Treesearch

Common sunflower is native to western North America, butbecause of escaped crop, horticultural, and forage cultivarsit now has a widespread North American and worldwidedistribution (Schilling 2006; Hitchcock and Cronquist 2018).Hybridization and introgression have also contributed tothe expanding distribution of common sunflower (Heiser etal. 1969). In the United States, it occurs in all states butAlaska. It is common on dry sites west of the MississippiRiver, and grows outside of cultivation in eastern states(Harrington 1967; Munz and Keck 1973; Weber 1976;Schilling 2006; Hitchcock and...

Wildfires burn as much as ~6 % of Earth’s ice-free land annually and remove carbon (C) stored in surface soils. Prescribed burns may offer an opportunity to preserve soil C stocks by limiting the extent and severity of wildfires. However, prescribed burns in western North America are mostly conducted during short windows in the early fall season. Expanding burning to other seasons, like spring, is key to increasing effectiveness. Yet, it is not clear how burning stands in the spring versus the fall affects soil C stocks, a key consideration for managers seeking to preserve soil C. To...

Channel incision can disconnect streams from their floodplains, potentially depleting carbon (C) in riparian soils by stimulating microbial decomposition. Stream restoration may offer an opportunity to replenish soil C pools by saturating riparian soils with water and slowing microbial activity.Assess how stream restoration affects soil C persistence and greenhouse gas emissions in riparian soils.We measured soil C pools and methane (CH 4 , a strong greenhouse gas) emissions adjacent to stream reaches restored with plug‐and‐ponds or beaver dam analogs (BDAs) in northern New Mexico. We also...

Wildfires, unplanned fires that start and spread under the influence of weather and fuel composition, are increasing in frequency, duration, and severity across North America. While wildfires are one component of wildland fire, a broader natural process in many ecosystems, their changing behavior poses growing ecological and management challenges. Although wildfire is widely recognized as an important disturbance, empirical research quantifying its impacts on freshwater ecosystems remains limited and fragmented. As a result, our understanding of how wildfire affects imperiled freshwater...

Context Spatially accurate estimates of forest above-ground biomass (AGB) are indispensable for carbon-stock accounting and sustainable silviculture. Existing mapping approaches face challenges in densely vegetated Coastal Plain forests because of seasonal optical variability, radar–optical saturation, and limited wall-to-wall structural information. Objectives We aimed to (i) develop and evaluate a multisensor, AI-enabled fusion framework for landscape- scale AGB mapping, (ii) quantify the added value of seasonal optical data and photogrammetric canopy-height profiles, and (iii) interpret...

Given the value of ecosystem services provided by mangrove forests, land managers and conservationists are increasingly interested in quantifying their structure and biomass at multiple scales. Because of the many challenges with traditional forest mensuration methods in these forests, scientists are increasingly exploring remote sensing-based approaches. Here we report on efforts to quantify mangrove aboveground volume and biomass in monospecific Avicennia germinans stands in Cedar Key, FL using high density terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). Following merging, cleaning, and segmentation...

It is critical to understand the age-height relationship in actively managed pine plantations to evaluate forest productivity and inform sustainable forest management practices. This study utilized the spaceborne lidar data from ICESat-2 ATL08 and Landsat-derived disturbance maps to assess the site index for actively managed pine plantations across the southeastern United States. Specifically, we (1) assessed the agreement between ICESat-2 ATL08 canopy heights and airborne laser scanning (ALS) data, (2) showed the distribution of canopy height by age for the actively managed pine stands,...

This study introduces a novel approach to characterising the mechanical properties of polymeric multilayer films used in photovoltaic (PV) backsheets through nanoindentation (NI). While traditional methods, like tensile testing, measure overall mechanical performance, NI enables layer‐specific analysis, which is essential for understanding multilayer structures. Here, we employ the structural compliance correction method to address challenges of specimen‐scale flexing and edge effects in NI, enabling accurate measurements of hardness and elastic modulus across distinct film layers. Fourier...

We introduce a fully nonparametric estimator to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) using contingent valuation (CV) data. Traditional methods such as the probit model are used because of their roots in utility theory as well as their ease to implement. However, they are limited by their reliance on strict parametric assumptions, such as linearity and the requirement that the researcher pre‐select important covariates. While these methods are widely used, they may fail to capture complex relationships, particularly in situations involving nonlinearity or interactions among variables. This...

When wildland firefighters head into the field, they know the work is dangerous; but until now, agencies lacked detailed data on exactly which activities and hazards posed the greatest threats. A recent analysis of five years of serious firefighter injuries offers new insights.