Treesearch

Ditched forest roads leading to stream crossings and used for log transportation have recently been a topic of water quality concern and legal controversy. Best management practices (BMPs) can reduce potential water quality issues, yet few research studies have quantified BMP costs and reductions in sediment from implementing specific ditch BMPs. Researchers reconstructed fifty 15.2 m sections of ditches at stream crossings or cross drains and applied one of five treatments. Treatments were replicated 10 times and split by two slope classes in a completely randomized design. Silt fence...

Several methods to quantify sediment deposition patterns in riparian forested wetlands have been used during recent decades. In this study, we used a dendrogeomorphic technique with green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) to estimate sediment accretion rates for two time periods (1881 to 2012 and 1987 to 2012) along a natural levee (35 m from river) and water tupelo-baldcypress (Nyssa aquatica-Taxodium distichum) backswamp (75 m from river) adjacent to the Tensaw River in southwestern Alabama. Sediment accretion rates were significantly higher for the 1987 to 2012 time period along the natural...

The international Long-Term Soil Productivity experiment began in 1989 in response to the need for Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture managers to understand and monitor the impacts of forest management on site productivity given the expected increase in timber harvesting at the time. It grew to include many other cooperators across the U.S. and Canada and today represents the largest coordinated study of forest management and soil productivity in the world. Twenty-five years after its inception, the Gulf Coastal Plain locations provide many important findings and lessons for...

This assessment provides input to the reauthorized National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and the National Climate Assessment (NCA), and it establishes the scientific foundation needed to manage for drought resilience and adaptation. Focal areas include drought characterization; drought impacts on forest processes and disturbances such as insect outbreaks and wildfire; and consequences for forest and rangeland values. Drought can be a severe natural disaster with substantial social and economic consequences. Drought becomes most obvious when large-scale changes are observed;...

Laricobius nigrinus Fender (Coleoptera: Derodontidae) is a specialist predator of the hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), native to the Pacific Northwest. It has been introduced into the eastern United States for biological control of exotic hemlock woolly adelgid populations that threaten native hemlock. The possible role of olfactory cues in host finding by this predator has received little study. We used gas chromatography-electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) to test adult L. nigrinus olfactory sensitivity to volatiles from foliage of both adelgid-in...

The Chugach and Tongass National Forests are changing, possibly in response to global warming. Forested areas within Alaska's temperate rain forests are creeping into areas that were previously too cold or too wet. These forests are also becoming denser. As biomass increases, the amount of carbon stored in the forest also increases. Tara Barrett, a research forester with the U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, recently measured these changes. She and her colleagues compared Forest Inventory and Analysis survey data collected from 1995 to 2003 with follow-up inventories...

Modern public health challenges require inter- disciplinary solutions that integrate knowl- edge of human behavior and its complex relationship with the physical environment. Historically, this discourse was dominated by studies of hazards and other negative health consequences associated with human–environment interactions. However, growing evidence1 suggests that contact with green spaces (e.g., parks, forests, gardens) can be beneficial to physical and mental health. Despite these findings, integration of the natural environment into preventive medicine policy and practice has been slow.

We analyzed the relationship between crime and indicators of residential yard management in Baltimore City and County. Data came from a survey we conducted of over one thousand front yards that included more than 40 indicators relating to lawns, trees, shrubs, beds and other features. These indicators were related to point counts of crime at the 150 m scale using a combination of ordinary least squares, spatial error, and Poisson regressions. After controlling for income, population density, block-scale tree canopy, and housing type, we found a consistently significant relationship between...

Spread of the plant pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, causal agent of the forest disease sudden oak death, is driven by a few competent hosts that support spore production from foliar lesions. The relationship between traits of a principal foliar host, California bay laurel (Umbellularia californica), and susceptibility to P. ramorum infection were investigated with multiple P. ramorum isolates and leaves collected from multiple trees in leaf-droplet assays. We examined whether susceptibility varies with season, leaf age, or inoculum position. Bay laurel susceptibility was highest during...

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in North Dakota based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the North Dakota Forest Service. Estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design and are updated yearly. Information about the national and regional FIA program is available online at http://fia.fs.fed.us. For the 2015 inventory, estimates for current variables such as area, volume, and biomass are based on 7,594 plot...