Life Sciences Commons^™

Mark-Recapture Study And Habitat Assessment For The Northern Metalmark Butterfly, Calephelis Borealis (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), Weston J. Henry, Kristian S. Omland, Henry Frye, Wagner L. David

EEB Articles

Background: The northern metalmark (Calephelis borealis), is an exceedingly local, globally rare butterfly that is declining across the Midwestern and Northeastern USA. The principal stressors driving colony losses include afforestation and invasive plants that crowd out its larval hostplant (Packera ovata) and nectar resources.

Aims/Methods: To better understand its declines and guide restoration efforts, we 1) performed a mark-recapture study in Connecticut to document population trends where we were actively managing vegetation; 2) conducted a range-wide survey for evidence of phylogeographic structure, using cytochrome oxidase (CO1); 3) investigated abundance determinants of its larval foodplant, Packera ovata …

Disturbance Reduces Fungal White-Rot Litter Mat Cover In A Wet Subtropical Forest, D. Jean Lodge, Ashley E. Van Beusekom, Grizelle González, Mareli Sánchez-Julia, Sarah Stankavich

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Fungi that bind leaf litter into mats and produce white-rot via degradation of lignin and other aromatic compounds influence forest nutrient cycling and soil fertility. Extent of white-rot litter mats formed by basidiomycete fungi in Puerto Rico decreased in response to disturbances—a simulated hurricane treatment executed by canopy trimming and debris addition in 2014, a drought in 2015, a treefall, and two hurricanes 10 days apart in September 2017. Percent fungal litter mat cover ranged from 0.4% after Hurricanes Irma and Maria to a high of 53% in forest with undisturbed canopy prior to the 2017 hurricanes, with means mostly …

Belowground Mechanism Reveals Climate Change Impacts On Invasive Clonal Plant Establishment, Surendra Bam, Jacqueline P. Ott, Jack L. Butler, Lan Xu

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Climate change and disturbance can alter invasion success of clonal plants by differentially affecting the clonal traits influencing their establishment as young plants. Clonal traits related to the vegetative reproduction of native Pascopyrum smithii and non-native Bromus inermis grass seedlings were evaluated under altered precipitation frequencies and a single grazing event. Pascopyrum smithii maintained similar vegetative reproduction under three simulated precipitation frequencies whereas B. inermis vegetative reproduction declined as precipitation became more intermittent. Vegetative reproduction of the non-native B. inermis was greater than the native P. smithii under all simulated precipitation frequencies except the most intermittent scenario. A single grazing …

A Probabilistic Framework For Behavioral Identification From Animal-Borne Accelerometers, Jane Dentinger, Luca Börger, Mark D. Holton, Ruholla Jafari-Marandi, Durham A. Norman, Brian K. Smith, Seth F. Oppenheimer, Bronson K. Strickland, Rory P. Wilson, Garrett M. Street

College of Forest Resources Publications and Scholarship

Many studies of animal distributions use habitat and climactic variables to explain patterns of observed space use. However, without behavioral information, we can only speculate as to why and how these characteristics are important to species persistence.

Animal-borne accelerometer and magnetometer data loggers can be used to detect behaviors and when coupled with telemetry improve our understanding of animal space use and habitat requirements. However, these loggers collect tremendous quantities of data requiring automated machine learning techniques to identify patterns in the data. Supervised machine learning requires a set of training signals with known behaviors to train the model to …

3d-Printed Polycaprolactone-Chitosan Based Drug Delivery Implants For Personalized Administration, Yutong Yang, Haichao Wu, Qiliang Fu, Xinfeng Xie, Yongming Song, Min Xu, Jian Li

Michigan Tech Publications

Fused deposition molding (FDM) can complete most complex preparation of drug delivery implants to meet the personalized needs of patients. However, the drug activity has strict requirements on processing temperature and preparation method of filaments, the implant also has strict biocompatibility requirements for the materials. In this study, a drug delivery implant was prepared with good biocompatibility, controlled and efficient drug release using FDM printing for personalized administration. Drug-loaded filaments were developed for FDM process by hot-melt extrusion (HME). Polycaprolactone was used as a drug delivery carrier, and ibuprofen as the model drug. Notably, chitosan was dissolved to form controlled …

A Review Of Landcover Classification With Very-High Resolution Remotely Sensed Optical Images—Analysis Unit, Model Scalability And Transferability, Rongjun Qin, Tao Liu

Michigan Tech Publications

As an important application in remote sensing, landcover classification remains one of the most challenging tasks in very-high-resolution (VHR) image analysis. As the rapidly increasing number of Deep Learning (DL) based landcover methods and training strategies are claimed to be the state-of-the-art, the already fragmented technical landscape of landcover mapping methods has been further complicated. Although there exists a plethora of literature review work attempting to guide researchers in making an informed choice of landcover mapping methods, the articles either focus on the review of applications in a specific area or revolve around general deep learning models, which lack a …

A Review Of Landcover Classification With Very-High Resolution Remotely Sensed Optical Images—Analysis Unit, Model Scalability And Transferability, Rongjun Qin, Tao Liu

Michigan Tech Publications

As an important application in remote sensing, landcover classification remains one of the most challenging tasks in very-high-resolution (VHR) image analysis. As the rapidly increasing number of Deep Learning (DL) based landcover methods and training strategies are claimed to be the state-of-the-art, the already fragmented technical landscape of landcover mapping methods has been further complicated. Although there exists a plethora of literature review work attempting to guide researchers in making an informed choice of landcover mapping methods, the articles either focus on the review of applications in a specific area or revolve around general deep learning models, which lack a …

Bottom-Up Drivers Of Future Fire Regimes In Western Boreal North America, Adrianna C. Foster, Jacquelyn K. Shuman, Brendan M. Rogers, Xanthe J. Walker, Michelle C. Mack, Laura L. Bourgeau-Chavez, Sander Veraverbeke, Scott J. Goetz

Aspen Bibliography

Forest characteristics, structure, and dynamics within the North American boreal region are heavily influenced by wildfire intensity, severity, and frequency. Increasing temperatures are likely to result in drier conditions and longer fire seasons, potentially leading to more intense and frequent fires. However, an increase in deciduous forest cover is also predicted across the region, potentially decreasing flammability. In this study, we use an individual tree-based forest model to test bottom-up (i.e. fuels) vs top-down (i.e. climate) controls on fire activity and project future forest and wildfire dynamics. The University of Virginia Forest Model Enhanced is an individual tree-based forest model …

Fine-Scale Mapping Of Natural Ecological Communities Using Machine Learning Approaches, Parth Bhatt, Ann Maclean, Yvette Dickinson, Chandan Kumar

Michigan Tech Publications

Remote sensing technology has been used widely in mapping forest and wetland communities, primarily with moderate spatial resolution imagery and traditional classification techniques. The success of these mapping efforts varies widely. The natural communities of the Laurentian Mixed Forest are an important component of Upper Great Lakes ecosystems. Mapping and monitoring these communities using high spatial resolution imagery benefits resource management, conservation and restoration efforts. This study developed a robust classification approach to delineate natural habitat communities utilizing multispectral high-resolution (60 cm) National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery data. For accurate training set delineation, NAIP imagery, soils data and spectral …

Editorial: Adaptation Of Trees To Climate Change: Mechanisms Behind Physiological And Ecological Resilience And Vulnerability, Andrea Ghirardo, James D. Blande, Nadine K. Ruehr, Raffaella Balestrini, Carsten Külheim

Michigan Tech Publications

No abstract provided.

Sustainability Of Mahogany Production In Plantations: Does Resource Availability Influence Susceptibility Of Young Mahogany Plantation Stands To Hypsipyla Robusta Infestation?, C. B. Darko, E. Opuni-Frimpong, S. A. Owusu, B. Kyere, A. J. Storer

Michigan Tech Publications

Hypsipyla robusta Moore (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), like many other moth species, shows selectivity when choosing host plants for its eggs. Four Meliaceae species (Khaya grandifoliola, K. ivorensis, Swietenia macrophyla, and Entandrophragma cylindricum) were established in a moist semideciduous forest in Ghana to study this selectivity at 12 and 21 months after planting. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) at a P-value of 0.05 was used to test the significance of differences in infestation by H. robusta between the species. H. robusta attacks were recorded by month 12 after planting in the field, and only Khaya spp. was attacked, with attacks evident on …

Effects Of Foliar Application Of Zno Nanoparticles On Lentil Production, Stress Level And Nutritional Seed Quality Under Field Conditions, Marek Kolenčík, Dávid Ernst, Matej Komár, Martin Urík, Martin Šebesta, Ľuba Ďurišová, Marek Bujdoš, Ivan Černý, Juraj Chlpík, Martin Juriga, Ramakanth Illa, Yu Qian, Huan Feng, Gabriela Kratošová, Karla Čech Barabaszová, Ladislav Ducsay, Elena Aydın

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Nanotechnology offers new opportunities for the development of novel materials and strategies that improve technology and industry. This applies especially to agriculture, and our previous field studies have indicated that zinc oxide nanoparticles provide promising nano-fertilizer dispersion in sustainable agriculture. However, little is known about the precise ZnO-NP effects on legumes. Herein, 1 mg·L⁻¹ ZnO-NP spray was dispersed on lentil plants to establish the direct NP effects on lentil production, seed nutritional quality, and stress response under field conditions. Although ZnO-NP exposure positively affected yield, thousand-seed weight and the number of pods per plant, there was no statistically significant …

Annals Of Forest Science Promotes Multidisciplinary Research On Forests And Wood In A Changing World And Is Now A Full Open Access Journal, Erwin Dreyer, Jean Michel Leban, Shuguang Léo Liu, Andreas Bolte, John M. Lhotka, Marco Ferretti, Véronique Lesage

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Montane Temperate-Boreal Forests Retain The Leaf Economic Spectrum Despite Intraspecific Variability, Matthew J. Hecking, Jenna M. Zukswert, John E. Drake, Martin Dovciak, Julia I. Burton

Michigan Tech Publications

Trait-based analyses provide powerful tools for developing a generalizable, physiologically grounded understanding of how forest communities are responding to ongoing environmental changes. Key challenges lie in (1) selecting traits that best characterize the ecological performance of species in the community and (2) determining the degree and importance of intraspecific variability in those traits. Recent studies suggest that globally evident trait correlations (trait dimensions), such as the leaf economic spectrum, may be weak or absent at local scales. Moreover, trait-based analyses that utilize a mean value to represent a species may be misleading. Mean trait values are particularly problematic if species …

Identifying Conifer Tree Vs. Deciduous Shrub And Tree Regeneration Trajectories In A Space-For-Time Boreal Peatland Fire Chronosequence Using Multispectral Lidar, Humaira Enayetullah, Laura Chasmer, Christopher Hopkinson, Dan Thompson, Danielle Cobbaert

Aspen Bibliography

Wildland fires and anthropogenic disturbances can cause changes in vegetation species composition and structure in boreal peatlands. These could potentially alter regeneration trajectories following severe fire or through cumulative impacts of climate-mediated drying, fire, and/or anthropogenic disturbance. We used lidar-derived point cloud metrics, and site-specific locational attributes to assess trajectories of post-disturbance vegetation regeneration in boreal peatlands south of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada using a space-for-time-chronosequence. The objectives were to (a) develop methods to identify conifer trees vs. deciduous shrubs and trees using multi-spectral lidar data, (b) quantify the proportional coverage of shrubs and trees to determine environmental conditions driving …

Invasive Plants Watch List: 2022, Allison Zach

Nebraska Invasive Species Program

The purpose of the weed watch list is to collect data on the distribution of invasive plants found in various Nebraska counties. Counties were divided up into ‘ecoregions’ based on the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission’s Legacy Plan (map of regions below). The plants in the watch list have been identified based on their invasiveness in surrounding states and their increasing range in Nebraska. Data collected on watch list plant species distribution has been used to support the listing or delisting of noxious weeds. Plant species in the weed watch list are categorized based on early detection and rapid response …

Field Maps 2022, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan, John L. Vankat

Data Files

Historical field map scans (2022) for the permanent 100m x 105m research plot in Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve.

Examining The Integration Of Landsat Operational Land Imager With Sentinel-1 And Vegetation Indices In Mapping Southern Yellow Pines (Loblolly, Shortleaf, And Virginia Pines), Clement E. Akumu, Eze O. Amadi

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

The mapping of southern yellow pines (loblolly, shortleaf, and Virginia pines) is important to supporting forest inventory and the management of forest resources. The overall aim of this study was to examine the integration of Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI ) optical data with Sentinel-1 microwave C-band satellite data and vegetation indices in mapping the canopy cover of southern yellow pines. Specifically, this study assessed the overall mapping accuracies of the canopy cover classification of southern yellow pines derived using four data-integration scenarios: Landsat OLI alone; Landsat OLI and Sentinel-1; Landsat OLI with vegetation indices derived from satellite data—normalized difference …

Greening The Grassroots: Rethinking African Conserva-Tion Funding, R Paul, J Chick, Emanuel Sulle, F Nelson

East Africa Institute

The purpose of this report is to document these issues around existing funding practices in the conservation field in Africa, focusing on both challenges and emerging solutions. Through collecting feedback and insights from both African civil society organizations (CSOs) and funders, the report seeks to shed light on the key barriers and challenges that both groups face and to develop recommendations for ways to improve funding practices. The report thus provides greater empirical evidence for getting more and better funding into local hands at the point of impact.

Satellite Evidence Of Canopy-Height Dependence Of Forest Drought Resistance In Southwestern China, Peipei Xu, Wei Fang, Tao Zhou, Hu Li, Xiang Zhao, Spencer Berman, Ting Zhang, Chuixiang Yi

Publications and Research

The frequency and intensity of drought events are increasing with warming climate, which has resulted in worldwide forest mortality. Previous studies have reached a general consensus on the size-dependency of forest resistance to drought, but further understanding at a local scale remains ambiguous with conflicting evidence. In this study, we assessed the impact of canopy height on forest drought resistance in the broadleaf deciduous forest of southwestern China for the 2010 extreme drought event using linear regression and a random forest (RF) model. Drought condition was quantified with standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) and drought resistance was measured with the …

Technical Note: Novel Estimates Of The Leaf Relative Uptake Rate Of Carbonyl Sulfide From Optimality Theory, Georg Wohlfahrt, Albin Hammerle, Felix M. Spielmann, Florian Kitz, Chuixiang Yi

Publications and Research

In order to estimate the gross primary productivity (GPP) of terrestrial ecosystems from the canopy uptake of carbonyl sulfide (COS), the leaf relative uptake rate (LRU) of COS with respect to carbon dioxide needs to be known a priori. Currently, the variability of the LRU between plant species in different biomes of the world is poorly understood, making the choice of an appropriate LRU uncertain and hampering further progress towards developing COS as an alternative tracer of GPP. Here we propose a novel approach for estimating LRU based on plant optimality principles, validate it against in situ leaf gas exchange …

Emerging Hot Spot Analysis To Indicate Forest Conservation Priorities And Efficacy On Regional To Continental Scales: A Study Of Forest Change In Selva Maya 2000-2020, Nicholas Cuba, Laura A. Sauls, Anthony J. Bebbington, Denise Humphreys Bebbington, Avecita Chicchon, Pilar Delpino Marimón, Oscar Diaz, Susanna Hecht, Susan Kandel, Tracey Osborne, Rebecca Ray, Madelyn Rivera, John Rogan, Viviana Zalles

Geography

Despite the importance of preserving contiguous tropical forest areas to maintain biodiversity and terrestrial carbon stocks, methodological challenges continue to hinder broad-scale analysis of threats to these forests. Emerging Hot Spot Analysis (EHSA) is a spatial-statistical method that conveys complex information about the temporal dynamics of deforestation across a range of moderate to coarse spatial scales. Using Global Forest Change (GFC) data as inputs, EHSA produces spatially comprehensive, gridded outputs that represent a standardized, reproduceable way to instantiate contiguous forest tracts as spatial objects. Doing so allows aggregation of other GFC-derived values and analysis of alternative geographic configurations besides sub-national …

Processes And Mechanisms Of Coastal Woody-Plant Mortality, Nate G. Mcdowell, Marilyn Ball, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Matthew L. Kirwan, Et Al

VIMS Articles

Observations of woody plant mortality in coastal ecosystems are globally widespread, but the overarching processes and underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. This knowledge deficiency, combined with rapidly changing water levels, storm surges, atmospheric CO₂, and vapor pressure deficit, creates large predictive uncertainty regarding how coastal ecosystems will respond to global change. Here, we synthesize the literature on the mechanisms that underlie coastal woody-plant mortality, with the goal of producing a testable hypothesis framework. The key emergent mechanisms underlying mortality include hypoxic, osmotic, and ionic-driven reductions in whole-plant hydraulic conductance and photosynthesis that ultimately drive the coupled processes of …

The Influence Of Burn Severity On Post-Fire Spectral Recovery Of Three Fires In The Southern Rocky Mountains, Jaclyn Guz, Florencia Sangermano, Dominik Kulakowski

Geography

Increased wildfire activity and altered post-fire climate in the Southern Rocky Mountains has the potential to influence forest resilience. The Southern Rocky Mountains are a leading edge of climate change and have experienced record-breaking fires in recent years. The change in post-fire regeneration and forest resilience could potentially include future ecological trajectories. In this paper, we examined patterns of post-fire spectral recovery using Landsat time series. Additionally, we utilized random forest models to analyze the impact of climate and burn severity on three fire events in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Fifteen years following the fires, none of the burned stands …

A Pantropical Assessment Of Deforestation Caused By Industrial Mining, Stefan Giljum, Victor Maus, Nikolas Kuschnig, Sebastian Luckeneder, Michael Tost, Laura J. Sonter, Anthony J. Bebbington

Geography

Growing demand for minerals continues to drive deforestation worldwide. Tropical forests are particularly vulnerable to the environmental impacts of mining and mineral processing. Many local- to regional-scale studies document extensive, long-lasting impacts of mining on biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, the full scope of deforestation induced by industrial mining across the tropics is yet unknown. Here, we present a biome-wide assessment to show where industrial mine expansion has caused the most deforestation from 2000 to 2019. We find that 3,264 km2 of forest was directly lost due to industrial mining, with 80% occurring in only four countries: Indonesia, Brazil, Ghana, …

Poor Acclimation To Experimental Field Drought In Subalpine Forest Tree Seedlings, Alex Goke, Patrick H. Martin

Biological Sciences: Faculty Scholarship

The ability of tree species to acclimate and tolerate projected increases in drought frequency and intensity has fundamental implications for future forest dynamics with climate change. Inquiries to date on the drought tolerance capacities of tree species, however, have focused almost exclusively on mature trees with scant in situ work on seedlings, despite the central role that regeneration dynamics play in forest responses to changing conditions. We subjected naturally established seedlings of co-dominant subalpine conifer species (Abies lasiocarpa and Picea engelmannii) in the southern Rocky Mountains to 2 years of in situ summer precipitation exclusion, simulating summer drought …

Rocky Mountain Forests Are Poised To Recover Following Bark Beetle Outbreaks But With Altered Composition, Kyle C. Rodman, Robert A. Andrus, Amanda R. Carlson, Trevor A. Carter, Teresa B. Chapman, Jonathan D. Coop, Paula J. Fornwalt, Nathan S. Gill, Brian J. Harvey, Ashley E. Hoffman, Katharine C. Kelsey, Dominik Kulakowski, Daniel C. Laughlin, Jenna E. Morris, José F. Negrón, Katherine M. Nigro, Gregory S. Pappas, Miranda D. Redmond, Charles C. Rhoades, Monique E. Rocca, Zoe H. Schapira, Jason S. Sibold, Camille S. Stevens-Rumann, Thomas T. Veblen, Jianmin Wang, Xiaoyang Zhang, Sarah J. Hart

Geography

Amplified by warming temperatures and drought, recent outbreaks of native bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) have caused extensive tree mortality throughout Europe and North America. Despite their ubiquitous nature and important effects on ecosystems, forest recovery following such disturbances is poorly understood, particularly across regions with varying abiotic conditions and outbreak effects. To better understand post-outbreak recovery across a topographically complex region, we synthesized data from 16 field studies spanning subalpine forests in the Southern Rocky Mountains, USA. From 1997 to 2019, these forests were heavily affected by outbreaks of three native bark beetle species (Dendroctonus ponderosae, Dendroctonus rufipennis and Dryocoetes …

Effects Of Buried Wood On The Development Of Populus Tremuloides On Various Oil Sands Reclamation Soils, Kaitlyn E. Trepanier, Laura Manchola-Rojas, Bradley D. Pinno

Aspen Bibliography

Buried wood is an important but understudied component of reclamation soils. We examined the impacts of buried wood amounts and species on the growth of the common reclamation tree species trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides). In a greenhouse study, aspen seedlings were planted into four soil types, upland derived fine forest floor-mineral mix (fFFMM), coarse forest floor-mineral mix (cFFMM), and lowland derived peat and peat-mineral mix (PMM), that were mixed with either aspen or pine wood shavings at four concentrations (0%, 10%, 20% and 50% of total volume). Height and diameter growth, chlorophyll concentration, and leaf and stem biomass were measured. …

Pyrogenic Carbon Content Of Sphagnum Peat Soils Estimated Using Diffuse Reflectance Ftir Spectrometry, Dominic Uhelski, Evan S. Kane, Rodney Chimner, Katherine A. Heckman, Jessica Miesel, Li Xie

Michigan Tech Publications

Quantifying historical patterns of fire regimes in peatlands can help contextualise current fire behaviour and aid in planning on ecosystem and landscape scales. However, current methods for detecting the evidence of past fires in peat soils are laborious or expensive. Our goal was to develop an effective and inexpensive method for detecting pyrogenic carbon (PyC) concentration in peat which could be used to estimate the occurrence of fires by analysis of discrete soil samples. We correlated diffuse reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) measurements of peat, and admixtures of peat and PyC, with nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry (NMR) estimates of PyC …

Emissions, Shawn Urbanski, Susan O'Neill, Amara L. Holder, Sarah Green, Rick L. Graw

Michigan Tech Publications

This chapter assesses the current state of the science regarding the composition, intensity, and drivers of wildland fire emissions in the USA and Canada. Globally and in the USA wildland fires are a major source of gases and aerosols which have significant air quality impacts and climate interactions. Wildland fire smoke can trigger severe pollution episodes with substantial effects on public health. Fire emissions can degrade air quality at considerable distances downwind, hampering efforts by air regulators to meet air standards. Fires are a major global source of aerosols which affect the climate system by absorbing and scattering radiation and …