Treesearch

This resource update is a brief look at some of the basic metrics that describe the status of and changes to forest resources in Rhode Island. This information is based on field data collected using the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) annualized sample design, and it is updated yearly.Tables for Forests of Rhode Island, 2020 can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-336-TablesThe FIA one-click application that generated this report can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FIA-One-Click-State-Report-v1.2

This resource update is a brief look at some of the basic metrics that describe the status of and changes to forest resources in Delaware. This information is based on field data collected using the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) annualized sample design, and it is updated yearly.Tables for Forests of Delaware, 2020 can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-338-TablesThe FIA one-click application that generated this report can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FIA-One-Click-State-Report-v1.2

Peatlands both accumulate carbon and release methane, but their broad range in environmental conditions means that the diversity of microorganisms responsible for carbon cycling is still uncertain. Here, we describe a community analysis of methanogenic archaea responsible for methane production in 17 peatlands from 36 to 53 N latitude across the eastern half of North America, including three metal-contaminated sites. Methanogenic community structure was analysed through Illumina amplicon sequencing of the mcrA gene. Whether metal-contaminated sites were included or not, metal concentrations...

Peatlands play a critical role in the global carbon (C) cycle, encompassing ∼30% of the 1,500 Pg of C stored in soils worldwide. However, this C is vulnerable to climate and land-use change. Ecosystem models predict the impact of perturbation on C fluxes based on soil C pools, yet responses could vary markedly depending on soil organic matter (SOM) chemistry. Here, we show that one SOM functional group responds strongly to environmental factors and predicts the risk of carbon dioxide (CO2) release from peatlands. The molecular composition of SOM in 125 peatlands differed markedly at the...

There is a data gap in our current knowledge of the geospatial distribution, type and extent of C rich peatlands across the globe. The Pastaza Marañón Foreland Basin (PMFB), within the Peruvian Amazon, is known to store large amounts of peat, but the remoteness of the region makes field data collection and mapping the distribution of peatland ecotypes challenging. Here we review methods for developing high accuracy peatland maps for the PMFB using a combination of multi-temporal synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical remote sensing in a machine learning classifier. The new map produced...

Green infrastructure increasingly is used to ameliorate water quality and quantity problems caused by runoff in cities. Studies show how the spatial distribution of these Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) sites are unevenly distributed relative to socioeconomic and demographic groups. Often this is described as an indicator of perpetuated environment injustice, given the purported social and environmental benefits of GSI. To assess equity, researchers often examine either who gets what with respect to environmental ‘goods’ such as tree canopy and other green infrastructures, or...

On a 20-acre bog in the Marcell Experimental Forest in northern Minnesota, 10 open-topped chambers rise more than 23 feet out of the peatland, connected by walkways that seem to float over a layer of Sphagnum moss. "Some people have compared it to the science fiction scene of an alien landing spot on planet Earth," says Stephen Sebestyen, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service's Northern Research Station (NRS), and one of the scientists collaborating on this study. "In reality, what this turns out to be is, the world's largest climate change experiment."

If you walk through a northern hardwood forest in the Lakes States region today, you'll likely experience something different than your ancestors would have centuries ago. Instead of a variety of species, including eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), and eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) saplings, you'll likely see a proliferation of sugar maples (Acer saccharum), their iconic leaves soaking up the sunlight. According to Christel Kern, a research forester with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service's Northern Research Station (NRS), "There has...

Oak-dominated ecosystems in the eastern United States rely on periodic fire to create conditions that are conducive to oak regeneration. However, concern about reducing timber quality has made some managers wary of using fire as a management tool. A team of Northern Research Station scientists, foresters, and ecologists are collaborating to assess timber quality by inventorying trees across multiple national forests that have varied prescribed fire histories. Their findings indicate that economic damage to overstory timber value from prescribed fire is usually minimal, particularly...

When a tree falls in the woods, should it be removed? In managed forests, common practices call for cleaning up and removing timber following a blowdown. But when Northern Research Station research forester Christel Kern sees the root mass of a fallen tree, she's more likely to see it as an opportunity. Her work is described in a 2019 Forest Ecology and Management article entitled Mounds Facilitate Regeneration of Light-Seeded and Browse-Sensitive Tree Species After Moderate-Severity Wind Disturbance.