Treesearch

What is the spongy moth? The spongy moth is an invasive, univoltine, foliage-feeding tussock moth with a native range spanning most of the Palaearctic and an invaded range in eastern North America (Figure 1). Until recently, this insect was referred to as the 'gypsy moth', but in 2021 the Entomological Society of America, recognizing the derogatory nature of the word 'gypsy', changed the common name to be harmonised with the German name schwammspinner and French name spongieuse — both of which reference the spongy nature of the egg masses laid by female moths.

The study of population dynamics at regional scales was not widely attempted half a century ago. Since then, however, greater availability of spatially referenced data, analytical methods, and computational resources have helped drive increasing attention to population-dynamic patterns and processes at regional scales. These advances have occurred against a backdrop of accelerating climate change and have helped document impacts on range shifts and spatiotemporal patterns of outbreaks. In many systems, archives of annual insect outbreak maps have been digitized and are a boon to the field...

Tree care professionals frequently assess or estimate the strength of wood within a living tree or dead, standing snag. This is often quite informal, with training and experience that guides decisions to remove or retain a major stem, or where to tie off lines and place a felling hinge. This article will look at the importance of heartwood and how it can impact decisions where wood strength and decay status might aff ect tree care practices.

North America's northern hardwood forests have been the focus of silviculture research and management for nearly a century. Yet, a rangewide conference to discuss and summarize the current understanding of northern hardwood forests had not been held in nearly 30 years. Thus, we wanted to take advantage of the Northern Hardwood Conference (NHC) 2021 to capture the concerns, challenges, and insights of managers and researchers from across the northern hardwood range. To begin this process, conference participants were prompted at registration to submit the top three challenges they believe...

Trees contain a number of different extractives that may have specific biological activities, many of which are capable of protecting the tree against different forms of infection. The hardwood species catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) is one of many types of wood that are rich with these chemicals. Researchers are often interested in extractives because knowledge of the defense mechanisms of trees against xenobiotics could potentially be applied to pharmaceutical development. For instance, literature indicates that catalpa wood often contains high concentrations of sterolic and phenolic compounds...

Youth living in areas with high concentrations of vacant properties may be at particular risk for poor health outcomes given the associations between deteriorated vacant properties, poor mental health, and community violence. Vacant lot greening has emerged as a key strategy to mitigate the harms of deteriorated properties. Youth engagement in greening has documented benefits for youth, yet few organizations responsible for managing vacant properties currently engage youth. Further, few researchers have examined the best practices that organizations can employ to effectively engage youth...

The success of public trees planted in urban areas by tree planting initiatives (TPIs) depends on how well the new trees fit into existing municipal structures and capacities. We sought to understand municipal management of trees in mid-sized towns through a case study in Massachusetts (US) involving a state-funded and state-managed TPI. Data was collected through structured interviews with tree wardens (municipal urban forest managers) to understand the various impacts that maintenance practices, municipal support and funding, and departmental structure may have on recently planted trees....

Pre-emptive silvicultural treatments can enhance host-tree vigor as a component of an integrated management approach to mitigate invasive species' impacts. Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA, Adelges tsugae Annand, 1928) threatens the health and existence of eastern hemlock-dominated forests. We propose that increasing canopy light exposure via silvicultural thinning can reduce hemlock's vulnerability to HWA. Three stands with high hemlock densities on the Allegheny National Forest were selected for thinning. There was no HWA infestation and half of each stand was thinned. Circular plots were...

Coastal wetlands provide critical ecosystem services but are experiencing disruptions caused by inundation and saltwater intrusion under intensified climate change, sea-level rise, and anthropogenic activities. Recent studies have shown that these disturbances downgraded coastal wetlands mainly through affecting their hydrological processes. However, research on what is the most critical driver for wetland downgrading and how it affects coastal wetlands is still in its infancy. This study examined drivers of three types of wetland downgrading, including woody wetland loss, emergent...

Mountain ecosystems provide multiple ecosystem services and are “natural laboratories” to understandecosystem responses to global change. Because of the inaccessibility and the high cost of field surveys, remotesensing indices are the major and sometimes the only measures to monitor the vegetation growth dynamics inmountains. However, there are large discrepancies in those indices that should be quantified in mountainousregions. This case study in Nepal, a highly mountainous region, explores the consistency and inconsistency of sixwidely used remote sensing indices in monitoring vegetation...