Treesearch

The exchange of carbon between the Earth's atmosphere and biosphere influences the atmospheric abundances of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). Airborne eddy covariance (EC) can quantify surface-atmosphere exchange from landscape-to-regional scales, offering a unique perspective on carbon cycle dynamics. We use extensive airborne measurements to quantify fluxes of sensible heat, latent heat, CO2, and CH4 across multiple ecosystems in the Mid-Atlantic region during September 2016 and May 2017. In conjunction with footprint analysis and land cover information, we use the airborne...

Few North American studies have quantified differences in bat community composition between summer and winter. In southerly regions, especially the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico, winters are mild and experience only short periods of freezing weather annually. In regions such as this, there may be a substantive community of bats that are active in the winter. We examined seasonality of the bat community in the Kisatchie National Forest of Louisiana. We mist-netted bats for 130 nights during winter and 51 nights during summer and caught 200 and 190 bats, respectively, from 10 different...

Ctenobium LeConte, 1865 (Coleoptera: Ptinidae) was described for a single species, Ctenobium antennatum LeConte, 1865 (Fig. 1). Ctenobium most closely resembles Oligomerus Redtenbacher, from which it can be readily separated—the pro-coxae in Ctenobium are distinctly separated by a parallel-sided prosternal process, and the antennae are clubbed with antennal segments 3–8 serrate to pectinate (Figs. 1–2) (Philips 2002; White 1971). The conical shape and granulate surface of the last visible abdominal segment are also characteristic for Ctenobium (Fall 1905; LeConte 1865).

This life cycle assessment is part of a larger project to update the life cycle inventories for major wood products produced in the United States (U.S.) on a five-year cycle. Hardwood lumber manufacturing data were collected for the 2017 production year from sawmills operating in the northeast and north central regions (NE/NC) of the U.S.

In March, an overwhelming majority of month-over-month categories were negative. Total, single-, and multifamily starts all recorded double-digit declines. On a year-over-year basis, half the categories indicated improvement, whereas housing completions was the only subsector reporting declines for all components: total, single-family, and multifamily. New single-family and existing house sales decreased, month-over-month and year-over-year. Single-family construction expenditures improved year-over-year and decreased month-over-month. The effects of COVID-19 may not be fully reflected in...

The wildland–urban interface (WUI) occurs at the intersection of houses and undeveloped wildlands, where fire is a safety concern for communities, motivating investment in planning, protection, and risk mitigation. Because there is no operational definition of WUI based on where fires in fact have occurred, I used fire occurrences to objectively establish a definition of WUI, while examining spatiotemporal changes, for the conterminous United States. I applied four classifiers, but focused on C5.0, which produced equivalent sensitivity (0.87 to 0.91 at prevalence = 0.67) and generated a...

Pre-Euro-American settlement vegetation provides information about historical ecology. I evaluated baseline conditions and novel status of current forests in Michigan using historical (1836 to 1858) and current (2010–2015) surveys and assessed quantitative and qualitative measures of novel status. Aspen (increased from 2% to 11% of all trees) and red maple (<2% to 12.5%) replaced eastern hemlock (15% to 2%) and American beech (8% to <1%) as most abundant species. Density was similar between surveys but mean diameter (trees ≥12.7 cm) decreased from 39 to 22 cm. The emerging forest type is a...

The Fire Continuum Conference, co-sponsored by the Association for Fire Ecology and the International Association of Wildland Fire, was designed to cover both the biophysical and human dimensions aspects of fire along the fire continuum. This proceedings includes many of topics covered during the conference - including pre-fire planning and management, strategies during an incident, and post-fire effects and management options. It contains extended abstracts and full papers based on some of the presentations as well as field trips.

With 55% of the world’s population living in urban areas, which average 26.5% tree cover, trees are important landscape elements in most cities. Globally, tree cover varies from around 31% in forested regions, to 19% in grassland regions, to 13% in desert areas. Thus, because they are a significant component of all city landscapes to varying degrees, trees are important elements that will affect the health and well-being of local city residents.

Looking into the past can help biologists and managers determine what is possible in the future. New research is helping understand the past and more accurately estimate future salmon recovery potential. Central Idaho’s Middle Fork Salmon River (MFSR) offers a glimpse of historical Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) spawning and rearing habitat. The MFSR flows through the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, where natural processes remain intact and human influences are minimal. “It’s a very unique system that supports critical habitat for many native species,” says Russ...