Treesearch

Climate change may require foresters to adapt management in order to maintain healthy, functional forests. We present the effects of experimental climate adaptation treatments on species diversity and adaptability of natural tree regeneration 5 years following implementation in red pine-dominated ecosystems in north central Minnesota. Treatments included resistance, resilience, and transition. Each adaptation treatment increased tree species diversity and richness over the passive control treatment. The transition treatment resulted in the greatest adaptability, quantified as a composite...

Short-term effects of disturbances intensity on understory plant communities are well documented, however, only few studies have examined longer term effects. While increased intensity of soil and canopy disturbances tend to increase species richness in the short term due to early seral-species establishment, those competitive-pioneer species emerging from early stages of succession can become recalcitrant, which can alter patterns of natural regeneration especially by being detrimental to rarer species and such functional groups associated with closed forest habitats. We measured taxonomic...

Wind disturbance in northern hardwood forests creates heterogeneously distributed structural attributes such as downed woody debris (DWD) across temporal and spatial scales. Wood inhabiting fungi (WIF) contribute to ecosystem carbon (C) dynamics through their role in deadwood turnover and long-term C storage.

Composition and diversity of small mammal communities are sensitive to bottom-up effects where variation in vegetative structure, climate, and microclimates affect the food resources upon which small mammals depend (Pinotti et al. 2011). Sensitivity to changes in forest structure reflect the close trophic linkages between herbivorous, granivorous, and insectivorous small mammals and the surrounding vegetation they use as food resources and cover (Niedziałkowska et al. 2010). Subsequent variation in small mammal community structure and abundance can result in cascading effects on carnivores,...

Environmental DNA (eDNA) and invertebrate DNA (iDNA) have become popular techniques in biodiversity surveys. Established iDNA sources to survey mammals include biting invertebrates, but Silphidae (carrion feeders) have yet to be reported in literature. These beetles could provide a less invasive tool to survey mammalian communities. To validate use of iDNA methods using silphids, fieldwork was conducted in Michigan Technological University’s Ford Forest in the Northern Hardwood-Silviculture Experiment to Enhance Diversity (NH-SEED). Modified pitfall trapping was conducted and we successfull...

The contiguous United States is home to over 4,000 species of native, wild bees in addition to the European honeybee (Apis mellifera). Although a natural area is often positively correlated with increased wild bee diversity, abundance, and species richness, forests have historically been ignored as potential bee habitat due to their dense canopy cover and dominance by wind-pollinated trees.

Historically, wildfire and tribal burning practices played important roles in shaping ecosystems throughout the Klamath Siskiyou Bioregion of northern California and southern Oregon. Over the past several decades, there has been increased interest in the application of fire for forest management through the implementation of prescribed fires within habitats that are used by a diversity of migrant and resident land birds. While many bird species may benefit from habitat enhancements associated with wildfires, cultural burning, and prescribed fire, individuals may face direct or indirect...

Harvesting during winter is encouraged as a best management practice to protect soils during logging operations. We assessed the effects of machine traffic and slash volume on soil bulk density following a winter harvest of a northern hardwood forest on unfrozen cobbly silt loam soils. Soil samples were extracted from areas representing four levels of machine traffic (i.e., high, medium, low, and none) and two levels of overstory treatment (i.e., clearcut and partial cut). Results indicate that even low levels of traffic increased bulk density at the 0–5 cm depth. However, at the 5–10 cm...

Lignin is one of the most common naturally occurring macromolecules. It is associated with cellulose and hemicelluloses in terrestrial plants, providing mechanical stiffness and contributing to moisture control and defense toward insects and fungi. Lignin is typically a polymer of three different cinnamyl alcohols, para-coumaryl alcohol, coniferyl alcohol, and sinapyl alcohol, which varies with the plant species. Solubilized lignin from the kraft pulping process is mainly concentrated and burned as part of the liquor recovery cycle in the kraft pulping. Given its aromatic nature, other...

Northern hardwoods produce a variety of logs suitable for different final products. It is generally understood that sorting logs based on grade generates maximum value for all stakeholders. However, the benefits of log sorting may depend also on the geographical distribution of forest stands and manufacturing mills. The objective of this study was to evaluate the profitability of log sorting based on geographical location of forest stands, destination mills, and market parameters . A decision-support tool was used to allocate logs from timber sales to highest-profit-yielding mills. Factors...