Life Sciences Commons^™

An Approach For Using Soil Surveys To Guide The Placement Of Water Quality Buffers, Mike Dosskey, Matthew J. Helmers, Dean E. Eisenhauer

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Vegetative buffers may function better for filtering agricultural runoff in some locations than in others because of intrinsic characteristics of the land on which they are placed. The objective of this study was to develop a method based on soil survey attributes that can be used to compare soil map units for how effectively a buffer installed in them could remove pollutants from crop field runoff. Three separate models were developed. The surface runoff models for sediment and for dissolved pollutants were quantitative, based mainly on slope, soil, and rainfall factors of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), and …

Working Trees For Water Quality

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

Water is a precious national resource. Often, human activities degrade the quality of the water in the streams, lakes, estuaries, wetlands, and aquifiers on which we depend. Pollutants from agricultural and urban sources have made many of our waters unsuitable for swimming and fishing. Excessive sedimentation, pesticides, and fertilizers are harming fish and other aquatic life. Changes in land use also have had a dramatic effect on floodwater damage and frequency. Both surface and subsurfaceAgroforestry drinking water supplies are being impacted by human activities.

Water quality is the end result of the individual actions of all the “neighbors” in a …

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 …

Molecular Characterization Of Fusarhm Oxysporum And Fusarium Commune Isolates From A Conifer Nursery, Jane E. Stewart, Mee-Sook Kim, Robert L. James, R. Kasten Dumroese, Ned B. Klopfenstein

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Fusarium species can cause severe root disease and damping-off in conifer nurseries. Fusarium inoculum is commonly found in most container and bareroot nurseries on healthy and diseased seedlings, in nursery soils, and on conifer seeds. Isolates of Fusarium spp. can differ in virulence; however, virulence and colony morphology are not correlated. Forty-one isolates of Fusarium spp., morphologically indistinguishable from F. oxysporum, were collected from nursery samples (soils, healthy seedlings, and diseased seedlings). These isolates were characterized by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and DNA sequencing of nuclear rDNA (internal transcribed spacer including 5.8s rDNA), mitochondrial rDNA (small subunit [mtSSU]), …

Working Trees For Carbon: Windbreaks In The U.S.

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

Windbreaks are used throughout the U.S. to accomplish a multitude of objectives. Among these are the reduction of water stress to improve crop yield and quality, reduction of soil erosion, snow management, livestock protection and odor control, provision of wildlife habitat, and energy conservation around farmsteads.

If society is looking for places to store carbon, windbreaks are an obvious choice. Since a large number of landowners already appreciate the value of a windbreak for the many benefits listed above, many would be interested in discussing ways to get financial assistance for planting and maintaining a windbreak that was also designed …

Working Trees For Carbon Cycle Balance

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

Carbon based energy sources like coal, gas, and oil all originated from the conversion of sunlight energy by plants. A dominant consideration for rebalancing the global carbon cycle is to find ways to promote the increased growth of trees and shrubs. Agricultural activities occur on approximately half of the land in the contiguous U.S., so much of the opportunity to store carbon through afforestation will occur on farms and ranches.

Agroforestry does not convert agricultural land to forests, but rather leaves land in production agriculture, while integrating trees into farm and ranch operations to accomplish economic, environmental, and social goals. …

Bats In A Human-Made Forest Of Central Nebraska, Keith Geluso

The Prairie Naturalist

Increases in wooded habitats have led to expansion in distributions of woodland mammals in the Great Plains. Herein, I report on the occurrence of bats in a human-made forest consisting of over 8,000 hectares in central Nebraska. The forest consisted of monocultures of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), and jack pine (Pinus banksiana). Individuals of the eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) and hoary bat (L. cinereus) were captured in coniferous plantations during summer, and females of both species bore and raised young in the area. …

Perennial Crops For Bio-Fuels And Conservation, Gregory Ruark, Scott J. Josiah, Don Riemenschneider, Timothy Volk

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Perennial woody crops have the potential to contribute significantly to the production of bio-fuels while simultaneously helping to provide a wide range of conservation benefits. Among these benefits are increased biological diversity in the landscape, conservation of soil and water resources, maintenance of forest ecosystem productivity and health, contribution to the global carbon cycle, and provision of socioeconomic benefits. Short rotation woody crops, like hybrid poplar and willow, grow rapidly and can reach 15-25 feet in height after only three years. Currently, non-irrigated yields can be sustained at about 5 dry tons/acre/year and are increasing as plant breeding, nutrient management, …

Timber Talk, Vol. 44, No. 1, February 1, 2006

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Lumber Market News ; Hardwood Lumber Price Trends ; Hardwood Lumber Market History ; What Do You Think About Certifi ed Forest Products? ; Top Ten Environmental Benefits of Forestry ; Tree Trivia ; Nebraska Forestry Industry Spotlight ; Coming Events ; The Trading Post; Measuring Distance ; Timber Sales

Timber Talk, Vol. 44, No. 2, June 1, 2006

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Lumber Market News; New District Foresters ; Hardwood Lumber Price Trends ; Timber Stumpage Prices ; Attention Sawmillers ; Small-Scale Drying ; Nebraska Forestry Industry Spotlight ; Coming Events ; The Trading Post; Timber Sales

A Comparison Of Presettlement Vegetation And Fire Regimes With Current Patterns In Oak Woodlands And Shrublands Of Sw Oregon, Patricia S. Muir Dr., Paul Hosten Dr.

JFSP Research Project Reports

Fuel reduction efforts on BLM lands in southwestern Oregon are motivated by the need to reduce fire hazard and restore and rehabilitate ecosystems. Successful ecosystem restoration depends, in part, on understanding the target: what ecosystem model is considered natural and healthy for a given area? Oak (Quercus garryana) woodlands and shrublands are two of the most characteristic ecosystems in interior valleys of southwest Oregon, and extensive acreages within these systems are treated annually for fuel reduction. However, these are also two of the least understood ecosystems in the region. We know little about their presettlement attributes, responses to disturbance, or …

An Internet Based Portal For Fire Science And Management In The Southern Region

JFSP Research Project Reports

Task 1 – Organize a technical advisory team and host an initial workshop to explore methods for integrating FRAMES, TTRS, and ESFS websites.

Task 2 – Identify and acquire data, tools, and publications from funded JFSP and NFP projects working with the JFSP and NFP project databases and principal investigators. Also, when possible identify and acquire data and tools used and created by others in the wildland fire community including state agencies, educational institutions, and non-governmental organizations.

Task 3 – Develop and post online FGDC metadata records for all datasets from funded JFSP and NFP projects as well as key …

Wera-95: "Vertebrate Pests Of Agriculture, Forestry And Public Lands" 2006 Annual Meeting

Western Region Coordinating Committee for Vertebrate Pests of Agriculture, Forestry, and Public Lands (WCC-95)

Table of Contents ........................................................................... i

2006 Officers.................................................................................... 1

Minutes ........................................................................................... 2

Number and Title of the Regional Project .......................................... 2

Location and Dates of the Meeting ................................................. 2

Convening of Sessions .................................................................... 2

2006 Business Meeting .................................................................. 4

Individual Research Updates and Discussions ................................. 7

Presentation Abstracts ................................................................ 10

Participants/Attendees Names and Addresses ..................................... 17

Wildlife And Invertebrate Response To Fuel Reduction Treatments In Dry Coniferous Forests Of The Western United States: A Synthesis, David S. Pilliod, Evelyn L. Bull, Jane L. Hayes, Barbara C. Wales

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

This document is part of the Fuels Planning: Science Synthesis and Integration Project, a pilot project initiated by the USDA Forest Service to respond to the need for tools and information useful for planning site-specific fuel (vegetation) treatment projects. The information addresses fuel and forest conditions of the dry inland forests of the Western United States: those dominated by ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, dry grand fir/white fir, and dry lodgepole pine potential vegetation types. Information was developed primarily for application at the stand level and is intended to be useful within this forest type regardless of ownership. Portions of the information …

Timber Talk, Vol. 44, No. 3, September 1, 2006

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Lumber Market News ; Hardwood Lumber Price Trends; Forestry Field Day 2006; Water, Water, Everywhere; Accurately Measuring Moisture; 2 x 4s?; Nebraska Forestry Industry Spotlight; Coming Events; The Trading Post; Six Simple Marketing Steps to Improve Profitability

Timber Talk, Vol. 44, No. 4, November 1, 2006

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Lumber Market News; Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Green; Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Kiln Dried; 2006 Central Regional Woodland Stewardship Conference; Researchers Hope to Tap Silver Maple Sap Potential; Private Forests; Grading Rules For Eastern Redcedar; Nebraska Forestry Industry Spotlight; The Trading Post.; How Observant Are You?.

When Reintroductions Are Augmentations: The Genetic Legacy Of Fishers (Martes Pennanti) In Montana, Ray S. Vinkey, Michael K. Schwartz, Kevin S. Mckelvey, Kerry R. Foresman, Kristine L. Pilgrim, Brian J. Giddings, Eric C. Lofroth

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Fishers (Martes pennanti) were purportedly extirpated from Montana by 1930 and extant populations are assumed to be descended from translocated fishers. To determine the lineage of fisher populations, we sequenced 2 regions of the mitochondrial DNA genome from 207 tissue samples from British Columbia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Montana. In northwestern Montana, fishers share haplotypes with samples from the upper Midwest and British Columbia; in west-central Montana, we detected haplotypes found in British Columbia samples, but also detected a control region and cytochrome-b haplotype not found in source populations. Based on the unique haplotypes found in west-central Montana, …

Survey Of Phytophagous Insects And Foliar Pathogens In China For A Biocontrol Perspective On Kudzu, Pueraria Montana Var. Lobata (Willd.) Maesen And S. Almeida (Fabaceae), Jiang-Hua Sun, Zhu-Dong Liu, Kerry O. Britton, Ping Cai, David Orr, Judith Hough-Goldstein

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

A three-year survey of kudzu foliage, seed, stems, and roots for associated phytophagous insects was conducted to establish basic information about the insect communities that kudzu harbors in China and to assess the abundance, diversity and damage caused by these insects. Diseases of kudzu were also surveyed in southern China. A total of 116 phytophagous insect species in 31 families and 5 orders were collected from kudzu in China, in six feeding guilds: foliage, sap, stem, terminal, seed and root feeders. The impact of foliage feeders varied from site to site and year to year, and over the course of …

Biology And Biological Control Of Leafy Surface, Rob Bourchier, Rich Hansen, Rodney Lym, Andrew Norton, Denise Olsen, Carol Bell Randall, Mark Schwarzlander, Luke Skinner

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) is an exotic, deep-rooted, perennial weed native to Europe and Asia. It was first reported in the United States in Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1827, where it likely established from contaminated soil left from ship ballasts. This invasive weed quickly spread westward across North America, accelerated by multiple reintroductions from contaminated crop seed including oat (Avena fatua L.), smooth brome (Bromus inermis Leyss.) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) brought by European settlers. Leafy spurge is now abundant on the northern Great Plains of the United States and the prairie provinces of Canada, …

Nonnative Invasive Plants Of Southern Forests, James H. Miller

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Invasions of nonnative plants into forests of the Southern United States continue to go unchecked and unmonitored. Invasive nonnative plants infest under and beside forest canopies and dominate small forest openings, increasingly eroding forest productivity, hindering forest use and management activities, and degrading diversity and wildlife habitat. Often called nonnative, exotic, nonindigenous, alien, or noxious weeds, they occur as trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, ferns, and forbs. This book provides information on accurate identification and effective control of the 33 nonnative plants and groups that are currently invading the forests of the 13 Southern States, showing both growing and dormant season …

Invasive Species Management: Ensuring The 'Cure' Is Not Worse Than The Condition, Sharlene E. Sing, Robert K.D. Peterson, Bruce D. Maxwell

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

The challenge in effectively managing invasive species arises out of our subjective response to the problem: 1) these species do not belong in our ecosystems; and 2) their impact on our ecosystems will be negative. These visceral responses typically dove-tail into the fundamental management objective: get rid of it! Society promotes the idea that good management is timely, and the best approach is to catch an invasive species before it reaches exponential population growth and becomes widespread. Although this is a sound approach, multiple examples illustrate that it is not universally applicable. Exotic species that are intentionally introduced either for …

Lark Bunting (Calamospiza Melanocorys): A Technical Conservation Assessment, Diane L. H. Neudorf, Rebecca A. Bodily, Thomas G. Shane

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

The Global and U.S. National Heritage Programs give the lark bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys) a conservation ranking of G5 and N5 respectively, which indicates that the species is widespread and secure. The Canadian National Heritage Program designates the lark bunting as N4, which indicates the species is uncommon but apparently secure with some cause for concern over the longterm (NatureServe 2005). The lark bunting is a Management Indicator Species on the Pawnee National Grassland, which is managed by the Rocky Mountain Region (Region 2) of the USDA Forest Service (USFS). A recent study suggests that lark bunting populations on …

Trees And Ice Storms: The Development Of Ice Storm–Resistant Urban Tree Populations (Second Edition), Richard J. Hauer, Jeffrey O. Dawson, Les P. Werner

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Severe ice storms occur every year in the United States and Canada, particularly in the midwestern and eastern regions of the United States. Along with fires and wind, ice storms are a frequent and major natural disturbance factor in eastern deciduous forests. Likewise ice storms are responsible for deaths and injuries of people and cause dramatic damage and tree loss to urban forests. Ice storms annually result in millions of dollars in loss, and potentially billions of dollars in losses for extreme and widespread ice storms. Damage to electric distribution systems, blocked roadways, and property damage from fallen trees and …

The Four Corners Fire: A Fuels Reduction Success Story

Nebraska Forest Service: Publications

In 1903, tree planting began on the Dismal River Forest Reserve in an effort to avoid what, at the time, appeared to be very real prospects of a future timber shortage. One hundred years later, the Forest Reserve is the Nebraska National Forest, and ideas of a national timber shortage have been replaced by a compelling need to thin forests to prevent large, catastrophic fires.

Smokey Says ... Campers Need Fire Prevention Too!, Bob Vogltance, Larry Wiles

Nebraska Forest Service: Publications

Camp Site; Campfires; Camp Cooking; RV Camping; If You Smell Gas In Your RV; In Case Of Fire

Trees And Ice Storms: The Development Of Ice Storm–Resistant Urban Tree Populations, Richard J. Hauer, Jeffrey O. Dawson, Les P. Werner

Nebraska Forest Service: Publications

Severe ice storms occur every year in the United States and Canada, particularly in the Midwestern and eastern regions of the United States. Along with fires and wind, ice storms are a frequent and major natural disturbance factor in eastern deciduous forests. Likewise ice storms are responsible for deaths and injuries of people and cause dramatic damage and tree loss to urban forests. Ice storms annually result in millions of dollars in loss, and potentially billions of dollars in losses for extreme and widespread ice storms. Damage to electric distribution systems, blocked roadways, and property damage from fallen trees and …

Conducting A Prescribed Burn On Warm-Season Grass Crp Sites, Bruce E. Anderson, James L. Stubbendieck

Nebraska Forest Service: Publications

Prescribed burns on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) sites composed of warm-season grasses require special safety precautions. The extremely high fuel loads of dry, highly volatile grass make safety preparation and weather conditions vel)' important. Winds can quickly move headfires and create high flame lengths and intense heat.

Nebraska Forest Service Annual Report 2006, Scott J. J, Becky Erdkamp

Nebraska Forest Service: Publications

Welcome From The Nebraska State Forester; Contributing To Nebraska’s Energy Security; Forest Stewardship - Improving Nebraska’s Forests; Trees And The Good Life The Community Enhancement Program; “An Evil Fire in Evil Country”; Emerald Ash Borer: Fighting A Future Problem Now; New Treatment Offers Hope For Controlling Pine Wilt; Assisting Nebraska’s Rural Fire Districts With Equipment Needs; Nebraska Forest Service Events and Activities Reach 15,000 People; Getting Ahead Of Wildfire with Fuel Reduction; Grants/Cost-Share Awarded To NFS Partners In 2006

Community Forestry Resource Handbook: A Guide For Establishing And Maintaining Healthy Community Forests Across Nebraska, Matthew C. Hansen

Nebraska Forest Service: Publications

The Nebraska Forest Service (NFS) has served the communities of Nebraska since the beginnings of the Federal Urban and Community Forestry program in 1976. Since that time, the NFS has worked actively with well over half of the state’s 534 cities and villages. In addition, NFS foresters have done public tree inventories, resource assessments and management plans for 175 of those communities. The NFS endeavors to provide the best and most recent technical forestry and arboricultural information to help communities manage their tree resources. Community tree resources are assets that need to be managed and cared for just as any …