Treesearch

Armillaria solidipes, a naturally occurring fungus, is responsible for one of the most widespread root diseases in western North American forests. Armillaria root disease affects a broad range of tree species, and by the time visible symptoms appear, significant damage has often already occurred.

Hostile winds yanked at the yellow transect tapes. Stephanie Yelenik and fellow researchers plodded on, endeavoring to place tapes in an organized grid. Their field site stretched across the fire-scorched sagebrush steppe of Peavine Mountain in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest near Reno, Nevada. The team of Forest Service and University of Nevada scientists were setting up experimental plots to test native seeding strategies.

We present Stewardship Salons as meaningful engagements with different ways of knowing and caring for ecosystems. They are facilitated as non‐hierarchical gatherings where everyone has the ability to be a teacher and a learner. This approach was first inspired by an exchange between NYC‐based practitioners and Native Hawaiian educators and practitioners in 2017. Since then, partners from U.S. Forest Service and NYC Parks have organized experiential salons that engage land managers, artists, researchers, and practitioners in learning from place and each other. Salons are rooted in co‐learnin...

Natural disturbance is increasing in temperate forests worldwide as global change impacts intensify, potentially shifting the balance between forest harvesting and natural disturbance as drivers of biomass change and forest dynamics. Using national forest inventory data, we show that the balance between forest harvesting and natural mortality shifted considerably over the past two decades in the northeastern USA due to a rise in natural mortality, with harvesting accounting for 5% greater biomass loss than natural mortality in 2009 but natural mortality accounting for 39% greater biomass...

Human-wildlife research has frequently examined attitudes toward single species, especially carnivores and mammals in rural areas. Recent research has expanded in scope to evaluate urban residents’ multifaceted attitudes toward multiple species or taxa. This paper presents a taxonomically inclusive examination of attitudes toward small mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona (USA) using survey measures that inform human-wildlife coexistence, specifically: tolerance of common wildlife, appreciation of different pollinators, and stewardship of iconic species in...

Understanding forest canopy structure is essential for monitoring ecosystem function, carbon dynamics, and wildfire risk. In this study, we developed an unsupervised classification framework that integrates 21 LiDAR-derived vertical structure metrics with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) to characterize canopy heterogeneity across the Kawishiwi Ranger District of the Superior National Forest in Minnesota, USA. The resulting structural classes support ladder- and canopy-fuel–relevant assessment and management. The PCA-based dimensionality reduction preserved...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station provides sound science on the health and use of the Nation’s forests and grasslands and delivers scientific knowledge and innovative technologies to inform land management decisions. While much of this research happens in rural forests, residential lands are abundant and also the subject of studies because residential yards offer substantial, and often overlooked, opportunities to conserve and protect plants and wildlife in urban, suburban, and rural landscapes.In the United States, yards make up more than four...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program provides this resource update yearly as an overview of forest resources in Kentucky. These estimates are derived from field data collected across a systematic network of fixed-radius forest monitoring plots located on both public and private land. New updates are provided annually as a subset of plots within the State are remeasured. Each year, field crews visit and measure a subset of all FIA plots across the entire State (the size of the subset varies by State and year). Combining all...

Millions of people depend on forests for clean and reliable drinking water supplies. However, land-use change is threatening the ability of forested lands to provide this ecosystem service. Policymakers, water utilities, and land managers need information that links forests, water quantity and quality, and Public Water Systems (PWSs) so that they can make informed decisions regarding water treatment infrastructure investments as well as land use, forest conservation programs, and forest management in critical water supply watersheds. This project used a combination of data synthesis,...

Forests of the northeastern US have experienced multiple environmental changes over the last three decades, including rising temperatures and atmospheric CO2 concentrations and declines in acidic deposition, including nitrogen (N) deposition. We used measurements over a 32-year time span (1992–2023) from the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA to assess the overall impact of these environmental changes on foliar chemistry (N, carbon, and phosphorus concentrations) and isotopic composition (δ15 N and δ 3 C) of three dominant northern hardwood species: sugar maple, American...