Treesearch

The relationships between tree size and abundance and how these relationships change following disturbance can influence silvicultural decisions such as stocking targets. Measuring tree size and abundance in the field, however, can be time consuming and costly. Data from two long-term forest monitoring networks were used to better understand the effects of disturbance on tree size-abundance relationships and to develop a way to accurately estimate tree size distribution using readily available remotely sensed data. Findings take steps towards more accurate predictions of forest structure...

Forest gardens and food forests have been planted and stewarded by Indigenous peoples and other cultures around the world for thousands of years. These systems are rooted in traditional ecological knowledge, blending food production with long-term stewardship of the land. In recent decades, food forests have reemerged across the United States in innovative ways, often found in public parks, vacant lots, greenways, riparian buffers, along public forest edges, or combined with community gardens. Whether part of grassroots efforts or public and/or private partnerships, urban and community...

Puerto Rico (PR) and the US Virgin Islands (VI), two archipelagos located in the Caribbean region, possess forest ecosystems with high species diversity, which remain largely underrepresented in forest modeling research compared to temperate forests. Accurately characterizing tree allometry is essential for monitoring forest status over time and predicting tree growth and yield in sustainable forest management. Height-diameter relationship models, denoted as H–D models, are widely used in forestry practice since they effectively reduce the time and cost of field data collection and provide...

For 25 years, ranchers in South Dakota have used the South Dakota Drought Tool to estimate forage productivity of grazing lands. This crucial information helps them gauge whether to increase or decrease their herd size the following year. Management agencies also use the South Dakota Drought Tool to determine forage productivity of the lands they manage to balance the needs of livestock and wildlife.

Potential natural vegetation (PNV) classification and mapping are foundational tools in planning in forestry and related fields to identify appropriate biophysical environments for vegetation communities across the landscape. The need for this information has grown over recent decades as attention has shifted to planning over large geographic areas. Our goal of this work is to develop a consistent, continuous potential vegetation map of both forest and nonforest for Washington, Oregon, and California.We built a PNV map using wall-to-wall, 30-m maps of current forest attributes from the...

As a forest-dependent species, the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) is reliant on large-diameter tree roosts (hereafter, “roosts”), which are usually snags. Such large trees develop as a product of time and species-specific growth rates. To better understand the ecology of bat roost habitat, we explore the putative trade-offs between tree age, size, and growth rates on the development of roosts. Specifically, we quantify the age, size, and longevity of roosts of Indiana bats using dendrochronology at three study sites across the species’ range in the eastern USA. On average, roosts...

Myotis septentrionalis (Northern Long-eared Bat) has experienced severe population declines due to the impacts of white-nose syndrome, although some populations along the Atlantic Coast appear to be persisting. Our objectives were to document the presence of Northern Long-eared Bats across the Coastal Plain of South Carolina and describe roost characteristics and other aspects of the bats’ ecology. We captured 45 Northern Long-eared Bats from April to August 2017–2024 across 4 sites. We radio-tagged 30 bats and tracked them to 99 day roosts. Almost all (92.9%) roosts were in pines,...

A 2018 analysis of the urban forest in Springfield, Missouri reveals that this area has an estimated 3.6 million live trees across all ownerships, two-thirds of which are under 5.0 inches in diameter. The most common large diameter (11.0+ inches in diameter) tree species are black walnut, silver maple, and hackberry. The most common tree species in maintained areas of the city are Siberian elm, eastern redbud, and hackberry. Trees in Springfield are estimated to be currently storing about 342,000 tons of carbon (1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide) valued at $58.4 million. In addition, it...

A survey of the urban forest was conducted in Providence, Rhode Island from 2015 to 2021. Across the 13.1 thousand acres encompassing the city, there are an estimated 495.2 thousand live trees. More than half of tree stems are small diameter (under 5.0 inches in diameter). The most dominant species based on the number of trees and leaf area are Norway maple, black oak, northern red oak, American elm, and northern white-cedar. Trees on public lands account for 30.0 percent of the total live tree population. Trees on private lands account for 70.0 percent. A majority of trees on private land...

A 2021 analysis of the urban forest in Des Moines, Iowa, reveals that this area has an estimated 2.5 million live trees across all ownerships. The most common tree species by number are American elm, green ash, and boxelder. Trees in Des Moines are estimated to store about 466,000 tons of carbon (1.7 million tons of carbon dioxide [CO2]) valued at $79.5 million. In addition, it is estimated that these trees remove about 12,000 tons of carbon per year (or 44,000 tons CO2 per year, valued at $2.1 million, an amount roughly equivalent to the annual emissions associated with 8,700 passenger...