Life Sciences Commons^™

Effects Of Understory Vegetation And Litter On Plant Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), N∶P Ratio And Their Relationships With Growth Rate Of Indigenous Seedlings In Subtropical Plantations, Jun Wang, Dafeng Hui, Hai Ren, Zhanfeng Liu, Long Yang

Biology Faculty Research

Establishing seedlings in subtropical plantations is very important for forest health, succession and management. Information on seedling nutrient concentrations is essential for both the selection of suitable indigenous tree species to accelerate succession of the established plantation and sustainable forest management. In this study, we investigated the concentrations of nitrogen ([N]), phosphorus ([P]), and N∶P ratio in leaves, stems and roots of seedlings of three indigenous tree species (Castanopsis chinensis, Michelia chapensis and Psychotria rubra) transplanted with removing or retaining understory vegetation and litter at two typical subtropical forest plantations (Eucalyptus plantation and native species plantation). We also measured the …

Effects Of Reproductive Condition, Roost Microclimate, And Weather Patterns On Summer Torpor Use By A Vespertilionid Bat, Joseph S. Johnson, Michael J. Lacki

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

A growing number of mammal species are recognized as heterothermic, capable of maintaining a high-core body temperature or entering a state of metabolic suppression known as torpor. Small mammals can achieve large energetic savings when torpid, but they are also subject to ecological costs. Studying torpor use in an ecological and physiological context can help elucidate relative costs and benefits of torpor to different groups within a population. We measured skin temperatures of 46 adult Rafinesque's big-eared bats (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) to evaluate thermoregulatory strategies of a heterothermic small mammal during the reproductive season. We compared daily average and minimum skin …

Memorandum - Subject: Gordon Natural Area, Greg R. Weisenstein

Gordon Natural Area History & Strategic Plan Documents

Memorandum from West Chester University President Greg R. Weisenstein announcing the approval of eleven additional acres of undeveloped land to be included in the Robert B. Gordon Natural Area of Environmental Studies.

Nutrient Limitation In Three Lowland Tropical Forests In Southern China Receiving High Nitrogen Deposition: Insights From Fine Root Responses To Nutrient Additions, Feifei Zhu, Muneoki Yoh, Frank S. Gilliam, Xiankai Lu, Jiangming Mo

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Elevated nitrogen (N) deposition to tropical forests may accelerate ecosystem phosphorus (P) limitation. This study examined responses of fine root biomass, nutrient concentrations, and acid phosphatase activity (APA) of bulk soil to five years of N and P additions in one old-growth and two younger lowland tropical forests in southern China. The old-growth forest had higher N capital than the two younger forests from long-term N accumulation. From February 2007 to July 2012, four experimental treatments were established at the following levels: Control, N-addition (150 kg N ha^–1 yr^–1), P-addition (150 kg P ha^–1 yr^{–1 …}

Cytotoxic Compounds From Invasive Giant Salvinia (Salvinia Molesta) Against Human Tumor Cells (Abstract), Shiyou Li, Ping Wang, Guangrui Deng, Wei Yuan, Zushang Su

NCPC Publications and Patents

Giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta) is one of the most noxious invasive species in the world. Our bioactivity-guided fractionation of ethanol extract of giant salvinia led to the isolation of 50 compounds. Of the six new compounds (1–6), salviniol (1) is a rare abietane diterpene with a new ferruginol-menthol coupled skeleton and both salviniside I (2) and salviniside II (3) are novel benzofuran glucose conjugates with unique 10-membered macrodiolide structures. Sixteen abietane diterpenes (1, 7–17, and 19–22) demonstrated in vitro activities …

Shifting Environmental Controls On Ch4 Fluxes In A Sub-Boreal Peatland, Thomas G. Pypker, P. A. Moore, John A. Hribljan, Rodney Chimner

Michigan Tech Publications

We monitored CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes using eddy covariance from 19 May to 27 September 2011 in a poor fen located in northern Michigan. The objectives of this paper are to: (1) quantify the flux of CH₄ from a sub-boreal peatland, and (2) determine which abiotic and biotic factors were the most correlated to the flux of CH₄ over the measurement period. Net daily CH₄ fluxes increased from 70 mg CH₄ m⁻² d⁻¹ to 220 mg CH₄ m⁻² d⁻¹ from mid May to mid July. After July, CH_{4 …}

University Of Maine Pulp & Paper Foundation Bylaws, University Of Maine Pulp & Paper Foundation

General University of Maine Publications

The University of Maine Pulp and Paper Foundation recruits, financially supports and prepares talented engineering students to become the next great leaders in the pulp and paper industry, while also helping to meet the workforce needs of the industry.

The oldest pulp and paper foundation in America and a pioneer of the first program in the country to study pulp and paper engineering, University of Maine Pulp and Paper Foundation was organized in 1950, and incorporated in 1953, as a non-profit corporation. The Foundation awards more than 100 full or partial tuition scholarships annually and are represented by the most …

Geo 585 Field Methods: Edge Effects [In The Gordon Natural Area], Matthew Long, James Gregory, Timothy Snow

Gordon Natural Area Biodiversity Studies Documents

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Biodiversity And Susceptibility Of Trees In Maxwell Park To Future Invasive Tree Pest Outbreaks, Genevieve Alexander '14

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

The purpose of this project was to assess tree susceptibility to invasive tree pest outbreaks in a Central-Illinois urban park. Tree biodiversity in Maxwell Park, located in the Town of Normal, Illinois, was evaluated assuming that the greater the tree biodiversity in a park, the more resilient the park would be to future invasive tree pest outbreaks. The Town of Normal Parks and Recreation Department served as the community partner for this project. By determining Maxwell Park’s current level of biodiversity, proposed new trees for future replacement plantings could be identified to help increase biodiversity and decrease the potential for …

Conservation In The Context Of Climate Change: Practical Guidelines For Land Protection At Local Scales, Kevin Ruddock, Peter V. August, Christopher Damon, Charles Labash, Pamela Rubinoff, Donald Robadue Jr.

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Climate change will affect the composition of plant and animal communities in many habitats and geographic settings. This presents a dilemma for conservation programs – will the portfolio of protected lands we now have achieve a goal of conserving biodiversity in the future when the ecological communities occurring within them change? Climate change will significantly alter many plant communities, but the geophysical underpinnings of these landscapes, such as landform, elevation, soil, and geological properties, will largely remain the same. Studies show that extant landscapes with a diversity of geophysical characteristics support diverse plant and animal communities. Therefore, geophysically diverse landscapes …

Project Report No. 68, Observed Growth And Yield Of Loblolly Pine Plantations In East Texas, Dean W. Coble, Katherine Pendergast

Informal Project Reports

Forestland in east Texas occupies about 12.1 million acres with 2.9 million acres (24%) classified as pine plantations on private land. Pine plantations are typically managed to produce timber, so information is needed to make informed management decisions. Growth is one piece of information that managers often rely upon in their decision making process.

Modeling Acute Respiratory Illness During The 2007 San Diego Wildland Fires Using A Coupled Emissions-Transport System And General Additive Modeling, Brian Thelen, Nancy H. F. French, Benjamin W. Koziol, Michael Billmire, Robert Chris Owen, Jeffrey Johnson, Michele Ginsberg, Tatiana Loboda, Shiliang Wu

Michigan Tech Research Institute Publications

Background

A study of the impacts on respiratory health of the 2007 wildland fires in and around San Diego County, California is presented. This study helps to address the impact of fire emissions on human health by modeling the exposure potential of proximate populations to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) from vegetation fires. Currently, there is no standard methodology to model and forecast the potential respiratory health effects of PM plumes from wildland fires, and in part this is due to a lack of methodology for rigorously relating the two. The contribution in this research specifically targets that absence by modeling …

The Effects Of Large Wildfires On Employment And Wage Growth And Volatility In The Western United States, Max Nielsen-Pincus, Cassandra Moseley, Krista Gebert

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

We examined the effect of large wildfires on economic growth and volatility in the western United States. We matched wildfire data with quarterly employment and earnings growth data to assess the specific effect of wildfire on employment and wage growth in western US counties. Wildfires generally tended to exhibit positive effects on employment and wage growth in the quarter(s) during which suppression efforts were active. However, this effect transitioned to increased economic volatility following a wildfire. The effect of wildfire also varied by the type of county in which wildfire occurred. The amount of suppression costs invested locally had the …

Changes In Soil Carbon Sequestration In Pinus Massoniana Forests Along An Urban-To-Rural Gradient Of Southern China, H. Chen, W. Zhang, Frank S. Gilliam, L. Liu, J. Huang, T. Zhang, W. Wang, J. Mo

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Urbanization is accelerating globally, causing a variety of environmental changes such as increases in air temperature, precipitation, atmospheric CO₂, and nitrogen (N) deposition. However, the effects of these changes on forest soil carbon (C) sequestration remain largely unclear. Here, we used urban-to-rural environmental gradients in Guangdong Province, southern China, to address the potential effects of these environmental changes on soil C sequestration in Pinus massoniana forests. In contrast to our expectations and earlier observations, soil C content in urban sites was significantly lower than that in suburban and rural sites. Lower soil C pools in urban sites were …

Carbon Dynamics In The Future Forest: The Importance Of Long-Term Successional Legacy And Climate–Fire Interactions, E. Louise Loudermilk, Robert M. Scheller, Peter J. Weisberg, Jian Yang, Thomas E. Dilts, Sarah L. Karam, Carl Skinner

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Understanding how climate change may influence forest carbon (C) budgets requires knowledge of forest growth relationships with regional climate, long-term forest succession, and past and future disturbances, such as wildfires and timber harvesting events. We used a landscape-scale model of forest succession, wildfire, and C dynamics (LANDIS-II) to evaluate the effects of a changing climate (A2 and B1 IPCC emissions; Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory General Circulation Models) on total forest C, tree species composition, and wildfire dynamics in the Lake Tahoe Basin, California, and Nevada. The independent effects of temperature and precipitation were assessed within and among climate models. Results …

Meeting Minutes, October 9th, 2013, National Smokejumper Association Board Of Directors

National Smokejumper Association Meeting Minutes

Agenda: Call to order.; Introductions.; Orientation to site.; Approval of agenda of prior meeting and intervening BOD actions.; Trail Report for 2013.; update on the ongoing Siskiyou Smokejumper Base project.; update on progress of the 2015 NSA Reunion planning.; Wild Land Firefighters Foundation.; Status of KIA plaques.; Scholarship Report.; Parachute development report .; Treasurer's Report/FY 2013-14 Budget Review.; Headstone's for firefighters killed in Montana.; Exploring NSA's potential role in fire/land management.; Presentation & discussion.; Status of Trademark Registration.; Request for Database for health research project.; Website Committee Report.; Magazine/Merchandise Report & Staffing.; Recess for social evening.; Guidelines for GSF.; Long-range …

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 …

Climate Change And Fire Management In The Mid-Atlantic Region, Kenneth L. Clark, Nicholas Skowronski, Heidi Renninger, Robert M. Scheller

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this review, we summarize the potential impacts of climate change on wildfire activity in the mid­-Atlantic region, and then consider how the beneficial uses of prescribed fire could conflict with mitigation needs for climate change, focusing on patters of carbon (C) sequestration by forests in the region. We use a synthesis of field studies, eddy flux tower measurements, and simulation studies to evaluate how the use of prescibed fire affects short-and long-term forest C dynamics. Climate change may create weather conditions more conducive to wildfire activity, but successional changes in forest composition, altered gap dynamics, reduced understory and forest …

The Dandy Scroll, Fall 2013, University Of Maine Pulp And Paper Foundation

General University of Maine Publications

The Fall 2013 issue of The Dandy Scroll newsletter produced by the University of Maine Pulp and Paper Foundation.

Las Raíces De La Deforestación En El Departamento Pando, Jeremy Levine-Drizin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research paper examines the phenomenon of the recent trend of deforestation in the Pando department in northwestern Bolivia. Historically, the economy of Pando has always been based primarily in agro-forestal extraction activities that provided income to communities without the need to destroy the surrounding forests. The most important of these agro-forestal products have been rubber (primarily during the beginning of the 20th century) and more recently Castaña (Brazilian Nut). Recently however, as the result of various forces, the inhabitants of Pando have begun to cut down there forests at an alarming rate. The most relevant causes of this phenomenon …

Upland Habitat Quality And Historic Landscape Composition Influence Genetic Variation Of A Pond-Breeding Salamander, Stephen C. Richter, Steve J. Price, Chelsea S. Kross, Jeremiah R. Alexander, Michael E. Dorcas

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Understanding the temporal and spatial scale at which habitat alteration impacts populations is important for conservation and management. Amphibians have declined more than other vertebrates, and pond-breeding species are particularly susceptible to habitat loss and fragmentation because they have terrestrial and aquatic life stages. One approach to management of pond-breeding species is protection of core upland habitat surrounding the breeding pond. We used genetic variation as an indicator of population status in a common amphibian species, spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum), to determine how amount of suitable upland habitat relates to population status in the greater Charlotte, North Carolina, …

Climate Change And North American Rangelands: Assessment Of Mitigation And Adaptation Strategies, Linda A. Joyce, David D. Briske, Joel R. Brown, H. Wayne Polley, Bruce A. Mccarl, Derek W. Bailey

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Recent climatic trends and climate model projections indicate that climate change will modify rangeland ecosystem functions and the services and livelihoods that they provision. Recent history has demonstrated that climatic variability has a strong influence on both ecological and social components of rangeland systems and that these systems possess substantial capacity to adapt to climatic variability. Specific objectives of this synthesis are to: 1) evaluate options to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and future climate change; 2) survey actions that individuals, enterprises, and social organizations can use to adapt to climate change; and 3) assess options for system transformation when adaptation …

Job Growth And Loss Across Sectors And Time In The Western Us: The Impact Of Large Wildfires, Max Nielsen-Pincus, Cassandra Moseley, Krista Gebert

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The link between economic growth and natural hazards has long been studied to better understand the effects of natural hazards on local, regional, and country level growth patterns. However, relatively little generalizable research has focused on wildfires, one of the most common forest disturbances in the western United States (US). We examined the effect of large wildfires on employment growth across sectors and time in the western US.We matched wildfire occurrences from 2004 to 2008 and their duration with monthly employment data to identify the effect of wildfire on employment growth. Wildfires generally tended to exhibit positive effects on employment …

Female Elk Contacts Are Neither Frequency Nor Density Dependent, P. C. Cross, T. G. Creech, Michael Ryan Ebinger, Kezia R. Manlove, K. Irvine, J. Henningsen, J. Rogerson, B. M. Scurlock, S. Creel

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Identifying drivers of contact rates among individuals is critical to understanding disease dynamics and implementing targeted control measures. We studied the interaction patterns of 149 female elk (Cervus canadensis) distributed across five different regions of western Wyoming over three years, defining a contact as an approach within one body length (∼2 m). Using hierarchical models that account for correlations within individuals, pairs, and groups, we found that pairwise contact rates within a group declined by a factor of three as group sizes increased 33-fold. Per capita contact rates, however, increased with group size according to a power function, such that …

Dendrochronological Reconstruction Of Fire, Bogus Basin Area Boise National Forest, Amy L. Cutter

Student Research Initiative

Since people have settled along the Boise Front, there have been very few documented fire disturbances. This is likely an outcome of fire suppression policies. There is evidence, visible as scars on living trees, that the old growth ponderosa pines located on the East Side Trail in the Boise National Forest have withstood multiple fires. Samples were collected by using a chainsaw to remove small, partial cross-sections from several trees. The Boise Front master chronology was used to accurately cross-date the fire-scarred samples using COFECHA. Analysis of the samples revealed ten fire events ranging from 1709 to 1889. The fire …

Elk (Cervus Elaphus) Seasonal Habitat Selection In A Heterogeneous Forest Structure, Jesse N. Popp, David N.C. Mcgeachy, Josef Hamr

Aspen Bibliography

Seasonal habitat selection by the reintroduced Burwash elk population, approximately 30 km south of Sudbury, Ontario, has been analysed in order to assist in the development of future management. Twenty-five adult females were radio-collared and tracked 1–3 times a week for 3 years. The most prominent patterns included selection of intolerant hardwood forests (trembling aspen, white birch, and balsam poplar) during all seasons, while Great Lakes-St. Lawrence pines (white and red pine dominated stands) were used less than expected based on availability for all seasons. The selection patterns are likely associated with seasonal climatic conditions and forage preferences. Because the …

Wildfire Assessment Using Farsite Fire Modeling: A Case Study In The Chihuahua Desert Of Mexico, John Brakeall

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Chihuahua desert is one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the world, but suffers serious degradation because of changes in fire regimes resulting in large catastrophic fires. My study was conducted in the Sierra La Mojonera (SLM) natural protected area in Mexico. The purpose of this study was to implement the use of FARSITE fire modeling as a fire management tool to develop an integrated fire management plan at SLM.

Firebreaks proved to detain 100% of wildfire outbreaks. The rosetophilous scrub experienced the fastest rate of fire spread and lowland creosote bush scrub experienced the slowest rate of …

Air Pollution: The Trees Aren't Lichen It, Wes L. Hanson, Leigh A. Hanson, Meghan Lockwood, Morgan Yarber

2013 Projects

The Keck Summer Collaborative Research Program provides opportunities for Linfield College students and faculty to conduct research on issues related to the Pacific Northwest, and to bring the research findings back into the classroom within the subsequent academic year. Students partner with faculty to conduct research and present their work to other students, Linfield staff and faculty, and community members during a series of brown bag lunches. Wes Hanson, Leigh Hanson, Meghan Lockwood, and Morgan Yarber conducted research with Nancy Broshot and gave this presentation during the summer of 2013.

Understanding Relationships Among Abundance, Extirpation, And Climate At Ecoregional Scales, Erik A. Beever, Solomon Z. Dobrowski, J. Long, A. R. Mynsberge, N. B. Piekielek

Forest Management Faculty Publications

Recent research on mountain-dwelling species has illustrated changes in species' distributional patterns in response to climate change. Abundance of a species will likely provide an earlier warning indicator of change than will occupancy, yet relationships between abundance and climatic factors have received less attention. We tested whether predictors of counts of American pikas (Ochotona princeps) during surveys from the Great Basin region in 1994-1999 and 2003-2008 differed between the two periods. Additionally, we tested whether various modeled aspects of ecohydrology better predicted relative density than did average annual precipitation, and whether risk of site-wide extirpation predicted subsequent population counts of …

Residential Edges As Ecological Traps: Postfledgling Survival Of A Ground-Nesting Passerine In A Forested Urban Park, Amy A. Shipley, Michael T. Murphy, Adam H. Elzinga

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Substantial offspring mortality can occur during the postfledging period of birds, but few postfledging survival studies have been conducted within the context of habitat suitability. We conducted a 2-year radiotelemetry study of Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) reproductive success and fledgling survival in a 24-ha forested park in a residential area of Lake Oswego, Oregon. In corroboration of previous research on this species, we found (1) that Spotted Towhees nested closer to the edge between the park and residential neighborhoods than expected by chance, and (2) that pairs nesting near edges produced the largest and most offspring. However, fates were reversed …