Treesearch

The Central Asian flora plays a significant role in Eurasia and the Northern Hemisphere. Calophaca, a member of this flora, includes eight currently recognized species, and is centered in Central Asia, with some taxa extending into adjacent areas. A phylogenetic analysis of the genus utilizing nuclear ribosomal ITS and plastid trnS-trnG and rbcL sequences was carried out in order to confirm its taxonomic status and reconstruct its evolutionary history.

The goldspotted oak borer (GSOB), Agrilus auroguttatus Schaeffer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) (Figure 1), is a flatheaded phloem- and wood borer that infests and kills several species of oak (Fagaceae: Quercus) in California. One or more populations of GSOB were likely introduced via infested firewood into San Diego County, California from the native range in southeastern Arizona. Since its introduction to California, GSOB has expanded its range and has killed red oaks (Quercus Section Lobatae) nearly continuously across public and private lands.

The analysis in this article provides an update on the southern forest sector economic activity after the downturn experienced in 2008–2009. The analysis was conducted using Impact Analysis for Planning (IMPLAN) software and data sets for 2009 and 2011 and results from the USDA Forest Service Timber Products Output latest survey of primary wood processing mills. Although improving economic conditions are reflected by increased mill roundwood consumption during 2011, the forest industry’s economic contribution improved slightly but not across all states. At the regional scale, the sector...

The US Constitution provides that Native American tribes are sovereign-dependent nations and their interactions with the federal government, including the cession of the tribal lands that formed America, are governed by a complex set of treaties. For decades, federal law and public policies have defined the formal, legal relationship between agencies such as the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USDA FS) and federally recognized Indian tribes. However, this formalized partnership has never been an easy one, long strained by misunderstanding, misgivings, missed opportunities, and...

The ecological consequences of slash pile burning are a concern for land managers charged with maintaining forest soil productivity and native plant diversity. Fuel reduction and forest health management projects have created nearly 150,000 slash piles scheduled for burning on US Forest Service land in northern Colorado. The vast majority of these are small piles (

Wire-bound packaging crates are used by the US Army to transport materials. Because these crates may be exposed to harsh environments, they are dip-treated with a wood preservative (biocide treatment). For many years, zinc-naphthenate was the most commonly used preservative for these packaging crates and few corrosion problems with the wires were observed. Recently, copper based alternatives to zinc naphthenate have been used, and corrosion problems have been observed. Here, we present the results of laboratory corrosion testing of 10 different wood treatments to see which preservatives...

Sulfite pretreatment to overcome the recalcitrance of lignocelluloses (SPORL) was applied to poplar NE222 chips in a range of chemical loadings, temperatures, and times. The combined hydrolysis factor (CHF) as a pretreatment severity accurately predicted xylan dissolution by SPORL. Good correlations between CHF and pretreated solids enzymatic digestibility, sugar yield, and the formations of furfural and acetic acid were obtained. Therefore, CHF was used to balance sugar yield with the formation of fermentation inhibitors for high titer ethanol production without detoxification. The...

Cities around the world are facing an ever-increasing variety of challenges that seem to make more sustainable urban futures elusive. Many of these challenges are being driven by, and exacerbated by, increases in urban populations and climate change. Novel solutions are needed today if our cities are to have any hope of more sustainable and resilient futures. Because most of the environmental impacts of any project are manifest at the point of design, we posit that this is where a real difference in urban development can be made. To this end, we present a transformative model that merges...

Initializing forest landscape models (FLMs) to simulate changes in tree species composition requires accurate fine-scale forest attribute information mapped continuously over large areas. Nearest-neighbor imputation maps, maps developed from multivariate imputation of field plots, have high potential for use as the initial condition within FLMs, but the tendency for field plots to be imputed over large geographical distances can result in species being mapped outside of their home ranges, which is problematic. We developed an approach for evaluating and imputing field plots based on their...

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Missouri based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station (NRS) in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Estimates are based on field data collected using the annualized sample design and are updated yearly. The estimates presented in this update are for the inventory years 2009-2014 (2014) with comparisons made to 2005-2009 (2009). In 2014, NRS-FIA changed to a 7-year inventory cycle, wherein 1/7th (14.3 percent) of...