Treesearch

The objectives of this study were to determine if relative feed value or crude protein in seedling oak leaves was different between three central Wisconsin habitat type groupings. Seedling oak leaves of two species were collected from oak sites that represented either fully stocked or understocked conditions from three possible habitat type groupings: (1) Acer-Tilia-Fraxinus/Circaea/Acer-Quercus/Viburnum-Geranium variant, (2) Acer rubrum/Desmodium, and (3) Pinus/Euphorbia/Pinus/Vaccinium-Gaultheria. The leaves were analyzed for crude protein, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber,...

Wildlife populations are heavily influenced by food availability and predation rates. Changing the distribution of high quality food sources can often alter the distribution of wildlife populations. In particular, increases in food abundance can result in immigration; earlier breeding; and increased productivity, survival, and density of wildlife (Morris et al. 2011). Increases in prey abundance, however, may also lead to increases in predator densities, which can in turn decrease survival and increase emigration (Cooper and Ginnett 2000, Hamilton et al. 2002). Furthermore, predation risk...

Timber harvest has been implicated as a causative factor in the decline of amphibian populations and diversity in many areas of the world. The adoption of best management practices (BMPs) is intended to minimize the impacts of timber harvest on the biotic community, including amphibians and their habitat requirements. Herein, we synthesize the current scientific literature on the impact and effectiveness of BMPs in preventing population declines of stream-breeding salamanders and associated habitat loss in the eastern deciduous forests of North America. We frequently found sedimentation to...

Oak (Quercus spp.) regeneration has declined drastically over the past century in eastern deciduous forests predominantly because of decreased disturbance (i.e., fire). Many forests are undergoing mesophication, a positive feedback system that occurs within closed-canopy systems wherein shade-tolerant, late successional, mesic species such as maples (Acer spp.) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia) outcompete fire-adapted oak. The Central Hardwood region is predicted to be the first major system to convert to climax succession. Numerous neotropical migrant populations have declined in...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) in North Carolina and Tennessee now has an established elk (Cervus elaphus) population 10 years after reintroduction. Although elk typically elect more open habitat, elk in GSMNP are showing they are capable of doing well in predominantly forested habitats. Evaluating how the established herd of elk is using forested areas in GSMNP is important for the health and management of the elk, and for the protection of the diverse flora within the park.

The Central Hardwood region contains a mosaic of forests, woodlands, savannas, and other ecosystems that will increasingly be affected by a changing climate over the next century. Understanding potential impacts is important to sustaining healthy forests under changing conditions. The objectives of the Climate Change Response Framework (forestadaptation.org) are to develop partnerships among the science and management communities, assess climate change vulnerabilities, and provide tools to integrate climate change information into forest management.

Approximately 2.4 million acres of National Wildlife Refuge System lands are impacted by invasive plants and are the primary challenge for habitat management in the Central Hardwood region. In 2011, biologists, managers, and contracted support staff from six national wildlife refuges in southern Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri developed an adaptive management project to control 42 forest-adapted invasive plant species on refuge lands. Structured decisionmaking was used to identify and refine the management problem, objectives, and alternative management actions, and to assess consequences...

LANDFIRE maps of fire regime groups are frequently used by land managers to help plan and execute prescribed burns for ecosystem restoration. Since LANDFIRE maps are generally applicable at coarse scales, questions often arise regarding their utility and accuracy. Here, the two recently published products from West Virginia, a rule-based and a witness tree-based model, are compared to LANDFIRE fire regime groups. A cell-by-cell comparison of fire regime groups revealed a 56-percent correspondence between the rule-based map and LANDFIRE and a 61-percent correspondence with the witness...

Droughts are common in virtually all U.S. forests, but their frequency and intensity vary within forest ecosystems (Hanson and Weltzin 2000). Accounting for the long-term influence of droughts within a region is difficult due to variations in the spatial extent and intensities over a period. Therefore, we created a cumulative drought severity index (CDSI) (Fig. 1) for the United States using weighted monthly frequencies of Palmer Drought Severity Index values reported at climate divisions for the periods 1960 to 1986 and 1987 to 2013 (National Climate Data Center 2014, Palmer 1965). The...

This study evaluated the impacts of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), an invasive species, on soil microbial community dynamics in a pine plantation on sandy soils in central Illinois. In situ soil carbon dioxide efflux was significantly greater in invaded sites. Similarly, in vitro carbon mineralization was significantly greater for soils collected from invaded sites, but only early in the incubation period. Incubations with selective inhibitors showed a decrease in fungi relative to bacteria. Nitrogen-free selective agar plates inoculated with soil slurries supported greater numbers...