Treesearch

Maple syrup is an important part of the economy in various regions of the United States. Studies on maple syrup production potential mostly use climatic factors as determinants and, therefore, fail to account for non-climatic factors. In this study, we applied a stochastic production function framework to establish a relationship between maple syrup yield and a set of climatic (temperature and tapping season length) and non-climatic determining factors, such as the number of maple trees and utilization rate of the potential number of taps. Tree characteristics, climatic, and other factors...

During the 2015–2016 El Niño, the Amazon basin released almost one gigaton of carbon (GtC) into the atmosphere due to extreme temperatures and drought. The link between the drought impact and recovery of the total carbon pools and its biogeochemical drivers is still unknown. With satellite‐constrained net carbon exchange and its component fluxes including gross primary production and fire emissions, we show that the total carbon loss caused by the 2015–2016 El Niño had not recovered by the end of 2018. Forest ecosystems over the Northeastern (NE) Amazon suffered a cumulative total carbon...

The adelgids (Adelgidae) are a small family of sap-feeding insects, which, together with true aphids (Aphididae) and phylloxerans (Phylloxeridae), make up the infraorder Aphidomorpha. Some adelgid species are highly destructive to forest ecosystems such as Adelges tsugae, Adelges piceae, Adelges laricis, Pineus pini, and Pineus boerneri. Despite this, there are no high-quality genomic resources for adelgids, hindering advanced genomic analyses within Adelgidae and among Aphidomorpha. Here, we used PacBio continuous long-read and Illumina RNA-sequencing to construct a high-quality draft...

The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a globally significant agricultural pest, causing severe damage to corn production in China. Chemical odor-based trapping is a major approach for FAW control, making it essential to understand the FAW antennal sensillum types to enhance development of effective chemical odor attractants. In this study, we comprehensively examined the antennal sensilla types of FAW, identifying eight types and two subtypes, including Böhm's bristles, sensilla trichoidea, sensilla chaetica (I and II), sensilla coeloconic...

Satellite data are effective for mapping wildfires, particularly in remote locations where monitoring is rare. Geolocated fire detections can be used for enhanced fire management and fire modelling through daily fire progression mapping. Here we present the Canadian Fire Spread Dataset (CFSDS), encompassing interpolated progressions for fires >1,000 ha in Canada from 2002-2021, representing the day-of-burning and 50 environmental covariates for every pixel. Day-of-burning was calculated by ordinary kriging of active fire detections from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and...

Forests are a large carbon sink and could serve as natural climate solutions that help moderate future warming. Thus, establishing forest carbon baselines is essential for tracking climate‐mitigation targets. Western US forests are natural climate solution hotspots but are profoundly threatened by drought and altered disturbance regimes. How these factors shape spatial patterns of carbon storage and carbon change over time is poorly resolved. Here, we estimate live and dead forest carbon density in 19 forested western US ecoregions with national inventory data (2005-2019) to determine: (a)...

Recently burned boreal forests have lower aboveground fuel loads, generating a negative feedback to subsequent wildfires. Despite this feedback, short-interval reburns (≤20 years between fires) are possible under extreme weather conditions. Reburns have consequences for ecosystem recovery, leading to enduring vegetation change. In this study, we characterize the strength of the fire-fuel feedback in recently burned Canadian boreal forests and the weather conditions that overwhelm resistance to fire spread in recently burned areas. We used a dataset of daily fire spread for thousands of...

Anyone who enjoys camping and travel knows that money can be saved by camping instead of staying in a hotel. These days, it is hard to find a hotel room for under $100 per night, meanwhile a campsite goes for well under $50. However, this calculus changes significantly for staff on an incident management team (IMT) evaluating lodging options during a wildland fire - a team that requires considerable daytime office space requirements.

The 2024 International Oak Symposium was an inaugural meeting convened in Knoxville, TN, USA and represented the first international symposium addressing broad ecological and forestry issues of the genus Quercus (oak) ever held. The symposium provided opportunities and platforms to exchange information and build collaborations around the best available science and technology on oak ecology and management for a global audience. The meeting provided innovative and progressive formats, such as panel discussions, field tours, receptions, surveys, and question and answer sessions to deliver and...

Threats to our forests are changing. Wildfires are burning hotter and more often. Waves of pests and disease are similarly fueled by drought and overgrowth. Supercharged thunderstorms bring heavier, more intense rains, washing away fertile soil and creating dangers like flash floods and landslides. Human activities build threats as we continue harvesting precious resources and expanding urban interfaces with forested environments. As these stressors build, it’s exceedingly important to recognize and monitor forest resilience; the inherent ability of the ecosystem to bounce back from...