Treesearch

While current weather patterns and rapidly accelerated changes in technology often focus attention on short-term trends in agriculture, the fundamental demands on modern agriculture to meet society food, feed, fuel and fiber production while providing the foundation for a healthy environment requires long-term perspective. The Long- Term Agroecoystem Research Network was established by USDA to ensure sustained crop and livestock production and ecosystem services from agriculture, as well as to forecast and verify the effects of environmental trends, public policies, and emerging technologie...

Climate models project decreased soil water availability in the southeastern United States, which may impact loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) productivity. In conjunction with an interdisciplinary project known as PINEMAP, the objective of this study was to investigate the interactive effects of fertilization and a 30 percent reduction in throughfall on physiological characteristics that affect forest productivity. Stand growth, leaf area index (LAI) and leaf physiology were monitored over three years of treatment. Only the most recent preliminary results are presented here for June 2014....

Interpreting storm-event runoff in coastal plain watersheds is challenging because of the space- and time-variable nature of different sources that contribute to stream flow. These flow vectors and the magnitude of water flux is dependent on the pre-storm soil moisture (as estimated from depth to water table) in the lower coastal plain (LCP) region.

In the face of dual pressures in coastal South Carolina - residential and commercial development, along with potential climate change impacts - stakeholders need clear, accurate, relevant, and easily-accessible information for effective decision-making for watershed management and natural resource protection.

Evaluating hydrology within coastal marine terrace features has always been problematic as watershed boundaries and stream detail are difficult to determine in low gradient terrain with dense bottomland forests. Various studies have improved hydrologic detail using USGS Topographic Contour Maps (Hansen 2001, Eidson and others 2005) or Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) in gullied piedmont terrain (James and others 2007), and the Maryland coastal plain (Lang and others 2012). Research within Turkey Creek subwatershed near Huger, SC used LIDAR and field verification to estimate the size of...

Globalization is triggering an increase in the establishment of alien insects in Europe, with several species having substantial ecological and economic impacts. We investigated long-term changes in rates of species spread following establishment. We used the total area of countries invaded by 1171 insect species for which the date of first record in Europe is known, to estimate their current range radius (calculated as [invaded area]0.5/π). We estimated initial rates of radial spread and compared them among different groups of insects for all years (1800-2014) and for a subset ofmore...

Natural resource policymakers and planners increasingly rely on regional and national-level spatial data describing projections of future housing growth, to anticipate development impacts on natural resources and identify policy and planning needs. Such projections have not always been well-grounded in demographic and other factors that influence population and thus housing growth. We develop an empirical model describing population change and housing growth in the rural Midwestern U.S., as a function of demographic transition, socioeconomic factors, and natural amenities. The empirical...

A simulation study was conducted to determine the impacts of minor drainage for silvicultureon wetland hydrology.

Minor drainage is normally used to facilitate regeneration and timber harvesting by temporarily removing surface water from inundated forestland. Specific ditch depth and spacing recommendations are not listed in our manual, as each site is individually evaluated.

Earth's climate is changing, as evidenced by warming temperatures, increased temperature variability, fluctuating precipitation patterns, and climate-related environmental disturbances. And with considerable uncertainty about the future, Forest Service land managers are now considering climate change adaptation in their planning efforts. They want practical approaches to managing forests and rangelands that will sustain key ecosystem functions, services, and critical habitats in the face of climate change. Climate change studies are proliferating, and locating pertinent information, as it...