Treesearch

Many State best management practice programs recommend streamside management zone (SMZ) widths based on limited or inadequate data with regard to nutrient fluxes from silvicultural activities. Diammonium phosphate and urea were applied to subwatersheds of 2- to 3-year-old loblolly pines (Pinus taeda) upslope from 12 SMZ study areas in Buckingham County, VA. Three replications of four SMZ treatments (30.5 m, 15.2 m nonthinned, 15.2 m thinned, and 7.6 m) were studied using ionic exchange membranes. Our hypothesis is that nitrogen and phosphorous levels will decrease in a forested SMZ setting...

Soils vary spatially in texture, structure, depth of horizons, and macropores, which can lead to a large variation in soil physical properties. In particular, saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) and drainable porosity are critical properties required to model field hydrology in poorly drained lands. These soil-property values can be measured by several methods; however, larger scale, “field-effective” values may be needed in developing, calibrating, and validating models, such as DRAINMOD. In this investigation, field-effective soil-property values were estimated from water table and...

Many models are available for simulating the probability of southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann) (SPB) infestation and outbreak dynamics. However, only a few models focused on the potential spatial SPB growth. Although the integrated pest management systems are currently adopted, SPB management is still challenging because of diverse land ownership, dynamic forest landscapes, and uncertainty in spatial infestation pattern. In this study, we incorporated Geographical Information System (GIS)-based spot growth model into a three-dimensional visualization by using the...

The use of improved genotypes as well an increased understanding of the role of intensive silviculture have made southeastern pine forests some of the most productive forests in the world. The objectives of this research were to determine how two superior loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) genotypes, representing two distinct ideotypes, respond to manipulations of nutrient availability. Second, based on estimates of carbon (C) capture and loss, predict how treatment responses may influence net ecosystem productivity (NEP). A combination of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus fertilization and the...

Upland forest in the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge is characterized by a longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) canopy with a variable understory and ground-layer species composition. The system was historically maintained by fire and has been managed with prescribed fire in recent decades. A management goal is to reduce turkey oak (Quercus laevis) stem density and maintain the natural biodiversity in the understory. The patchy understory of this forest type creates several fuel complexes on a small within-stand scale. We measured chemical content (energy and ash) of five common...

Heavy fuel loads were created by southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis Ehrh.) outbreak throughout the southeastern Piedmont during the early 2000s. Prescribed burning and mechanical mulching (mastication) were used to reduce fuel loading, but many ecological impacts are unknown. Successful forest regeneration depends on ectomycorrhizal (ECM) or vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi which form important symbiotic relationships with most forest plants. Fuel reduction treatments may impact mycorrhizal propagule abundance and/or vigor through propagule consumption, changes in...

This study was conducted in Rabun County, GA, on the Warwoman Wildlife Management Area to measure the annual accumulations and decomposition of leaf litter, fine woody fuel, and total fuel loadings on undisturbed sites across different topographical positions in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. There were five “treatments” used in this study, representing five topographic positions: ridge tops, middle, and lower slopes on northeast (325 to 125 degrees) and southwest (145 to 305 degrees) aspects. Ten plots (replicates) were established at each topographic position for a total of 50...

The Southern Appalachian Mountains and Ohio Hills sites are unique within the National Fire and Fire Surrogate Study because they are in hardwood-dominated forests. The efficacy of four fuel-reduction treatments was evaluated to restore these unmanaged hardwood forests to the structure and function of open woodland habitats. Treatments included control, prescribed burning, mechanical, and a combination of burning and mechanical treatments. Overstory basal area and density of saplings and shrubs were used as measures of ecosystem structure while soil carbon and breeding bird species...

Opinions of interested publics and interest groups (n = 640) about fuel reduction (FR) in the Southern Appalachian Mountains were investigated through social survey using both pictorial and written questions. The study identified three discrete groups based on knowledge of forest history in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, attitudes toward social and ecological changes due to FR, credibility of public land management agencies as managers of forests, aesthetics of FR areas, and recreation activity participation. Results identified three groups of concerned publics labeled as conservation...

The erosion impact of typical forest management operations in a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation in the Piedmont region of Alabama was investigated. Soil loss and runoff were highly variable throughout postharvest and first year after site preparation and planting. Under postharvest conditions, the annual rate of soil loss was 106.5 and 274.4 kg/ha in two locations (DIST1 and DIST2) of the harvest tract while annual rate of runoff was 141.4. and 200.4 mm/ha, respectively. The annual rate of soil loss after site preparation/planting varied by treatment in which orientation of...