Forest Sciences Commons^™

Demand For Guided Tours On The Tennessee River., Gessika Lee Guerra

Masters Theses

Knoxville, TN is a major urban center in east Tennessee. Knoxville’s urban planners recognized the need for green space and have installed free greenways and parks within the downtown area over several decades. These attractions are immensely popular and promote urban ecotourism. There is an opportunity to begin or expand guided tour services. This research will analyze the demand and willingness to pay for guided river activities – kayaking and pontoon boating – on the Tennessee River in downtown Knoxville. Primary data were collected by 1000 on site flyers connected to an online survey platform. These data were uploaded into …

Advancing Natural White Oak (Quercus Alba.) Reproduction Through A Midstory Removal, Canaan Jeffrey Dugger

Masters Theses

In recent decades, there has been an alarming decline in white oak (Quercus alba.) regeneration and recruitment occurring within eastern forests. Historically, the frequency and the intensity of anthropogenic disturbances was dynamic over the landscape. However, over just the last century a major compositional shift has occurred from this change in disturbance regimes. Eastern forests are now promoting the regeneration of mesic species that obstruct white oaks’ ability to compete successfully and establish in the upper canopy.

The majority of successful white oak regeneration and recruitment is now occurring on the average to more xeric sites. Limited studies …

A Watershed Prioritization Model For Community-Centered Riparian Forest Restoration In Tennessee, Madison Johnson

Masters Theses

Riparian forests are unique ecosystems that act as transitional areas between land and water that are a vital part of a healthy and functional stream ecosystem. Due to the rapidly changing landscape, riparian forests are increasingly threatened by urban development, agriculture, and invasive species, which contributes to a trend of degrading water quality in Tennessee. To address declining riparian forest quality in the face of land-use changes, the purpose of this study was to develop a simple watershed prioritization model that identifies areas that are highly susceptible to poor water quality, and where riparian plantings would be most beneficial. This …

Exploring Alternative Methodologies To Estimate By-Species Sawlog Volume In The Southeastern United States, Tara Skiba

Masters Theses

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) conducts Timber Products Output (TPO) studies to assess timber resource use across the United States. The TPO studies gather information through surveys of primary wood processing facilities to quantify the utilization of roundwood by geographic location, tree species, and timber product type. However, not all responding mills provide information on tree species utilized. As a result, a portion of the reported volume falls into the “unknown/unclassified” softwood or hardwood category, which account for up to 74% of total hardwood/softwood southern volumes in some cases. In addition, the detailed species in the TPO survey forms …

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

Masters Theses

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

Forest Resources For Bioenergy, Gerry Solano Avila

Doctoral Dissertations

The overall objective of this dissertation is to evaluate forest resources biomass availability for the production of bioenergy. Chapter II provides measures of the impact that the road sustainability criteria have on the supply of feedstock for forest products and bioenergy. A linear cost minimization programming is used in estimating forest biomass supply curves. Chapter III provides estimates on the changes in US timberland acreages overtime and the ability of timberland to meet conventional timber products and woody biomass demand within the conterminous United States. Chapter IV utilizes the Biofuels Facility Location Analysis Modeling Endeavor (BioFLAME), a Geographic Information System …

Regeneration Of Imperiled Hardwoods In The Eastern United States, Joshua J. Granger

Doctoral Dissertations

Our ability to successfully promote forest stand health and facilitate species under the threat of extinction will hinge on our ability to identify species regeneration requirements in an ever-changing environment. In the first chapter of this dissertation, I address what is known about the nature of threatened and imperiled hardwoods in the eastern United States, and in doing so, I identify several large knowledge gaps in current potentials and methodologies for regenerating them. In my second chapter, I use recent data from the United States Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program (FIA) to quantify ash regeneration counts across FIA …

Using Forest Inventory And Analysis Data To Support Resinous Stump Harvesting In The Coastal Southeast, Christopher Ryan King

Masters Theses

The objective of the research was to investigate the feasibility and potential opportunities for using broad-scale forest inventory data for identifying high-probability sites containing longleaf and slash pine stumps. The purpose was to assist in locating resinous stumps for today’s remaining naval stores industry. USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory & Analysis (FIA) Phase 2 plots where longleaf and slash pine were present were observed. Plots were also limited to those which had been re-measured at least once. Variables observed include basal area, diameter, recent cutting, and past cutting. FIA’s Timber Products Output data regarding mill sourcing were assessed as well. …

Three Essays In Forest Resource Management: Landowners’ Considerations In Ecosystem Services, Forest Certification, And Timber Supply, Nana Tian

Doctoral Dissertations

Forest ecosystems provide a wide range of timber and non-timber ecosystem services that play a vital role in supporting human health, well-being, and economy. Sustaining forest ecosystem will depend on landowners’ interest and willingness to responsibly manage forests, and provide timber and non-timber services for public benefit. Despite a substantial research in understanding how forest resources are managed by landowners, several literature gaps still exist regarding how landowners’ behavior/activities associated with sustaining the supply of ecosystem services and timber, and participating in best management practices such as forest certification. By applying methods grounded in economic and human dimension theory, this …

Crop Tree Enhancement Of Green Ash (Fraxinus Pennsylvanica) In A West Tennessee Hardwood Bottom, John Luke Bowers

Masters Theses

Crop tree enhancement is a forest management technique undertaken to maintain, enhance, and improve the species composition, growth rate, and stem quality of stands so that management objectives may be better and more quickly accomplished. In 1996, a crop tree enhancement study involving green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) in a 16-year-old, naturally regenerated, mixed-species, pole-sized, bottomland hardwood stand was initiated at Ames Plantation in West TN. Treatments included a crown-touching release, a crown-touching release plus one-time fertilizer application, and a control, applied in a randomized block design with five 25-crop tree repetitions of the three treatments. Initial crop tree …

Vegetation Response To Canopy Disturbance And Season Of Burn During Oak Woodland And Savanna Restoration In Tennessee, Andrew Lee Vander Yacht, Seth A. Barrioz, Patrick D. Keyser, Craig A. Harper, David Buckley, David A. Buehler, Roger D. Applegate

UT Extension publication

The removal of fire’s influence on plant community succession has resulted in the near disappearance of oak woodlands and savannas from the Appalachian region. Negative trends in associated plant and wildlife species could be reversed if these communities are restored, but management has been limited by inadequate canopy disturbance, resprouting of woody plants, and a lack of empirical research. To address these issues, we evaluated herbaceous and woody vegetation response on the

Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee to 5 replicated treatments involving canopy reduction and fire-season combinations and unmanaged controls. All categories of woody vegetation except large saplings density, but resprouting …

Testing The Temporal Stability Of The Climate Response Of Tree Species At Norris Dam State Park, Tennessee, U.S.A., Allison Elizabeth Ingram

Masters Theses

Temporal stability of the climate-tree growth relationship means that over time, tree species were responding to a specific climate variable and continue to respond to that variable into the present. The stability of this response is important to test prior to attempting to reconstruct past climate. In this study, I sampled oaks (white oak = Quercus alba L. and chestnut oak = Quercus montana Willd.) and pines (Virginia pine = Pinus virginiana Mill. and shortleaf pine = Pinus echinata Mill.) growing in Norris Dam State Park in eastern Tennessee and tested the temporal stability of these species and their potential …

Forage Availability And Nutritional Carrying Capacity For Cervids Following Prescribed Fire And Herbicide Applications In Young Mixed-Hardwood Forest Stands In The Cumberland Mountains, Tennessee, Jordan Scott Nanney

Masters Theses

I evaluated the influence of timber harvest combined with prescribed fire and/or herbicide in young mixed-hardwood forest on forage availability and nutritional carrying capacity (NCC) for elk (Cervus elaphus) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) at the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area (WMA), July-August, 2013-15. I combined land cover data, forest management data, field management data, and forage availability data to model summer elk forage availability across the WMA.

I compared forage availability, NCC (animal days/ha) using 12 and 14% crude protein (CP) nutritional constraints, and vegetation composition among 6 young forest treatments, reclaimed surface mines (MINE), and closed-canopy mature forest …

Interactions Among Insect Defoliation, Insecticide Treatments, And Growth Rate In American And Hybrid Chestnuts, Ashley Elizabeth Case

Masters Theses

The American chestnut, Castanea dentata, was once one of the most useful and abundant canopy trees in eastern North American forests. Over the last 200 years, the species has been decimated by two exotic pathogens, Phytophthora cinnamomi and Cryphonectria parasitica, killing millions of trees and reducing surviving Castanea dentata to short-lived sprouts. Cryphonectria parasitica-resistance breeding programs are currently producing advanced backcross generations, which are being compared with pure American chestnut in field tests of growth performance and Cryphonectria parasitica resistance. The Asiatic oak weevil, Cyrtepistomus castaneus, has been identified as a common defoliator of chestnut seedlings in these …

Map Supplements For The Metallic Woodboring Beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) Of Tennessee, William E. Klingeman Iii, Jason A. Hansen, Joshua P. Basham, Jason B. Oliver, Nadeer N. Youssef, Whitney Swink, Christine A. Nalepa, Donna C. Fare, J. Kevin Moulton

Plant Sciences Publications and Other Works

Following compilation of distribution records and seasonal flight activity information for 106 metallic wood-boring beetle (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) species for Tennessee, maps were updated to provide county-level collection notations for 10,543 published records and specimen collections made from 1934 to 2013. County collection tallies across the ecoregions in Tennessee are also presented. Maps for individual species highlight gaps in key geographic areas where specimens have not been collected and can be valuable for future biosurveillance, monitoring and management efforts for these economically and ecologically important insects.

Value-Added Lignin Based Carbon Fiber From Organosolv Fractionation Of Poplar And Switchgrass, Andreas Attwenger

Masters Theses

Carbon fibers have unique properties that include high strength, low density and excellent chemical and thermal resistance. However, they have a low level of utilization because of their high price; typically around $30/kg for an entry level polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based carbon fiber. Low-cost carbon fibers derived from lignin are currently being investigated at the University of Tennessee, because using lignin as a precursor could significantly reduce production costs. Lignins obtained from the pulp and paper and the emerging biofuel industries have the potential to be used for carbon fiber production, however, they are typically unsuitable because of the high levels …

A Comprehensive Street Tree And Soil Study Along Roadways In Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Thomas Murphy Turnbull

Masters Theses

In the early 1940s, during the early stages of the Manhatttan Project (WWII), rural communities in Anderson County, Tennessee were rapidly converted into laboratory facilities and the city of Oak Ridge. The environment that became Oak Ridge not only experienced pollutants from the laboratory activities, but also alterations from the land-use change from rural to urban. Therefore, a study was conducted to determine the impacts of land-use change from rural to urban on (1) street tree diversity and performance; and (2) the biological, chemical and physical properties, and nutrient dynamics of street tree ecosystem soils. There were a total of …

Maximizing Lignin Yield Using Experimental Design Analyzing The Impact Of Solvent Composition And Feedstock Particle Size On The Organosolv Process In The Presence Of Feedstock Contamination, Hagen Maraun

Masters Theses

The depletion of fossil feedstock and the unfavorable environmental effects accompanying by its exploitation are the driving forces in the process of transitioning to renewable feedstock as the primary resource. Similar to petrorefineries, a new modern biorefinery would use biomass to produce a variety of different chemical products and transportation fuels. Lignin, a potential low-cost, high volume output process stream derived from lignocellulosic biomass is currently being researched to better support the economics of the future biorefinery. In this study, experimental design was used to determine the optimal level for each process factor in an organosolv fractionation process that targets …

Distribution And Growth Of Autumn Olive In A Managed Landscape, Matthew Ruddick Moore

Masters Theses

Invasions by exotic plant species result in significant challenges for forest managers. Disturbance and increased light have been shown to facilitate the successful establishment and invasion of exotic, invasive plant species. Several studies have sought to determine which key factors lead to greater abundance of exotic, invasive plants on certain sites and this information is important for determining the likelihood for exotic plant invasions at broad scales. Site characteristics that may promote autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) were studied. Our goal was to identify variables associated with forest road edges most important in explaining autumn olive abundance and growth. …

Sp748 Estimating Weight Of Logs And Standing Timber: A Guide For Foresters, The Forest Industry And Landowners, David Mercker, Adam Taylor

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

No abstract provided.

Examining Methodologies To Assess Abrasion In Tree Crowns, Tyler Matt Lynn Brannon

Masters Theses

New methodologies were explored to determine if crown abrasion affects shoot elongation of preformed and sustained growth form species during stand development. Bud growth form differences can influence which species’ buds are abraded or broken upon impact with adjoining crowns affecting crown growth. Analysis of branch elongation, apical bud toughness and tree sway were investigated in this study. Branch elongation was measured on crowns where growth was inhibited by crowns of adjacent trees and on crowns where growth is uninhibited. Bud mass was also measured. Bud toughness by species’ shoot growth form was evaluated using a pendulum impact tester for …

Chemical Responses Of Two Deciduous Trees After 10-Years Of Exposure To Free Air Co2 Enrichment, Keonhee Kim

Masters Theses

Globally, the mean atmospheric carbon dioxide level has risen steadily since pre-industrial times, which is largely attributable to human activities such as increased emissions from fossil fuel burning, and clearing of forests. Numerous research efforts have been made to understand responses of trees in higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels in short term, small-scale experiments. To overcome the limitations of these experiments and understand the response of trees in a natural environment, the Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE) project was proposed. FACE is a global project that involves experimentally enriching carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of terrestrial ecosystems. The FACE …

An Evaluation Of Disturbance-Induced Nutrient Changes And Climate Responses Of Loblolly Pine Xylem, Rebecca Lynne Stratton

Doctoral Dissertations

Dendrochronological techniques are currently limited to the identification of visible fire scars. However, through the development of new dendrochemical techniques, the potential exists to provide insight into a broader array of pyric ecosystems. In addition, the ability to identify historic climate-growth responses provides a better understanding of the conditions under which historic fire regimes occurred.

This study provides the groundwork for the identification of a dendrochemical nutrient fire signature in xylem and identifies the climate-radial growth responses of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) on five sites in the Piedmont of South Carolina. Changes in N, P, K, Ca, Mg, …

Bringing Biodiversity To Development: Perceptions Of Integrating Eucalyptus And Forest-Corridors Around The Serra Do Brigadeiro, Brazil, Maggie R Stevens

Masters Theses

The Atlantic Forest of south-eastern Brazil is a hot-spot for biodiversity and should be conserved. It is also at the center of the largest municipalities in Brazil and therefore has a severely fragmented landscape. Iracambi, a working farm near the Serra do Brigadeiro state park in Minas Gerais, is working for conservation in an area of intense agricultural production and expanding forestry industry. Most households in this rural area have some amount of eucalyptus on their property and consequently the director of Iracambi is developing the preliminary foundation for a forest corridor program comprised of primarily eucalyptus with the goal …

Assessment Of Control Charts For Evaluating Dynamic Accuracy Of Forest Growth Models, Richard Raymond Cristan

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if control charts are an effective tool to identify trends in forest growth and yield model accuracy. Accurate forest growth and yield models are important for projecting future forest composition. However, environmental factors have the potential to make forest growth models created from historic data inaccurate. Control charts in this study determine if forest growth predictions fall within confidence limits established for historic growth at a number of points in time. Two data sets were used in this study: the first was a Continuous Forest Inventory (CFI) from three tracts at the …

Microstegium Vimineum Spread Rate In Relation To Two Different Leaf Litter Disturbances And An Evaluation Of Aboveground Biomass Accumulation And Photosynthetic Efficiency In Response To Four Light Treatments, John Andrew Hull

Masters Theses

Microstegium vimineum is a non-native invasive plant species classified as an annual, shade-tolerant C4 grass. There is limited research regarding variables affecting the spread of M. vimineum. Two studies were conducted to investigate the spread of M. vimineum. A field study was undertaken in 2009 to determine how M. vimineum spreads in relation to litter disturbance. In 2010, a greenhouse study was conducted to determine the impact light has on M. vimineum aboveground biomass, height growth, and photosynthetic efficiency.

The field study consisted of three treatments, Undisturbed (Control), Stirring, and Removal of leaf litter, employed along the boundary of existing …

The Effects Of Mercury Contamination On Tree, Fungal, And Soil Composition Along East Fork Poplar Creek, Anderson And Roane Counties, Tennessee, Sharon Jean-Philippe

Doctoral Dissertations

The Oak Ridge Reservation established under The Atomic Energy Commission was the site for uranium enrichment and the construction of the atomic bomb during the early 1950’s and 60’s. Unfortunately, large quantities of “heavy metals” such as mercury, uranium, technetium, plutonium and fission products that were produced were dumped into unlined landfills, settling ponds and surface streams. One such creek affected was East Fork Poplar Creek, whose head water begins at the Y-12 Facilities located on the Oak Ridge Reservation, and was once used as an industrial drainage ditch for runoff, which included mercury and other heavy metals.

The release …

Comparative Ecophysiology Of American Chestnut Under Different Planting Treatments On Reclaimed Mine Sites, Christopher Ryan Miller

Masters Theses

American chestnut was once an abundant species that dominated the Eastern U.S. deciduous forests. Although this species is currently functionally extinct due to the chestnut blight, researchers are working on blight-resistant hybrids in hopes of restoring the species. As one potential vector for chestnut reintroduction and dispersal, the reclamation of mine sites are being considered. Recent research has found that reforestation efforts on these reclaimed mine sites provide productive tree growth while also complying with mine-reclamation laws. Understanding how American chestnut performs physiologically on mine sites will aid in the restoration of this species and reclamation of mine sites.

The …

Establishment Of Upland And Bottomland Hardwood Agroforestry Plantations In Tennessee And Mississippi, David Michael Casey

Masters Theses

The feasibility of alley cropping as a means of afforestation was studied across seven different study sites in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. Seeds were collected from 11 oak (Quercus spp) species and black walnut (Jug/ans nigra L.) trees in the region and grown under nursery protocols that are designed to produce seedlings of optimal size in one year. Seedlings were lifted by genetic family after one year and initial seedling measurements were recorded. Four bottomland studies and three upland studies were then sorted into an incomplete block design with multiple species and families within each block. …