Treesearch

Bird habitat quality is often inferred from species abundance measures during the breeding and non-breeding season and used for conservation management decisions. However, during the non-breeding season age and sex classes often occupy different habitats which suggest a need for more habitat-specific data. Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) is a forested wetland specialist wintering in bottomland hardwood forests in the south-eastern U. S. and belongs to the most steeply declining songbirds in the U.S. Little information is available to support priority birds such as the Rusty Blackbird...

The first nearly cryptic species of scorpionfly from the United States, Strong>Panorpa cryptica Bicha and Schiff, n. sp., is described from northern Georgia, southwestern North Carolina and northwestern South Carolina. This insect was initially differentiated from the very similar Panorpa nebulosa Westwood by its unique cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) mitochondrial DNA. Habitat details, distribution, and biology are described.

The mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa) is notably the most primitive North American rodent with a restricted distribution in the Pacific Northwest based on its physiological limits to heat stress and water needs. The Point Arena subspecies (A. r. nigra) is federally listed as endangered and is 1 of 2 subspecies that have extremely small and disjunct distributions, putting the taxon at risk from habitat loss and warming global temperatures. We sought to understand their range-wide distribution, to predict the environmental features that best describe their occurrence, and to establish a...

Pondberry (Lindera melissifolia(Walter) Blume) is an endangered dioecious, clonal shrub that grows in periodically flooded forests of the southeastern United States. The probability of survival of dispersed pondberry seeds and new germinants is unknown, but few seedlings are noted in the forest. This study was undertaken to: (1) identify herbivores and predators of pondberry seeds and seedlings, (2) record the fate of pondberry seeds and seedlings after simulated dispersal in areas with lower and higher understory cover, and (3) calculate the probability of seed survival in the two cover...

Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea) are Nearctic-Neotropic migrants that have experienced declining populations over the past 50 yr. Determining their migration routes and wintering areas are critical steps in identifying habitats used by species and populations of conservation concern. We captured a male Prothonotary Warbler on its breeding territory in Louisiana in June 2013 and attached a geolocator. We recaptured this male in March 2014 and analysis of the geolocator data revealed that the male traveled an estimated 7950 km through seven countries. Fall migration was characteriz...

Background: Nearly 40 years of research provides an extensive body of evidence about human health, well-being, and improved function benefits associated with experiences of nearby nature in cities. Objectives: We demonstrate the numerous opportunities for future research efforts that link metro nature, human health and well-being outcomes, and economic values. Methods: We reviewed the literature on urban nature-based health and well-being benefits. In this review, we provide a classification schematic and propose potential economic values associated with metro nature services. Discussion:...

The annual national report of the Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, presents forest health status and trends from a national or multi-State regional perspective using a variety of sources, introduces new techniques for analyzing forest health data, and summarizes results of recently completed Evaluation Monitoring projects funded through the FHM national program. In this 14th edition in a series of annual reports, survey data are used to identify geographic patterns of forest insect and disease activity. Satellite data are...

Inter-annual variability (IAV) of forest Net Primary Productivity (NPP) is a function of both extrinsic (e.g., climate) and intrinsic (e.g., stand dynamics) drivers. As estimates of NPP in forests are scaled from trees to stands to the landscape, an understanding of the relative effects of these factors on spatial and temporal behavior of NPP is important. Although a high degree of spatial coherence (i.e., the degree of spatial synchrony over time) is often assumed, this inherent behavior is rarely examined. Quantifying this term may improve future predictions as site-level estimates are...

First-year tree seedlings represent a particularly vulnerable life stage and successful seedling establishment is crucial for forest regeneration. We investigated the extent to which Pinus ponderosa P. & C. Lawson populations from different climate zones exhibit differential expression of functional traits that may facilitate their establishment. Seeds from two populations from sites with contrasting precipitation and temperature regimes east (PIPOdry) and west (PIPOmesic) of the Oregon Cascade mountains were sown in a common garden experiment and grown under two water availability...

Within the days and weeks following a catastrophic weather event, governmental forestry agencies often implement aerial reconnaissance missions to delineate damage zones. These initial rapid assessments are sometimes followed by on-the-ground surveys in order to verify the rapid assessments and more precisely quantify damage. When aerial or on-the-ground surveys are not feasible, data collected by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, may be considered an alternative source of information to describe the extent and severity...