeland are monitored and serve as an outdoor laboratory. The watershed is a tributary to the upper San Pedro Basin that drains northward spanning the Mexico-U.S. border.

The Southern Plains (SP) site of the Long Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network is headquartered at the USDA-ARS Grazinglands Research Laboratory (GRL) in El Reno, Oklahoma. The GRL was established in 1948. A long-term watershed and climate research program was established in the Little Washita River Experimental Watershed (LWREW) in 1961 and in the Fort Cobb Reservoir Experimental Watershed (FCREW) in 2004 (Steiner and others 2014). The GRL mission is to develop technologies, management strategies, and tools to evaluate and manage risks and tradeoffs for integrated crop, forage, and...

Post oak (Quercus stellata) is a commonly occurring tree in the southeastern United States, offering forage and shelter for a variety of wildlife as well as having commercial uses. This species is often planted in parks and urban green-spaces for the shade it offers. Previous studies have found that parts of the plant can be toxic to livestock and that it can inhibit the germination and/or growth of plant species in its vicinity. This study focuses on the allelopathic potential of post oak in an urban, old growth forest. Post oak was selected subsequent to an understory inventory of plant...

Sap flux sensors are an important tool for estimating tree-level transpiration in forested and urban ecosystems around the world. Thermal dissipation (TD) or Granier-type sap flux probes are among the most commonly used due to their reliability, simplicity, and low cost.