Treesearch

The Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky), threatens urban and forest hardwood trees both where introduced and in parts of its native range. Native to Asia, this beetle has hitchhiked several times in infested wood packaging used in international trade, and has established breeding populations in five U.S. states, Canada, and at least 11 countries in Europe. It has a broad host range for a cerambycid that attacks living trees, but in the introduced ranges it prefers maples. Identification, classification, and life history of this insect are reviewed here. Eradicati...

Witness trees provide information fundamental for restoration ecology, often serving as baselines for forest composition and structure. Furthermore, when categorized by fire relations, witness trees can shed light on past disturbance regimes. Kriging was applied to witness-tree point data to form a contiguous surface of pyrophilic percentage for four national forests in the northeastern United States. Fire was found to be an important disturbance agent on the Allegheny and Finger Lakes National Forests, often corresponding to large river systems and lakesides where Native American activitie...

The degree to which tree species will shift in response to climate change is uncertain yet critical to understand for assessing ecosystem vulnerability. We analyze results from recent studies that model potential tree species habitat across the eastern United States during the coming century. Our goals were to quantify and spatially analyze habitat projections and their congruence under multiple climate scenarios and to assess the implications of habitat change for forest vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in and around protected areas. We assessed habitat projections of...

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...