Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

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

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

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

Alternative Timing Of Carbaryl Treatments For Protecting Lodgepole Pine From Mortality Attributed To Mountain Pine Beetle, Christopher J. Fettig, A Steve Munson, Kenneth E. Gibson

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Carbaryl is regarded among the most effective, economically viable, and ecologically-compatible insecticides available for protecting conifers from bark beetle attack in the western United States. Treatments are typically applied in spring prior to initiation of bark beetle flight for that year. We evaluated the efficacy of spring and fall applications for protecting individual lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud, from mortality attributed to mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, the most notable forest insect pest in western North America. Both spring and fall treatments of 2.0% a.i. carbaryl (Sevin® SL) were efficacious for two field seasons, while results from …

Blanding’S Turtle (Emydoidea Blandingii): A Technical Conservation Assessment, Justin D. Congdon, Douglas A. Keinath

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Blanding’s turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) are secure in Nebraska, and they range from being vulnerable to threatened, or endangered throughout most of the rest of their distribution. In Region 2, they have not been reported from Kansas, they are extremely rare in South Dakota, and they occupy wetlands in the northern half of Nebraska. The largest population known within the range of Blanding’s turtles is at Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska.

The core habitat of Blanding’s turtles has an aquatic component that consists of a permanent wetland and a suite of other, usually smaller and more temporary, wetlands such …