Life Sciences Commons^™

Proposing Urban Agroforestry Designs For Lincoln, Nebraska: A Model From Berlin, Germany, Noah Johnson

Honors Theses

Given the threat of a worsening climate crisis, there is a strong need for community and ecosystem resilience. Diverse urban agroforestry systems have the potential to accomplish both and meet many of the objectives outlined in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska’s climate action plan. Additionally, Berlin, Germany could provide an effective model for Lincoln in this regard given the city’s extensive history of established urban agroforestry systems. The objective of this study then is to develop a design for an urban agroforestry site modeled on Berlin’s allotment gardens and tailored to Lincoln’s needs. The methods for creating this design included …

An Ecology Against The Right. Learning Uncertainty And Humility From Ecosystems, Pierre L. Ibisch, Mona Eikel-Pohen, Elias Iceman, Jake Snelling

Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics - All Scholarship

This article is a translation from the German to English. The title of the original is:

Ibisch, P.L. (2020): Eine Ökologie gegen rechts. Von Ökosystemen Unsicherheit und Demut lernen. In: Leitschuh, H., A. Brunnengräber, P.L. Ibisch, R. Loske, M. Müller, J. Sommer & E.-U. v. Weizsäcker (eds. J. Sommer, P.L. Ibisch, A. Brunnengräber): Ökologie und Heimat. Jahrbuch Ökologie 2021. Hirzel-Verlag, Stuttgart, 191-205.

Non-Native Rhizophora Mangle As Sinks For Coastal Contamination On Moloka’I, Hawai’I, Geoffrey Szafranski, Elise F. Granek, Michelle L. Hladik, Mia Hackett

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Coastal mangrove forests provide a suite of environmental services, including sequestration of anthropogenic contamination. Yet, research lags on the environmental fate and potential human health risks of mangrove-sequestered contaminants in the context of mangrove removal for development and range shifts due to climate change. To address this, we conducted a study on Moloka'i, Hawai'i, comparing microplastic and pesticide contamination in coastal compartments both at areas modified by non-native red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) and unmodified, open coastline. Sediment, porewater, and mangrove plant tissues were collected to quantify microplastic and pesticide concentrations across ecosystem type. Average microplastics were similar between …

Toward A Coordinated Understanding Of Hydro-Biogeochemical Root Functions In Tropical Forests For Application In Vegetation Models, Daniela F. Cusack, Bradley Christoffersen, Chris M. Smith-Martin, Kelly M. Andersen, Amanda L. Cordeiro, Katrin Fleischer, S. Joseph Wright, Nathaly R. Guerrero-Ramírez, Laynara F. Lugli, Lindsay A. Mcculloch, Mareli Sanchez-Julia, Sarah A. Batterman, Caroline Dallstream, Claire Fortunel, Laura Toro, Lucia Fuchslueger, Michelle Y. Wong, Daniela Yaffar, Joshua B. Fisher, Marie Arnaud, Lee H. Dietterich, Shalom D. Addo-Danso, Oscar J. Valverde-Barrantes, Monique Weemstra, Jing Cheng Ng, Richard J. Norby

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Tropical forest root characteristics and resource acquisition strategies are underrepresented in vegetation and global models, hampering the prediction of forest–climate feedbacks for these carbon-rich ecosystems. Lowland tropical forests often have globally unique combinations of high taxonomic and functional biodiversity, rainfall seasonality, and strongly weathered infertile soils, giving rise to distinct patterns in root traits and functions compared with higher latitude ecosystems. We provide a roadmap for integrating recent advances in our understanding of tropical forest belowground function into vegetation models, focusing on water and nutrient acquisition. We offer comparisons of recent advances in empirical and model understanding of root characteristics …

Land Use Change And Forest Management Effects On Soil Carbon Stocks In The Northeast U.S., Lucas E. Nave, Kendall Delyser, Grant M. Domke, Scott M. Holub, Maria K. Janowiak, Adrienne B. Keller, Matthew P. Peters, Kevin A. Solarik, Brian F. Walters, Christopher W. Swanston

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Background: In most regions and ecosystems, soils are the largest terrestrial carbon pool. Their potential vulnerability to climate and land use change, management, and other drivers, along with soils’ ability to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration, makes them important to carbon balance and management. To date, most studies of soil carbon management have been based at either large or site-specific scales, resulting in either broad generalizations or narrow conclusions, respectively. Advancing the science and practice of soil carbon management requires scientific progress at intermediate scales. Here, we conducted the fifth in a series of ecoregional assessments of the effects …

Author Correction: The Flying Spider-Monkey Tree Fern Genome Provides Insights Into Fern Evolution And Arborescence (Nature Plants, (2022), 8, 5, (500-512), 10.1038/S41477-022-01146-6), Xiong Huang, Wenling Wang, Ting Gong, David Wickell, Li Yaung Kuo, Xingtan Zhang, Jialong Wen, Hoon Kim, Fachuang Lu, Hansheng Zhao, Song Chen, Hui Li, Wenqi Wu, Changjiang Yu, Su Chen, Wei Fan, Shuai Chen, Xiuqi Bao, Li Li, Dan Zhang, Longyu Jiang, Dipak Khadka, Xiaojing Yan, Zhenyang Liao, Gongke Zhou, Yalong Guo, John Ralph, Ronald R. Sederoff, Hairong Wei, Ping Zhu, Fay Wei Li

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Correction to: Nature Plantshttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01146-6, published online 9 May 2022. In the version of the article initially published, Dipak Khadka, who collected the samples in Nepal, was thanked in the Acknowledgements instead of being listed as an author. His name and affiliation (GoldenGate International College, Tribhuvan University, Battisputali, Kathmandu, Nepal) have been added to the authorship in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

Greater Sage-Grouse Brood Locations On Parker Mountain Utah 1998-2009, David Dahlgren

Browse all Datasets

Species of conservation concern are often habitat specialists, posing significant risk to those species when specific plant communities are threatened. Despite this, practitioners habitually focus conservation efforts on these singular communities, while ignoring ecological mechanisms that explain the wildlife-plant relationships. In doing so, practitioners may overlook alternative vegetation communities that could maintain wildlife populations under alternative conditions (e.g., climate change). Here, we term these areas surrogate habitat, defined as "vegetation communities or resource sites that provide similar critical resources to conventional sites," and assess their potential for conservation using a case-study of Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) on Parker Mountain, Utah …

Deciphering The Intricate Hierarchical Gene Regulatory Network: Unraveling Multi-Level Regulation And Modifications Driving Secondary Cell Wall Formation, Zhigang Wei, Hairong Wei

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Wood quality is predominantly determined by the amount and the composition of secondary cell walls (SCWs). Consequently, unraveling the molecular regulatory mechanisms governing SCW formation is of paramount importance for genetic engineering aimed at enhancing wood properties. Although SCW formation is known to be governed by a hierarchical gene regulatory network (HGRN), our understanding of how a HGRN operates and regulates the formation of heterogeneous SCWs for plant development and adaption to ever-changing environment remains limited. In this review, we examined the HGRNs governing SCW formation and highlighted the significant key differences between herbaceous Arabidopsis and woody plant poplar. We …

Animal Conservation In St. Louis, Kate O'Sullivan

Undergraduate Research Symposium

St. Louis has a multitude of organizations involved in the natural sciences. But how many of them actually contribute towards animal conservation? The St. Louis Zoo is an organization that focuses a lot of its effort on presentation, so how does that impact the funds that go towards actually saving the animals? I plan to dive into the different animal-based organizations in St. Louis and its surrounding areas, as well as discuss the positives and negatives of each organization. Furthermore, I will provide examples from several sources that I have been reviewing all year to support my claims. I plan …

Perianth Evolution And Implications For Generic Delimitation In The Eucalypts (Myrtaceae), Including The Description Of The New Genus, Blakella, Michael D. Crisp, Bui Q. Minh, Bokyung Choi, Robert D. Edwards, James Hereward, Carsten Kulheim, Yen Po Lin, Karen Meusemann, Andrew H. Thornhill, Alicia Toon, Lyn G. Cook

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Eucalypts (Myrtaceae tribe Eucalypteae) are currently placed in seven genera. Traditionally, Eucalyptus was defined by its operculum, but when phylogenies placed Angophora, with free sepals and petals, as sister to the operculate bloodwood eucalypts, the latter were segregated into a new genus, Corymbia. Yet, generic delimitation in the tribe Eucalypteae remains uncertain. Here, we address these problems using phylogenetic analysis with the largest molecular data set to date. We captured 101 low-copy nuclear exons from 392 samples representing 266 species. Our phylogenetic analysis used maximum likelihood (IQtree) and multispecies coalescent (Astral). At two nodes critical to generic delimitation, we tested …

Non-Invasive Methods For Monitoring Weasels: Emerging Technologies And Priorities For Future Research, David S. Jachowski, Scott M. Bergeson, Stacy Cotey, Elizabeth Croose, Tim R. Hofmeester, Jenny Macpherson, Et Al.

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Weasels (genus Mustela and Neogale) are of management concern as declining native species in some regions and invasive species in others. Regardless of the need to conserve or remove weasels, there is increasingly a need to use non-invasive monitoring methods to assess population trends. We conducted a literature review and held the first ever International Weasel Monitoring Symposium to synthesise information on historical and current non-invasive monitoring techniques for weasels. We also explored current limitations, opportunities, and areas of development to guide future research and long-term monitoring. Our literature search revealed that in the past 20 years, camera traps were …

Engagement For Life's Sake: Reflections On Partnering And Partnership With Rural Tribal Nations☆, Chelsea Schelly, Valoree Gagnon, Kathleen Brosemer, Kristin Arola

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

In this paper, we reflect on our collective experiences engaging with Anishinaabe Tribal Nations in the Great Lakes region to support Tribal sovereignty in decision-making for food, energy, and water (FEW) systems. In these diverse experiences, we find common lessons. The first set of lessons contributes new empirical knowledge regarding the challenges and opportunities that rural Great Lakes Tribal Nations navigate for enacting sovereignty in decision-making. Our experiences illustrate that while Tribal Nations benefit from a broad and deep commitment to sovereignty and many cultural strengths, they are often challenged by shortages in administrative capacity; technical support; and embeddedness in …

Persistent Net Release Of Carbon Dioxide And Methane From An Alaskan Lowland Boreal Peatland Complex, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Colin W. Edgar, Evan Kane, Mark P. Waldrop, Rebecca B. Neumann, Kristen L. Manies, Thomas A. Douglas, Catherine Dieleman, Miriam C. Jones, Merritt R. Turetsky

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Permafrost degradation in peatlands is altering vegetation and soil properties and impacting net carbon storage. We studied four adjacent sites in Alaska with varied permafrost regimes, including a black spruce forest on a peat plateau with permafrost, two collapse scar bogs of different ages formed following thermokarst, and a rich fen without permafrost. Measurements included year-round eddy covariance estimates of net carbon dioxide (CO2), mid-April to October methane (CH4) emissions, and environmental variables. From 2011 to 2022, annual rainfall was above the historical average, snow water equivalent increased, and snow-season duration shortened due to later snow return. Seasonally thawed active …

Supporting Information For “Using Drones Equipped With Thermal Cameras To Locate And Count Quail Individuals And Coveys: A Case Study Using Northern Bobwhite Colinus Virginianus In Mississippi, Usa”, Jared A. Elmore

Publications

Drone flights were conducted over bobwhite individuals and coveys and information was collected on the date, time of flight, number of individuals estimated in the covey, and number of individuals flushed from the covey (i.e., actual number of individuals). We also report season of flight and the thermal sensor used for each flight. NA denotes that flush or capture was not attempted.

Assessing Changing Carbon Pool Dynamics And Species Composition In A Pennsylvania Broadleaf Forest Fragment, Kyleigh Levinsky, Jessica L. Schedlbauer

Sustainability Research & Creative Activities Grants Reports

Temperate broadleaf forests are pivotal to the global carbon cycle, Representing 37% of the global forest carbon pool (Pan et al 2011). • Maintaining compositional diversity in temperate broadleaf forests, such as the Gordon Natural Area (GNA) is critical to maintaining ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration. • Pressures from native and non-native herbivores threaten the biodiversity of temperate broadleaf forests in the United States (Ghandi et al. 2010). The introduction of non-native insects such as the emerald ash borer (Argrilus planipennis), as well as the overpopulation of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) has led to declines in some tree species. …

Stabilization Of Pfas-Contaminated Soil With Sewage Sludge- And Wood-Based Biochar Sorbents, Erlend Sørmo, Clara Benedikte Mader Lade, Julie Zhang, Alexandros G. Asimakopoulos, Geir Wold Åsli, Michel Hubert, Aleksandar I. Goranov, Hans Peter H. Arp, Gerard Cornelissen

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Sustainable and effective remediation technologies for the treatment of soil contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are greatly needed. This study investigated the effects of waste-based biochars on the leaching of PFAS from a sandy soil with a low total organic carbon content (TOC) of 0.57 ± 0.04% impacted by PFAS from aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) dispersed at a former fire-fighting facility. Six different biochars (pyrolyzed at 700–900°C) were tested, made from clean wood chips (CWC), waste timber (WT), activated waste timber (aWT), two digested sewage sludges (DSS-1 and DSS-2) and de-watered raw sewage sludge (DWSS). Up-flow column …

Long Oligodeoxynucleotides: Chemical Synthesis, Isolation Via Catching-By-Polymerization, Verification Via Sequencing, And Gene Expression Demonstration, Yipeng Yin, Reed Arneson, Alexander Apostle, Adikari M.D.N. Eriyagama, Komal Chillar, Emily Burke, Martina Jahfetson, Yinan Yuan, Shiyue Fang

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Long oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) are segments of DNAs having over one hundred nucleotides (nt). They are typically assembled using enzymatic methods such as PCR and ligation from shorter 20 to 60 nt ODNs produced by automated de novo chemical synthesis. While these methods have made many projects in areas such as synthetic biology and protein engineering possible, they have various drawbacks. For example, they cannot produce genes and genomes with long repeats and have difficulty to produce sequences containing stable secondary structures. Here, we report a direct de novo chemical synthesis of 400 nt ODNs, and their isolation from the complex …

A Small Forest Owner's Engagement With A Carbon Sequestration Effort In Northeastern U.S., Frederick Pond

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

In 2023, a small forest landowner in central Vermont enrolled 140 acres in the Family Forest Carbon Program[FFCP], engaging his local forestland in combating global warming.

FFCP is a collaboration of The Nature Conservancy and American Forest Foundation, developed to offer small landowners the opportunity to engage their asset in carbon sequestration locally.

This poster presents the experience of a small forest owner's process in entering a twenty year contract to manage a small woodlot under the direction of FFCP while enrolled with the state UVA program, also known as Current Use.

Challenges to the process, advantages/downsides, future perspectives are …

Barriers To Use Of Cross-Laminated Timber In Maine, Shane R. O'Neill

Forest Resources Faculty Scholarship

To increase understanding of both the adoption rate and in-state manufacturing of mass timber In Maine, the 131^st Legislature and Governor Mills passed LD 881, a resolve directing a study of the barriers facing cross-laminated timber In Maine and provide recommendations to promote their use in construction. This study was developed in response to the resolve. The study engaged 108 unique participants to define available training, education, and experiences across the stakeholders throughout the building lifecycle process in the state.

From this information, the following five recommendations are proposed:

1. Understand the policies and initiatives of other states to develop …

Demographic History Shapes North American Gray Wolf Genomic Diversity And Informs Species' Conservation, Bridgett M. Vonholdt, Daniel R. Stahler, Kristin Brzeski, Marco Musiani, Rolf O. Peterson, Michael Phillips, John Stephenson, Kent Laudon, Erin Meredith, John Vucetich, Jennifer A. Leonard, Robert K. Wayne

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Effective population size estimates are critical information needed for evolutionary predictions and conservation decisions. This is particularly true for species with social factors that restrict access to breeding or experience repeated fluctuations in population size across generations. We investigated the genomic estimates of effective population size along with diversity, subdivision, and inbreeding from 162,109 minimally filtered and 81,595 statistically neutral and unlinked SNPs genotyped in 437 grey wolf samples from North America collected between 1986 and 2021. We found genetic structure across North America, represented by three distinct demographic histories of western, central, and eastern regions of the continent. Further, …

Human Dimensions Of Woody Encroachment Management In Nebraska, Emily Rowen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Woody plant encroachment (WPE) is a social-ecological problem that will challenge conservation professionals and agricultural producers to adapt their management strategies. This research first examined WPE from the perspective of individual conservation professionals through an online survey. Conservation professionals’ attitudes about adaptation to vegetation transitions, such as WPE, were of interest because these attitudes are one measure of how prepared this group is to respond to WPE. Hypothesized predictors of adaptation attitude were tested through linear regression modeling. These predictors included ecological change, observation of WPE, or risk perception. It was found that risk perception was the strongest predictor of …

The Role Of Governance In Rewilding The United States To Stem The Biodiversity Crisis, Shelby C. Carlson, John A. Vucetich, L Mark Elbroch, Shelby Perry, Lydia A. Roe, Tom Butler, Jeremy T. Bruskotter

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

A critical but underattended feature of the biodiversity crisis is the contraction of geographic range experienced by most studied terrestrial vertebrates. In the United States, the primary policy tool for mitigating the biodiversity crisis is a federal law, the Endangered Species Act (ESA). For the past two decades, the federal agencies that administer the ESA have interpreted the act in a manner that precludes treating this geographic element of the crisis. Therefore, the burden of mitigating the biodiversity crisis largely falls on wildlife agencies within state government, which are obligated to operate on behalf of the interests of their constituents. …

Seasonal Trends In Lysogeny In An Appalachian Oak-Hickory Forest Soil, Melaina L. Jacoby, Graham D. Hogg, Madelein R. Assaad, Kurt E. Williamson

Arts & Sciences Articles

Since 1989, investigations into viral ecology have revealed how bacteriophages can influence microbial dynamics within ecosystems at global scales. Most of the information we know about temperate phages, which can integrate themselves into the host genome and remain dormant via a process called lysogeny, has come from research in aquatic ecosystems. Soil environments remain under-studied, and more research is necessary to fully understand the range of impacts phage infections have on the soil bacteria they infect. The aims of this study were to compare the efficacy of different prophage-inducing agents and to elucidate potential temporal trends in lysogeny within a …

Data From: Climate Change-Driven Cumulative Mountain Pine Beetle-Caused Whitebark Pine Mortality In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, William W. Macfarlane

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In 2018-2019 the Landscape Assessment System (LAS), an aerial survey method was used to assess mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae; MPB) - caused mortality of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (59000 km2; GYE). This consisted of 11,942 km of flightlines, along which 4,434 geo-tagged, oblique aerial photos were captured and processed. A mortality rating of none to severe (0 to 4 nt attack or 5.0 5.4 old attack) was assigned to each photo based on the amount of red (recent attack) and gray (old attack) trees visible. The method produced a photo inventory of 74 percent …

Regulation Of Regeneration In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Md Khairul Islam, Sai Teja Mummadi, Sanzhen Liu, Hairong Wei

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

We employed several algorithms with high efficacy to analyze the public transcriptomic data, aiming to identify key transcription factors (TFs) that regulate regeneration in Arabidopsis thaliana. Initially, we utilized CollaborativeNet, also known as TF-Cluster, to construct a collaborative network of all TFs, which was subsequently decomposed into many subnetworks using the Triple-Link and Compound Spring Embedder (CoSE) algorithms. Functional analysis of these subnetworks led to the identification of nine subnetworks closely associated with regeneration. We further applied principal component analysis and gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis to reduce the subnetworks from nine to three, namely subnetworks 1, 12, and 17. …

Demographic History Shapes North American Gray Wolf Genomic Diversity And Informs Species' Conservation, Bridgett M. Vonholdt, Daniel R. Stahler, Kristin Brzeski, Marco Musiani, Rolf O. Peterson, Michael Phillips, John Stephenson, Kent Laudon, Erin Meredith, John A. Vucetich, Jennifer A. Leonard, Robert K. Wayne

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Effective population size estimates are critical information needed for evolutionary predictions and conservation decisions. This is particularly true for species with social factors that restrict access to breeding or experience repeated fluctuations in population size across generations. We investigated the genomic estimates of effective population size along with diversity, subdivision, and inbreeding from 162,109 minimally filtered and 81,595 statistically neutral and unlinked SNPs genotyped in 437 grey wolf samples from North America collected between 1986 and 2021. We found genetic structure across North America, represented by three distinct demographic histories of western, central, and eastern regions of the continent. Further, …

Micro-Fibrillated Cellulose In Lignin–Phenol–Formaldehyde Adhesives For Plywood Production, Sheikh Ali Ahmed, Reza Hosseinpourpia, Stergios Adamopoulos

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Petrochemical-based phenol–formaldehyde (PF) adhesives are widely used in plywood production. To substitute phenol in the synthesis of PF adhesives, lignin can be added due to its structural similarity to phenol. Moreover, micro-fibrillated cellulose (MFC) can further enhance the bond performance, mechanical properties, and toughness of adhesive systems. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the adhesion performance of lignin–PF (LPF) adhesives reinforced with MFC. In LPF formulations, three levels of MFC (0, 15, and 30 wt% based on the total solid content of adhesives) were added to the homogenous adhesive mixture. Three-layer plywood panels from birch (Betula pendula …

Ecological Change And Livestock Governance In A Peruvian National Park, Kenneth R. Young, Eyner Alata, Rodney Chimner, Randall B. Boone, Gillian Bowser, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Beatriz Fuentealba, Jessica Gilbert, Javier A. Ñaupari, Molly H. Polk, Sigrid Resh, Cecilia Turin, Melody Zarria-Samanamud

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

While the grazing of livestock has occurred for millennia in the Andes, current sustainability debates center on concerns with co-managing climate change and pastoralism. These discussions have special resonance in places protected by the state for biodiversity, scenery, and sustainable and traditional land uses, such as those found in protected areas and biosphere reserves. For this article, we integrate data from a social-ecological research project on the land use systems that affect high-elevation ecosystems in Peru’s Huascarán National Park, with special emphasis on the wetlands. We used land cover and land use data and insights from interactions with pastoralists to …

A Haplotype-Resolved Chromosome-Scale Genome For Quercus Rubra L. Provides Insights Into The Genetics Of Adaptive Traits For Red Oak Species, Beant Kapoor, Jerry Jenkins, Jeremy Schmutz, Tatyana Zhebentyayeva, Carsten Kulheim, Mark Coggeshall, Chris Heim, Jesse R. Lasky, Laura Leites, Nurul Islam-Faridi, Jeanne Romero-Severson, Victoria L. Deleo, Sarah M. Lucas, Desanka Lazic, Oliver Gailing, John Carlson, Margaret Staton

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) is an ecologically and economically important forest tree native to North America. We present a chromosome-scale genome of Q. rubra generated by the combination of PacBio sequences and chromatin conformation capture (Hi-C) scaffolding. This is the first reference genome from the red oak clade (section Lobatae). The Q. rubra assembly spans 739 Mb with 95.27% of the genome in 12 chromosomes and 33,333 protein-coding genes. Comparisons to the genomes of Quercus lobata and Quercus mongolica revealed high collinearity, with intrachromosomal structural variants present. Orthologous gene family analysis with other tree species revealed that gene …

Maple Tapping In Utah, Nicole King, Darren Mcavoy

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides a brief introduction to tapping maple trees in Utah and the Intermountain West. Included is an overview of maple tree identification, weather conditions, and how to start tapping.