Forest Sciences Commons^™

Res Rep 12-04 Standard Bioassessment Procedures For Evaluating Ecological Restoration In Southeastern Hardwood Bottomlands, Mattew J. Gray, Elizabeth A. Summers

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

No abstract provided.

Forest Recovery, Nutrient Cycling And Carbon Sequestration In A Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest, Patrick T. Moore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order to fully understand the magnitude of the benefits that forests provide, it is crucial to understand the full suite of ecosystem services that they offer. A southern Appalachian red spruce-Fraser fir forest was intensively analyzed using a variety of methodologies to determine the nature and quantity of some of these services. Many hypotheses exist regarding the future of these spruce-fir forests, which were heavily disturbed by the non-native balsam wooly adelgid during the 1980s. Direct measurements over the course of a decade assessed these hypotheses and indicate that this forest is recovering structure and function. The forest is ...

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.

Invasion Ecology Of Acer Platanoides In An Old-Growth Urban Forest, Justin Paul Rogers

Environmental Science and Biology Theses

Acer platanoides (Norway maple) is an exotic tree species with invasive potential that has been described as a prolific seed producer, shade tolerant, and a strong competitor for limiting resources. It has invaded many forests in the northeastern United States and Canada, including the Washington Grove, a 10 ha forest in Cobbs Hill Park in Rochester, NY. To quantify the extent of the invasion at the Grove, I surveyed the forest canopy, subcanopy, seedlings, saplings, shrub cover, herbaceous cover, seed rain, and seed bank. In a primarily Quercus (oak) canopy, A. platanoides was relatively sparse at 31 individuals/ha, but ...

The Effects Of Fire On The Vernal Herbs Of An Eastern Mesic Forest, David Randolph Kem

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The effects of fire on vernal herbs of the mesic forests of eastern North America are poorly understood. I studied the influence of prescribed fire on species richness, abundance of rare and common species, and density of exotics in the vernal herbaceous layer. To determine these effects, three sites in central Kentucky were surveyed prior to and following one of three treatments: spring burn, winter burn, or negative control. I conducted low-intensity spring burns in April 2010 and winter burns in February 2011. I used chi square analyses to test for changes in species richness, abundance of rare species, abundance ...

Kentucky Forestry Economic Impact Report 2012-2013, Jeff Stringer, Billy Thomas, Bobby Ammerman, Alison Davis

Kentucky Forestry Economic Impact Report

Kentucky plays a pivotal role in providing forest products to the U.S. and the forestry sector is a major economic force in the Commonwealth providing over 51,000 jobs and $9.9 billion to Kentucky’s economy in 2012. This economic input was generated from 708 facilities located in 109 of Kentucky’s 120 counties including a wide range of industries from logging and sawmills to cabinet manufacturers and paper and producers. In 2012 Kentucky was one of the largest producers of hardwood timber with over 590 million board feet of sawlogs and over 900,000 tons of pulpwood ...

Forest Harvest Equipment Movement And Sediment Delivery To Streams, Daniel Whiteside Bowker

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry

Streamside management zones (SMZs) have become important management techniques to prevent the introduction of sediment to stream networks. This study examined the current Kentucky best management practice (BMP) guidelines for SMZs by outfitting mobile forest harvest equipment with global positioning system (GPS) receivers, enabling modeling of equipment traffic and spatial analysis of stream sediment delivery. Three SMZ configurations were implemented during commercial timber harvest, along with four different techniques of crossing ephemeral channels, in order to determine where and why sediment was introduced to the stream network. Results indicate that increasing the SMZ buffer width leads to decreased sediment delivery ...

Pear Trees On Pear Avenue, Christa Ebert

Capstone Papers

Residents of the EcoVillage, an area of Cleveland, OH’s Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, requested fragrant fruit trees to be planted in their neighborhood. Pear Avenue, a street within the EcoVillage, was selected as a target area and mapped to determine the health of the street tree canopy and assess if fruit trees can be planted on tree lawns. Through research, other examples of public fruit were retrieved and public participation practices were analyzed.

Leaf Identification Using Image Processing And Automatic Pattern Recognition, Thomas E. Humbert, Joseph E. Niemiec, Joshua M. Kaster

The Research and Scholarship Symposium

No abstract provided.

Spatial, Temporal, And Tri-Trophic Distribution Of Imidacloprid, Olefin And 5-Hydroxy And Their Effect On Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, Adelges Tsugae Annand, (Hemiptera: Adelgidae)., Carla Irene Coots

Doctoral Dissertations

Extensive mortality of eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière, resulting from infestation by hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) (HWA), has occurred throughout the eastern United States. Imidacloprid, a systemic insecticide, is used to control hemlock woolly adelgid. The metabolism of imidacloprid in eastern hemlock produces two metabolites of toxicological interest, olefin and 5-hydroxy. The objectives of this study were to 1.) determine the distribution and persistence of the metabolites in eastern hemlock in the southern Appalachians, 2.) their effect on hemlock woolly adelgid mortality, 3.) assess the tri-trophic movement of these compounds, 4.) evaluate the effects of ...

Assessing Land Use And Land Cover Change In Tropical Dry Forest Or Northern Chinandega, Nicaragus From 1985 To 2011, Jonathan W. Malette

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study is to gain a quantitative understanding of land use and land cover change (LULCC) that have occurred in a rural Nicaraguan municipality by analyzing Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) images. By comparing the potential extent of tropical dry forest (TDF) with Landsat 5 TM images, this study analyzes the loss of this forest type on a local level for the municipality of San Juan de Cinco Pinos (63.5 km²) in the Department of Chinandega. Change detection analysis shows where and how land use has changed from 1985 to the present. From 1985 to ...

Managerial Perseptions On Corporate Social Responsbility: A Transatlantic Comparison Between Forest Products Companies In Europe And North America, Aino A. Virtanen

Theses and Dissertations

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) addresses the responsibility of companies for their impacts on society. The concept of strategic CSR is becoming increasingly mainstreamed in the forest industry, but there is, however, little consensus on the definition and implementation of CSR. The objective of this research is to build knowledge on the characteristics of CSR and to provide insights on the emerging trend to increase the credibility and legitimacy of CSR through standardization. The study explores how the sustainability managers of European and North American forest companies perceive CSR and the recently released ISO 26000 guidance standard on social responsibility.

The ...

Nitrogen Deposition Effects On Production And Decomposition Of Coarse Woody Debris, Bethany J. Lyons

Open Access ETDs

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition has the potential to impact forest productivity, microbial associations, nutrient cycling, decomposition and stand dynamics. However, among the least studied aspects of these processes are the production and decomposition of dead woody biomass, or coarse woody debris (CWD). Coarse woody debris is made up of dead woody material on the ground called down dead wood (DDW) and dead standing trees which are often referred to as snags. Observed reductions in decomposition of CWD have been linked to substrate quality and microbial communities. If the decomposition effect is ubiquitous among litter types, CWD density, C:N, and biomass ...

The Long-Term Effects Of Whole-Tree Harvest At Final Felling On Soil Properties In A Norway Spruce (Picea Abies (L) Karst.) Stand, Lilli M. Kaarakka

Theses and Dissertations

Increased demand for forest-derived biomass has resulted in changes in harvest intensities in Finland. Conventional stem-only harvest (CH) has to some extent been replaced with whole-tree harvest (WTH). The latter involves a greater removal of nutrients from the forest ecosystem, as all the above ground biomass is exported from the site. This has raised concerns that WTH could result in large changes in the nutrient dynamics of a forest stand and could eventually lower its site productivity. Little empirical data exists to support this assumption as only a limited number of studies have been conducted on the topic. A majority ...

Restoration Of Forest Wetlands: Case Studies In Michigan And Finland, Laura C. Kangas

Theses and Dissertations

Forested wetlands throughout the world are valuable habitats; especially in relatively species-poor northern regions, they can be considered biological hotspots. Unfortunately, these areas have been degraded and destroyed. In recent years, however, the biological importance of wetlands has been increasingly recognized, resulting in the desire to restore disturbed habitats or create in place of destroyed ones. Restoration work is taking place across the globe in a diversity of wetland types, and research must be conducted to determine successful techniques. As a result, two studies of the effects of wetland restoration and creation were conducted in forested wetlands in northern Michigan ...

Habitat Associations Of The Golden-Winged Warbler In Honduras, Ruth E. Bennett

Theses and Dissertations

The global population of the Neotropical migrant Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) has declined steadily over the past fifty years. While factors influencing this decline have been well researched on the breeding grounds, little is known about the distribution and habitat requirements of this warbler on its stationary non-breeding range. Recent efforts to quantify the non-breeding habitat requirements of this warbler have focused on Colombia and Costa Rica, though the species ranges as far north as the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. To address the gap in knowledge from the northern portion of the non-breeding range, I conducted 80 serial point-count surveys targeting ...

Fulewood Collection And Consumption: A Case Study In Lupeta Tanzania, Katie M. Preston

Open Access ETDs

Fuelwood is a major resource in rural areas. Fuelwood collection and consumption habits were monitored in Lupeta, Tanzania through household interviews and fuelwood collection walks. Social dimensions, economic aspects of fuelwood, and alternative fuel sources were also examined. The study found that for all wealth classes, fuelwood is the primary source of fuel used within the village, with the middle and upper classes occasionally supplementing fuelwood with charcoal. Women collect and consume fuelwood for cooking. The majority of women (69%) prefer to use charcoal because fuelwood collection is labor intensive and time consuming. While the use of charcoal would provide ...

Assessing Success Of Forest Restoration Efforts In Degraded Montane Cloud Forests In Southern Mexico, Rocio Elizabeth Jimenez Vazquez

Theses and Dissertations

Montane cloud forests are home to great biodiversity. However, non-sustainable anthropogenic activities have led to the loss of forest cover in southern Mexico. Increasing conservation, restoration and sustainable use of forest resources prevents the loss of cloud forests. In this study, success of forest restoration was evaluated in a degraded forest of Highlands Chiapas. The goal of this study was to assess the structure and composition of native tree species. We evaluated vegetation composition at three sites that had undergone enrichment plantings. Floristic composition and structure of the herbaceous, seedling, sapling, and overstory layers were measured. A total of sixty-six ...

Management Impacts On Carex Assiniboinensis And Cardamine Concatenata On The Ottawa National Forest, Margaret Fox

Theses and Dissertations

Monitoring of herbaceous plants on the Ottawa National Forest (ONF) is used to understand the impact of forest management on understory composition and site conditions. In their planning, national forests are required to take into account management impacts on diversity and ecosystem health. The effect of management on understory species is dependent on various factors, including the intensity of disturbance and the biology of the plant. In the first study in this report, a population of Carex assiniboinensis, a Michigan state threatened species, was monitored for seven seasons including before logging commenced, in order to determine the sedge’s response ...

Wolf Habitat Selection At The Territory Level : Seasonal And Interannual Variation And Influence On Reproductive Success, Alessia Uboni

Theses and Dissertations

Habitat selection has been one of the main research topics in ecology for decades. Nevertheless, many aspects of habitat selection still need to be explored. In particular, previous studies have overlooked the importance of temporal variation in habitat selection and the value of including data on reproductive success in order to describe the best quality habitat for a species. We used data collected from radiocollared wolves in Yellowstone National Park (USA), between 1996 and 2008, to describe wolf habitat selection. In particular, we aimed to identify i) seasonal differences in wolf habitat selection, ii) factors influencing interannual variation in habitat ...