Forest Sciences Commons^™

Improving Woody Biomass Estimation Efficiency Using Double Sampling, David L. Parrott, John M. Lhotka, Songlin Fei, B. Scott Shouse

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Although double sampling has been shown to be an effective method to estimate timber volume in forest inventories, only a limited body of research has tested the effectiveness of double sampling on forest biomass estimation. From forest biomass inventories collected over 9,683 ha using systematic point sampling, we examined how a double sampling scheme would have affected precision and efficiency in these biomass inventories. Our results indicated that double sample methods would have yielded biomass estimations with similar precision as systematic point sampling when the small sample was ≥ 20% of the large sample. When the small to large sample …

An Investigation Of Fraxinus Americana Branch Sway Using A 3 Dimensional Motion Capture System, Anna T. Campiformio

Master's Theses

Abstract

Wind is a dominant abiotic factor that a tree experiences throughout its lifetime and can cause severe tree damage, resulting in risk of injury to humans, and economic and ecological losses. It is thought that trees develop structural properties and architectures that help withstand loading conditions by dissipating wind energy through damping mechanisms. The role of branch motion in reducing potential dangerous wind loads has been the focus of relatively few studies. Even fewer studies have examined tree sway response to natural wind loaded conditions. In this investigation, branch frequencies were calculated for three Fraxinus americana using a three-dimensional …

Ecological Importance Of Large-Diameter Trees In A Temperate Mixed-Conifer Forest, James A. Lutz, Andrew J. Larson, Mark E. Swanson, James A. Freund

Forest Management Faculty Publications

Large-diameter trees dominate the structure, dynamics and function of many temperate and tropical forests. Although both scaling theory and competition theory make predictions about the relative composition and spatial patterns of large diameter trees compared to smaller diameter trees, these predictions are rarely tested. We established a 25.6 ha permanent plot within which we tagged and mapped all trees greater than or equal to 1 cm dbh, all snags greater than or equal to 10 cm dbh, and all shrub patches greater than or equal to 2 m². We sampled downed woody debris, litter, and duff with line …

Sub-Pixel Classification Of Forest Cover Types In East Texas, Joey Westbrook, I-Kuai Hung, Daniel Unger, Yanli Zhang

Faculty Publications

Sub-pixel classification is the extraction of information about the proportion of individual materials of interest within a pixel. Landcover classification at the sub-pixel scale provides more discrimination than traditional per-pixel multispectral classifiers for pixels where the material of interest is mixed with other materials. It allows for the un-mixing of pixels to show the proportion of each material of interest. The materials of interest for this study are pine, hardwood, mixed forest and non-forest. The goal of this project was to perform a sub-pixel classification, which allows a pixel to have multiple labels, and compare the result to a traditional …

What Is A Windbreak?

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

What is a windbreak?

Windbreaks are plantings of single or multiple rows of trees, shrubs or grass that protect crops, livestock, wildlife or people from wind’s harmful consequences.

Historically, Windbreaks were planted for a single purpose, such as protecting homes from cold winds or soil from erosive winds. Today, Windbreaks are being used to address numerous other problems and provide a variety of other benefits. When properly designed, located and managed Windbreaks can produce one or more environmental and economic benefits. It is important to remember that not all potential benefits can be realized from every Windbreak. In fact, some …

What Is A Riparian Forest Buffer?

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

What is a riparian forest buffer?

Riparian forest buffers are natural or re-established woodlands next to streams, lakes and wetlands. These buffers usually consist of trees, shrubs and grass plantings that are managed to enhance and protect aquatic resources from adverse impacts from the management of adjacent lands. Riparian forest buffers intercept sediment, nutrients, pesticides and other materials in surface runoff and in shallow subsurface water flow so they don’t get into the streams, lakes or wetlands. Temperatures in cold water streams can be maintained with shade from trees along their banks. Woody vegetation also reduces bank erosion by absorbing …

Cheating Cheatgrass: New Research To Combat A Wily Invasive Weed, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Cheatgrass and its cousin, red brome, are exotic annual grasses that have invaded and altered ecosystem dynamics in more than 41 million acres of desert shrublands between the Rockies and the Cascade-Sierra chain. A fungus naturally associated with these Bromus species has been found lethal to the plants’ soil-banked dormant seeds. Supported by the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP), researchers Susan Meyer, Phil Allen, and Julie Beckstead cultured this fungus, Pyrenophora semeniperda, in the laboratory and developed an experimental field application that, in some trials, killed all the dormant soil-banked Bromus seeds, leaving none to germinate the following year. The …

Sediment Removal From The San Gabriel Mountains, Mary C. Ferguson

Pitzer Senior Theses

The issue of sediment removal from the San Gabriel Mountains has been a complex issue that has created problems with beach replenishment, habitat destruction and the need to spend millions of dollars at regular intervals to avoid safety hazards. Most recently 11 acres of riparian habitat, including 179 oaks and 70 sycamores, were removed for sediment placement. Other sites including Hahamongna Watershed Park and La Tuna Canyon also face a similar fate. This thesis questions: How did we get to this point of destroying habitat to dump sediment which is viewed as waste product? What are the barriers for creating …

Sassafras Tea: Using A Traditional Method Of Preparation To Reduce The Carcinogenic Compound Safrole, Kate Cummings

All Theses

The purpose of this research is to quantify the carcinogenic compound safrole in the traditional preparation method of making sassafras tea from the root of Sassafras albidum. The traditional method investigated was typical of preparation by members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and other Appalachian peoples. Sassafras is a tree common to the eastern coast of the United States, especially in the mountainous regions. Historically and continuing until today, roots of the tree are used to prepare fragrant teas and syrups. These traditional uses can be found across cultures throughout its range. Products made from sassafras are banned …

A 1,461-Year Growing Season Precipitation Reconstruction For The Carolina Coastal Plain, Kathryn Perkins Wolff

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A recollection and dating of ancient cypress trees and subfossil logs was performed at Black River, North Carolina, and the separate Black River, South Carolina. The new updated and expanded chronologies date from AD 365 to 2010 and 549 to 2010, respectively. Baldcypress ring-width chronologies are dominated by high inter-annual to decadal variability and do not tend to capture century scale fluctuations in tree-ring growth that could be associated with centennial scale change in climate. The tree-ring chronologies were standardized with a technique designed to preserve low frequency variance known as regional curve standardization. The two chronologies were averaged into …

Developing Silvicultural Protocols For Longleaf Pine (PinusPalustris) Restoration In Loblolly Pine (P. Taeda ) Stands, Benjamin Knapp

All Dissertations

Throughout the southeastern United States, upland pine sites that were once dominated by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) have been converted to faster growing species such as loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.). This study was designed to determine optimal silvicultural techniques for restoring longleaf pine in existing loblolly pine stands while retaining canopy trees and enhancing desirable characteristics of the ground layer vegetation. We applied seven harvesting treatments to six loblolly pine stands at Fort Benning, GA, with treatments including four that created uniform canopy distribution (Control: uncut, with basal area > 14 m2/ha; MedBA: residual basal area of ~ 9 …

Agenda: A Life Of Contributions For All Time: Symposium In Honor Of David H. Getches, University Of Colorado Boulder. School Of Law, University Of Colorado Law Review

A Life of Contributions for All Time: Symposium in Honor of David H. Getches (April 26-27)

On April 26-27, 2012, Colorado Law honored David H. Getches with a symposium to celebrate his life and legacy of trailblazing scholarship. “A Life of Contributions for All Time” featured a keynote address by Distinguished Professor Charles Wilkinson entitled, “Hero for the People, Hero for the Land and Water: Reflections on the Enduring Contributions of David Getches.” Top scholars in the fields of natural resources, water, and American Indian law reflected on Dean Getches’ contributions and their own insights into these fields, including Professor John Leshy, John Echohawk, Professor Carole Goldberg, Professor Joe Sax, Professor Rebecca Tsosie, Justice Greg Hobbs, …

Smokejumper Obituary: Begalka, Walter (Missoula 1951), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Anderson, William (Missoula 1947), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

An Individual-Based Process Model To Simulate Landscape-Scale Forest Ecosystem Dynamics, Rupert Seidi, Werner Rammer, Robert M. Scheller, Thomas A. Spies

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Forest ecosystem dynamics emerges from nonlinear interactions between adaptive biotic agents (i.e., individual trees) and their relationship with a spatially and temporally heterogeneous abiotic environment. Understanding and predicting the dynamics resulting from these complex interactions is crucial for the sustainable stewardship of ecosystems, particularly in the context of rapidly changing environmental conditions. Here we present iLand (the individual-based forest landscape and disturbance model), a novel approach to simulating forest dynamics as an emergent property of environmental drivers, ecosystem processes and dynamic interactions across scales. Our specific objectives were (i) to describe the model, in particular its novel approach to simulate …

Herbaceous 2012 (April 21), Amy L. Myers, Julia I. Chapman, Ryan W. Mcewan

Data Files: Drew Woods Permanent Plots

Herbaceous vegetation data collected in 2012 at Drew Woods State Nature Preserve in Darke County, OH. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

Maple Syrup: St. John’S Sweetest Springtime Tradition, Stephen G. Saupe

Biology Faculty Publications

St. John’s is the home of one of Minnesota’s oldest maple syrup operations. The monks began making syrup in 1942 and have continued roughly every other spring until the present. Currently, the operation is jointly run by the Abbey and St. John’s Arboretum and it is one of the few maple syrup operations associated with a Minnesota college or university. The process by which maple syrup is made at St. John’s differs little from the procedures begun more than 60 years ago. In spring, sugar maple trees are tapped, sap is collected, and then it is boiled in the sugar …

Smokejumper Obituary: Hentze, Mark (Redmond 2000), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Herbaceous 2012 (April 9), Amy L. Myers, Julia I. Chapman, Ryan W. Mcewan

Data Files: Drew Woods Permanent Plots

Herbaceous vegetation data collected in 2012 at Drew Woods State Nature Preserve in Darke County, OH. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

Adaptation Of Annual Forage Legumes In The Southern Great Plains, John A. Guretzky, Twain J. Butler, Jim P. Muir

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Our objective was to evaluate adaptation and compatibility of cool-season annual legumes overseeded into perennial grasses in the southern Great Plains. Freeze damage, vigor, and standing crop of 14 annual legume species were evaluated during spring at three locations in Oklahoma and Texas from 2006 to 2008. Across locations and years, standing crop of hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) and Austrian winter pea (Pisum sativum L. ssp. arvense (L.) Poir.] averaged 3,513 and 3,210 kg dry matter (DM) ha^-1, respectively. Standing crop of crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) and arrowleaf clover (T. vesiculosum Savi) averaged …

Smokejumper Obituary: Cherry, Parley E. "Bill" (Missoula 1947), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Herbaceous 2012 (March 25), Amy L. Myers, Julia I. Chapman, Ryan W. Mcewan

Data Files: Drew Woods Permanent Plots

Herbaceous vegetation data collected in 2012 at Drew Woods State Nature Preserve in Darke County, OH. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

Smokejumper Obituary: Brown, Lyle Henry (Missoula 1954), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Thompson, William (Mccall 1958), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Meeting Minutes, March 18th, 2012, National Smokejumper Association Board Of Directors

National Smokejumper Association Meeting Minutes

Agenda: Motion made for NSA to pay for lunch and approved.; Introductions of those present.; Agenda focus for this meeting is on improving the organization.; Membership Meeting.; No old or new business.; Meeting adjourned as a Member Driven Organization.; Tim DeHass on FS Aircraft and Smokejumper Program.; BLM Base Manager Report.; Future of NSA.; Jukkala/McBride/NSA Scholarship.; Update - NSA Leadership Awards.; Treasurer Report-budget update.; Investment Report.; Membership Report.; Website Committee Update.; Merchandising.; NSA Trails Program.; New NSA Board Members.; Other Business.; Comments for Discussion at next Board Meeting.; Critique.;

Smokejumper Obituary: Webb, Warren (Cave Junction 1954), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Upole, E. Harland (Missoula 1950), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Ecological Studies Of Wolves On Isle Royale, 2011-2012, John A. Vucetich, Rolf O. Peterson

Ecological Studies of Wolves on Isle Royale

Annual Report 2011-2012

Strategic Plan For The Gordon Natural Area, Gerard Hertel, Harry Tiebout, Leeanne Passamonti, Steven J. Bukowski

Gordon Natural Area History & Strategic Plan Documents

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Morrow, Ray L. (Redding 1964), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.