Treesearch

This publication is part of a series of research notes that provide an overview of the invasive plant species monitored on an extensive systematic network of plots measured by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station (NRS). Each research note features one of the invasive plants monitored on forested plots by NRS FIA in the 24 states of the midwestern and northeastern United States. Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), a shrub of the Oleaster family (Elaeagnaceae), is native to eastern Asia and arrived in the United States in the...

Total consumption of wood and paper products and fuelwood, in roundwood equivalents, increased between 1965 and 1988 from 13.3 to 19.6 billion cubic feet per year. Since 1988, it has been about 20 billion cubic feet per year. Total per capita consumption increased between 1965 and 1988, 68 to 80 ft3 per year. Since 1988 through 2011, per capita consumption has declined 42 ft3 per year. Consumption excluding fuelwood increased steadily between 1965 and 1988, from 12.3 to 16.8 billion cubic feet, before flattening out between 1989 and 2007. Per capita consumption, excluding fuelwood, has...

Samples of bark and logs damaged by bark beetles were collected from 16 states of Mexico from 2007 to 2012. Fifteen bark beetle species were found within the bark and log samples and were examined for phoretic mites and arthropod associates. Thirty-three species of mesostigmatid mites were discovered within the samples. They were identified in several trophic guilds based on the mites’ feeding habits if known. Over half of the 33 mite species were found to be predators feeding on arthropods or nematodes, with the most voracious mites in this study being Dendrolaelaps quadrisetus, Hypoaspis...

The health, sustainability, and commercial viability of eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra) are currently under threat from thousand cankers disease. The disease is caused by an invasive bark beetle species, the walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis), and its associated fungal pathogen (Geosmithia morbida). Range expansion of the beetle and pathogen has likely been facilitated by transport of infested walnut forest products. Preventing colonization of these products is crucial to limiting further spread of thousand cankers disease. This study evaluated three insecticides for their...

An ecological vegetation classification approach has been developed in which a combination of vegetation attributes (physiognomy, structure, and floristics) and their response to ecological and biogeographic factors are used as the basis for classifying vegetation types. This approach can help support international, national, and subnational classification efforts. The classification structure was largely developed by the Hierarchy Revisions Working Group (HRWG), which contained members from across the Americas. The HRWG was authorized by the U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)...

We conducted studies to assess the impact of traditional fire management on soil organic carbon and total nitrogen pools. We compared organic carbon and total nitrogen pools in forest floor and mineral soil (0–100-cm depth) in three areas burned by local communities (B) with adjacent unburned areas (UB) (three paired sites; 1, 5 and 9 years since fire; hereafter B1-UB, B5-UB and B9-UB) in a montane forest in southern Ethiopia. Despite differences in time since fire and dominant post-fire vegetation, forest floor and mineral soil organic carbon and total nitrogen concentrations and pools...

Reforesting degraded urban landscapes is important due to the many benefits urban forests provide. Urban soils are highly variable, yet little is known about how this variability in urban soils influences tree seedling performance and survival. We conducted a greenhouse study to assess health, growth, and survival of four native tree species growing in native glacial till, coal ash, urban fill, and sandy clean fill soils collected from urban forest restoration sites in New York City. Using a multifactorial design, nine replicates of silver maple (Acer saccharinum), black birch (Betula...

This publication provides an overview of the 2013 U.S. housing market, including updated information and data, and is part of an ongoing series of quarterly and annual housing reports that provide historical information on housing permits, starts, houses under construction, and completions. In addition, short briefs present information regarding house sales, construction spending and economic impact, demographics, affordability and financing, wood usage in housing, types of housing, and other factors that affect the U.S. housing market. The purpose of this series of reports is to present...

The number of studies evaluating the quality and content of many types of plans have grown in recent decades. Natural resource conservation plans have been included in some of these plan evaluation studies; however, no meta-analysis of natural resource planning literature has been conducted. This focus is needed because natural resource conservation planning differs from other types (e.g., hazards mitigation, urban planning), in that planners often come from natural resource backgrounds, must plan in compliance with federal and state planning mandates, and typically operate under the...

The economic and social effects of drought are diverse and related to physical characteristics of drought, including spatial extent, severity, duration, and frequency that combine to determine drought’s overall effects on society. Most of the attention given to economic and social impacts of drought focuses on adverse consequences, but technology, public policies, economic activity, and social systems are largely adapted to the historical occurrence of drought-at least within the normal range. This chapter covers traditional impacts from drought, and also highlights possible adaptations,...