Treesearch

Key Findings Nonnative pest species have increasing impacts in the South regardless of climate change, patterns of land ownership, or changes in the composition of vegetation. “New” nonnative invasive insects and diseases will have serious impacts on southern forests over the next 50 years. Some species such as emerald ash borer, laurel wilt, and thousand cankers disease are expanding rapidly; they threaten the ecological viability of their hosts throughout large areas of the South. Given the trend in introductions of nonnative insect pests and plant pathogens over the last 100 years, we...

Key Findings Population The South grew considerably faster (32.5 percent) in total population in the 18 years between 1990 and 2008 than the Nation as a whole (22.2 percent). The region has just over half of the country’s non-Hispanic African American population (18.9 million) and is a close second to the Rocky Mountains in both the size and rate of increase of the American Indian population. Since 1990, the South (heavily influenced by Texas and Florida) surpassed the Pacific Coast (strongly influenced by California) in Hispanic population to lead the Nation, with growth especially high...

Key Findings By 2060, the number of southern adults participating in each of 10 different popular outdoor recreation activities is projected to increase. Depending on future demographic, economic, land use, and population changes, the activity demonstrating the least growth in participants is hunting (8–25 percent). The activity projected to demonstrate the most growth is day hiking (70–113 percent). For many activities, participation will grow similarly to the population growth rate. However, the number of participants in fishing, hunting, and motorized offroading will grow slower than...

Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) represents a serious threat to black walnut, an important nut and timber tree in the eastern United States. TCD was first described as a lethal disease for most walnut species in 2009. A webinar sponsored by the USDA Forest Service State & Private Forestry and Forest Health Protection, the Walnut Council, and the Purdue University Department of Entomology on March 28, 2013, suggests we are making progress toward knowing the causes of the tree disease, detection of diseased trees and causal organisms, origin of the beetle and fungus, and treatments to permit...

Key Findings Since 1960, all but two southern capital cities (Montgomery, AL, and Oklahoma City, OK) have experienced a statistically significant increase in average annual temperature (approximately 0.016° C), but none has experienced significant trends in precipitation. The South is forecasted to experience warmer temperatures for the duration of the 21st century; forecasts are mixed for precipitation changes during the same period. Climate predictions range from wet and warm (1167 mm/19.06° C) to moderate and warm (1083 mm/19.45° C and 1106 mm/19.27° C) to dry and hot (912 mm/20.22° C).

Key Findings Between 30 million and 43 million acres of land in the South are forecasted to be developed for urban uses by 2060 from a base of 30 million acres in 1997. These forecasts are based on a continuation of historical development intensities. From 1997 to 2060, the South is forecasted to lose between 11 million acres (7 percent) and 23 million acres (13 percent) of forests, nearly all to urban uses. All of the South’s five subregions are expected to lose at least some forest acreage under all evaluated futures. Strong timber markets can ameliorate losses of southern forest...

Key Findings Among the five forest management types, only planted pine is expected to increase in area. In 2010 planted pine comprised 19 percent of southern forests. By 2060, planted pine is forecasted to comprise somewhere between 24 and 36 percent of forest area. Although predicted rates of change vary, all forecasts reveal that land use changes and conversion to pine plantations will result in a continuing downward trend in naturally regenerated pine types. Changes in forest types are influenced by urbanization and timber markets: hardwood types are most strongly influenced by urbanizat...

Timber harvest provides favorable habitat for many species of shrub-dependent birds. Because of historical dominance, effect of clearcutting on early successional birds has been widely studied, but less information is available on alternatives such as shelterwood and group selection, which have become a more dominant means of regenerating pines (Pinus spp.) on federal lands of the southeastern US. We compared detection of 12 species of early successional forest birds prior to harvest and at various intervals for 16 years after harvest in stands subjected to clearcutting, shelterwood,...

Key Findings Private landowners hold 86 percent of the forest area in the South; two-thirds of this area is owned by families or individuals. Fifty-nine percent of family forest owners own between 1 and 9 acres of forest land, but 60 percent of family-owned forests are in holdings of 100 acres or more. Two-thirds of family forest land is owned by people who have harvested and sold trees from their land. Assuming that corporate owners have harvested timber, then in all about 8 of every 10 acres of private forest land in the South is owned by individuals or organizations who have commercially...

To understand the influence of formaldehyde/urea (F/U) mole ratio on the properties of urea–formaldehyde (UF) resins, this study investigated hardness of cured UF resins with different F/U mole ratios using a nanoindentation method. The traditional Brinell hardness (HB) method was also used for comparison. The HB of cured UF resin films with different F/U mole ratios was determined after exposing the films to different post-curing temperatures. The nanoindentation method was employed for these films to measure Meyer hardness (HM) and reduced modulus (Er) which have been used to calculate...