Treesearch

While the scientists and administrators of the South’s forest experiment stations receive the lion’s share of attention for their contributions to American forestry, they are not the only pioneers in the research and development of natural resource science. The Southern Forest Experiment Station (SOFES) employed many hundreds of persons during its 75 years of existence. A far from complete roster (Bragg and McDaniel 2023) represents the best current approximation of the professional-level staffing of the Station. Even though this roster is woefully deficient in terms of technical and...

We examine how forest taxation should be designed when tax revenues are used to finance expenditures on wildfire risk mitigation and when forest carbon storage has value. A model is solved sequentially in two stages by a forest tax planner and a representative private landowner. Our results show that neither an acre-based fee nor a unit-based harvest tax is able to incentivize the same levels of sequestration as a carbon price. However, a neutral tax like the acre-based fee is preferred when the external benefits of carbon sequestration are captured by the private landowner.

Tropical forests have the highest net primary productivity and soil carbon flux yet bear large uncertainties in being a carbon sink or source under changes in climate. To better understand the responses of tropical soil to climate change, we analyzed the distribution patterns of soil organic carbon and nutrients along an altitudinal gradient in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, northeastern Puerto Rico, which provides a natural approach to study how the altered temperature and precipitation impact tropical soil carbon processes. We collected soil samples at two depths (0–15 cm and 15–30...

In many watersheds, runoff occurring with snowmelt brings the largest pulse of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from soils to streams. Yet, exactly how soil and stream DOM fractions are altered as snowmelt timing changes is not well understood. We studied the optical character of DOM as it moved through a first-order northern hardwood watershed through the snowmelt period. While stream dissolved organic carbon (DOC; mean = 4.6 mg C L−1) concentrations were not correlated with snowmelt flushing, stream DOM appeared humic-like throughout the study period (humification index, HIX; mean = 10.9)....

In 1596, the San Pedro, en route from Colombia to Spain, went down in a hurricane off Bermuda, with the loss of its entire cargo. Among the ship’s contents, salvaged between 1950 and 1961, was the most complete collection of 16th century Indigenous weapons recovered from a maritime context, including bows and arrows, darts, stone axes, and two examples of a rare, distinctive style of club. These clubs, featuring a flaring terminal end embellished with recessed two-dimensional geometric design panels, are documented in 16th and 17th century accounts of Indigenous warriors in the Lesser...

Context: An increase in the number and availability of datasets cataloging invasive plant distributions offers opportunities to expand our understanding, monitoring, and management of invasives across spatial scales. These datasets, created using on-theground observations and modeling techniques, are made both for and by researchers and managers.Objectives: The large number and variety of data types and associated datasets can be difficult to navigate, require high levels of data literacy, and can overwhelm the intended end-users. By providing a synthesis of available data types and...

Across the globe, a network of national parks, nature reserves, and wilderness areas provides necessary refuge for the world’s biodiversity, and yet these spaces are themselves susceptible to the effects of climate change. As the planet warms, species may need to adjust their ranges, moving among protected areas over time to maintain similar climate conditions.

High-elevation, five-needle white pine species, known by many researchers and managers as the high-five pines, are some of the most unique and iconic tree species in North America. Living for centuries and inhabiting the harshest sites possible-cold, wind- swept mountain peaks and exposed mountain ridges- these species epitomize endurance, survival, and adaptability.

This study develops the theory of risk-averse importance sampling and explains its potential application to forest inventory estimation through the use of a heuristic simulation. When the risk-producing elements of the landscape are known, a risk-averse sampling strategy can be created that results in fewer samples in high-risk areas. Our simulation shows that for certain high-risk populations, risk-averse importance sampling can be highly effective at reducing both risk to field crew members (requiring only 10% of the plot visits in the riskiest category) and sample variance relative...