Treesearch

In this chapter we provide an overview of the socio-economic and ecological effects and trends of wildfire in the WUI, methods for assessing wildfire risk in the WUI, approaches to managing the wildfire problem including fuels management, home construction and design, and community action programs. This overview is combined with two case studies analyzing wildfire risk and the use of prescribed fire to reduce that risk in the Florida wildland–urban interface.

Provides current information on lumber and plywood production and prices; employment in the forest industries; international trade in logs, lumber, and plywood; volume and average prices of stumpage sold by public agencies; and other related items. Current data and downloadable Excel files are available online.

Successful re-establishment of aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) on surface-mined lands in the western United States is problematic because the species generally regenerates vegetatively by sprouting from parent roots in the soil; however, topsoil is removed in the mining process. Previous attempts to plant aspen on reclaimed mine sites have failed because transplanted root sprouts or seedlings do not have an extensive root system to access water and nutrients. This study identified factors that limit the survival and growth of aspen on reclaimed surface-mined lands by examining planted...

This report details the evaluation of the urban tree resources of the north-central Great Plains region of the United States. Specifically this report provides a more comprehensive understanding of the species composition and structural and functional benefits of the urban forests in the states of Kansas (33.1 million urban trees), Nebraska (13.3 million urban trees), North Dakota (975,000 urban trees), and South Dakota (5.4 million urban trees). Information on the structure and functions of the urban forest can be used to inform urban forest management programs and to integrate urban...

An analysis of the community forest in Morgantown, WV, was undertaken in 2004 to characterize the structural and functional attributes of this forest resource. The assessment revealed that this city has about 658,000 trees with canopies that cover 35.5 percent of the area. The most common tree species are sugar maple, black cherry, and hawthorn. The urban forest currently stores about 93,000 tons of carbon valued at $1.9 million. In addition, these trees remove about 2,900 tons of carbon per year ($60,000 per year), with trees and shrubs removing about 104 tons of air pollution per year...

Energy production presents numerous challenges to both industry and land managers across the globe. The recent development of unconventional (shale gas) plays around the world [US Energy Information Administration (USEIA), 2011] has brought attention to the potential for rapid change in affected landscapes and associated ecosystem services. While shale-gas development specifically has been the focus of recent research on how landscapes are changing, continued scientific investigation can lessen the resulting ecosystem disturbance across all energy infrastructure. In April 2012, the...

We examined support for the hypothesis that abundance of Cerulean Warblers (Setophaga cerulea) increases with percentage of bottomland and upland forest, and decreases with percentage of developed land at a local-habitat scale (within a 250-m buffer) and increases with percentage of all forest at a landscape scale (within a 10-km buffer). We conducted surveys along 16 rivers in Missouri and Arkansas from 1999 to 2006 and related habitat and landscape factors to counts of Cerulean Warblers in 123 5-km segments on these rivers. We detected 576 singing male Cerulean Warblers and found support...

The U.S. manufacturing sector has seen challenging years during the past decades. The major driver behind the decline of U.S. manufacturing prowess has been the ongoing globalization of trade, which has brought market share losses for U.S.-based manufacturing in many hardwood lumber consuming industries. The wood furniture, flooring, and millwork industries, for example, were especially hard hit by the worldwide opening of markets for goods and services. More recently, the U.S. wood products industry has been impacted by the bursting of the housing bubble, followed by the global financial...

Comparison of projected future water demand and supply across the conterminous United States indicates that, due to improving efficiency in water use, expected increases in population and economic activity do not by themselves pose a serious threat of large-scale water shortages. However, climate change can increase water demand and decrease water supply to the extent that, barring major adaptation efforts, substantial future water shortages are likely, especially in the larger Southwest. Because further global temperature increases are probably unavoidable, adaptation will be essential in...

The Bolete Collection of the Clinton Herbarium (BUF) was started in 1968 by the senior author at the suggestion of then museum director Fred T. Hall. Collecting continued for the next forty years, resulting in some 3,500 collections representing 210 species of boletes. While the bulk of the collections are from the northeastern states, collections from adjacent states and a few from Florida, Arizona and California are represented.