Treesearch

Aspects of red spruce’s climatic niche and its relation to the biogeography of the species are covered in Chapter 1. Our emphasis here is on red spruce’s interaction with its biophysical environment in terms of a changing climate, what this might illuminate about the nature of its climate sensitivities, and how it may respond to future climate change. We approach this from an interdisciplinary viewpoint that integrates perspectives across biological, temporal, and spatial scales not often discussed together in the same work. We first briefly summarize key features of red spruce’s climate...

In this chapter, we review and synthesize the literature on the dynamics of central and southern Appalachian red spruce ( Picea rubens ) and spruce-fir forests under five topics. We begin with gap dynamics in old-growth forests by describing the natural dynamics and the contrasting strategies of the major tree species: red spruce, Fraser fir ( Abies fraseri ), yellow birch ( Betula alleghaniensis ), and pin cherry ( Prunus pensylvanica ). We then discuss four topics that address human impacts on these dynamics: broad-scale logging and remnant old-growth forests; the balsam woolly adelgid (...

Red spruce (Picea rubens) is a coniferous tree native to the eastern U.S. (Fig. 1.1), ranging from eastern Canada and New England south along the Appalachian Mountains, where it occurs in disjunct populations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Red spruce-dominated forests (i.e., ≥ 50% of the canopy trees are red spruce) occur in near-boreal regions in the northern U.S. and Canada, temperate forests in the central part of their range, and montane sky islands in the southern part of their range. Temperature and moisture drive the distribution of red...

Agroforestry systems are increasingly recognized as providing multiple economic, ecological, and social benefits. These benefits have led to increases in agroforestry adoption across many regions of the world. Understanding which benefits lead producers to adopt agroforestry, or which challenges discourage adoption, is of critical importance to advance agroforestry implementation. This meta-analysis reviewed agroforestry adoption studies published between January 2000 and June 2024 and identified 94 observations from 76 econometric studies, encompassing research from 30 countries. Trends...

Decision making is inherently a complex social and cultural process that is shaped by myriad influential factors both internal and external to the environments, people, and institutions affected. Natural resource management is no exception in this regard. As the Earth’s climate rapidly changes, disturbances increasingly threaten forests across the globe, while the demand for resilient conditions and ecosystem services increases. As risks and threats to forests are building, so are assumptions, uncertainties, and stakes associated with management and mitigation outcomes. Decision support...

Mass timber construction results in small gaps at abutting members due to construction tolerances and varying moisture conditions, among other reasons. These intersections, typically at connections, may have detrimental impacts on the fire performance of a structure causing loss of fire integrity earlier in the fire and thereby enabling the spread of fire. However, there has been a lack of testing to explore the effects of these gaps on the fire behaviour of mass timber, particularly at cross laminated timber (CLT) panel-to-panel connections. To investigate the fire behaviour of CLT with...

Trees located on private property constitute a substantial portion of the urban forest canopy, yet management responsibilities vary widely across different jurisdictions. While property owners are granted freedom over their land-use decisions, some governments promote tree preservation by regulating and restricting how property owners manage trees on their properties. Incentive-based policies for tree protection can serve as an alternative to enact behavior change through positive reinforcement. In this study, we provide a comprehensive national review in the United States (U.S.) to...

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is an engineered wood product that is being increasingly utilized in structural applications. However, its susceptibility to fungal decay and termite attack raises concerns about long-term durability, particularly in high-moisture and insect-prone environments. This study evaluates the biological durability of CLT fabricated with southern pine and treated post-layup with two copper-based preservatives: copper azole (CA-C) and micronized copper azole (MCA) under laboratory conditions. Fungal decay resistance was assessed using brown-rot (Serpula lacrymans) and...

Hurricanes routinely damage forests across the North Atlantic Basin, yet efforts to characterize their impacts have had mixed subregional success. To elucidate these challenges, this study analyzed pre- and post-hurricane land surface phenology (LSP) for 44 moderate and strong hurricanes over 22 years using the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI). We statistically grouped storms based on their long-term climate attributes, then compared subregional impacts with wind speed and land cover. After accounting for wind speed, responses differed among the six subregions. The Southeast U.S. showed...

In 2020, 18.9 million acres (55 percent) of Arkansas’s total forest land was classified as forested by the Forest Inventory and Analysis program, of which 18.4 million acres were timberland and 494,400 acres were reserved forest land. More than 80 percent of Arkansas’s forests are privately owned, 13 percent were in National Forests, and 3 percent in other public lands. The 2020 estimates revealed increases in both hardwood and softwood tree volume, with total volume up over 10 percent since 2015. Softwood volume was reported at 15.2 billion cubic feet, while hardwood volume was 20.8...