Life Sciences Commons^™

Economic Contribution Of The Agricultural Sector To The Arkansas Economy In 1997-2014, Leah English, Jennie Popp, Wayne Miller

Research Reports and Research Bulletins

Agricultural production, processing, and retail industries are major contributors to the Arkansas economy in terms of GDP. Agriculture contributes to the economy through direct agricultural production, value-added processing, and agricultural retail activities.

The Cytotoxic And Antimicrobial Properties Of Pine Essential Oils: A Characterization And Comparison, Richard Sakul

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the forestry industry, the pine tree species are important because of their durable timber and fast growth. In Arkansas, trees such as the loblolly pine compose almost a third of the timberland, seven million acres. In addition to the lignocellulosic biomass, pine bark and needles potentially have industrial importance as a waste stream from which high value (e.g., pharmaceutical, cosmetics) chemicals could be extracted, which could potentially increase the profit margin of forestry operations. In this research, the possibility that pine needles harvested from industry processed pine tree residues could be used as an antibacterial or cytotoxic chemical agent …

Eucalyptus In Kenya; Impacts On Environment And Society, Brandy M. Garrett Kluthe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Eucalyptus trees were introduced to Kenya a little over a century ago. European colonization along with the development of a railway system increased the demand for a fast growing wood source. The expansion of the tree across the fertile lands in Kenya raises concerns about the environmental impact on ecosystems where it has been introduced. These concerns include degraded soils, loss of water resources, co-introduction of ectomycorrhizal species, and allelopathy. Economic benefits to local landowners were also explored as well as the potential for large Eucalyptus woodlots to maximize the sequestration of CO₂ from the atmosphere. This was examined through …

Emergence Phenology And Nematode Associates Of The Woodwasp, Sirex Nigricornis F. (Hymenoptera: Siricidae), In Arkansas And Mississippi Forests, Jessica Ann Hartshorn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sirex nigricornis F. (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) is a native woodwasp in eastern North America that inhabits dead and dying pine trees during its univoltine development. Sirex noctilio is native to Eurasia and North Africa and was discovered in the northeastern United States in 2004 after a century of accidental introductions across the Southern Hemisphere. Since then, it has spread to seven states and southern Ontario. There is concern about its potential to negatively affect the multi-billion dollar pine timber industry of the southeastern United States. Effective monitoring tools are necessary to track the spread and establishment of S. noctilio. Deladenus siricidicola …

Vegetation Diversity In Natural And Restored Forested Wetland Sites In Southeast Arkansas, C. J. Sheldon, R. L. Ficklin, K. P. Fawley, M. W. Fawley, M. Bataineh, A. S. Nelson, S. Wilson

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The loss of forested wetlands in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley in Arkansas has altered regional vegetation communities. Multiple restoration projects have been established in this region to restore wetlands and the services they provide. In order to return these functions to the environment, microtopographic features were constructed in 2001 at Bob White Memorial Wetlands Research and Teaching Station (Bob White). Vegetation diversity was examined at Cut-Off Creek Wildlife Management Area (Cutoff), a naturally forested wetland, and Bob White, an area formally converted to cropland that is now undergoing forest wetland restoration. Vegetation diversity is one way to determine …

Southeastern Monochamus And Their Interactions With Healthy Shortleaf Pine Trees And Associated Ips Grandicollis Bark Beetles, Matthew Walker Ethington

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Insects in the genus Monochamus are medium to large-sized, wood-boring beetles whose primary hosts in the Northern Hemisphere are pine trees. These beetles interact with both conifer hosts and associated insects throughout their life history. Past research has demonstrated that Monochamus are saprophagic, but recent findings show that they may colonize healthy pine trees. To determine if southeastern Monochamus could colonize healthy pines, adult Monochamus were attracted to healthy shortleaf pine trees from May to September, 2014, using host volatiles, Ips bark beetle kairomones, and congeneric pheromones. Subsequent development of oviposited eggs from 18 host trees was monitored. The results …

Economic Contribution Of Agriculture And Food To Arkansas' Gross Domestic Product 1997-2013, Leah English, Jennie Popp, Wayne Miller

Research Reports and Research Bulletins

Agricultural production, processing, and retail industries are major contributors to the Arkansas economy in terms of GDP. Agriculture contributes to the economy through direct agricultural production, value-added processing, and agricultural retail activities, and it also plays an important role through its interactions with other sectors. The use of non-agricultural goods and services as inputs into the agricultural sector promotes diversified growth in Arkansas’ economy; thus agriculture remains a vital part of Arkansas’ economy. This report: 1) compares the relative size of the Agriculture and Food Sector in Arkansas with those of neighboring states; 2) provides an overview of Arkansas’ economy …

Lidar And Machine Learning Estimation Of Hardwood Forest Biomass In Mountainous And Bottomland Environments, Bowei Xue

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Light detection and ranging (lidar) has been applied in various forest applications, such as to retrieve forest structural information, to build statistical models for identification of tree species, and to monitor forest growth. However, despite significant progress in these areas, the choice of regression approach and parameter tuning remains an ongoing critical question. This study focused on choosing the right spatial generalization level to transform lidar point clouds to 2D images which can be further processed by mature image processing and pattern recognition approaches. It also compared the prediction ability of popular machine learning algorithms applied to aboveground forest biomass …

Is Chir Pine Displacing Banj Oak In The Central Himalaya? Socioeconomic Implications For Local People And The Conservation Of Oak Forest Biodiversity, Ankush Nautiyal

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Various studies have suggested that chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) is replacing banj oak (Quercus leucotrichophora) in the Central Himalaya. Five sites with three different types of forests (banj oak, chir pine and mixed oak-pine) were sampled to compare the diversity of their vegetation and to assess the impact of this ongoing conversion on biodiversity. Soil samples collected from oak and pine forests were analyzed and compared. In addition, dendrochronology was used to obtain age estimates of chir pine and to understand the growth response of this species to precipitation. Also, samples of ectomycorrhizal fungi were collected in the form of …

Monitoring Abundance Of Ips Bark Beetles And Determining Related Tree Mortality In Arkansas And Texas, Chandler Stefan Barton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The abundance of the southern pine engraver beetles, Ips avulsus (Eichhoff), I. grandicollis (Eichhoff), and I. calligraphus (Germar), was monitored with pheromone-baited traps in 2012 and 2013 in Arkansas and eastern Texas. Additionally, vehicle-based and comprehensive ground-based surveys were used to estimate and confirm the amount of dead and fading trees in each trapping site. Pine engraver beetles have historically been recognized as secondary invaders of healthy trees, but observations of pine mortality in Texas and Arkansas appeared to correspond with high population densities of Ips spp. Forest sites exhibiting subjectively high or low incidence of Ips-associated mortality in Arkansas …

Mapping Ancient Baldcypress Forests For Conservation At Black River, North Carolina, Jordan Nichole Burns

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A few ancient baldcypress-bottomland hardwood forests survive across the southeastern United States in a mosaic of remnant old-growth stands left untouched by extensive logging during the early 20th century. Uncut stands in the Southeast that survived centuries of disturbance following European settlement tended to be too senescent and non-commercial to justify logging. Remnant ancient baldcypress forests at Black River, North Carolina, appear to contain the oldest living trees in eastern North America and The Nature Conservancy has protected several of these stands. However, the full extent of ancient bottomland forests along Black River is not known and many valuable tracts …

The Economic Viability Of Cocoa Crop Insurance In Ghana, Justin D. Mckinley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was motivated by the fact that Ghanaian cocoa producers face lower yields than other main cocoa producing counties which in turn increases food insecurity for smallholder producers. In addition, low yields experienced by Ghanaian producers is a driving factor for forest degradation and deforestation as cocoa producers encroach further into previously undisturbed forests in efforts to increase their incomes. There are currently production methods to achieve higher yields readily available in Ghana; however, many producers choose not to adopt these methods because they are seen as too risky, or simply cannot adopt them due to financial/credit constraints. A …

Economic Contribution Of Agriculture And Food To Arkansas' Gross Domestic Product 1997-2012, Leah English, Jennie Popp, Wayne Miller

Research Reports and Research Bulletins

Agricultural production, processing, and retail industries are major contributors to the Arkansas economy in terms of GDP. Agriculture contributes to the economy through direct agricultural production, value-added processing, and agricultural retail activities, and it also plays an important role through its interactions with other sectors. The use of non-agricultural goods and services as inputs into the agricultural sector promotes diversified growth in Arkansas’ economy; thus agriculture remains a vital part of Arkansas’ economy. This report: 1) compares the relative size of the Agriculture and Food Sector in Arkansas with those of neighboring states, the Southeastern region of the United States, …

Economic Contribution Of The Agricultural Sector To The Arkansas Economy In 2012, Leah English, Jennie Popp, Wayne Miller

Research Reports and Research Bulletins

This report is the ninth in a series of reports examining agriculture’s economic contribution on the Arkansas economy. Utilizing data from the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and IMPLAN Group, LLC , the economic contribution of agriculture on the Arkansas economy was estimated for the most recent year available, 2012.

Economic Contribution Of Agriculture And Food To Arkansas' Gross Domestic Product 1997-2011, Jacob Manlove, Leah English, Jennie Popp, Wayne Miller

Research Reports and Research Bulletins

Agricultural production, processing, and retail industries are major contributors to the Arkansas economy in terms of GDP. Agriculture contributes to the economy through direct agricultural production, value-added processing, and agricultural retail activities, and it also plays an important role through its interactions with other sectors. The use of non-agricultural goods and services as inputs into the agricultural sector promotes diversified growth in Arkansas’ economy; thus agriculture remains a vital part of Arkansas’ economy. Part 1 of the report compares the relative size of the Agriculture and Food Sector in Arkansas with those of neighboring states, the Southeastern region of the …

Serendipitous Data Following A Severe Windstorm In An Old-Growth Pine Stand, D. C. Bragg, J. D. Riddle

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Reliable dimensional data for old-growth pine-dominated forests in the Gulf Coastal Plain of Arkansas are hard to find, but sometimes unfortunate circumstances provide good opportunities to acquire this information. On July 11, 2013, a severe thunderstorm with high winds struck the Levi Wilcoxon Demonstration Forest (LWDF) near Hamburg, Arkansas. This storm uprooted or snapped dozens of large pines and hardwoods and provided an opportunity to more closely inspect these rare specimens. For instance, the largest tree killed in this event, a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), was 105 cm in diameter at breast height, 39.3 m tall, and if the tree …

Ecological Importance Of Ectomycorrhizal Linkages In The Ozark Mountains And The Fernow Experimental Forests, Shelly Kendra Bursick

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Underground stem-to-stem linkages involving ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi are probably important in forest ecosystems, since these linkages could assist in the survival of established trees as well as increasing the growth and development of seedlings and saplings. This study compared forest communities of the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas and the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia by examining species richness, diversity, relative abundance, and the potential for stems to exhibit spatial distribution and clustering patterns that reflected the existence of linkages by ECM fungi. Data on forest communities in the Ozarks were obtained from eight plot locations in Devil's Den …

Effect Of Prescribed Burning In The Forests Of Buffalo National River, Arkansas, Francis Ndar Onduso

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prescribed burning (also referred to as controlled or hazard reduction burning) refers to the use of fire under controlled conditions to achieve a desired end product or goal. However, the nature and magnitude of the changes that result from prescribed burning are still incompletely known, and this is especially true for the forests of the Ozarks of northern Arkansas. The overall objective of the research project described herein was to obtain the data necessary to develop a better understanding of these changes, particularly as they relate to the use of prescribed burning as a management technique in the Buffalo National …

Economic Contribution Of The Agricultural Sector To The Arkansas Economy In 2011, Leah English, Jennie Popp, Wayne Miller

Research Reports and Research Bulletins

This report is the eighth in a series of reports examining agriculture’s economic contribution on the Arkansas economy. Utilizing data from the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and Minnesota IMPLAN Group, Inc. (MIG), the economic contribution of agriculture on the Arkansas economy was estimated for the most recent year available, 2011. The total economic contribution of agriculture (direct, indirect, and induced effects) to value added, employment, and labor income was estimated using the Impact Analysis for Planning System (IMPLAN). The economic contributions of agricultural production and processing …

Response Of Breeding Birds To Forest Disturbance In The Arkansas Ozarks: Impacts Of Uneven-Aged Management, Ice Damage, And Woodland Restoration, Maureen Mcclung

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Forests of the Ozarks are important breeding grounds for many bird species, each with specific habitat requirements. Natural and anthropogenic disturbance events can alter vegetational structure of forests, thereby influencing communities of breeding birds. The objectives of my study were to examine the response of breeding birds and their habitat to three types of forest disturbance: (1) uneven-aged management, (2) ice damage, and (3) woodland restoration. Avian and vegetation surveys were conducted during the 2008, 2009, and 2010 breeding seasons (May-June) in the Ozark National Forest, Arkansas. Each site was surveyed for birds four times a season using fixed-radius point …

Relationship Between Land-Use And Water Quality In Spring-Fed Streams Of The Ozark National Forest, A. Smartt, S. Ganguly, M. A. Evans-White, B. E. Haggard

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Spring-fed streams are abundant in karst topographic regions such as the Ozarks, providing an important and valuable water resource. Many of these spring-fed streams presently receive agriculture runoff, but few studies have examined the impacts of this runoff on water quality. We examined water quality in Ozark spring-fed streams surrounded by either agricultural (N=3) or primarily forested land (N=3) in the riparian zone. We hypothesized that agricultural sites would have greater dissolved nutrient concentrations and conductivity than forested sites and that water quality would fluctuate with distance from the spring source. Conductivity (p

Distribution Of Soil Density At A Bottomland Hardwood Forest Wetland Restoration, Chicot County, Arkansas, B. E. Sleeper, Robert L. Ficklin

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Bottomland hardwood forest (BLHF) soils provide a myriad of ecosystem services, yet much information is lacking with respect to how soil physical properties influence biogeochemical cycling along topographic gradients. Current patterns of vegetation at a 149ha wetland restoration site in Chicot County, Arkansas, suggest the presence of ecologically significant variation in soil properties within the Perry Clay soil series. A study was initiated in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV) to map soil bulk density and texture as well as to identify the interrelationships between soil physical properties, soil organic carbon, and total nitrogen. A random grid was used to …

Deriving Biomass Models For Small-Diameter Loblolly Pine On The Crossett Experimental Forest, K. M. Mcelligot, Don C. Bragg

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Foresters and landowners have a growing interest in carbon sequestration and cellulosic biofuels in southern pine forests, and hence need to be able to accurately predict them. To this end, we derived a set of aboveground biomass models using data from 62 small-diameter loblolly pines (Pinus taeda) sampled on the Crossett Experimental Forest in southeastern Arkansas. Of the 25 equations initially evaluated, we chose 17 that best fit our dataset and compared them using a suite of conventional test statistics, including pseudo-R2 , root mean squared error (RMSE), and bias. Because most of the 17 models varied little in pseudoR …

Comparing Aboveground Biomass Predictions For An Uneven-Aged Pine-Dominated Stand Using Local, Regional, And National Models, Don C. Bragg, K. M. Mcelligott

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Sequestration by Arkansas forests removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, storing this carbon in biomass that fills a number of critical ecological and socioeconomic functions. We need a better understanding of the contribution of forests to the carbon cycle, including the accurate quantification of tree biomass. Models have long been developed to predict aboveground live tree biomass, but few of these have been derived from Arkansas forests. Since there is geographic variability in the growth and yield of pine as a function of genetics, site conditions, growth rate, stand stocking, and other factors, we decided to compare aboveground tree biomass …

Effects Of Felled Shortleaf Pine (Pinus Echinata Mill.) Moisture Loss On Oviposition Preferences And Survival Of Sirex Nigricornis F. (Hymenoptera: Siricidae), Jessica Hartshorn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The European woodwasp, Sirex noctilio F. (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) utilizes pine as its host during larval development. Females drill through pine bark to deposit eggs, a symbiotic fungus, Amylostereum, and phytotoxic mucus into the tree. In their native range, these insects are not viewed as primary pests because they attack dead or dying trees. Over the last century, this woodwasp has been accidentally introduced into several countries in the southern hemisphere. Some regions have incurred millions of dollars in damage to large plantations of the widely planted pine species, radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don). Sirex noctilio was discovered …

Economic Contribution Of The Agricultural Sector To The Arkansas Economy In 2010, Katherine Mcgraw, Jennie Popp, Wayne Miller

Research Reports and Research Bulletins

This report is the seventh in a series of reports examining agriculture’s economic contribution on the Arkansas economy. Utilizing data from the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and Minnesota IMPLAN Group, Inc. (MIG), the economic contribution of agriculture on the Arkansas economy was estimated for the most recent year available, 2010. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State information for Arkansas in 2010 was compared with those of other states in the Southeast U.S. to give a measure of the relative importance of agriculture in Arkansas.2 The total …

A Reexamination Of The Eastern Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus Collaris Collaris) In Arkansas, Ashley A. Grimsley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Loss of suitable habitat is a threat to species worldwide. Habitat destruction, including loss, change, and fragmentation of habitat, is the leading cause of species extinction. Eastern collared lizards (Crotaphytus collaris collaris) are habitat specialists on glades. Both C. c. collaris and glade habitats are rare and of special concern in the state of Arkansas. Many glade populations have already been extirpated in the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri. Increasing knowledge of the distribution, habitat structure, and population dynamics of C. c. collaris is important to ensure the survival of this species in Arkansas.

A literature review of …

A 1,461-Year Growing Season Precipitation Reconstruction For The Carolina Coastal Plain, Kathryn Perkins Wolff

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A recollection and dating of ancient cypress trees and subfossil logs was performed at Black River, North Carolina, and the separate Black River, South Carolina. The new updated and expanded chronologies date from AD 365 to 2010 and 549 to 2010, respectively. Baldcypress ring-width chronologies are dominated by high inter-annual to decadal variability and do not tend to capture century scale fluctuations in tree-ring growth that could be associated with centennial scale change in climate. The tree-ring chronologies were standardized with a technique designed to preserve low frequency variance known as regional curve standardization. The two chronologies were averaged into …

Economic Contribution Of The Agricultural Sector To The Arkansas Economy In 2009, Katherine Mcgraw, Jennie Popp, Wayne Miller

Research Reports and Research Bulletins

This report is the sixth in a series of reports examining agriculture’s economic contribution on the Arkansas economy. Utilizing data from the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and Minnesota IMPLAN Group, Inc. (MIG), the economic contribution of agriculture on the Arkansas economy was estimated for the most recent year available, 2009. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State information for Arkansas in 2009 was compared with those of other states in the southeast U.S. to give a measure of the relative importance of agriculture in Arkansas.2 The total …

Analyzing Spring Freeze Impacts On Deciduous Forest Productivity Using Modis Satellite Imagery, Karl Lintvedt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The impacts of an April 2007 spring freeze event on the productivity of deciduous broadleaf forest were analyzed using geographic information system (GIS) tools. Forest productivity was modeled using the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), as recorded by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite sensor. Measures of spatial autocorrelation were used to quantify the degree of spatial congruence between a map depicting the severity of the freeze event, and maps modeling forest productivity throughout the year. The results show a geographic correlation between the unseasonably low minimum temperatures sustained during the freeze and the unusually low forest productivity that followed. …