Treesearch

Efforts to develop American chestnuts [Castanea dentata, (Marsh.) Borkh], with improved resistance to the chestnut blight fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica (Murr.) Barr, and Phytophthora root rot, caused by Phythophthora cinnamomi Rands, are ongoing. Establishing founder populations of improved chestnut will require understanding the ecological and silvicultural requirements of the species. In areas where white tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmerman) hinder tree regeneration success, understanding how browsing will affect the establishment of planted chestnut is critical. We evaluated...

Urbanization is one of the most widespread and extreme examples of habitat alteration. As humans dominate landscapes, they introduce novel elements into environments, including artificial light, noise pollution, and anthropogenic food sources. One understudied form of anthropogenic food is refuse from restaurants, which can alter wildlife populations and, in turn, entire wildlife communities by providing a novel and stable food source. Using data from the Maricopa Association of Governments and the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER) project, we investigated...

Black ash (Fraxinus nigra Marsh.) forests of north-central North America are currently threatened by the non-native emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis, EAB). Despite the wide distribution of F. nigra ecosystems, and the concern over EAB impact, little is known about their structure and natural stand dynamics. We sampled six old-growth F. nigra stands to assess structure, composition, tree recruitment, and past disturbance. Dendrochronological results revealed that disturbance rates fluctuated markedly over the past 200 years or more, but remained relatively low, suggesting small- to...

Combined heat and moisture transfer modeling is used in building envelope analysis to identify potential moisture durability risks. Moisture transfer in porous materials is typically partitioned into liquid transport and vapor diffusion. Although modeling approaches differ in complexity, coefficients for liquid transport are often derived from laboratory measurements of water absorption by partial immersion. Models generally include the assumption that capillary transport is dominant during the measurement, while vapor diffusion is negligible. This is reasonable for mineral-based materials,...

As a private forest landowner, you may start to think about timber taxes only after having a timber sale. However, each forest activity you conduct can have tax implications. Generally, all income received is taxable unless excluded by tax law, and nothing is deductible unless a provision allows it. Understanding the forest-related provisions and integrating tax planning into your forest management can help lower your overall taxes and increase disposable income. This publication is intended to be an informational and educational resource for you and your tax advisor, but is not intended...

We consider how the stoichiometry and energy content of organic matter reservoirs and fluxes through and from a peatland enable the fluxes and storage of carbon within a peatland to be constrained. We include the elemental composition of the above- and below-ground biomass, litter, the peat profile, and the dissolved and particulate organic matter within a blanket bog in northern England for which the C budget has previously been measured. The study shows, based only on the elemental composition, and calculation of oxidation and energy contents, that: (a) Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in...

This report provides a look at changes that could come to pass and impact recreation on public lands over the next 30 years. The data were over 700 horizon scan hits from our Forest Futures Horizon Scanning Project. Horizon scan hits are a useful early warning system. Horizon scan hits may be directly related to outdoor recreation (e.g., the decline of snow fall) or they may be indirectly related (e.g., the development of lab-grown meat). Because weak signals of change are as important as strong signals, a single scan hit is worthy of consideration, even if it stands alone. These horizon...

A new, dynamic reality is unfolding as climate change interacts with historical land management, causing changes in riverscape conditions that affect stream habitat and populations of native fishes. In Alaska, and elsewhere, land managers are facing new challenges as they seek to balance forest use with ecological resilience in rivers that support culturally and commercially important salmonids. In this context, data-driven forest management intended to maintain and restore landscapes relies on information that defines conditions over time. In this study, we analyzed 8 years of stream...

The coastal temperate rainforest of southeast Alaska is part of the largest temperate rainforest in the world and delivers a vast array of goods and services for local and global economies. Even-aged western hemlock-Sitka spruce (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.)/Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carrière) forests that regenerated after past harvests are projected to be the primary source of future value as landowners transition away from old-growth harvesting. Although current knowledge of long-term thinning effects in this region is limited compared to other regions, managers have options for the...

A lone shortleaf pine stands nearly 100 feet tall, rooted in the stony soils of a cliff, overlooking a valley. Protected by its thick bark, the pine has survived a long history of frequent fires set by Osage Indians and Scotch-Irish immigrants. It escaped the woodsman's axe by its remote location. Over its 350 years of life, it has seen dramatic changes from the days when the Osage people plied the waters of the river below in their canoes. It stood through the agricultural and industrial revolutions that swept through the Missouri Ozarks in the later 19th and early 20th centuries. Today,...