Treesearch

The number of large, high-severity wildfires has been increasing across the western United States over the last several decades. It is not fully understood how changes in the frequency of large, severe wildfires may impact the resilience of conifer forests, due to alterations in regeneration success or failure. Our research investigates 30 years of conifer recovery patterns within 34 high-severity wildfire complexes (1988-1991) of the Northern Rocky Mountains. We evaluate the capability of snow-cover Landsat to characterize conifer tree recolonization of high-severity burn patches....

Increasing frequency of droughts and wildfire are sparking concerns that these compounded disturbance events are pushing forested ecosystems beyond recovery. An improved understanding of how compounded events affect tree physiology and mortality is needed given the reliance of fire management planning on accurate estimates of postfire tree mortality. In this study, we use a toxicological dose-response approach to quantify the impact of variable-intensity drought and fire on the physiology and mortality of Pinus monticola and Pseudotsuga menziesii saplings. We show that the dose-response...

Patch cutting is a regeneration method with little precedent in the Central Hardwoods Region of the United States. Patch cuts are defined as small scale clearcuts of 1–5 acres and are generally prescribed to lessen the aesthetic impact of harvesting in highly visible areas. This study examines species composition and stand development after patch cutting in the 1990s at Natchez Trace State Forest, located in the Coastal Plain of western Tennessee. Patch cuts were hypothesized to have a greater proportion of shade-intolerant species in the center of the opening and transitioning to more...

Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata)-hardwood restoration continues to be a management goal throughout the interior South. Cluster or group planting involves placing groups of tightly spaced trees on favorable microsites or easily accessible areas in clearcut or partially harvested stands. Management operations for cluster planting may be focused on smaller areas reducing costs and easing access for areas with difficult topography. The objective of this study was to investigate site preparation methods to establish shortleaf pine using cluster planting in an upland mixed hardwood stand that had...

Since flooding in winter and early spring is an integral part of bottomland hardwood ecosystems, moderately flood-tolerant red oaks, such as Nuttall oak (Quercus texana), should be well adapted to this dormant season inundation. However, altered hydrologic regimes and unusual weather patterns are now more frequently exposing bottomlands to flooding at times of the year when trees are transitioning into or out of dormancy, which may have physiological impacts on these red oak seedlings.

The timing of seasonal flooding in bottomlands relative to seedling dormancy is a crucial determinant of how flooding affects seedlings (Sample and Babst 2020, Sample and others 2023). Alterations to seasonal flood regimes likely plays a role in poor regeneration of bottomland red oak species such as willow oak (Quercus phellos) in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, especially in greentree reservoirs (GTRs). For example, natural waterlogging tends to occur, as well as sporadic flooding, from mid-December through May, and it is assumed that dormancy confers greater resistance to...

Successful oak (Quercus spp.) regeneration in bottomland forests can be limited by several factors, including number of acorns produced, acorn viability and predation, microsite conditions for germination, and early seedling survival. These factors could influence the development of large oak advance reproduction needed for successful oak regeneration. We designed an experiment to test the importance of some of these factors on oak regeneration in bottomland forests in northern Missouri. We found that low acorn production and high rates of acorn predation were prevalent throughout the...

Populus is a promising genus for bioenergy production due to its fast growth. Using efficient and productive Populus genotypes is critical for sustainable bioenergy production. However, breeding and testing different genotypes can be costly and time consuming, and the results may vary based on environmental conditions. Therefore, using easily measurable leaf traits to predict Populus water use efficiency and productivity could lead to a faster and more accurate selection of top genotypes.

White oak (Quercus alba) trees are difficult to sustain in many stands across the Central Hardwood Region because natural and anthropogenic processes are failing to establish advance reproduction (Schweitzer and others 2019). Large-scale shifts in species composition result in mesophication of hardwood forests that can lead to lower biodiversity and reduced fire and drought tolerance (Woodbridge and others 2022). Artificial regeneration (i.e., planting) contributes to localized restoration targets with an immediate input of advance reproduction (Clark and Schlarbaum 2019). The goal of our...

Our desire to maintain biodiverse forests is predicated on a desire to maintain oaks (Quercus spp.) in dominant canopy positions and high stocking levels. Oak reproduction is advance-growth dependent; that is, there must be adequate numbers of oak seedlings in competitive sizes prior to a canopy-replacing disturbance. Therefore, adaptive regeneration strategies are needed to position oak reproduction for recruitment into future canopy positions.