Treesearch

Monitoring water consumption dynamics across the geographic range of an ecosystem may indicate the possible variation and stress in a biome. Here, model output data based on remote sensing (1979–2022) were used to examine the water consumption dynamics and effects on cone production in three geographic margins in the longleaf pine’s range (i.e., Bladen Lake State Forest, Escambia Experimental Forest, and Kisatchie National Forest) under varying climatic conditions. Results indicated that the mean annual transpiration at Escambia was approximately 431 mm and that at Bladen and Kisatchie was...

Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative intracellular foodborne pathogen and the causative agent of the severe disease listeriosis. It is found ubiquitously in the environment and exhibits innate resistance to certain antimicrobials, but acquired antimicrobial resistance remains relatively uncommon. Given the potentially dire health outcomes associated with listeriosis, acquisition of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by this pathogen is of considerable public health concern. AMR in L. monocytogenes has been surveyed frequently in strains of clinical and food origin, but much less commonly in...

Wildfires can be devastating for social and ecological systems, but the recovery period after wildfire presents opportunities to reduce future risk through adaptation. We use a collective case study approach to systematically compare social and ecological recovery following four major fire events in Australia and the United States: the 1998 wildfires in northeastern Florida; the 2003 Cedar fire in southern California; the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, southeastern Australia; and the 2011 Bastrop fires in Texas. Fires spurred similar policy changes, with an emphasis on education...

In this study, we conducted a systematic literature review to determine the physical tree traits, site conditions, and urban forest management strategies that provide optimal stormwater runoff mitigation through the interception of precipitation or enhanced infiltration of water routed toward the ground by urban tree cover. Our review found that foliar characteristics such as high leaf area index, low hydrophobicity, low inclination angles, and high surface roughness promote rainfall retention by the canopy, as do high bark water storage capacity and a denser crown. In addition, when soil...

Wildfires represent major ecological disturbances, burning 2–3% of Earth’s terrestrial area each year with sometimes drastic effects above and belowground. Soil bacteria offer an ideal, yet understudied system within which to explore fundamental principles of fire ecology. To understand how wildfires restructure soil bacterial communities and alter their functioning, we sought to translate aboveground fire ecology to belowground systems by determining which microbial traits are important post-fire and whether changes in bacterial communities affect carbon cycling. We employed an uncommon...

Due to the increasingly widespread water pollutants and the high cost of treatment methods, there is a demand for new, inexpensive, renewable, and biodegradable adsorbent materials for the purification of wastewater contaminants. In this study, a new biocomposite aerogel (Amf-CNF/LS) was prepared using a chemically cross-linking method between the amino-functionalized cellulose nanofibers (Amf-CNF) and lignosulfonates (LS). The physical and chemical properties of the prepared aerogel were investigated using several techniques including elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy...

Lignin is an abundant and complex plant polymer that may limit litter decomposition, yet lignin is sometimes a minor constituent of soil organic carbon (SOC). Accounting for diversity in soil characteristics might reconcile this apparent contradiction. Tracking decomposition of a lignin/litter mixture and SOC across different North American mineral soils using lab and field incubations, here we show that cumulative lignin decomposition varies 18-fold among soils and is strongly correlated with bulk litter decomposition, but not SOC decomposition. Climate legacy predicts decomposition in...

The Central Hardwood and Appalachian regions have large expanses of previously forested, but now degraded agricultural or pastoral lands that have been reappropriated for the growth of hardwood plantings and orchards. Although fine hardwoods such as black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) and northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) have been used for everything from flooring to finely crafted furniture to orchards for nut production, gaps exist in our knowledge regarding the most efficient methods of growing these prized hardwoods.

Agriculture and food systems are foundational in delivering ecosystem goods and services. There are significant opportunities for landscape architects to engage in the planning and design of regenerative agricultural systems. Particularly when conducted at a land grant university, design studio courses can prepare future landscape architects to work collaboratively toward more resilient and equitable food systems under a changing climate. This paper presents a studio course pedagogy for designing agroforestry systems in a rural county by linking research to extension through student design...

White pine blister rust (WPBR) is caused by the non- native fungus, Cronartium ribicola, a devastating pathogen of North American five-needle pines. Over the past century and a quarter, this pathogen has proven to be one of the most damaging agents of five-needle white pines (Geils et al. 2010; Schoettle et al. 2022) and is the primary factor in the recent ESA listing of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis, WBP) as threatened in the USA. Whitebark pine is a high-elevation species of western mountain ecosystems that is highly susceptible to WPBR. Since its detection in the Rocky Mountains of...