Treesearch

In the shelterwood-burn technique, a moderate- to high-intensity growing-season prescribed fire is essential to achieve desired oak regeneration goals. These levels of fire intensity are dependent on the increased fuel loadings created by the preceding first removal cut. However, the loadings of forest fuels and their fluctuation during implementation of the shelterwood-burn technique have not been studied. From 1994 to 1997, three mature uncut oak stands, three oak shelterwoods, and three burned oak shelterwoods in central Virginia were examined to determine fuel loadings before, during,...

Mastication is an increasingly common fuels treatment that redistributes ‘‘ladder’’ fuels to the forest floor to reduce vertical fuel continuity, crown fire potential, and fireline intensity. Despite its widespread adoption, it remains unclear how mastication impacts fuels, fire behavior, or plant communities across Southeastern forest ecosystems. We evaluated these effects by reviewing studies conducted across Southeastern pine forests. Mastication is typically applied to reduce fire hazard prior to reintroducing fire to long-unburned sites and to promote desired herbaceous groundcover...

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data were summarized for southeastern U.S. counties which had their centroids within coastal watersheds (8-digit HUCs).

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests are fire-dependent ecosystems because frequent surface fires prevent other species from being recruited into the canopy. The successful recruitment of longleaf pine has been attributed mainly to its unique fire adaptation – the grass stage. It is commonly believed that, while in the grass stage, longleaf pine seedlings build carbon reserves in the taproot, and this reserve is then mobilized to support fast height growth so that the apical meristem can quickly elevate above flame height. Based on this perception, we hypothesize that when...

Prescribed fire is being used more frequently as a component of regeneration treatments in accordance with silvicultural guidelines developed to sustain and increase oak reproduction. A shelterwoodburn study was initiated in response to declining oak importance in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. To remove a non-oak midstory, the study site was prescribe burned twice preceding the first removal cut of a two-cut shelterwood regeneration method that occurred in 2009/2010. A third burn occurred in April 2014 to mitigate the development of non-oak species that dominated the site four...

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) (33 U.S.C. 1344) authorizes the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to issue permits, after notice and opportunity for public hearing, for the discharge of dredged or fill material into the waters of the United States at specified disposal sites. Under the CWA, it is unlawful to discharge dredged or fill material into waters of the United States without first receiving authorization from the Corps, unless the discharge is covered under an exemption.

The most recent study (2004 – 2009) on the status and trends of wetlands in the coastal watersheds of the US indicates a connection between forested wetland loss and areas being used for silviculture.

Silviculture activities in wetlands involving discharges of dredge and/or fill material have been exempt from Clean Water Act (CWA) permits after the 1975 amendments to the CWA which were phased in by July 1977.

Utah juniper was a foundational species for the discipline of dendrochronology, having been used in the early 20th Century investigations of Mesa Verde, but has been largely ignored by dendrochronologists since. Here we present dendrochronological investigations of Utah juniper core and cross-sectional samples from four sites in northern Utah. We demonstrate that, contrary to the general opinion among many dendrochronologists, Utah juniper exhibits excellent crossdating that is reflective of its sensitivity to climate - a desirable characteristic for dendroclimate reconstruction. Across...

Little is known about the harvest of nontimber forest products (NTFPs) in state forests of the US South. We asked the state forestry agencies in all 13 southern states about the products harvested and the policies regulating harvest, as well as evidence of illegal harvest and the effects of harvest on biodiversity. Of the 12 southern states that have state forests, 7 allow some harvest of NTFPs and 6 of those have evidence of illegal harvesting. The most common products cited were pine straw, pine cones, and live plants used for transplants into nurseries and landscaping. Only two states...