Treesearch

Wilderness areas often provide critical habitat for native fishes. However, the remoteness of wilderness areas can limit fish monitoring efforts, such that changes in nonnative and native fish distributions may not be detected and management responses may be delayed. Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling offers a non-invasive and efficient method to monitor aquatic species across remote waterways. We used eDNA sampling and species-specific qPCR analysis to assess distributions of nonnative brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and native bull trout (S. confluentus) and Columbia River redband...

The packaging sector presents a significant sustainability challenge, particularly due to the prevalence of plastic packaging. There is a growing interest in sustainable packaging alternatives. The main challenge is to develop packaging with comparable and competitive characteristics. In this context, this manuscript aims to evaluate the performance of lignin-based polyurethane applied as a coating on recycled linerboard. Industrial softwood kraft lignin was fully characterized in terms of purity, functional groups (FTIR and 31P NMR) and molecular weight (GPC). Aiming at coating application...

Translocation is implemented worldwide as a conservation strategy for rare and endangered plant species, yet the factors that influence long-term success remain poorly understood. Remnant wild populations are often used as indicators to model habitat preference and select translocation sites, but such populations may be refugia from past biological or anthropogenic stressors and represent sub-optimal habitat conditions for focal taxa. To test assumptions about habitat preferences of rare species, we conducted a four-year experimental translocation of the Critically Endangered Hawaiian...

Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) is the most important commercial tree species in southeastern U.S. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in utilizing loblolly pine wood and harvest residues consisting of bark, branches, needles, and wood, as a viable renewable feedstock to meet growing energy, chemical, and biomaterial demand. Feedstock chemical compositions affect the conversion efficiency and product yields, but these properties are costly and laborious to measure. Calibration models capable of rapid and precise estimation of these properties were developed using near-infrared...

We employed the Multiple Indicator-Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model to explore whether the pattern of landowners’ engagement in various information sources and educational activities was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, making it harder and unsafe to attend mass gatherings. Using data from a 2023 survey of forest landowners in the Southern United States, we found that 51% of respondents were likely to engage in communication networks and educational activi-ties over the next decade. Landowners with larger forest holdings, purchased properties, and the ownership motivation for enjoying...

Forest resources in the eastern US are located on heterogeneous landscapes with widely varying biophysical, social, and market characteristics. As such, the total inventory is rarely available for harvest within a region. Understanding the distinction between physical timber inventory and accessible inventory is crucial for conducting market analyses, developing forward-looking resource assessments, estimating the extractive (“active”) resource base, and, in general, ensuring the continued, sustainable flow of timber. To this end, we employ a mix of regression and spatial analysis to...

Detection of brown spot needle blight (BSNB) disease caused by the fungal pathogen Lecanosticta acicola (Thum.) Syd. has increased significantly at commercial loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations across the southeastern United States in recent years. Historically, it has been a serious problem in longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill) during the grass stage of seedlings, when the environment is more conducive to fungal infection. However, since 2016, confirmed cases of the disease on loblolly pines have increased in several states, including AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MS, SC, TN, and TX. We...

The flowering dogwood (Cornus florida L.) is an important understory tree native to south and east pine and deciduous forest ecosystems of the United States and Canada (Jenkins and White 2002). This tree species has important cultural values associated with its use by Native Americans in natural remedies from bark and root extracts, dyes, and arrow shafts (Little et al. 1980; King 2003), and it is a popular ornamental landscape tree planted in the southern and eastern United States. Studies have reported localized decline of dogwood populations due to the introduction of the fungus Discula...

National forest inventories have long and strong traditions in many countries and they can offer a wealth of information about the biophysical aspects of forests such as tree growth, carbon fluxes and biodiversity. However, these are in most cases not paralleled by data representing the socioeconomic dimensions of forests. Integration of socioeconomic and biophysical data has the potential to better unveil interactions between human and natural resources and can therefore better support policy. Climate change has multiple impacts on forest resources. Policies to support sustainable...

The theory of biotic resistance states that community diversity promotes resistance to biological invasions. This theory has been widely explored for its ability to explain variation in habitat invasibility to non‐native plant species and while the theory holds in some systems, it does not in others. In the case of invasions by herbivorous insects, invasibility could be affected by diversity of plants and/or by diversity of native insects. While only a few studies have explored biotic resistance to insect invasions, limited evidence suggests that plant diversity can actually have a...