Treesearch

Attributes of property parcel owners are hypothesized to impact land management outcomes, because different types of owners are likely to have different capacities and motivations for land stewardship. We used emerging data resources to examine how owner type relates to the prevalence of overgrown vegetation in Toledo, Ohio, and Trenton, New Jersey, USA. Overgrown vegetation was characterized at the property parcel scale using data from comprehensive parcel surveys in each city, and owner attributes were categorized using local property tax databases. We categorized owners into types...

The emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), a phloem-boring beetle native to Asia, was first discovered in 2002 in the USA and Canada, causing widespread mortality of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.). A classical biological control program against EAB was implemented with the first regulatory approvals for environmental releases of three hymenopteran parasitoids from China in 2007: Tetrastichus planipennisi (Eulophidae), Spathius agrili (Braconidae), and Oobius agrili (Encyrtidae), and a fourth parasitoid, Spathius galinae (Braconidae) from the Russian Far East in...

Spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula White) is an invasive planthopper that was introduced to the United States from Asia and readily spreads via human aided means. Three geographically separated populations in the United States (NJ, PA, and WV) were collected and used to assess the effects of fluctuating thermal regimes that included temperatures above or below the upper (Tmax) and lower (Tmin) developmental thresholds, respectively, on nymphal survival and development, and to determine if there was within- and among-population variation in hatch timing and temperature responses of...

We use a unique dataset of land parcels and forest cover, before and after subdivision development, to examine outcomes of Maryland's Forest Conservation Act (FCA). Focusing on the spatial configuration of homes and forests, we compare subdivisions created before and after FCA implementation in 1993. We found minimal impacts of FCA on forest outcomes we considered: houses were as likely to be built in forest before and after FCA, and forest metrics showed increasing fragmentation with development unchanged by FCA regulation. However, the FCA led to a greater proportion of forest located...

Given the high costs associated with fruit fly (Tephritidae) invasions, there is a need to better understand and predict the risks of future invasions. We assembled a global database of historical Tephritidae invasions with the objective to identify biological and socioeconomic drivers that explain invasions. We investigate the tendencies of certain species to invade and the characteristics of regions that make them more prone to invasions. Our database documented the occurrence (presence/ absence) and status (native/non-native) of individual Tephritidae species in each country in the...

Understanding the effects of landscape management on northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) population growth requires information on seasonal- and stage-specific demographic parameters linked across the full annual cycle. We evaluated site-level seasonal dynamics and population growth of bobwhites in southwest Missouri and compared differences between three extensively and two intensively managed sites from 2016 to 2019. Extensively managed sites were continuous tracts of native prairie. Intensively managed sites were composed of smaller native and non-native grassland units interspersed...

Fruit growth patterns are often exploited in predictions of final fruit size and to inform planting and harvesting decisions. Ten local apricot (Prunus armeniaca) varieties with superior genotypes (two early-ripening, five mid-ripening and three late-ripening varieties) were assessed using 20 nonlinear regression models (NRMs) and a radial basis function (RBF) neural network model. Fruit diameter and weight measurements for each genotype were collected at four-day intervals from fruit set to commercial harvest. Patterns based on diameter and weights were attributed to each genotype. Among...

Throughout the world, people resettle to reduce vulnerability to potentially dangerous wildlife, including elephants. In turn, they may become subject to development policies and practices that can either exacerbate or alleviate their vulnerability. Our ethnographic study in the Okavango Delta of Botswana, where 18,000 elephants share territory with 16,000 people, examines how resettlement decisions and settlement policies impacted vulnerability to elephants. We found that people who came into regular conflict with elephants frequently relocated from cattleposts to villages. Although...

Drought frequency and severity are projected to increase in many regions of the world, yet it remains unclear how mesic forest trees will respond to these novel climate conditions. Experimentally imposing drought in forests at the stand scale is logistically difficult, however, disturbing the hydraulic functioning of individual trees can induce severe water stress and may inform how large trees respond to future droughts. In this study, we manipulated water availability of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) trees by partially or completely severing sapwood, and measured impacts on water...

Tree canopy cover is a critical component of the urban environment that supports ecosystem services at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Increasing tree canopy across a matrix of public and private land is challenging. As such, municipalities often plant trees along streets in public rights-of-way where there are fewer barriers to establishment, and composition and biomass of street trees are inextricably linked to human decisions, management, and care. In this study, we investigated the contributions of street trees to the broader urban forest, inclusive of tree canopy distributed...