Life Sciences Commons^™

Economics And Operational Decision Constraints Of Small-Diameter Tree Harvesting, Libin Thaikkattil Louis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sustainably managed forests are crucial in balancing trade-off between various ecosystem functions and optimum product utilization. Improving the utilization of these renewable resources through diversified forest wood products faces various socio-economic, ecological, and cultural challenges. A major challenge faced by forest managers in the Northeastern United States is overstocked stands dominated by small-diameter trees (SDT). Major woody portion of the harvested residues is constituted by SDT and are typically of low value. Data from the national inventory indicates a high number of SDT in Northeastern forests such that the average size of all trees in the region is less than …

Growth, Browsing And Mortality In Mixed Oak And Pine Plantings, Heather Slayton

Masters Theses

The purpose of this project was to determine if different oak/pine arrangements elicited potential beneficial interactions that affected seedling growth, mortality and overall protection from deer browsing. Northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) and shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) were planted together and alone in six different planting patterns and spacings, replicated over three blocks in recent clearcuts in east Tennessee, USA. Each block consisted of two monocultures planted at a 3.0 by 3.0 meter (m) spacing and four multi-cropped treatments planted at varying spatial arrangements (0.3 m, 1.0 m, 1.5 m, and 3.0 m) from neighboring shortleaf …

Estimating And Modeling Transpiration Of A Mountain Meadow Encroached By Conifers Using Sap Flow Measurements, Simon Joseph Marks

Master's Theses

Mountain meadows in the western USA are experiencing increased rates of conifer encroachment due to climate change and land management practices. Past research has focused on conifer removal as a meadow restoration strategy, but there has been limited work on conifer transpiration in a pre-restoration state. Meadow restoration by conifer removal has the primary goal of recovering sufficient growing season soil moisture necessary for endemic, herbaceous meadow vegetation. Therefore, conifer water use represents an important hydrologic output toward evaluating the efficacy of this active management approach. This study quantified and evaluated transpiration of encroached conifers in a mountain meadow using …

Habitat Assessment Of Ozark Glades Using Selected Epigeal Predatory Arthropods, Austin Key Jones

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Epigeal predatory arthropods were collected with pitfall-style traps in nine sandstone glades of varying ecological stages, and management histories, in the Ozarks of Northern Arkansas over three years. These sites were categorized into three Site Types; Intact, high quality glades; Degraded, forest-encroached glades, and Restored glades which had received woody vegetation removal and burning. Collections of ground spiders (Gnaphosidae), predatory ground beetles (Carabidae), and the sole species of scorpion present in the Ozarks, Centruroides vittatus, were reported on as well as the applicability of arthropod collection methods for glade habitat assessment. Habitat characteristics were recorded for each site and analyzed …

Willingness Of Non-Industrial Private Forest Landowners To Obtain A Private Versus Public Consultation, Erika Largacha

LSU Master's Theses

Promoting conservation practices among family forests landowners play a critical role to enhance forest health and ecosystem services. Several certification programs recognize such efforts, but participation among landowners varies based on their characteristics, program requirements, and incentives. One crucial step of certification is to obtain a forest management plan, but acquisition among landowners remains extremely low. Several studies suggest connecting landowners with foresters as the key element towards the adoption of forest management plans. Because foresters are typically employed by public forestry agencies or as private self-employed consultants, landowners' willingness to work with either may differ. As far as we …

Fuel Inventory Report For Montana De Oro State Park, Spencer Gordon

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

Within the last century anthropogenic effects have shifted fire resilient habitats that are adapted to thousands of years of frequent low intensity fires to landscapes that are susceptible to extreme fire behavior which threaten human assets and sensitive natural resources. Entities that manage forests will need to prioritize fuel reduction as a management tool to promote forest health and mitigate hazardous fire conditions. A fuel inventory of a eucalyptus forest at Montana De Oro State Park in Los Osos, CA was collected using a combination of Brown’s 1973 and Brown’s 1982 methods. The fuel inventory revealed the eucalyptus forest yielded …

Multi-Scale Environmental Conditions Associated With Shade-Tolerant Conifer Regeneration In Forest Park, Portland, Oregon, Matthew Cook

Dissertations and Theses

Forest Park is a 5,100-acre urban forest located in Portland, Oregon, that has been impacted by various anthropogenic stressors including logging, fragmentation, invasive species, air pollution and recreation use due to its proximity to the urban environment. This legacy of land use coupled with natural disturbances has resulted in changes to forest structure, composition, and function--threatening the long-term sustainability of the park. Past research in Forest Park has identified a lack of regenerating shade-tolerant conifers, particularly western hemlock and western red cedar species, in the section of the park closest to the city. Typically, western hemlock and western red cedar …

Opportunities And Challenges In The Collection And Use Of Socio-Spatial Data In National Forest Planning, Diane Trechsel Besser

Dissertations and Theses

Understanding human-environment connections to places is an important component of land-use management. Tools for collecting geographically referenced public values-based data (defined as socio-spatial data) for use in natural resource planning have been reported in academic journals for decades. The utility of socio-spatial data is in making public values tangible and potentially actionable in land-use analyses and decision processes. However, there is a lack of comprehensive documentation on the ways in which socio-spatial data is perceived, collected, interpreted and applied at a practical level. A better understanding of these factors allows planners to mitigate barriers and leverage opportunities to more …

Soil Disturbance In Sierra Nevada Montane Meadow Following Lodgepole Pine Removal, Nicholas Cary

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

Climate change and other anthropogenic stressors are driving conifer encroachment into meadow habitat. Encroachment, if ignored, can revert meadows back into dense forested habitat, negating meadow’s ecologic services (Durak et al. 2014). This research attempts to measure soil and stream habitat disturbances in Rock Creek meadow, located with Collins Pine Company land in Plumas County, California after clear-cut removal of encroaching lodgepole pine with mechanical machinery. Soil bulk density, ground cover transect data, and stream habitat conditions were monitored before (July 2019) and after (June 2021) restoration to measure changes in soil compaction, stream temperature, and surface disturbance (rutting/ tracks). …

Long-Term Hydrological Impacts Of Historical Logging On Recent Hydro-Geomorphic Conditions, Big Barren Creek Watershed, Mark Twain National Forest, Shoukat Ahmed

MSU Graduate Theses

Despite their important role of headwater watersheds as a buffer for upland soil and vegetation disturbances, there has been little research about the effects of historical logging practices on present-day watershed hydrology and channel form. Middle Big Barren Creek (MBBC) watershed (48 km2 ) drains Mark Twain National Forest in the Ozark Highlands and was heavily logged from 1880 to 1920, reducing native shortleaf pine forest by 90%. Additionally, the frequency of intense rainfall events has increased in the region over the past 30 years. In this study, field surveys and hydrologic/hydraulic modeling were used to evaluate the historical timber …

The Effects Of Prescribed Burning On Soil Water Infiltration Rates And Other Select Soil Physical And Chemical Properties In East Texas, Cassady Pennington Dunson, Brian P. Oswald, Kenneth Farrish, Tyson Hart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on whether prescribed burning affects soil physical and chemical properties, especially water infiltration, in Western Gulf Coast forests. Soil water infiltration rates were measured 1) pre-burn (before the fire), 2) post-burn (one month after the fire), and 3) at vegetation green-up (three months after the fire). Soil samples were also collected to determine the effects of prescribed burning on soil pH, bulk density, particle density, pore space, soil strength, O-horizon weight and depth (organic matter), water stable aggregates, and soil fertility. This project was conducted on two different burn intervals. The National Forests and Grasslands of Texas …

Understanding The Genetic Diversity Of The Invasive Callery Pear, Pyrus Calleryana Decne. In Native And Introduced Ranges Of The U.S. Using Microsatellite Loci, Shiwani Sapkota

Masters Theses

Pyrus calleryana Decne. (Callery pear) is a deciduous tree native to China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. In the early 1900s, this species was initially brought in the U.S. to assist with disease resistance to fire blight-causing bacteria Erwinia amylovora Burrill. via hybridization with P. communis L. Since then, many popular ornamental hybrid cultivars of P. calleryana have been developed. ‘Bradford’ is the most well-known P. calleryana cultivar in the U.S. Today, P. calleryana has become an extremely common invasive tree species that is naturalized across the eastern U.S. Knowledge on genetic diversity and population structure of P …

Lidar Evaluation Of The Structural Complexity Of Multi-Cropped White Oak (Quercus Alba) And Pine (Pinus Spp.) Plantings In East Tennessee, Usa, Bret Alan Elgersma

Masters Theses

Structural complexity has an important influence on wildlife habitat and several other ecosystem services. Establishment of white oak (Quercus alba) intercropped with loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata), or eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), in 2014 provided the opportunity to investigate effects of planting species mixtures in different spatial arrangements on structural complexity. Terrestrial LiDAR was used to evaluate the structure of each intercropped treatment and monoculture control. The measures of complexity included: 1) rumple 2) top rugosity 3) standard deviation of individual tree crown area, 4) standard deviation of …

Eyield: Testing The Adoption And Outcomes Of A Novel Online Growth And Yield Model, Timothy S. Kane

Masters Theses

eYield is an online growth and yield platform designed to assist landowners and land managers in making the best choices for their properties. eYield aims to strike a balance between the necessary data to run growth and yield models while remaining accessible to its landowner userbase. The results of this paper point to an encouraging amount of user interest in computer-aided forestry tools, specifically in growth and yield models like eYield. The pre- and post-surveys of eYield from respondents suggest that there is a yearning for tools like eYield and that eYield is reasonably representative of the real world. These …

Environmental Perception In Colombia's Páramo Protected Areas, Juliana Delgado

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis analyzes the gap between farmers' environmental perceptions in Téquita, a small village in Colombia, and the definition of protected areas has led to a conflict for the use of natural resources. I examine if the protected area's policies have dealt with the social and ecological issues in the páramos and recognized the social construction of the landscape, farmers' identities, and their interpretations about work and land. The case study focuses on Güina High Mountain in the Guantiva-La Rusia páramo complex, which recently the Colombian government declared as a protected area. In light of anthropologist Tim Ingold's meaning of …

Beaver Reintroduction And Its Potential As An Ecological Conservation Measure For At-Risk Amphibian Species In The Pacific Northwest, Danielle Schwantes

University Honors Theses

Amphibian decline is a major concern in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), with many amphibian species listed as sensitive, threatened or endangered throughout the region. Some of the predicted main causes of amphibian decline are climate change and loss of habitat. The reintroduction of beavers into ecoregions of the PNW could be an important step in the conservation of this region’s amphibians, due to the beaver’s ability to engineer and structurally manipulate forest ecosystems. Beavers are able to restore wetland quality, productivity and biodiversity, creating vital amphibian habitat. This work explored the linkage between beaver presence and wetland hydrology, geomorphology, landscape …

Influence Of Climate Change On Forest Fire Occurrence And Distribution Of Sri Lanka And Modeling Of Forest Fire, Mohan Heenatigala

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Forest fire is one of the main causes for forest degradation and deforestation which affect ecosystem services provided by the given landscapes. Weather variables like temperature, wind speed and direction, rainfall, and relative humidity also govern the forest fire regime and vulnerability. On the other hand, forest fuel characteristics, human impacts, population density, forest canopy density, slope, elevation, road density, closeness to the human settlement areas are other factors that determine the forest fire impact and potential of damage. Annually, 100 to 2500 hectares of forest resources are damaged due to forest fires in Sri Lanka. From the past few …

Analysis Of Symptom Expressions And Transmission Rates Caused By The Plant Pathogen Phytophthora Ramorum On Native Chaparral Plants From The Genus Arctostaphylos, Bharati Gaonker

Natural Sciences and Mathematics | Biological Sciences Master's Theses

Phytophthora ramorum is the causal agent of Sudden Oak death (SOD), ramorum dieback and ramorum leaf blight which affect both forest environments and nurseries. This oomycete pathogen has had a huge economic impact on the nursery and lumber industry. Forests in California have experienced substantial mortality of oaks affecting the forest dynamics and diversity. Our research investigates four native species and two ornamental cultivars of plants, which belong to the genus Arctostaphylos (manzanita) and are considered to be new hosts for P. ramorum in the chaparral ecosystem of California. Symptom expression and transmission rates were analyzed on Arctostaphylos glauca, …

Food-Web And Functional Trait Community Structure Of Predator Assemblages In Pine Forests Under Different Management Regimes, Connor Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anthropogenic activities can alter natural disturbance regimes in ecosystems, and thereby affect the structure and function of biological diversity. As many of the world’s ecosystems are degraded beyond natural recovery, well-defined restoration goals are necessary to maintain the ecological processes that provide valuable ecosystem services. Utilizing taxonomic, functional, and food-web approaches, I investigated the impacts of forest management practices in structuring predator communities in two pine forest systems of eastern Texas. The results of this study indicate that the increased frequency of forest management practices such as prescribed fires and thinning operations encourages predator diversity while increasing functional and trophic …

Effects Of Prescribed Fire On Soil Respiration In A Longleaf Pine Forest., Caroline E. Paxton

Honors Theses

Prescribed fire is a common tool used to increase the herbaceous diversity in longleaf pine forest understories and to eliminate competition from undesirable mid-canopy species. Little is known about the effects of these fires on the soil respiration rates within these forests. A study of the effects of prescribed fire on soil respiration was conducted within a longleaf pine stand at the Lake Thoreau Environmental Center to examine soil respiration across seasons and before and after a prescribed fire. Soil CO₂ efflux rates were measured using a LICOR LI-8100A gas flux system with long-term chambers from October 2020 to …

Modeling Hydrochemical And Vegetation Responses Of High-Elevation Forested Watersheds To Future Climate And Atmospheric Deposition Changes In The Southeastern U.S., Hailong Huang

Dissertations

Changes in climate and atmospheric acidic deposition alter biogeochemical cycles in forested ecosystems. I investigated the responses of vegetation, soil, and hydro-related processes to changes in climate and acidic deposition at five high-elevation forests in the southeastern U.S. using a biogeochemical model - PnET-BGC model. I focused on change-points and thresholds concepts that were less studied in forest ecosystems as well as seasonal variability of responses and extreme events. I applied principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce the dimensionality of data. I developed a Bayesian multi-level model to derive key biogeochemical variables response to temperature and precipitation (local) and latitude …

Three Centuries Of Vegetation Change In The William & Mary College Woods Reconstructed Using Phytoliths, Timothy Terlizzi

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The College Woods, west of William & Mary’s campus, consists of ~900 acres of protected southern mixed hardwood forest. The woods surround Lake Matoaka, a former millpond established in ~1700. Despite the rich history of the area, little is known about how the dominant vegetative landcover has shifted over the last 300 years. This study set out to quantify the modern vegetation within the College Woods via the phytolith assemblages within the soil and identify shifts in the assemblages since the creation of Lake Matoaka and whether these changes are distinct from the vegetation that existed in the area before …

Regenerative Effects Of Patch Cut Harvests At Natchez Trace State Forest, Joshua K. Biggerstaff

Masters Theses

Patch cutting is a harvest method with very little precedent in the Central Hardwoods Region of the United States. It is defined as a small scale clearcut of 2 to 5-acres, and it is generally prescribed in order to lessen the aesthetic impact of harvesting in highly visible areas. This study examines a change in harvesting from clearcutting to patch cutting that occurred at Natchez Trace State Forest, located in west Tennessee, in the 1990s. The objective of the study was to determine the regenerative effects of the patch cuts 25-30 years later. Various patch-cut harvest units that were harvested …

Modeling The Growth And Establishment Of Plantation And Converted Silvopasture Systems In The Missouri Ozarks Region, Stewart James Mccollum

MSU Graduate Theses

The Missouri Ozarks are well known for high production in both timber products and cattle production. Most areas are also not well suited for many other agricultural practices such as row cropping, so forests and grazing lands dominate the landscapes. Such characteristics provide high potential for the agroforestry practice known as silvopasture. This study monitors the establishment of two different types of silvopasture systems, plantation and conversion types. In the plantation silvopasture, two cultivars of black walnut (Juglans nigra) were planted, Football and Kwikrop. Health and growth were monitored for those cultivars over the first year. The converted …

Controlling Woody Vegetation For The Underplanting And Reintegration Of Shortleaf Pine Into Upland Hardwood Forests Of The Southeast, Max Street

Masters Theses

Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) has the widest distribution of any pine species in the southeastern United States. Shortleaf pine is an important softwood commercial timber species, second only to loblolly pine (Pinus taeda). The amount of shortleaf pine has diminished dramatically beginning in the early 19^th century.

The decline of shortleaf pine has been attributed to several, primarily societal factors. Old field abandonment has declined which provided optimum seed bed conditions for the establishment of shortleaf pine. The timber industry began to favor the faster-growing loblolly pine with shorter stand rotations at the expense of …

Survey Of Ticks And Tick-Borne Pathogens Associated With Feral Swine (Sus Scrofa) In Arkansas, Haylee Campbell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Feral hogs (Sus scrofa L.) are an invasive species throughout the southeast United States and found in every Arkansas county. As feral hogs invade new habitat, they can disrupt ecosystems, damage agriculture systems, and bring ticks and tick-borne pathogens with them. There are no surveys of the tick species parasitizing the Arkansas feral hog populations or the pathogens they carry. This is a public health concern because feral hogs occupy often same geographical regions as humans and livestock and can harbor over 45 animal diseases and parasites. The ticks carried by feral hogs can carry tick-borne pathogens that can cause …

A Baseline Documentation Report For The Delta Wind Birds Sky Lake Nature Reserve, Preston T. Perkins, J Hays Dubberly, Michael J. Thomas

Honors Theses

The purpose of this baseline documentation is to conduct a report on our subject property and discuss the findings. A conservation easement is established by upholding a certain standard of a property’s current condition which makes a baseline documentation necessary for an easement to be enacted. Baseline documentation reports are used as a resource to monitor and enforce the legal agreements of the conservation easement. The subject property is currently owned by the Delta Wind Birds organization. In our scenario, this documentation report will serve to aid in the conversion of our subject property into a conservation easement in which …

Innovation And Competitiveness Of The Wood Furniture Industry In Kenya, Gilbert Osoro Ototo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The wood furniture industry in Kenya has been growing rapidly despite a decline in domestic timber supply. Although most furniture is made locally, a larger share is increasingly being imported from other countries, creating competition for domestic manufacturers. The government aims at shifting most of the demand to domestic producers to protect the sector and create jobs. However, lack of innovation has been cited as the main cause of diminishing competitiveness of the sector. Studies have shown that innovation plays a key role in creating new products, improving production processes, and establishing better business systems.

Innovation in the furniture sector …

The Impacts Of Imazapic On Garlic Mustard And Non-Target Forest Floor Vegetation In Central Kentucky’S Hardwood Forests, Pavan Kumar Podapati

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

Alliaria petiolata is an invasive biennial herb that poses a substantial threat to various ecosystems across the United States. Imazapic herbicide can control A. petiolata infestations, but there is limited peer-reviewed data on impacts of pre-emergent imazapic spraying to forest floor communities. This research examined the impacts of pre-emergent imazapic (0.84 kg/ha) with Pentra-Bark® surfactant on ground cover of A. petiolata and the spring perennials Claytonia virginica and Erigenia bulbosa. Experimental populations in randomized blocks within two forest stands in central Kentucky received the following treatments at 0.84 kg ai/ha: imazapic with Pentra-Bark®, glyphosate with Pentra-Bark®, Pentra-Bark® alone, and …

Efecto De La Adición De Biochar Como Enmienda De Un Suelo Degradado, Sobre Microorganismos Relacionados Con El Ciclo Del Carbono, Johan Alejandro Burbano Chinchajoy

Biología

Actualmente, la fuerte demanda agrícola y las malas prácticas han alterado el equilibrio natural del suelo, así como las interacciones físicas, químicas y biológicas, ocasionando su degradación del suelo; por tanto, los índices de calidad del suelo son considerados como herramientas para evaluar el estado de este sustrato en condiciones naturales o el utilizado para la producción agrícola.

Una de las prácticas utilizadas para mitigar su degradación es el uso de enmiendas orgánicas, como el biochar, a nivel mundial se ha evaluado su adición como medio para mejorar la fertilidad del suelo y mitigar el cambio climático, además, sus efectos …