Forest Sciences Commons^™

Surveys Of Southern Flying Squirrel Activity Following Timber Harvest In Southern Indiana, Joseph W. Eisinger, Elizabeth A. Flaherty, Stephanie E. Trapp

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) are gliding small mammals that are ecologically important seed dispersers and prey species across their wide range, which extends from southern Canada to Central America. Because of their reliance on forest structure for efficient movement and on forest composition for hard mast production to provide winter food items, habitat use by G. volans may be impacted by timber harvest. Responses of G. volans to timber harvests remains understudied throughout their range, and studies are especially lacking within the Central Hardwoods Region that includes Indiana. Our study in the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment (HEE) in southern Indiana …

Seedling Uptake And Fate Of Soil-Applied Capsaicin, A Potential Browse Deterrent, Carmen K. Dobbs, Joshua L Sloan, Douglass F. Jacobs

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Seedling damage due to browse constitutes a major challenge to afforestation and reforestation efforts in the Central Hardwood Forest region of the USA. Many efforts have been made to deter herbivores, but the costs, implementation methods, and relative ineffectiveness of existing mitigation options often preclude operational implementation. An alternate means of deterring wildlife browse is capsaicin, a hot pepper concentrate, which has been reported to decrease herbivory of tree seedlings and is available in a controlled-release form designed to act systemically following application to the soil and subsequent plant uptake. However, the degree to which seedlings are capable of absorbing …

Development Of Transgenic North American White Ash (Fraxinus Americana) Expressing A Bacillus Thuringiensis Protein For Management Of The Emerald Ash Borer, Eric A. Dean, Paula M. Pijut Phd., Micah E. Stevens

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

White ash (WA), Fraxinus americana, is an integral part of the hardwood forest ecosystem. Economically, WA provides wood for important products such as baseball bats, tool handles, and hardwood flooring. Ecologically WA provides cover and mast to support wildlife. The emerald ash borer (EAB) is a significant threat to all ash species because of a lack of native resistance in North American ash trees, its rapid spread, and the ineffectiveness and expense of control measures. EAB is a non-native beetle that consumes tree vascular tissue while in the larval stage. The development of an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation protocol may …

Comparison Of The Performance Of A Digital Image Analysis Method Versus A Leaf Area Meter In Measuring Leaf Surface Area, Elaine Harris

Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Developing Consumer And Market Research For Non-Timber, Kate Macfarland

Agroforestry Notes (USDA-NAC)

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) present an opportunity for many forest landowners to get additional income from their woodlands. This option may be useful for landowners who are not interested in harvesting trees from their land or for landowners who are interested in growing additional products that provide shorter term income streams in addition to their timber harvest. Many markets for NTFPs are growing.

Meanings And Robustness: Propositions For Enhancing Benefit Sharing In Social-Ecological Systems, Ernita Van Wyk, Charles Breen, Wayne A. Freimund

Society and Conservation Faculty Publications

Given increased pressure on natural resources to deliver benefits, complex trade-offs and the regulation of behaviours in relation to benefits is of key concern. Behaviours that signify resistance to the rules according to which benefits are allocated prompt us to consider causal links and feedbacks between benefits, perceptions of benefits, meanings attached to the benefits, and the regulatory instruments that mediate the distribution of benefits. An understanding of how meanings influence the perception of benefits exposes the complexity inherent in how people perceive and allocate value to natural resource benefits. Meanings are personal, sometimes overlapping, context dependent and variable across …

Spatially Nonrandom Tree Mortality And Ingrowth Maintain Equilibrium Pattern In An Old-Growth Pseudotsuga–Tsuga Forest, James A. Lutz, Andrew J. Larson, Tucker J. Furniss, Daniel C. Donato, James A. Freund, Mark E. Swanson, Kenneth J. Bible, Jiquan Chen, Jerry F. Franklin

Forest Management Faculty Publications

Mortality processes in old-growth forests are generally assumed to be driven by gap-scale disturbance, with only a limited role ascribed to density-dependent mortality, but these assumptions are rarely tested with data sets incorporating repeated measurements. Using a 12-ha spatially explicit plot censused 13 years apart in an approximately 500-year-old Pseudotsuga–Tsuga forest, we demonstrate significant density-dependent mortality and spatially aggregated tree recruitment. However, the combined effect of these strongly nonrandom demographic processes was to maintain tree patterns in a state of dynamic equilibrium. Density-dependent mortality was most pronounced for the dominant latesuccessional species, Tsuga heterophylla. The long-lived, early-seral Pseudotsuga menziesii …

Growth Responses Of Genetically Improved Open Pollenated, Full-Sibling, And Clonal Loblolly Pine To The FlexstandTm Silvicultural System, Patrick Ma

All Theses

ABSTRACT Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) is often listed as the most commercially important timber species in the southeastern United States and is subject to genetic improvement via breeding programs to increase sawtimber yield, stem quality, and disease resistance. ArborGen has trademarked the FlexStand^TM Silvicultural System (a method of interplanting rows of genetically improved trees with less expensive biomass trees) as a more economical solution to growing Loblolly pine. Two studies were conducted to in order to assess the FlexStand^TM Silvicultural System. The first study assessed seedling mortality and growth of four different genetic combinations were assessed in the …

Use Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Uav) For Urban Tree Inventories, Brian Ritter

All Theses

In contrast to standard aerial imagery, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) utilize recent technological advances to provide an affordable alternative for imagery acquisition. Increased value can be realized through clarity and detail providing higher resolution (2-5 cm) over traditional products. Many natural resource disciplines such as urban forestry will benefit from UAS. Tree inventories for risk assessment, biodiversity, planning, and design can be efficiently achieved with the UAS. Recent advances in photogrammetric processing have proved automated methods for three dimensional rendering of aerial imagery. Point clouds can be generated from images providing additional benefits. Association of spatial locational information within the …

Ecohydrological Function Of Lower Coastal Plain Bioretention Cells In South Carolina, Jessica Palazzolo

All Theses

Flooding and stormwater control is a critical issue in coastal South Carolina because of shallow water table elevation, topography and rapid urbanization in the region. A best management practice (BMP) using low impact design (LID) principles known as a bioretention cell (BRC) is gaining popularity for stormwater management. Five BRCs in four landscape positions (well-drained uplands, tidal-proximal, poorly-drained-uplands, and floodplain) were instrumented for microclimate, soil moisture, and water table elevation for hydraulic efficiency and for water quality measurements. Three BRCs did not have an overflow outlets, one BRC (floodplain) employed an underdrain system, and one BRC (tidal proximal) had an …

Smokejumper Obituary: Galbraith, Art Leeroy (North Cascades 1961), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Water Use And Water Tolerance In The Riparian Species American Sycamore (Plantanus Occidentalis L.) And How Its Physiology Compares To The Coexisting Black Willow (Salix Nigra Marshall), Eric Duncan

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects

This study set out to compare aspects of water use and tolerance to inundation and drought of two riparian tree species, Platanus occidentalis L. and Salix nigra Marshall. The main goal of the study was to better understand the two species and assess the suitability of P. occidentalis for use in riparian restoration. To accomplish this, potted individuals were subjected to treatments of drought, inundation, or control, under greenhouse conditions, and separately, in order to estimate water use in trees, season-long diurnal measurements of sap flux (using Granier type thermal dissipation probes) were determined in situ for trees growing in …

Wood Colorization Through Pressure Treating: The Potential Of Extracted Colorants From Spalting Fungi As A Replacement For Woodworkers’ Aniline Dyes, Sara C. Robinson, Eric Hinsch, Genevieve Weber, Kristina Leipus, Daniel Cerney

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The extracellular colorants produced by Chlorociboria aeruginosa, Scytalidium cuboideum, and Scytalidium ganodermophthorum, three commonly utilized spalting fungi, were tested against a standard woodworker’s aniline dye to determine if the fungal colorants could be utilized in an effort to find a naturally occurring replacement for the synthetic dye. Fungal colorants were delivered in two methods within a pressure treater—the first through solubilization of extracted colorants in dichloromethane, and the second via liquid culture consisting of water, malt, and the actively growing fungus. Visual external evaluation of the wood test blocks showed complete surface coloration of all wood species with all colorants, …

Smokejumper Obituary: Smith, Timothy J. (Missoula 1976), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Most Soil Trophic Guilds Increase Plant Growth: A Meta-Analytical Review, Andrew Kulmatiski, Andrew Anderson-Smith, Karen H. Beard, Stephen Doucette-Riise, Michael Mazzacavallo, Nicole E. Nolan, Ricardo A. Ramirez, John R. Stevens

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Trophic cascades are important drivers of plant and animal abundances in aquatic and aboveground systems, but in soils trophic cascades have been thought to be of limited importance due to omnivory and other factors. Here we use a meta-analysis of 215 studies with 1526 experiments that measured plant growth responses to additions or removals of soil organisms to test how different soil trophic levels affect plant growth. Consistent with the trophic cascade hypothesis, we found that herbivores and plant pathogens (henceforth pests) decreased plant growth and that predators of pests increased plant growth. The magnitude of this trophic cascade was …

Smokejumper Obituary: Newbrough, John Robert (Mccall 1953), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Zehr, Richard S. "Dick" (Missoula 1943), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

The Fire-Oak Literature Of Eastern North America: Synthesis And Guidelines, Patrick D. Brose, Daniel C. Dey, Thomas A. Waldrop

Joint Fire Science Program Synthesis Reports

Guidelines for using prescribed fire to regenerate and restore upland oak forests, woodlands, and savannas in eastern North America were developed by synthesizing the results of more than 100 scientific publications. The first four chapters provide background information on the values of oak ecosystems, eastern fire history, oak’s adaptations to fire, and the findings of fire-oak research conducted over the past 50 years. The final chapter synthesizes that background information into guidelines that explain how to use prescribed fire to facilitate oak seedling establishment, release oak reproduction from competing mesophytic hardwoods, and rehabilitate open oak woodlands, oak savannas, and scrub …

Can Windbreaks Do More Than Slow The Wind?

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

Can windbreaks do more than slow the wind? The answer is, “Yes!” But it will take some planning and management to create a windbreak that yields its own crops.

Where Can Edible Non-Timber Forest Products Be Sold?

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

Where can edible non-timber forest products be sold?

Increasingly, forest landowners are looking to non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as opportunities to create additional income from their woodlands. Harvesting NTFPs is can be appealing to landowners who are not interested in harvesting trees or landowners who want to grow a product that generates income in a shorter time-frame than timber harvesting. While there are a variety of types of non-timber forest products including medicinal plants, woody florals, and craft products, this info sheet focuses on forest-based food products, like mushrooms and berries.

A Win-Win On Agricultural Lands: Creating Wildlife Habitat Through Agroforestry, Gary Bentrup

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

With increasing demands from society for limited resources, agroforestry will likely be one source of solutions as people find it increasingly necessary to achieve multiple social, economic, and ecological objectives on the same plot of land. Indications are that this is a growing field, so wildlife biologists of the future may want to consider incorporating agroforestry into their career development.

Mass And Nutrient Loss In Decaying Hardwood Boles At Hubbard Brook, Chris E. Johnson

Civil and Environmental Engineering - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Alternative Mowing Regimes’ Influence On Native Plants And Deer., John W. Guyton, Jeanne C. Jones, Edward D. Entsminger

CFR Publications

This study evaluated mowing regimes, changes in native and non-native plant communities, deer presence in the research plots,and public perception of various management practices on ROWs. No significant difference was found in the height of vegetation 3 weeks after each mowing between research plots mowed 4 times per year and plots mowed only once per year in uplands or lowlands. Native plants increased in plots mowed once per year and deer preferred the frequently mowed plots where clovers and vetches had been seeded. Increasing the carrying capacity of the lowlands with more extensive plantings of clover and vetch may attract …

Can Fire Atlas Data Improve Species Distribution Model Projections?, Shawn M. Crimmins, Solomon Z. Dobrowski, Alison R. Mynsberge, Hugh D. Safford

Forest Management Faculty Publications

Correlative species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used in studies of climate change impacts, yet are often criticized for failing to incorporate disturbance processes that can influence species distributions. Here we use two temporally independent data sets of vascular plant distributions, climate data, and fire atlas data to examine the influence of disturbance history on SDM projection accuracy through time in the mountain ranges of California, USA. We used hierarchical partitioning to examine the influence of fire occurrence on the distribution of 144 vascular plant species and built a suite of SDMs to examine how the inclusion of fire-related predictors …

Fact Or Fiction: Random Mating In Field Populations Of Western Corn Rootworm (Diabrotica Virgifera Virgifera Leconte) Emerging On Bt And Refuge Corn Plants, Steven Joel Smith

Open Access Theses

The western corn rootworm, or WCR, (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) is the most significant pest of field corn (Zea mays) in the United States, and has recently expanded its range into Europe. Since 2004, hybrid corn containing Bt toxins targeting the corn rootworm complex have been heavily adopted and are now the primary control measure for this pest in North American corn production. ^ The evolution of resistance is an ongoing concern, and to ensure Bt products will retain their usefulness, insect resistance management (IRM) tactics using various refuge structures have been adopted. One of the key …

Furniture Design And Product Development Principles Considering End-Of-Life Options And Design For Environment Strategies, Mesut Uysal

Open Access Theses

During last decades, environmental issues come into prominence and some governmental or organizational regulations are legislated to reduce environmental impacts of products within their life cycle. At the same time, costumers consider not only price, quality, branding, uniqueness, availability but also environmental impact, safety, and overall sustainability of products they select. Therefore, producers are addressing environmental impact of products they are producing and also making changes to their production process. This project is addressing End-of-Life (EoL) Options of wooden furniture. ^ Although wood is eco-friendly and natural material, its technological process, use and disposal might have ecological problem and challenge. …

Smokejumper Obituary: Chambers, Dwight G. (Missoula 1966), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Alexander, James A. "Smokey" (Missoula 1940), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Theubet, James H. (North Cascades 1958), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Fire Activity And Severity In The Western Us Vary Along Proxy Gradients Representing Fuel Amount And Fuel Moisture, Sean A. Parks, Marc-Andrè Parisien, Carol Miller, Solomon Z. Dobrowski

Forest Management Faculty Publications

Numerous theoretical and empirical studies have shown that wildfire activity (e.g., area burned) at regional to global scales may be limited at the extremes of environmental gradients such as productivity or moisture. Fire activity, however, represents only one component of the fire regime, and no studies to date have characterized fire severity along such gradients. Given the importance of fire severity in dictating ecological response to fire, this is a considerable knowledge gap. For the western US, we quantify relationships between climate and the fire regime by empirically describing both fire activity and severity along two climatic water balance gradients, …