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 Alabama. 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.The application that produced this resource update was developed using data from the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis database (FIADB): https://apps.fs.usda.gov/fia/datamart/datamart_excel.html .Tables for Alabama, 2020 can be found here: https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-294-Ta...

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion-derived disease causing lethal spongiform encephalopathy in cervids like deer, elk, moose, and reindeer (1). It is similar to other zoonotic spongiform encephalopathies that are deadly to humans such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, and holds potential for lethal spillover into human populations (2). Concern regarding potential spillover into humans is increasing as CWD is rapidly spreading across wild cervid populations in North America, cervids that are consumed by millions of hunters (3). In a recent mBio Opinion/ Hypothesi...

Fast-growing Eucalyptus spp. forest plantations and their resultant wood products are economically important and may provide a low-cost means to sequester carbon for greenhouse gas reduction. The development of advanced and optimized frameworks for estimating forest plantation attributes from lidar remote sensing data combined with statistical modeling approaches is a step towards forest inventory operationalization and might improve industry efficiency in monitoring and managing forest resources. In this study, we first developed and tested a framework for modeling individual tree...

Reactive nitrogen (Nr) within smoke plumes plays important roles in the production of ozone, the formation of secondary aerosols, and deposition of fixed N to ecosystems. The Western Wildfire Experiment for Cloud Chemistry, Aerosol Absorption, and Nitrogen (WE-CAN) field campaign sampled smoke from 23 wildfires throughout the western U.S. during summer 2018 using the NSF/NCAR C-130 research aircraft. We empirically estimate Nr normalized excess mixing ratios and emission factors from fires sampled within 80 min of estimated emission and explore variability in the dominant forms of Nr...

Since its introduction to North America in the early 1900s, white pine blister rust (WPBR) caused by the fungal pathogen Cronartium ribicola has resulted in substantial economic losses and ecological damage to native North American five-needle pine species. The high susceptibility and mortality of these species, including limber pine (Pinus flexilis), creates an urgent need for the development and deployment of resistant germplasm to support recovery of impacted populations. Extensive screening for genetic resistance to WPBR has been underway for decades in some species but has only...

The North American high elevation five-needle white pines define the forest-alpine ecotone in many mountain systems and provide watershed protection and wildlife habitat. Climate change is projected to be rapid and heightened in these same habitats, highlighting the importance of genetic diversity and adaptive capacity of the species that occupy them (Millar et al. 2007). The five-needle pines are also being challenged be an invasive fungal pathogen, Cronartium ribicola, that was introduced to North America in the early 1900s and causes the lethal disease white pine blister rust (WPBR) on...

The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted a reconsideration, perhaps even a fundamental shift in our relationships with place. As people worldwide have experienced ‘lockdown,’ we find ourselves emplaced in new and complex ways. In this Commentary, we draw attention to the re-working of people-place relations that the pandemic has catalysed thus far. We offer insights and suggestions for future interdisciplinary research, informed by our diverse positionalities as researchers based in different continents employing diverse approaches to people-place research. The article is structured in two...

Regulation of building standards and residential development practices in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) is increasingly advocated as a possible avenue for wildfire risk reduction. However, many documented instances of successful wildfire adaptation occur in incorporated communities with local governments or formalized structures for channeling such efforts. Less research has explored whether regulatory approaches might be a viable option for adaptation in unincorporated communities without local governments, particularly from the perspective of community members and local professionals...

Several historic pilgrimage routes called Saint Olav Ways terminate at the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway. All have status as European Cultural Routes. Most popular is the 643 km Gudbrandsdal route from Oslo. The number of pilgrims along this route increases every year, currently totalling a few thousand annually. Our study - the first quantitative analysis of pilgrims in Norway - is based on two years of surveying on-site hikers (using self-registration boxes) and a follow-up, e-mail based, online questionnaire (N = 276). The survey sought information about pilgrims’ motives,...

Forests in the western United States are being subject to more frequent and severe drought events as the climate warms. The 2012-2015 California drought is a recent example, whereby drought stress was exacerbated by a landscape-scale outbreak of western pine beetle (Dendroctonus brevicomis) and resulted in widespread mortality of dominant canopy species including ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). In this study, we compared pairs of large surviving and beetle-killed ponderosa pines following the California drought in the southern Sierra Nevadas to evaluate physiological characteristics...