Riparian Trees And Aridland Streams Of The Southwestern United States: An Assessment Of The Past, Present, And Future, 2016 USDA Forest Service
Riparian Trees And Aridland Streams Of The Southwestern United States: An Assessment Of The Past, Present, And Future, D. Max Smith, Deborah M. Finch
USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications
Riparian ecosystems are vital components of aridlands within the southwestern United States. Historically, surface flows influenced population dynamics of native riparian trees. Many southwestern streams has been altered by regulation, however, and will be further affected by greenhouse warming. Our analysis of stream gage data revealed that decreases in volume of annual discharge and mean peak discharge and a shift to earlier peak discharge will occur in the Southern Rockies region of Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. These changes will likely decrease rates of reproduction and survival of cottonwood (Populus fremontii and Populus deltoides ssp. wislizenii), Goodding's willow …
Review Of Broad-Scale Drought Monitoring Of Forests: Toward An Integrated Data Mining Approach, 2016 USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station
Review Of Broad-Scale Drought Monitoring Of Forests: Toward An Integrated Data Mining Approach, Steven P. Norman, Frank H. Koch, William W. Hargrove
USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications
Efforts to monitor the broad-scale impacts of drought on forests often come up short. Drought is a direct stressor of forests as well as a driver of secondary disturbance agents, making a full accounting of drought impacts challenging. General impacts can be inferred from moisture deficits quantified using precipitation and temperature measurements. However, derived meteorological indices may not meaningfully capture drought impacts because drought responses can differ substantially among species, sites and regions. Meteorology-based approaches also require the characterization of current moisture conditions relative to some specified time and place, but defining baseline conditions over large, ecologically diverse regions can …
A Forest Vulnerability Index Based On Drought And High Temperatures, 2016 Oregon State University
A Forest Vulnerability Index Based On Drought And High Temperatures, David Mildrexler, Zhiqiang Yang, Warren B. Cohen, David M. Bell
USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications
Increasing forest stress and tree mortality has been directly linked to combinations of drought and high temperatures. The climatic changes expected during the next decades – large increases in mean temperature, increased heat waves, and significant long-term regional drying in the western USA – will likely increase chronic forest stress and mortality. The aim of this research is to develop and apply a new forest vulnerability index (FVI) associated with drought and high temperatures across the Pacific Northwest region (PNW; Oregon and Washington) of the USA during the MODIS Aqua era (since 2003). Our technique incorporates the alterations to canopy …
Contributing Factors For Drought In United States Forest Ecosystems Under Projected Future Climates And Their Uncertainty, 2016 USDA Forest Service
Contributing Factors For Drought In United States Forest Ecosystems Under Projected Future Climates And Their Uncertainty, Charles H. Luce, James M. Vose, Neil Pederson, John Campbell, Connie Millar, Patrick Kormos, Ross Woods
USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications
Observations of increasing global forest die-off related to drought are leading to more questions about potential increases in drought occurrence, severity, and ecological consequence in the future. Dry soils and warm temperatures interact to affect trees during drought; so understanding shifting risks requires some understanding of changes in both temperature and precipitation. Unfortunately, strong precipitation uncertainties in climate models yield substantial uncertainty in projections of drought occurrence. We argue that disambiguation of drought effects into temperature and precipitation-mediated processes can alleviate some of the implied uncertainty. In particular, the disambiguation can clarify geographic diversity in forest sensitivity to multifarious drivers …
Improved Bulk Density Of Bamboo Pellets As Biomass For Energy Production, 2016 International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan
Improved Bulk Density Of Bamboo Pellets As Biomass For Energy Production, Zhijia Liu, Bingbing Mi, Zehui Jiang, Benhua Fei, Zhiyong Cai, Xing'e Liu
USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications
To the best of our knowledge, there is the lack of sufficient information concerning bamboo pellets. In the preliminary research, bamboo pellets showed a low bulk density which could not meet requirement of Pellet Fuels Institute Standard Specification for Residential/Commercial Densified (PFI). To improve its bulk density, pellets were manufactured using mixtures of bamboo and pine particles and the properties were investigated. It was found that adding pine particles to bamboo particles was an effective way to improve bulk density of bamboo pellets. When adding 40% pine particles to bamboo particles, bulk density of pellets increased from 0.54 …
Pronghorn Habitat Suitability In The Texas Panhandle, 2016 United States Forest Service
Pronghorn Habitat Suitability In The Texas Panhandle, Nathan P. Duncan, Samantha S. Kahl, Shawn S. Gray, Christopher J. Salice, Richard D. Stevens
USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications
Habitat quality is an important factor that can greatly affect wildlife populations. Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) habitat in the Texas Panhandle, USA has been lost through growth of human settlements and agricultural lands. We determined the most pertinent environmental variables affecting habitat selection using multiple methods, including a search of peer-reviewed literature, expert opinion ranking, and habitat suitability modeling. We determined quality and extent of pronghorn habitat in the Texas Panhandle using the MAXENT modeling environment to build a presence-only habitat suitability model based on global positioning system (GPS) locations collected via aerial surveys. Our habitat suitability model indicated …
Pyrodiversity Promotes Avian Diversity Over The Decade Following Forest Fire, 2016 University of Connecticut
Pyrodiversity Promotes Avian Diversity Over The Decade Following Forest Fire, Morgan W. Tingley, Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez, Robert L. Wilkerson, Christine A. Howell, Rodney B. Siegel
USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications
An emerging hypothesis in fire ecology is that pyrodiversity increases species diversity.We test whether pyrodiversity—defined as the standard deviation of fire severity—increases avian biodiversity at two spatial scales, and whether and how this relationship may change in the decade following fire. We use a dynamic Bayesian community model applied to a multi-year dataset of bird surveys at 1106 points sampled across 97 fires in montane California. Our results provide strong support for a positive relationship between pyrodiversity and bird diversity. This relationship interacts with time since fire, with pyrodiversity having a greater effect on biodiversity at 10 years post-fire than …
Ecosystem Services Of Woody Crop Production Systems, 2016 USDA Forest Service
Ecosystem Services Of Woody Crop Production Systems, Ronald S. Zalesny Jr., John A. Stanturf, Emile S. Gardiner, James H. Perdue, Timothy M. Young, David R. Coyle, William L. Headlee, Gary S. Bañuelos, Amir Hass
USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications
Short-rotation woody crops are an integral component of regional and national energy portfolios, as well as providing essential ecosystem services such as biomass supplies, carbon sinks, clean water, and healthy soils. We review recent USDA Forest Service Research and Development efforts from the USDA Biomass Research Centers on the provisioning of these ecosystem services from woody crop production systems. For biomass, we highlight productivity and yield potential, pest susceptibility, and bioenergy siting applications. We describe carbon storage in aboveground woody biomass and studies assessing the provision of clean and plentiful water. Soil protection and wildlife habitat are also mentioned, in …
Forest Stand Structure And Primary Production In Relation To Ecosystem Development, Disturbance, And Canopy Composition, 2016 Virginia Commonwealth University
Forest Stand Structure And Primary Production In Relation To Ecosystem Development, Disturbance, And Canopy Composition, Cynthia M. Scheuermann
Theses and Dissertations
Temperate forests are complex ecosystems that sequester carbon (C) in biomass. C storage is related to ecosystem-scale forest structure, changing over succession, disturbance, and with community composition. We quantified ecosystem biological and physical structure in two forest chronosequences varying in disturbance intensity, and three late successional functional types to examine how multiple structural expressions relate to ecosystem C cycling. We quantified C cycling as wood net primary production (NPP), ecosystem structure as Simpson’s Index, and physical structure as leaf quantity (LAI) and arrangement (rugosity), examining how wood NPP-structure relates to light distribution and use-efficiency. Relationships between structural attributes of biodiversity, …
Evaluation Of Social License For The Forest Products Industry In Houghton County, Michigan, 2016 Michigan Technological University
Evaluation Of Social License For The Forest Products Industry In Houghton County, Michigan, Will Lytle
Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports
This research investigates how the local community grants social license to the forest products industry in Houghton County, Michigan. Interviews were conducted with industry and community stakeholders using a snowball sampling method to understand perspectives on the social license continuum. The viability of supply chains and individual industry sectors associated with forest resources in the county are largely governed by macroeconomics. However, there is a very local component that allows individual corporations to operate within the community. The data analysis, based on the interviews, focuses on understanding local perceptions of natural resource management and community relations. The results reflect social …
Effectiveness Of Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus Planipennis) Trap Placement In Relation To Forest Edges, 2016 Michigan Technological University
Effectiveness Of Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus Planipennis) Trap Placement In Relation To Forest Edges, Karen Cladas
Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports
Agrilus planipennis, Fairmaire (Order Coleoptera: Family Burprestidae), an invasive insect to North America has caused mortality and decline of millions of Fraxinus trees since its discovery in 2002. A study to evaluate purple prism trap effectiveness in low-to-moderate beetle densities in relation to road proximity and basal area of Fraxinus species was conducted in northern Michigan in 2013 and 2014. Transects of traps were established at set distances from roads during A. planipennis flight season. Analysis indicated a significant relationship between road proximity and trap effectiveness, with traps established on the road edge out-performing traps established in the forest interior. …
Synthesis Of Satellite Microwave Observations For Monitoring Global Land-Atmosphere Co2 Exchange, 2016 The University of Montana
Synthesis Of Satellite Microwave Observations For Monitoring Global Land-Atmosphere Co2 Exchange, Lucas Alan Jones
Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers
This dissertation describes the estimation, error quantification, and incorporation of land surface information from microwave satellite remote sensing for modeling global ecosystem land-atmosphere net CO2 exchange. Retrieval algorithms were developed for estimating soil moisture, surface water, surface temperature, and vegetation phenology from microwave imagery timeseries. Soil moisture retrievals were merged with model-based soil moisture estimates and incorporated into a light-use efficiency model for vegetation productivity coupled to a soil decomposition model. Results, including state and uncertainty estimates, were evaluated with a global eddy covariance flux tower network and other independent global model- and remote-sensing based products.
The Changes In Woodlot Land Cover From 1988 To 2006 Within Private/Farmland In Hancock County, Ohio, 2016 University of Akron
The Changes In Woodlot Land Cover From 1988 To 2006 Within Private/Farmland In Hancock County, Ohio, Louis C. Birchall
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
The amount of woodlots in Ohio have dramatically decreased since the introduction of settlers into the State. The removal of forest for open space, urban areas, fuel and resources was key to this change. Since the development of the economy to a more service based industry in recent years, woodlots have begun to return in certain areas. This research shows the change in woodlot patterns in Hancock County, Ohio from 1988 to 2006.
The analysis was done by classifying the data into 'woodlot' and 'other land use' by using image segmentation and manual editing processes. Accuracy checks were conducted on …
Long-Term Impacts Of Fuel Treatments On Tree Growth And Aboveground Biomass Accumulation In Ponderosa Pine Forests Of The Northern Rocky Mountains, 2016 University of Montana
Long-Term Impacts Of Fuel Treatments On Tree Growth And Aboveground Biomass Accumulation In Ponderosa Pine Forests Of The Northern Rocky Mountains, Kate A. Clyatt
Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers
In western North America, many low-elevation, dry forest types historically experienced frequent, low-severity fires. However, European settlement and fire suppression policies have contributed to over a century of fire exclusion, substantially altering forest structure and composition. There is considerable interest in restoring fire resilient characteristics to these forests through fuel reduction treatments. One limitation of current research on the impacts of fuel treatments is treatment longevity, as few studies have been able to quantify long-term responses to commonly applied treatments. This research evaluated tree growth and aboveground biomass responses 23 years after treatment in two silvicultural installations with different underburning …
The Role Of The State, Multinational Oil Companies, International Law & The International Community: Intersection Of Human Rights & Environmental Degradation Climate Change In The 21st Century Caused By Traditional Extractive Practices, The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous People And Universal Jurisdiction To Resolve The Accountability Issue, Marcela Cabrera Luna
Master's Theses
Local, national and international conventions that protect indigenous sovereignty and their territories, where many of the resources are extracted from by multinational corporations (MNCs) particularly oil, the number one commodity of the world and cause of climate change, continue to be jeopardized because of the lack of a clear international legal framework that can protect them and potentially hold multinationals accountable for their actions. These practices are causing not only environmental issues to the indigenous and surrounding communities, but climate change is in fact, the real human rights issue of the 21st century and it affects everyone. By using …
Interactions Among Insect Defoliation, Insecticide Treatments, And Growth Rate In American And Hybrid Chestnuts, 2015 University of Tennessee - Knoxville
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 …
Demography And Disease Of The Rare Shrub Buckleya Distichophylla (Santalaceae) In Northeastern Tennessee, 2015 East Tennessee State University
Demography And Disease Of The Rare Shrub Buckleya Distichophylla (Santalaceae) In Northeastern Tennessee, William Seth Ratliff
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Piratebush (Buckleya distichophylla (Nutt.) Torr.) is a rare, hemiparasitic shrub with the only extant populations in western North Carolina, northeastern Tennessee, and southwestern Virginia. The preferred natural hosts of piratebush, Carolina and eastern hemlocks, have seen sharp declines over the last decade due to the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid. Virginia pine, another important host of piratebush, is also susceptible to disease, specifically Cronartium appalachianum, a rust fungus for which piratebush is the secondary host. This study described and analyzed current demographic parameters of three Tennessee piratebush populations. Additionally, spatial patterns of disease and demographic characters were analyzed. These …
Generating Best Management Practices For Avian Conservation In A Land-Sparing Agriculture System, And The Habitat-Specific Survival Of A Priority Migrant, 2015 University of Massachusetts Amherst
Generating Best Management Practices For Avian Conservation In A Land-Sparing Agriculture System, And The Habitat-Specific Survival Of A Priority Migrant, Jeffrey D. Ritterson
Masters Theses
A large amount of the world’s biodiversity is located in a disproportionately small amount of area, namely the tropics. Many of these areas are experiencing rapid landscape changes, mainly in the form of deforestation for agricultural practices. Current conservation efforts are focused on agricultural areas and their ability to provide habitat. The conservation value of a novel land-sparing agroforestry system, known as Integrated Open Canopy (IOC), was recently demonstrated on the study site when applied to coffee. IOC coffee supports forest species that are uncommon or absent in shade grown coffee. I generated best management practices for IOC farms relative …
Timber Talk, Vol. 53, No .4, November 2015, 2015 University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Timber Talk, Vol. 53, No .4, November 2015
Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter
In This Issue
Lumber Market News ...........................1
Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Green..................................2
Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Kiln Dried...........................2
Sun-dried Lumber.................................3
NFS Forest Products Program...............4
Milling Railroad Ties in Nebraska........4
A Closer Look at Edgers........................5
Nebraska Forest Industry Spotlight......7
The Trading Post....................................8
Timber Talk, Vol. 53, No. 3, September 2015, 2015 University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Timber Talk, Vol. 53, No. 3, September 2015
Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter
In This Issue
Lumber Market News ...........................1
Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Green..................................2
Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Kiln Dried...........................2
Open for Business..................................3
U.S. Pumps out More Pellets.................4
Should I Buy a Sawmill.........................5
Nebraska Forest Industry Spotlight......7
The Trading Post....................................8
Timber Sales...........................................8