Treesearch

In October-November 2011 we measured trace gas emission factors from seven prescribed fires in South Carolina (SC), US, using two Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) systems and whole air sampling (WAS) into canisters followed by gas- 5 chromatographic analysis. A total of 97 trace gas species were quantified from both airborne and ground-based sampling platforms, making this one of the most detailed field studies of fire emissions to date. The measurements include the first emission factors for a suite of monoterpenes produced by heating vegetative fuels during field fires.

Contains abstracts and papers of 75 oral and poster presentations on invasive species biology, molecular biology, ecology, impacts, and management presented at the annual U.S. Department of Agriculture Interagency Research Forum on Invasive Species.

Outdoor recreation and tourism represents a major service by which the public identifies with and better understands natural resources, even to the extent that it can foster environmental stewardship (for example, see Winter and Chavez 2008). Yet, myriad threats to recreation and tourism exist which need to be addressed. Addressing these threats can be facilitated through application of a sustainability framework. Sustainability, including sustainable recreation and tourism, must consider three dimensions: economic, social, and environmental. These dimensions are interdependent and a...

The management of public land as venues for a wide variety of outdoor recreation interests is a highly complex professional field. Understanding of the relationship between the visitor, general public values, the natural resource base and the politics of management policies requires training, experience and savvy. Recreation planning for forest, park, preserve, wilderness, and wildlife habitat public lands is multi-dimensional and include an understanding of recreationist values and behaviors in nature-based settings; a mix of social science discipline (e.g., psychology ,social psychology,...

Wilderness is widely supported by the American public (Campaign for America’s Wilderness 2003) and provides myriad ecosystem services and other benefits (Schuster and others 2005, Williams and Watson 2007). Wilderness services and benefits deemed important to the public include use (such as recreation) and non-usevalues (such as scenery appreciation) (Brown and Alessa 2005). Protecting wilderness and its values as population and environmental changes evolve is a significant challenge (Hill 1994). Wilderness Areas near urban places (urban-proximate wilderness) are under elevated threat from...

Indigenous populations are projected to face disproportionate impacts as a result of climate change in comparison to nonindigenous populations. For this reason, many American Indian and Alaska Native tribes are identifying and implementing culturally appropriate strategies to assess climate impacts and adapt to projected changes. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), as the indigenous knowledge system is called, has the potential to play a central role in both indigenous and nonindigenous climate change initiatives. The detection of environmental changes, the development of strategies to...

Forests are complex and dynamic ecosystems comprising individual trees that can vary in both size and species. In comparison to other organisms, trees are relatively long lived (40-2000 years), quite plastic in terms of their morphology and ecological niche, and adapted to a wide variety of habitats, which can make predicting their behaviour exceedingly difficult. Forests are widely managed for a variety of objectives including biodiversity, wildlife habitat, products, and recreation. Consequently, forest managers need tools that can aid them during the decision-making process. The...

Conversion of forests to other land cover or land use releases the carbon stored in the forests and reduces carbon sequestration potential of the land. The rate of forest conversion could be reduced by establishing protected areas for biological diversity and other conservation goals. The purpose of this study is to quantify the efficiency and potential of forest land protection for mitigating GHG emissions. The estimated carbon benefit from the reduced forest loss based on current protected areas is 7 Tg C/yr, equivalent to the average carbon benefit per year for a previously proposed...

Forests are partially made up of carbon. Live vegetation, dead wood, forest floor, and soil all contain carbon. Through the process of photosynthesis, trees reduce carbon dioxide to carbohydrates and store the carbon in wood. By removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, forests mitigate climate change that may be brought on by increased atmospheric CO2. However, the specific role of forests in climate mitigation continues to be debated. Several decades ago, the debate was whether forest carbon could be measured accurately enough to include it in national inventories related to greenhouse...

Sixty-eight papers and seventeen posters address a range of issues affecting southern forests. Papers are grouped in 12 sessions that include pine silviculture session I, hardwood silviculture - intermediate treatment and stand development, longleaf pine; quantitative silviculture and economics, pine silviculture session II, hardwood regeneration, carbon and bioenergy, fire and fuels management, soils and water, and forest health.