Forest Sciences Commons^™

Timber Talk, Vol. 60, No. 3, September 2022

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Timber Talk, Vol. 60, No. 3, September 2022

Determining The Novel Pathogen Neodothiora Populina As The Causal Agent Of The Aspen Running Canker Disease In Alaska, Loretta M. Winton, Gerard C. Adams, Roger W. Ruess

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Neodothiora populina Crous, G.C. Adams & Winton was determined to be a new pathogen of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) growing in Alaska, based on completion of Koch's Postulates in replicated forest and growth chamber inoculation trials. The pathogen is responsible for severe damage and widespread rapid mortality of sapling to mature aspen (≥ 80 years) in the boreal forests of interior Alaska, due to large diffuse annual (1–2 years) cankers. Isolation of the pathogen was challenging, and identification based on cultural characters was difficult. Fruiting bodies were not found on wild diseased trees, but erumpent pycnidia were found …

Soil Microbial Community Dynamics In Response To Prescribed Extreme Fires Following Juniperus Virginiana Invasion In The Loess Canyons Of Nebraska, Julie A. Fowler

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In Nebraska and other regions of the Great Plains, the conifer Juniperus virginiana (eastern redcedar) is converting grasslands to dense woodlands. This is driven by the interacting drivers of fire suppression, altered grazing regimes, climate change and other anthropogenic factors, impacting the provisioning of ecosystem services. This vegetation state transition modifies water resource regulation and biogeochemical cycles leading to altered edaphic properties including soil microbial community composition. To restore these grasslands and control J. virginiana spread, prescribed extreme burns are implemented as a management tool through local prescribed burn associations. We hypothesized that the alternative state transition to dense J. …

Marketing Agroforestry Products: Lessons From Producers

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

This publication shares producer experiences with marketing agroforestry products, including how producers entered — or created — the markets for their products. These individual stories highlight a diversity of experiences, from family-run farms to intermediaries assisting with market access. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other federal, state, and local programs can provide capital or technical assistance to farmers at different phases of market development. The case studies in this publication highlight programs and resources available through USDA.

While marketing tree crops and non-timber forest products can be a challenge for producers, there is room for growth and opportunities …

How Does Climate Variability Influence Agroforestry Plant Selection?

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

How does climate variability influence agroforestry plant selection?

Changing annual crops in response to climate change is relatively straightforward. However, because trees, shrubs, and other perennial crops can take years to become productive, the choice of perennial plant will impact the operation for many years. Plant selection involves deciding which crops to grow or manage, including variety, seed lot, or other plant genetic characteristics. As farmers and forest managers face extreme weather events and climate variability, they should consider plants that are likely to be resilient now and in the future. Land managers can also use agroforestry to adapt to …

Seed Rain–Successional Feedbacks In Wet Tropical Forests, Nohemi Huanca Nuñez, Robin L. Chazdon, Sabrina E. Russo

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Abstract

Tropical forest regeneration after abandonment of former agricultural land depends critically on the input of tree seeds, yet seed dispersal is increasingly disrupted in contemporary human-modified landscapes. Here, we introduce the concept of seed rain–successional feedbacks as a deterministic process in which seed rain is shaped by successional dynamics internal to a forest site and that acts to reinforce priority effects. We used a combination of time series and chronosequence approaches to investigate how the quantity and taxonomic and functional composition of seed rain change during succession and to evaluate the strength of seed rain–successional feedbacks, relative to other …

Timber Talk, Vol. 59, No. 3, September 2021

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Timber Talk, Vol. 59, No. 3, September 2021

Timber Talk, Vol. 59, No. 4, December 2021

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Timber Talk, Vol. 59, No. 4, December 2021

Timber Talk, Vol. 59, No. 1, March 2021

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Timber Talk, Vol. 59, No. 1, March 2021

The Interspecific Growth–Mortality Trade-Off Is Not A General Framework For Tropical Forest Community Structure, Sabrina E. Russo, Sean M. Mcmahon, Matteo Detto, Glenn Ledder, S. Joseph Wright, Richard S. Condit, Stuart J. Davies, Peter S. Ashton, Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin, Chia-Hao Chang-Yang, Sisira Ediriweera, Corneille E.N. Ewango, Christine Fletcher, Robin B. Foster, C.V. Savi Gunatilleke, I.A.U. Nimal Gunatilleke, Terese Hart, Chang-Fu Hseih, Stephen P. Hubbell, Akira Itoh, Abdul Rahman Kassim, Yao Tze Leong, Yi Ching Lin, Jean-Remy Makana, Mohizah Bt. Mohamad, Perry Ong, Anna Sugiyama, I-Fang Sun, Sylvester Tan, Jill Thompson, Takuo Yamakura, Sandra L. Yap, Jess K. Zimmerman

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Resource allocation within trees is a zero-sum game. Unavoidable trade-offs dictate that allocation to growth-promoting functions curtails other functions, generating a gradient of investment in growth versus survival along which tree species align, known as the interspecific growth–mortality trade-off. This paradigm is widely accepted but not well established. Using demographic data for 1,111 tree species across ten tropical forests, we tested the generality of the growth–mortality trade-off and evaluated its underlying drivers using two species-specific parameters describing resource allocation strategies: tolerance of resource limitation and responsiveness of allocation to resource access. Globally, a canonical growth–mortality trade-off emerged, but the trade-off …

Timber Talk, Vol. 59, No. 2, June 2021

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Timber Talk, Vol. 59, No.2, June 2021

Extreme Fire As A Management Tool To Combat Regime Shifts In The Range Of The Endangered American Burying Beetle, Alison K. Ludwig, Daniel R. Uden, Dirac Twidwell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study is focused on the population of federally-endangered American burying beetles in south-central Nebraska. It is focused on changes in land cover over time and at several levels of spatial scale, and how management efforts are impacting both the beetle and a changing landscape. Our findings are applicable to a large portion of the Great Plains, which is undergoing the same shift from grassland to woodland, and to areas where the beetle is still found.

Can Innovative Land Access Strategies For Agroforestry Provide More Land Management Options?

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

Can innovative land access strategies for agroforestry provide more land management options?

Land access examples: silvopasture, alley cropping, riparian forest buffer, and forest farming.

How Can Agreements For Long-Term Land Access Achieve Multiple Goals?

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

How can agreements for long-term land access achieve multiple goals?

Beginning and experienced farmers alike seek long-term access to land; however, many don’t have the funds to purchase land outright. Long-term leases and other land access arrangements allow the farmer to secure long-term land tenure without requiring a lot of money upfront.

Working Trees Info: Can Innovative Land Access Strategies For Agroforestry Provide More Land Management Options?

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

An agricultural lease is a private contract that grants someone (the farmer-tenant) a legal right to occupy and use the land of someone else (the landlord/landowner) for agricultural purposes. The long-term lease allows the farmer to secure long-term land tenure without requiring a lot of money upfront. Other long-term land access strategies include easements and licenses.

Long-term land access strategies are particularly key for farmers engaged in agroforestry ventures, as perennial woody crops inherently require extended time before becoming economically productive and can remain productive for a number of years.

Timber Talk, Vol. 58, No. 1, March 2020

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Timber Talk, Vol. 58, No. 1, March 2020

Timber Talk, Vol. 58, No. 2, July 2020

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Timber Talk, Vol. 58, No. 2, Junly2020

Timber Talk, Vol. 58, No. 3, September 2020

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Timber Talk, Vol. 58, No. 3, September 2020

Does Masting Scale With Plant Size? High Reproductive Variability And Low Synchrony In Small And Unproductive Individuals, Michał Bogdziewicz, Jakub Szymkowiak, Rafael Calama, Elizabeth E. Crone, Josep M. Espelta, Peter Lesica, Shealyn Marino, Michael A. Steele, Brigitte Tenhumberg, Andrew Tyre, Magdalena Żywiec, Dave Kelly

Brigitte Tenhumberg Papers

Background and Aims In a range of plant species, the distribution of individual mean fecundity is skewed and dominated by a few highly fecund individuals. Larger plants produce greater seed crops, but the exact nature of the relationship between size and reproductive patterns is poorly understood. This is especially clear in plants that reproduce by exhibiting synchronized quasi-periodic variation in fruit production, a process called masting.

Methods We investigated covariation of plant size and fecundity with individual-plant-level masting patterns and seed predation in 12 mast-seeding species: Pinus pinea, Astragalus scaphoides, Sorbus aucuparia, Quercus ilex, Q. humilis …

Timber Talk, Vol. 58, No. 4, December 2020

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Timber Talk, Vol. 58, No. 4, December 2020

Lithological Constraints On Resource Economies Shape The Mycorrhizal Composition Of A Bornean Rain Forest, Monique Weemstra, Kabir G. Peay, Stuart J. Davies, Mohizah Mohamad, Akira Itoh, Sylvester Tan, Sabrina E. Russo

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

• Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) produce contrasting plant–soil feedbacks, but how these feedbacks are constrained by lithology is poorly understood.

• We investigated the hypothesis that lithological drivers of soil fertility filter plant resource economic strategies in ways that influence the relative fitness of trees with AMF or EMF symbioses in a Bornean rain forest containing species with both mycorrhizal strategies.

• Using forest inventory data on 1245 tree species, we found that although AMF-hosting trees had greater relative dominance on all soil types, with declining lithological soil fertility EMF-hosting trees became more dominant. Data on …

Draft Genome Assembly Of Passalora Sequoiae A Needle Blight Pathogen On Leyland Cypress, Warren E. Copes, Jorge Ibarra Caballero, Ebrahiem Babiker, Jane E. Stewart, Valerie A. Orner, Alan S. Windham, Renee Arias

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Objective: Passalora sequoiae (family Mycosphaerellaceae) causes a twig blight on Leyland cypress that requires numerous fungicide applications annually to minimize economic losses for ornamental plant nursery and Christmas tree producers. The objective was to generate a high-quality draft assembly of the genome of P. sequoiae as a resource for primer development to investigate genotype diversity. Data description: We report here the genome sequence of P. sequoiae 9LC2 that was isolated from Leyland cypress ‘Leighton Green’ in 2017 in southern Mississippi, USA. The draft genome was obtained using Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) SMRT and Illumina HiSeq 2500 sequencing. Illumina reads were mapped …

Synthesizing Conservation Motivations And Barriers: What Have We Learned From Qualitative Studies Of Farmers’ Behaviors In The United States?, Pranay Ranjan, Sarah P. Church, Kristin Floress, Linda S. Prokopy

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Since 2011, qualitative studies examining adoption of conservation practices and programs (CPPs) have burgeoned. This article presents a systematic review of all U.S.-based qualitative investigations into CPP adoption since 1996. We found three themes are discussed primarily as motivating adoption: farmer characteristics, environmental awareness, and trust in information sources. Four themes are discussed primarily as barriers to adoption: farm management, negative perceptions of a conservation practice, perceptions that adoption is a risk, and land tenure. Four themes were discussed as both motivations and barriers: economic factors, social norms, perceptions of government programs, and farm characteristics. Overall, we found farmers’ economic …

Enhancing Rural Economies Through Agroforestry, Gary Bentrup, Dean Current, Christopher Hartley, Marlen Eve, Tricia Kovacs, Kate Mcfarland, Eric Norland, David Smith, Susan Stein, Richard Straight

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Executive Summary

Accelerating the adoption of agroforestry will require a better understanding of the economic opportunities and financial benefits to society, says a recent assessment of United States agroforestry.1 Providing this understanding is critical for agroforestry to reach its full potential, whereby it enhances rural economies and provides ecological services that people need, such as clean drinking water. To assess emerging opportunities, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) convened more than 60 people in March 2018 to learn, network, and, above all, generate ideas for raising the economic profile and viability of agroforestry in the United States.

The effort …

Introduction To Sorghum Paper Production, Zachary Christman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Sorghum is a tall grass used for many commercial products such as fodder and syrup. The 10 to 15 feet stalk of the plant has lower lignin than wood and provides a fiber length of 2.31 mm in the outer covering and 1.38 mm for the leaf. Sorghum fiber makes a high quality, strong paper suitable for printing, packaging and paperboard.

Habitat Characteristics And Selection By Ornate Box Turtles In The Sandhills Of South Dakota, Daniel W, Uresk, Alessandra Higa

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The ornate box turtle (Terrapene ornata Agassiz) is a species of greatest conservation need in South Dakota. Habitat loss through agricultural development and fragmentation is the main threat to the species throughout its range, which extends from Wisconsin and northern Indiana through the central Great Plains, and from southern South Dakota to Arizona, northern Mexico, and the Gulf Coast of Texas. The objectives of this study were to determine the ornate box turtle’s preferred vegetation characteristics (microhabitat) compared to the available habitat (macrohabitat) on the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota Sandhills region, during 2010–2011. In both years, using a modified …

Hillslope Hydrology In Global Change Research And Earth System Modeling, Y. Fan, M. Clark, D. M. Lawrence, S. Swenson, L.E. Band, S. L. Brantley, P. D. Brooks, W. E. Dietrich, A. Flores, G. Grant, J.W. Kirchner, D. S. Mackay, J. J. Mcdonnell, P. C. D. Milly, P. L. Sullivan, C. Tague, H. Ajami, N. Chaney, A. Hartmann, P. Hazenberg, J. Mcnamara, J. Pelletier, J. Perket, E. Rouholahnejad‐Freund, T. Wagener, X. Zeng, E. Beighley, J. Buzan, M. Huang, B. Livneh, B. P. Mohanty, B. Nijssen, M. Safeeq, C. Shen, W. Van Verseveld, J. Volk, D. Yamazaki

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Earth System Models (ESMs) are essential tools for understanding and predicting global change, but they cannot explicitly resolve hillslope‐scale terrain structures that fundamentally organize water, energy, and biogeochemical stores and fluxes at subgrid scales. Here we bring together hydrologists, Critical Zone scientists, and ESM developers, to explore how hillslope structures may modulate ESM grid‐level water, energy, and biogeochemical fluxes. In contrast to the one‐dimensional (1‐D), 2‐ to 3‐mdeep, and free‐draining soil hydrology in most ESM land models, we hypothesize that 3‐D, lateral ridge‐to‐valley flow through shallow and deep paths and insolation contrasts between sunny and shady slopes are the top …

Agroforestry Strategic Framework, Fiscal Years 2019-2024, Susan Stein

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners are integrating trees with agriculture to address a variety of conservation and production goals. A unique land management approach, agroforestry provides opportunities to integrate productivity and profitability with environmental stewardship to support healthy, sustainable agriculture systems, economies, and communities.

Timber Talk, Vol. 57, No. 4, December 2019

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Timber Talk, Vol. 57, No. 4, December 2019

Timber Talk, Vol. 57, No. 3, September 2019

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Timber Talk, Vol. 57, No. 3, September 2019