Characterization Of Legacy Sediment Variations In Accretion And Carbon Dynamics Following Dam Removal In A Recently Restored Tidal Freshwater Wetland, Melissa J. Davis, Christopher D. Gatens, Edward R. Crawford, Arif Sikder

Rice Rivers Center Research Symposium

Damming disrupts the natural flow of sediment to adjoining water bodies resulting in the accumulation of Legacy Sediments (LS). While the impact of LS inputs has been well investigated in lotic Mid-Atlantic piedmont stream restorations, (i.e. milldam removal 1,2,3,4,5,), there have been few studies investigating LS following dam removal in low-gradient coastal plain streams. The objectives of this study were to quantify spatial and temporal variations of LS characteristics in a low-gradient tidal stream restoration within the lower James River watershed. Secondary objectives were to assess the current temporal and spatial variability in sediment deposition within the recently restored Kimages …

Seasonal Survival Of Adult Female Mottled Ducks, Jena A. Moon, David A. Haukos, Warren C. Conway

Faculty Publications

The mottled duck (Anas fulgivula) is a non‐migratory duck dependent on coastal habitats to meet all of its life cycle requirements in the Western Gulf Coast (WGC) of Texas and Louisiana, USA. This population of mottled ducks has experienced a moderate decline during the past 2 decades. Adult survival has been identified as an important factor influencing population demography. Previous work based on band‐recovery data has provided only annual estimates of survival. We assessed seasonal patterns of female mottled duck survival from 2009 to 2012 using individuals marked with satellite platform transmitter terminals (PTTs). We used temperature and …

Responses To Prescribed Fire At Big Thicket National Preserve, Texas, Usa, B. P. Oswald, D. M. Boensch, H. M. Williams, I-Kuai Hung

Faculty Publications

US Federal land managers have utilized hand ignited prescribed fire at Big Thicket National Preserve in efforts to restore the structure and diversity of the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forest. A fire ecology study was initiated by Rice University in the early 1990’s and the National Park Service has continued monitoring the plots. Ordination was applied to species abundance data to examine changes in vegetation communities from a variety of prescribed fire treatments and controls. The vegetation data was separated by size class to include overstory, small tree, large sapling and seedling data. Across the size classes and treatments, the …

“Fence-Line” Contrast Soundscape Study Of Forested Lands In Allegany State Park And Allegheny National Forest: Is There An Impact Of Oil And Gas Development On An Eastern Forest Soundscape?, Kasey Lynne Osborne

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

“Natural resources”—an inclusive term indiscriminate of splendor or conservation status – require proper management, be it for forest, oil, water, wildlife, or even soundscapes. The soundscape, or all sounds (biophony, anthrophony, geophony) characterizing an area, is both an ecological monitoring tool and a resource itself—a component of the landscape. As energy demands surge, the oil/gas region of the Appalachian Plateau adjusts to unconventional extraction concurrent with traditional drilling operations. Energy development leaves enduring spatial footprints on the landscape, such as fragmentation from well-pad matrices. Soundscape patterns may not be as readily observed as visual cues, but their analysis can reveal …

The Greatest Undertaking: The Unique History Of The Nebraska Forest Service, Tony Foreman

Nebraska Forest Service: Publications

Perhaps forests and trees are not the first images one conjures when thinking about Nebraska. Indeed, an old joke claims the Nebraska State Tree is a wooden football goalpost. Yet Nebraska has a unique forestry history. Pioneers of the mid-nineteenth century moved into what was popularly known as the Great American Desert, and they rolled the dice that this semi-arid land, seemingly incapable of sustaining trees, could somehow grow crops. After winning that gamble, the settlers yearned for the trees they had grown accustomed to in the Eastern United States. They missed the beauty of the wooded areas and the …

2001 Lilley Cornett Woods Soil Data, Ryan W. Mcewan, Julia I. Chapman, Robert N. Muller

Data Files: Big Everidge Hollow Permanent Plots

Data collected in 2001 on the soil in the Big Everidge Hollow portion of the Lilley Cornett Woods Appalachian Ecological Research Station in southeastern Kentucky. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.26890/lcw.r9anrrko79

Carbon Stocks In Shade Coffee: Strategies For Enhancing Carbon Storage In Smallholder Systems In Jinotega, Nicaragua, Vanessa Katheryn Kichline

Bard Center for Environmental Policy

Climate change has recently shifted focus to adaptation and mitigation strategies in coffee production. Shade coffee systems, already widely recognized for their contribution to biodiversity and soil conservation, are now drawing attention for their role in carbon storage. Researchers have generally assumed that high carbon storage must come at the expense of reduced crop yields, implying that farmers must choose between sustainability and profit. This study uses field inventories of 70 farms in Jinotega, Nicaragua to estimate this tradeoff in smallholder shade coffee systems. Field inventories were used to develop three typologies representing different shade management strategies in use in …

Exploring Historical Coffee And Climate Relations In Southern Guatemala: An Integration Of Tree Ring Analysis And Remote Sensing Data, Diego Pons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation makes use of a physical geography perspective to examine the relationship between agriculture and climate in Guatemala using dendrochronology. I examined the potential of high-resolution climate proxy data from dendrochronology to help fill in the gaps of past climate information to better understand the natural and anthropogenic variability of precipitation which, in turn, can inform Guatemala’s agriculture sector. This research has demonstrated successful cross-dating and climate sensitivity of Abies guatemalensis in the Pacific slope of Guatemala. Based on this, I have produced a 124-year record of mean precipitation from June-July-August. The mean precipitation from June-July-August at this site …

Seedlings 2017, Corey M. Kuminecz, Mitchell J. Kukla, Julia I. Chapman, Ryan W. Mcewan

Data Files: Drew Woods Permanent Plots

Seedling data (woody species up to 50 centimeters in height) collected in 2017 at Drew Woods State Nature Preserve in Darke County, OH. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

Pteropus Voeltzkowi And The Understory: A Study Of The Behavioral Impacts Of The Pemba Flying Fox On The Vegetation And Soil Quality Of Pemba Island, Lea Davidson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examines the impact of Pteropus voeltzkowi , colloquially known as the Pemba Flying Fox, on biodiversity and health of the forest ground layer. Known to serve as reforesters, high concentrations of both fruit seeds and nutrient dense guano are introduced into specific environmental locations due to the bat's behavioral patterns. Working around two roost locations, one in Ngezi Forest and the other at the Kidike conservation site near Mjini Ole, diversity of juvenile vegetation was measured and quantified. In a laboratory setting, soil samples from both sites were analyzed for impacts of guano concentration on soil chemical properties. …

High Resolution Land Cover Of Kansas (2015; Dataset), Darci A. Paull, Jakob W. Whitson, Abbey L. Marcotte, Greg C. Liknes, Dacia M. Meneguzzo, Todd A. Kellerman

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

This data publication contains 2015 high-resolution land cover data for each of the 105 counties within Kansas. These data are a digital representation of land cover derived from 1-meter aerial imagery from the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP). There is a separate file for each county. Data are intended for use in rural areas and therefore do not include land cover in cities and towns. Land cover classes (tree cover, other land cover, water, or city/town) were mapped using an object-based image analysis approach and supervised classification.

Interactions Between White-Tailed Deer Density And The Composition Of Forest Understories In The Northern United States, Matthew B. Russell, Christopher W. Woodall, Kevin M. Potter, Brian F. Walters, Grant M. Domke, Christopher M. Oswalt

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

Forest understories across the northern United States (US) are a complex of tree seedlings, endemic forbs, herbs, shrubs, and introduced plant species within a forest structure defined by tree and forest floor attributes. The substantial increase in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmerman) populations over the past decades has resulted in heavy browse pressure in many of these forests. To gain an objective assessment of the role of deer in forested ecosystems, a region-wide forest inventory across the northern US was examined in concert with white-tailed deer density information compiled at broad scales. Results indicate that deer density may be …

Agroforestry: Enhancing Resiliency In U. S. Agricultural Landscapes Under Changing Conditions, Gary Bentrup, Michele M. Schoeneberger, Toral Patel-Weynand

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

Agroforestry, the intentional integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal production systems, is being deployed to enhance productivity, profitability, and environmental stewardship of agricultural operations and lands across the United States. This assessment provides a science-based synthesis on the use of agroforestry for mitigation and adaptation services in the face of climatic variability and change. It provides technical input to land-use sector issues in the National Climate Assessment (NCA) and serves as a framework for including agroforestry systems in agricultural strategies to improve productivity and food security and to build resilience in these landscapes. It also provides follow-up …

Shape Indexes For Semi-Automated Detection Of Windbreaks In Thematic Tree Cover Maps From The Central United States, Greg C. Liknes, Dacia M. Meneguzzo, Todd A. Kellerman

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

Windbreaks are an important ecological resource across the large expanse of agricultural land in the central United States and are often planted in straight-line or L-shaped configurations to serve specific functions. As high-resolution (i.e., <5 m) land cover data sets become more available for these areas, semi-or fully-automated methods for distinguishing windbreaks from other patches of trees are needed for use with thematic raster data sets. To address this need, we created three shape indexes: a morphology-based index that we have named the Straight and Narrow Feature Index (SNFI), a windbreak sinuosity index, and an area index indicating the occupied fractional area of a bounding box. The indexes were tested in two study areas: (1) a riparian area dominated by sinuous bands of trees but mixed with row crop agriculture and (2) an agricultural area with a mix of straight-line and L-shaped windbreaks. In the riparian area, a Kruskall–Wallis rank sum test indicated class differences for all three indexes, and pairwise comparisons indicate windbreaks and riparian trees are separable using any of the three indexes. SNFI also produced significant differences between windbreaks oriented in different directions (east–west vs. north–south). In the agricultural area, the Kruskall–Wallis rank sum test indicated differences between classes for all three indexes, and pairwise comparisons show that all class pairs have significant differences for at least one index, with the exception of L-shaped windbreaks vs. non-windbreak tree patches. We also used classification trees to objectively assign representative samples of tree patches to classes using both single indexes and multiple indexes. Classes were correctly assigned for more than 90% of the samples in both the riparian and agricultural study areas. In the riparian area, combining indexes did not improve accuracy compared to using SNFI alone, whereas in the agricultural area, combining the three indexes produced the best result. Thematic data sets derived from high-resolution imagery are becoming more available, and extracting useful information can be a challenge, partly due to the large amount of data to assess. Calculating the three shape indexes presented can assist with efficient identification of candidate windbreaks and as such, hold good promise for value-added analysis of tree function in the central United States.

Lilley Cornett Woods Plot Information And Topography Data, Ryan W. Mcewan, Julia I. Chapman, Robert N. Muller

Data Files: Big Everidge Hollow Permanent Plots

Plot information and topography data collected in the Big Everidge Hollow portion of the Lilley Cornett Woods Appalachian Ecological Research Station in southeastern Kentucky. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26890/lcw.d9c9c1a2t4

Digital Preservation And Access Of Natural Resources Documents, David Kulhavy, R Philip Reynolds, Daniel Unger, Steven H. Bullard, Matthew W. Mcbroom

Faculty Publications

Digitization and preservation of natural resource documents were reviewed and the current status of digitization presented for a North American university. It is important to present the status of the digitation process for natural resources and to advocate for increased collections of digital material for ease of reference and exchange of information. Digital collections need to include both published documents and ancillary material for research projects and data for future use and interpretation. The methods in this paper can be applied to other natural resource collections increasing their use and distribution. The process of decision making for documents and their …

Mechanisms Of Chinese Tallow (Triadica Sebifera) Invasion And Their Management Implications – A Review, Lauren S. Pile, G. Geoff Wang, Jeremy P. Stovall, Evan Siemann, Gregory S. Wheeler, Christopher A. Gabler

Faculty Publications

Ecosystems are under increasing stress from environmental change, including invasion by non-native species that can disrupt ecological processes and functions. Chinese tallow [Triadica sebifera (L.) Small] is a highly invasive tree species in southeastern US forests, prairies, and wetlands, and effectively managing this invasive species is a significant challenge for scientists and land managers. In this review, we synthesize the literature on invasion ecology and management of Chinese tallow. Our review suggests that the invaded range of Chinese tallow is currently limited by dispersal in many areas and by low temperatures and low soil moisture, and by high soil …

A Comparison Of Tree Growth In Loblolly Pine (Pinus Taeda) Plantations And Silvopasture Settings In East Texas, B. P. Oswald, Y. Weng, K. W. Farrish, J. Grogan, W. Kruckeberg, T. Barton

Faculty Publications

A desire by landowners to diversify potential income sources has resulted in an increased interest in silvopasture. This intensive land management option allows for the production of timber, livestock and/or forage on the same land base. With traditional plantation systems featuring loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) common in the western gulf coast region of the southeastern United States, comparisons of tree growth are needed to justify the use of silvopasture. This study evaluated the height, diameter and volume growth 13 years post-establishment of loblolly pine in both silvopasture and plantation spacings on a single site in east Texas. Individual trees in …

Site Index Prediction For Willow And Cherrybark Oaks In East Texas Bottomland Forests, B. P. Oswald, Y. Weng, G. D. Kronrad

Faculty Publications

Estimating site quality for a specific tree species is an important tool in forest management. While intensively managed pine species are often the focus of site quality studies using site index, hardwood species found in bottomland hardwood sites are often lacking in quality growth prediction equations. Two valuable hardwood species, willow oak (Quercus phellos) and cherrybark oak (Q. pagoda), are of interest for forest managers of east Texas bottomland sites. The objective of this study was to develop site index prediction equations and curves for these two species. Using height and age data from 267 cherrybark oaks and 460 willow …

An Artificial Neural Network For Real-Time Hardwood Lumber Grading, Edward Thomas

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

Computerized grading of hardwood lumber according to NHLA rules would permit fast assessment of sawn lumber and the evaluation of potential edging and trimming operations to improve lumber value. More importantly, to enable optimization of the hardwood lumber sawing process, a fast means of evaluating the potential value of boards before they are sawn is necessary. As log and lumber scanning systems become prevalent and common, these needs become more pressing. From an automation perspective, the NHLA lumber grades are difficult to implement efficiently in a computer program. Exhaustive approaches that examine every potential cutting size and combination to determine …

Quantifying Fish Habitat Associated With Stream Simulation Design Culverts In Northern Wisconsin, A. Timm, D. Higgins, J. Stanovick, R. Kolka, S. Eggert

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

This study investigated the effects of culvert replacement design on fish habitat and fish weight by comparing substrate diversity and weight at three stream simulation (SS)-design and three bankfull and backwater (BB)-design sites on the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Wisconsin. Stream channel cross-sections, Wolman substrate particle counts, and single-pass backpack electro-fishing survey data were used to quantify fish habitat and fish weight in 50-m upstream and downstream sample reaches at each site. We applied generalized linear mixed models to test the hypothesis that substrate size and fish weight did not differ according to stream-crossing design type (SS or BB) and location …

Toward An Improved Conceptual Understanding Of North American Tree Species Distributions, Paige E. Copenhaver-Parry

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

Species distributions have often been assumed to represent climatic limitations, yet recent evidence has challenged these assumptions and emphasized the potential importance of biotic interactions, dispersal limitation, and disturbance. Despite significant investigation into these factors, an integrated understanding of where and when they may be important is lacking. Here, we review evidence for the factors underlying the historical and contemporary distributions of North American tree species and argue that a cohesive conceptual framework must be informed by an understanding of species ecological and evolutionary history. We further demonstrate that available evidence offers little indication of a significant, independent influence of …

Kentucky Forestry Economic Contribution Report 2016, Jeff Stringer, Billy Thomas, Bobby Ammerman, Thomas Ochuodho, Alison Davis

Kentucky Forestry Economic Impact Reports

Forests play a pivotal role in Kentucky’s economy and in the lives of the citizens of our state. Forests are the single most dominant land type, covering nearly one-half of the state, providing a significant range of both economic and non-economic benefits to the Commonwealth. The majority of the economic contribution is derived from the harvesting of timber and processing of the wood resource. Analysis of Kentucky’s forest and wood industries in 2016 indicated an estimated direct economic contribution of $9 billion (down one percent from 2015). These industries employed over 27,700 individuals. Total economic contributions in 2016 were estimated …

Influence Of Mature Overstory Trees On Adjacent 12-Year Regeneration And The Woody Understory: Aggregated Retention Versus Intact Forest, Miranda T. Curzon, Susan C. Baker, Christel C. Kern, Brian J. Palik, Anthony W. D'Amato

Aspen Bibliography

No abstract provided.

Knowledge Of Forest Ecosystem Among Forest Guards In Southern Nigeria, Norris I. Erhabor

Journal of Bioresource Management

Undertaken study assessed the level of ecological knowledge among forest guards in southern Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was used for study. A structured questionnaire was administered to 60 respondents that are employed by forest guards system. Central question the study attempts to answer is the level of knowledge of the ecosystem among forest guards. Analysis of data revealed that forest guards have inadequate knowledge of ecosystem. Calculated mean score of respondents was 14.25. This mean score is lower than theoretical mean of 16 (80%). A binomial test revealed that fairly high number of respondents had inadequate knowledge of …

Finding Nondestructive Parameters For Root-To-Shoot Ratios In Douglas-Fir, Grand Fir, And Redwood Saplings In Northwest California For Biomass And Carbon Storage Estimates, Walter A. Kast

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

ABSTRACT

FINDING NONDESTRUCTIVE PARAMETERS FOR ROOT-TO-SHOOT RATIOS IN DOUGLAS-FIR, GRAND FIR, AND REDWOOD SAPLINGS IN NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA FOR BIOMASS AND CARBON STORAGE ESTIMATES

Walter A. Kast

There is a need for better understanding of how woody biomass is allocated above and belowground and how this allocation might differ among tree species. In this field of research, investigators face challenges such as the laborious task of removing trees from the soil with destructive sampling, and the cleaning, drying, and weighing of belowground biomass (BGB). Therefore, researchers and practitioners most often rely on existing models to predict BGB from easily-measurable aboveground variables …

Modeling The Spread Of Sudden Oak Death Across A Heterogeneous Landscape In Redwood National Park Using A Spatially-Explicit Epidemiological Model, Laura A. Morgan

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, the causal agent of Sudden Oak Death (SOD), is responsible for the deaths of millions of oak (Quercus spp.) and tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus) trees in California and Oregon (USA). A recent infection in Redwood National Park (RNP) in California (USA) provided an opportunity to adapt an existing SOD model to assess the efficacy of current and proposed management strategies. A common method of SOD treatment includes killing both infected and uninfected hosts in the area of infection, as well as the area surrounding the infection to create buffers to account for undetected …

In The Face Of Drought: Do Fuel Treatments Promote Resistance To Multi-Year Drought In A Mixed-Conifer Forest Of Northern California?, Michael Vernon

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency, duration, and severity of drought events across many bioregions. Forest managers have two active management techniques to promote resistance and resilience to drought: prescribed fire and mechanical thinning. Generally applied to reduce fuels and fire hazard, treated areas may also reduce competition for resources that may improve tree-growth during drought and reduce mortality. The recent severe and prolonged drought in California allowed me to investigate the effects of climate stress and fuel treatments on tree growth responses in a dry mixed-conifer forest ecosystem.

To assess tree-growth responses to fuel treatments during severe …

Molecular Diversity Of Foliar Fungal Endophytes In Relation To Defense Strategies And Disease In Whitebark Pine, Lorinda Bullington

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

An invasive fungal pathogen, Cronartium ribicola (the causative agent of white pine blister rust) infects and kills whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) throughout the western US. Blister rust has decreased whitebark pine populations by over 90% in some areas. Whitebark pine, a keystone species, has been proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act in the U.S., and the loss of this conifer is predicted to have severe impacts on forest composition and function in high elevations. Hundreds of asymptomatic fungal species live inside whitebark pine tissue, and recent studies suggest that these fungi can influence the frequency and …

Development Of Gene-Based Microsatellite Markers In Acer Saccharum Marsh., Monica Harmon

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh) is an important ecological and economic resource. Despite its significance, there are few molecular genetic resources available to date. This study used previously developed EST libraries generated for sugar maple and other hardwood species to develop and characterize EST-SSRs in sugar maple and test their transferability to other Acer species. Out of 58 markers tested, 22 showed amplification in the expected size range. From these, 16 polymorphic markers were selected to test transferability and 13 of these showed amplification in at least one other Acer species.