Treesearch

A 14-year old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantation approximately 5 acres in size was cut during August 2013 with a tracked feller-buncher. A grapple skidder transported trees from one-half of the tract to a landing where they were piled whole-tree. Remaining trees were left whole-tree in skidder bundles (small piles) in the stand. All trees were left on-site and allowed to dry for approximately 70 days. After the drying period disks were cut from trees selected from the outer, middle, and bottom zones of each pile size for moisture content determination. Disks were cut from the butt,...

Very few companies that purchase forest products accept untrimmed trees (whole-trees including limbs and tops). Those that do accept untrimmed trees have been doing so for decades. A potential benefit of hauling untrimmed trees is higher in-woods productivity due to less processing of the trees. Disadvantages for the logging contractor can include specialized trailers and more time spent trimming and binding loads. The mill benefits by receiving two products (pulpwood and fuel wood/hog fuel) on the same load. Disadvantages can include a more complicated process for setting the purchase...

The data for individual chipper and grinder production estimates were recorded with all the attributes available. If a study provided more than one production estimate and there was sufficient detail to describe each estimate, we entered multiple production estimates.

A time and motion study was performed on a skid steer equipped with a 14-inch tree shear attachment. The machine was used to install initial coppice harvesting treatments on three stands across the south. The study included one willow and two cottonwood sites. The stands averaged from 2 to 4 years old. Approximately 200 trees were shear harvested from each of the stands. This paper examines the operational characteristics for the felling operation.

There is an increasing interest in the establishment of plantations in the Southeast region with the objective of producing biomass for energy and fuel. Establishment of these plantations will require the development of a feasible way to harvest them. These types of plantations are called Short Rotation Woody Crops (SRWC). Popular SRWC species are Eucalypt (Eucalyptus spp.), Cottonwood (Populus deltoids) and Black Willow (Salix spp.). These species have in common strong growth rates, the capability to adapt to several weather conditions, the ability to coppice (generation of new stems...

The Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP), which consists of a large, 1.2- to 1.6-million-year-old volcanic caldera, forms the heart of the Jemez Mountains in north-central New Mexico (Figure 1). Known as the Valles Caldera, this bowl-shaped hollow is an especially treasured place within this beloved mountainous landscape for many residents of the region. Its valles (valleys), cerros (hills), and slopes of its encircling mountains are largely contained within the 89,900-acre (35,560-hectare) Preserve, which is celebrated by people regionally, nationally and internationally for its scenic...

The sampSurf package is designed to facilitate the comparison of new and existing areal sampling methods through simulation. The package is thoroughly documented in several vignettes as mentioned below. This document is meant to point you in the right direction in finding the needed information to get started using sampSurf.

By the end of this century, mean annual temperatures in the Northeastern United States are expected to warm by 3-5 °C, which will have significant impacts on the structure and function of temperate forests in this region. To improve understanding of these impacts, we exploited two recent climate anomalies to explore how the springtime phenology of Northeastern temperate deciduous forests will respond to future climate warming. Specifically, springtime temperatures in 2010 and 2012 were the warmest on record in the Northeastern United States, with temperatures that were roughly equivalent...

Critical assessment of the connection between units of the habitat type system and physiographic, climatic and soil factors in interior western United States land classifications.

Due to the recent outbreaks of bark beetles in western U.S.A., research has focused on the effects of tree mortality on forest conditions, such as fuel complexes and stand structure. However, most studies have addressed outbreak populations of bark beetles only and there is a lack of information on the effect of multiple endemic, low level populations of biotic disturbance agents that could influence forest dynamics, fuel heterogeneity, and species composition. Downed woody material, fuel parameters and stand characteristics were assessed in areas of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)...