Treesearch

The South’s production of pulpwood decreased from 61.6 million cords in 2018 to 60.4 million cords in 2019. Roundwood production decreased by 499,000 cords to 46.5 million cords and accounted for 77 percent of the South’s total pulpwood production. The use of wood residue decreased 5 percent to 13.8 million cords in 2019. Alabama and Georgia led the South in total production, with 9.8 and 9.5 million cords, respectively. In 2019, 76 mills were operating and drawing wood from the 13 Southern States. October 2021 Revision: Errors occurred in the production numbers for the 2019 data. The...

This issue highlights RMRS research spanning topics including using environmental DNA in fish eradication efforts, how bark beetle outbreaks affect weeds, long-term weed dynamics after forest restoration, the Fire Effects Information System’s invasive plant species database, uncovering the importance of seed-eating small mammals on plant communities and invasions, and others. We are also excited to report publication of a national assessment of the state of science on invasive species.

Seven new Entomocorticium species (Peniophoraceae) are described based on morphology andphylogenetic analyses. Along with the type species (E.dendroctoni), Entomocorticium comprises eight species of nutritional symbionts of pine bark beetles in North America. Entomocorticium cobbii is the mycangial associate of the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis, and E. parmeteri is the mycangialassociate of the western pine beetle, D. brevicomis. Entomocorticium whitneyi, E. portiae, E. kirisitsii, E.oberwinkleri and the previously described E. dendroctoni have been isolated from galleries...

Effective invasive plant management requires collective action. However, little is known about what motivates individuals to work collectively. We conducted a mail survey of 2,600 randomly selected family forest owners in Indiana, USA to examine factors associated with community-led collective action. Specifically, we examined the role of perceived self-efficacy, perceived collective efficacy, concerns about invasive plants, and social norms associated with invasive plant management in shaping family forest owners' self-reported likelihood to work with their neighbors to remove invasive...

Every year, wildfires destroy thousands of buildings in the United States, especially in the rapidly growing wildland-urban interface, where homes and wildland vegetation meet or intermingle. After a wildfire there is a window of opportunity for residents and public agencies to re-shape patterns of development, and avoid development in locations that are inherently at higher risk of wildfire destruction. We examined 28 of the most destructive wildfires in California, the state where most buildings are destroyed by wildfires, to evaluate whether locations of rebuilt and newly constructed...

A need to quantify the impact of a particular wind disturbance on forest resources may require rapid yet reliable estimates of damage. We present an approach for combining pre-disturbance forest inventory data with post-disturbance aerial survey data to produce design-based estimates of affected forest area and number and volume of trees damaged or killed. The approach borrows strength from an indirect estimator to adjust estimates from a direct estimator when post-disturbance remeasurement data are unavailable. We demonstrate this approach with an example application from a recent...

Prescribed fire is used on more than 12 million acres (4.9 million hectares) in the United States annually. It is a critical strategic management tool for hazardous fuels reduction and the resilience of fireadapted landscapes. In recognition of its value, the President's Budget for fiscal year 2020 called for $450 million in funding for hazardous fuels reduction for USDA alone.

The Puerto Rico Breeding Bird Atlas (PRBBA) project collected and summarized information on the timing of breeding and geographic distribution of 130 breeding bird species on Puerto Rico, and its associated satellite islands and cays. Fieldwork coordinated by the Puerto Rican Ornithological Society (SOPI) involved 344 volunteer observers who contributed to more than 45,500 individual observations of birds from 2004 through 2009. Following standard breeding bird atlas protocol, observers searched for breeding evidence in 479 hexagons while recording bird behavior. Each observed behavior was...

More people visit public lands for recreation than for any other reason, which makes providing opportunities for sustainable recreation a key service that national forests can provide. Recreation managers, however, frequently lack basic information on the amount and extent of recreation use. Traditional approaches that rely on visitor traffic counts and in-person interviews to measure visits and recreation can be costly and may not provide needed information in a timely way.A team of scientists with the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station and the University of Washington...

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a major indicator of soil health. Globally, soil contains approximately 2344 Gt of organic carbon (OC), which is the largest ter-restrial pool of OC. Through plant growth, soil health is connected with the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems. Provides ecosystem services which include climate regulation, water supplies and regulation, nutrient cycling, erosion protection and enhancement of biodiversity. Global increase in land use change from natural vegetation to agricultural land has been documented as a result of intensification of agricultural practices...