Treesearch

The National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) is conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program to increase the understanding of the attitudes, behaviors, and demographics of private forest and woodland ownerships across the United States. The information is intended to help policy makers, resource managers, educators, service providers, and others interested in the forest and woodland resources of the United States better understand the social context of these lands in order to facilitate more informed opinions and decisions. This report describes the design,...

This article explores the generation, transmission, and nature of ecological knowledge used by tribal and nontribal natural resource management agency personnel who collectively manage a 666,542-acre forest in northern Minnesota. Using key informant interviews and an adapted grounded theory analysis, we documented the forms of knowledge participants expressed in their descriptions of the forest and forest management, including traditional and western scientific ecological knowledge. We found that study participants across agencies use multiple forms of knowledge, that this knowledge is...

Silvopasture is an agroforestry practice where livestock, forage, and timber are managed on the same parcel of land. The most common form of agroforestry in the Southeastern US is silvopasture. According to the most recent USDA Census of Agriculture, six of the top ten states in the Nation that report that they practice alley cropping or silvopasture are southern. Southern pines are well suited for use in silvopasture systems because of their relative ease of establishment and shorter rotation length. Considerable work has been completed to examine the suitability of southern pines such as...

Determining the degree of risk that wildfires pose to homes, where across the landscape the risk originates, and who can best mitigate risk are integral elements of effective co-management of wildfire risk. Developing assessments and tools to help provide this information is a high priority for federal land management agencies such as the US Forest Service (USFS) that have limited resources to invest in hazardous fuel reduction and other mitigation activities. In this manuscript we investigate the degree to which fuel management practices on USFS land can reduce wildfire exposure to human...

Bottomland hardwood (BLH) forests represent an extensive wetland system in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley and southeastern USA, and it is currently undergoing widespread transition in species composition. One such transition involves increased establishment of sugarberry (Celtis laevigata), and decreased establishment of overcup oak (Quercus lyrata). The ecological mechanisms that control this transition are not well understood. We measured monthly diameter growth with dendrometer bands on 86 sugarberry and 42 overcup oak trees at eight sites in the floodplain of the White River (AR, USA)...

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Nebraska based on inventories conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the Northern Research Station. For annual inventory years 2001-2013, the sample length was equal to 5 years. Beginning in 2014, the cycle length was changed to 7 years. For the 2015 inventory, estimates for current variables such as area, volume, and biomass are based on 8,243 field plot samples collected from 2010-2015. Change variables, such as net growth, removals, and mortality, are based on 8,231 samples...

This research evaluated the influence of different washing treatments (i.e., tap water, ozone, microbubbles, and ozone combined with microbubbles) on post-harvest decay of chestnuts (Castanea crenata ‘Tsukuba’) during storage. Overall, treatments with ozone and microbubbles significantly reduced the decay frequency and the associated microbial populations (aerobic bacteria, mold/filamentous fungi, and yeasts) during post-harvest storage compared with the traditional practice (tap water washing). Enhancing the efficacy of chestnut washing treatments will contribute to the improved storage...

The impact of roads on the flora and fauna of Neotropical rainforest is perhaps the single biggest driver of habitat modification and population declines in these ecosystems. We investigated the road-edge effect of a low-use dirt road on amphibian and reptile abundance, diversity, and composition within adjacent lowland Amazonian rainforest at San José de Payamino, Ecuador. The road has been closed to vehicle traffic since its construction in 2010. Thus, effects from vehicle mortality, vehicle-related pollution, and road noise were not confounding factors. Herpetofauna were surveyed using...

In forest stands, there is always a background of growth, senescence, and death of individual trees. There also is always some type of disturbance, from simple and constant events, such as wind, to more intensive and dynamic events, like a timber harvest. Hardwood stands are composed of multiple species, and these species respond differently to disturbance, depending on the age and size of each individual. So, when a stand is disturbed, you must consider not only the species but other factors as well. Every time a hardwood stand is disturbed (either via commercial harvest or other intermedi...

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Iowa based on inventories conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design and are updated yearly. For annual inventory years in Iowa 1999-2013, the cycle length was equal to 5 years. In 2014, NRS-FIA changed to a 7-year inventory cycle, wherein 1/7th (14.3 percent) of the plots will be measured annually until 2020.This...