Treesearch

The spongy moth, Lymantria dispar L. (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), formerly known as the "gypsy moth," continues to spread throughout North America, threatening deciduous trees, impacting humans, and directing state, federal, and private funds to population suppression and regulatory compliance. This non-native, foliage-feeding insect species currently occupies only about one-third of its possible host distribution in the United States. Efforts to reduce its impact and invasion spread represent one of the largest and most successful federal and state agency integrated pest management programs...

As a result of climate change, temperature and precipitation levels in the northeastern United States have increased in recent decades, and they are projected to continue to do so in the decades ahead (Janowiak et al. 2018). Projected changes include increases in maximum, minimum and average temperatures, with the greatest increases forecast for winter (Janowiak et al. 2018). Precipitation inputs are also expected to generally increase, though inputs may be more intense (leading to greater runoff and less soil infiltration) and episodic - creating intermittent droughts (Janowiak et al....

Mentoring is suggested as an important strategy to promote workplace inclusivity and is shown to be positively associated with high employee morale, yet mentee needs and experiences may not be universal. To evaluate mentoring impacts from the perspective of USDA Forest Service employees, we conducted an online survey of 251 aquatic professionals, including managers and scientists. 70% of respondents had mentors, and mentorship status did not vary across demographic characteristics. Previous mentoring relationships were most frequently identified as “informal” rather than “formal”; female...

Determining how streams develop naturally, particularly the ecological role of newly developed riparian canopy cover, is essential to understanding the factors that structure new stream communities and provides valuable information for restoring highly disturbed ecosystems. However, attempts to understand primary succession in riverine ecosystems have been hindered by a lack of data owing to the infrequent formation of new rivers on the landscape. In the present study, we used five streams formed following the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (WA, USA) to examine the influence of canopy...

The fungus currently known as Laetiporus persicinus is a recognizable brown-rot decayer that is widespread on oak hosts in the southeastern United States. This species was first described as Polyporus persicinus in 1872 based on collections by Henry W. Ravenel from South Carolina. In this study, we elucidate the phylogenetic relationships of Laetiporus persicinus based on maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses of a four-locus data set (18S, 28S, rpb2, and tef1) from taxa within the Fomitopsidaceae and Laetiporaceae. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was analyzed...

The sporadic cone production of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) challenges the restoration of the longleaf pine ecosystem. While much has been learned about longleaf pine cone production at the stand level, little information exists at the tree level regarding cone production and energy allocational strategy. This study aims to analyze cone production and diameter growth of approximately ten sampled longleaf pine trees at seven sites across the southeastern USA over the past twenty years. The results indicate that three-year cycles dominated the cone production dynamics, but longer...

Novel technologies, such as camera traps, have expanded the opportunities for species detection, especially for rare species. Corresponding changes in data processing must occur to handle the large volume of data gathered from technology like camera traps. Automated image data processing, usually by running images through different types of computer algorithms, is an overarching goal to reduce the number of images that researchers must manually review. However, differences in camera trap setups and species characteristics can make automatic processing a challenge. Here, we evaluated the...

The coastal zone of southeast Alaska contains thousands of rivers that drain into the Gulf of Alaska. This is the wettest and most topographically varied region in North America. The deluge of freshwater plays a critical role in supporting the Gulf of Alaska’s terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems as well as regional economies. However, the amount, timing, location, and source of freshwater flows into the ocean throughout the year are not well understood. Two teams of researchers from the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station; U.S. Geological Survey; University of Alaska; and...

Margarops fuscatus (Pearly-eyed Thrasher) is recognized for its vagility, dispersal ability, aggressive behavior, opportunistic diet, high reproductive potential, and ability to inhabit marginal habitats. Given these traits, we predicted that thrasher post-hurricane site occupancy and abundance in the first post-hurricane year (2018) after hurricanes Irma and María (2017) would change with elevation, forest type, and vegetation damage. To document the hurricanes’ effects on thrasher site occupancy and abundance along an elevation gradient (150–1074 m a.s.l.) in the Luquillo Experimental...

As effects of the Great Depression increased in western North Carolina, the Pisgah National Forest (PNF) and the Asheville Unemployment Council (AUC) had a tree problem in common. The PNF needed to sell some trees so that a researcher at the Bent Creek Experimental Forest (BCEF) could install a study— but there were no buyers. The AUC needed to buy trees for their innovative employment relief program—but they had no money. A series of newspaper articles appearing in the Asheville Citizen (1930a–1930d, 1931a–1931h) and Asheville Citizen-Times (1930; 1931a, 1931b) described how the two...