Forest Sciences Commons^™

Investigating Birds As Dispersal Vectors Of Litylenchus Crenatae Subsp. Mccannii (Anguinidae), The Nematode Associated With Beech Leaf Disease, Spencer Rock Parkinson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Beech leaf disease (BLD) is an emerging forest pathogen primarily affecting American beech (Fagus grandifolia, Ehrh.) in North America and has been attributed to tree mortality of sapling sized trees within five to seven years of infection. Symptoms typically occur in regenerating American beech thickets sprouting from roots of trees killed by beech bark disease. Scientists first observed BLD in Ohio in 2012 and currently has spread to 15 states in the USA and one Canadian province. The nematode Litylenchus crenatae subsp. mccannii (Lcm) is highly associated with BLD symptoms, interveinal chlorosis and defoliation of leaves, and is currently …

The Effects Of Experimental Warming On Root Respiration And The Fungal Community Of Tropical Forest Soil, Malik A. Sankofa

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Climate induced changes in tropical forests fungal communities could impact diversity and abundance, forest health, and carbon release/sequestration. Under warmer soil temperatures and over time, we hypothesized that arbuscular mycorrhizal, pathogen, saprotroph diversity and abundance would increase, that ectomycorrhizal and overall fungal diversity and abundance would decrease, and that root respiration would be unaffected. Experimental warming (+2-3 ℃) was conducted on root ingrowth cores at the Tropical Responses to Altered Climate Experiment (TRACE) in Puerto Rico. ITS2 metabarcoding was used to analyze fungal diversity and abundance in control or warmed root/soil samples. We found that warming decreased arbuscular mycorrhizal diversity, …

Hydrologic Pathways Of A Northern Hardwood Catchment In The Great Lakes Basin Using End Member Mixing Analysis, Cory C. Burkwald

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This study investigated the seasonality of hydrologic pathways, the role of wetlands in streamflow generation, and how hydrologic pathways affect the export of nutrients by streamflow in the Sturgeon River using endmember mixing analysis. The results indicated that streamflow consists of three main components: shallow subsurface water from wetland soils, shallow groundwater, and surface runoff from precipitation. Snowmelt plays a dominating role in regulating stream water chemistry (~80% volume at peak) during the snowmelt season and likely also after that. Wetland soils store snowmelt, together with rainwater though the fraction is unknown, and then gradually release through summer in the …

Validation And Improvement Of Forest Health Risk Maps: A Case Study With Maple Decline/Dieback, Joseph R. Beeson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Forest health data collected in a two-phased survey of maple dieback was used to build on previous work, extending analysis into mapping implications. Using the National Insect and Disease Risk Maps (NIDRM) published by the US Forest Service as a baseline, we compared our collected data from 2009-2012 and 2021-2022 with the published 240m resolution sugar maple decline risk map, finding the NIDRM map to be a poor predictor of sugar maple dieback measured at the plots. Measured sugar maple crown dieback was also compared to measured soil characteristics and nutrient levels, and augmented with soil survey maps and long-term …

The Role Of Neighborhood Effects In Maintaining The Hardwood-Hemlock Mosaic, Adam Z. Milenkowic

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Neighborhood effects are processes mediated by canopy trees that influence the ability of a species to replace itself following canopy mortality. Sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) are the dominant trees in old-growth northern hardwood forests of Upper Michigan and have been observed to form monodominant patches in the region. Few studies have independently evaluated the demographic and ecological mechanisms that lead to the compositional stability of hemlock and sugar maple patch development. Tree demography data from eight long-term 0.5 ha old-growth plots in Upper Michigan indicate neighborhood effects are playing a …

Bioenergy Cropping Systems Established On Marginal Lands: Effects Of Land Use, Energy Crop, And Fertility Amendments On Soil Health, Mica M. Keck

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Bioenergy crops offer a promising strategy for renewable energy production, accompanied by carbon (C) storage benefits when managed sustainably. Utilizing marginal lands for energy feedstock production presents an opportunity for bioenergy generation and concurrent climate mitigation without competing with food crops. However, achieving optimal yields requires strategies to restore soil fertility, which require increased understanding of the interactive effects of prior land use, energy crop species, and fertility amendments available. This study, conducted as part of the Mid-Atlantic Sustainable Biomass (MASBio) Consortium, investigated the effects of biochar incorporation—a C-rich charcoal derived from biomass, intended for soil enhancement—on bioenergy cropping systems …

Characterizing Prescribed Fire With Terrestrial Lidar In The New Jersey Pine Barrens, Samuel Rhule Stockton

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Prescribed burning has become a commonly used tool in the mitigation of wildfire, though monitoring the way it changes ecosystems has historically been a time-intensive process. Rapid change across ecosystems has necessitated advancements in remote sensing technologies to quantify the changes taking place. Single-scan terrestrial LiDAR scanning is one such method of monitoring these changes through the quantification of ecosystem structural characteristics. Acute disturbance events such as fire can transform the structure of an ecosystem, and by extension, change the way that ecosystem functions. The purpose of this study is to analyze the changes in vegetation density and distribution following …

Wildfires Are Burning Less Frequently And More Severely Than Historically In The Western Us: A Novel Approach To Calculating Fire-Regime Departures, Jeffrey Ryan Chandler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Changing climate, vegetation, and fire exclusion are altering and homogenizing fire-regime attributes compared to historic conditions. Fire-regime changes are commonly quantified using departure metrics, which are often based on measures of central tendency (i.e. changes in the mean). These metrics can mischaracterize complex changes to the distributional characteristics of fire-regime attributes. Here we develop a fire-regime departure metric that quantifies nonparametric distributional changes to fire-regime attributes over time. We use this metric to compare fire frequency and severity between historical (~1600-1880) and contemporary (1880- 2021) time periods in western US forests. Our analysis revealed that 89% of Western US forests …

Integrating Western Science And Indigenous Knowledge For Just Practices In Conservation, Cierra Lea Keith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Suledo Community-Based Forest Reserve: A Contested Terrain Between Peasants And Pastoralists In Kiteto District, 1990–2016, Juma Marmo

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper examines how the establishment of the SULEDO community forest reserve caused land use conflicts between peasants and pastoralists in Kiteto District from 1990 to 2016. The peasants complained that the government had deliberately made it possible for pastoralists to get more benefits from the reserve since they were allowed to graze their livestock in the reserve, which took large parts of their former agricultural land. Conversely, the grabbing of land by peasants in the forest reserve caused complaints from the pastoralists who claimed that the peasants were grabbing their grazing land in the reserve. Using archival sources, fieldwork …

Smokejumper Obituary: Cordova, Horace M. (Idaho City 1961), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Hearn, Bernard Carter (Grangeville 1952), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Mcdonald, Joseph Franklin "Joe" (West Yellowstone 1951), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Long Oligodeoxynucleotides: Chemical Synthesis, Isolation Via Catching-By-Polymerization, Verification Via Sequencing, And Gene Expression Demonstration, Yipeng Yin, Reed Arneson, Alexander Apostle, Adikari M.D.N. Eriyagama, Komal Chillar, Emily Burke, Martina Jahfetson, Yinan Yuan, Shiyue Fang

Michigan Tech Publications

Long oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) are segments of DNAs having over one hundred nucleotides (nt). They are typically assembled using enzymatic methods such as PCR and ligation from shorter 20 to 60 nt ODNs produced by automated de novo chemical synthesis. While these methods have made many projects in areas such as synthetic biology and protein engineering possible, they have various drawbacks. For example, they cannot produce genes and genomes with long repeats and have difficulty to produce sequences containing stable secondary structures. Here, we report a direct de novo chemical synthesis of 400 nt ODNs, and their isolation from the complex …

Smokejumper Obituary: Simons, Charles Richard (Missoula 1952), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Reclaiming Sacred Homelands: Asserting Treaty Rights And The Path Towards Restoration Of The Badger-Two Medicine, Sarah Greenberg

American Indian Law Journal

“In order for law to have an influence in the lives of ordinary people, it must have something to do with the emotional feelings of justice, it must speak to our basic humanity, and it must give us common sense directions as to what behavior and beliefs are right and wrong"

Quantifying The Influences Of Abiotic And Biotic Factors On Post-Fire Vegetation In The Southwestern Us, Joseph Lafayette Crockett

Biology ETDs

The ongoing warming associated with climate change is increasing the flammability of southwestern US dry forests. As larger fractions of the landscape are impacted by high-severity fire, the potential exists for forests to convert to non-forest. Given that the forested area in the southwestern US is an important contributor of ecosystem services, quantifying limitations to vegetation establishment is critical to informing post-fire recovery efforts and understanding how ongoing climate change will limit seedling establishment in the future. To that end, this dissertation focuses on post-fire vegetation recovery of southwestern forests. First, I report on the influence of precipitation and topography …

Celestial Bodies, Rebecca L. Rand, Mark Popinchalk

Capstones

Most of us will never come close to touching space. But space touches us every day. On Celestial Bodies, journalist Rebecca Rand and astronomer Mark Popinchalk explore the ways outer space interacts with life on earth.

In Episode 1, hosts Rebecca Rand and Mark Popinchalk explore how, for millions of years, trees have been recording celestial events in space. Within the rings of their trunks, trees store radiation from solar flares, supernovae, and changes in the earth’s magnetic field. The hosts talk to Dr. Ben Pope to learn more about what we can discover by looking at radioactive molecules …

Smokejumper Obituary: Graves, Thomas Harry "Tom" (North Cascades 1949), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Sando, Rodney Wayne (Missoula 1965), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Selected Properties Of Underutilized Hardwood Species For Fabrication Of Cross-Laminated Timber Industrial Mats, Mercy Itunu Ogunruku

Theses and Dissertations

Softwood is more in demand than hardwood because it is used primarily in the US's largest wood-consuming industry, construction, resulting in increased importation of softwood annually to meet this demand. Hardwood, used for non-structural purposes like furniture and interior designs, is more abundant in US forests. However, some hardwood species are underutilized and undervalued. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) has increased the demand for softwood.

A study evaluated the mechanical and physical properties of three underutilized hardwood species (321 yellow poplar, 393 sweetgum, and 262 red oak specimens) for CLT industrial mat manufacturing. The results showed that red oak had a higher …

An Assessment Of Loblolly Pine (Pinus Taeda L.) Mortality And The Impact Of Habitat Fragmentation On Southern Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus Frontalis Zimmerman) Infestation In Mississippi, Usa, Damilola M. Taiwo

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis has two data chapters that consider factors affecting loblolly pine health in localized regions of Mississippi. The first data chapter investigated the abiotic and biotic factors contributing to loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) mortality on private timberland in Mississippi. This assessment considered temperature and precipitation variations, bark beetle populations, foliar and root pathogen tests, and drone survey. The results revealed that the loblolly pine mortality resulted from combination of factors. The second data chapter examined the impact of habitat fragmentation on southern pine beetle (SPB; Dendroctonus frontalis) infestation in Homochitto National Forest (HNF). This was assessed through remote sensing …

Insights Into The Challenges Posed By Climate Change And Land Competition To Brazil’S Midwest Pulpwood Market, Roberto Hajime Sant Anna Kimura

Theses and Dissertations

I investigated the effect of climate change in one of the few expanding markets in the world in Brazil. In the last decades the demand for pulpwood increased from zero to 11 million tons, leading to an expansion of 700 thousand hectares of Eucalyptus plantation. In 2024, a new mill will start operating increasing the consumption of wood fiber by 8.2 million tons (+49%). I used mathematical programming to investigate how different scenarios of productivity and land will affect the market. My results showed that around 946,000 hectares (+124%) of additional timberland will be necessary in the upcoming decades. The …

Heirs' Property Disputes On Forestlands, Partition Actions, And The Determinants Of Court Verdicts, Mahesh Prasad Tiwari

Theses and Dissertations

Heirs' property is generated through the intergenerational transfer of a property to several co-owners when the original owner dies without a will. Such co-owners hold undivided fractional interest in the entire land but lack a clear title. Co-owners face several legal, financial, and technical constraints to manage the forestlands and often seek partition of the land. However, the legal environment and empirical assessment of partition actions on forestlands owned as heirs' property has not been examined. This thesis evaluates statutory laws relevant to forestland partition and the factors instrumental in adjudicating partition lawsuits. The findings reveal that partition lawsuits are …

Postfire Effects And Regeneration Patterns In Araucaria-Nothofagus Forests In South-Central Chile, Paola A. Arroyo-Vargas

Dissertations and Theses

Fire regime shifts due to climate and land use changes are threatening ecosystems worldwide, affecting their capacity to recover after severe wildfires. Increase of fire frequency, severity and intensity may severely affect forest ecosystems whose fire regimes have been characterized by infrequent stand-replacing fires. The temperate forests of southern South America, specifically the Andean temperate forests dominated by the conifer Araucaria araucana and the angiosperm species from Nothofagus genus, have evolved with less fire pressure, where severe wildfires may happen after decades or centuries. Recent severe and short-interval fires exacerbated by warmer and drier climate conditions have affected these forests, …

Demographic History Shapes North American Gray Wolf Genomic Diversity And Informs Species' Conservation, Bridgett M. Vonholdt, Daniel R. Stahler, Kristin Brzeski, Marco Musiani, Rolf O. Peterson, Michael Phillips, John Stephenson, Kent Laudon, Erin Meredith, John Vucetich, Jennifer A. Leonard, Robert K. Wayne

Michigan Tech Publications

Effective population size estimates are critical information needed for evolutionary predictions and conservation decisions. This is particularly true for species with social factors that restrict access to breeding or experience repeated fluctuations in population size across generations. We investigated the genomic estimates of effective population size along with diversity, subdivision, and inbreeding from 162,109 minimally filtered and 81,595 statistically neutral and unlinked SNPs genotyped in 437 grey wolf samples from North America collected between 1986 and 2021. We found genetic structure across North America, represented by three distinct demographic histories of western, central, and eastern regions of the continent. Further, …

Assessment Of Soil Quality Index For Different Ndvi Ranges In A Watershed, Bülent Turgut, Sümeyye Güler

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of vegetation density on the soil quality index (SQI) in the Godrahav basin, which varies in terms of land use and topographic features. For this purpose, a total of 180 soil samples were taken at depths of 0–20 cm (surface soil) from six ranges of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in a typical watershed in Artvin (northeast Türkiye). The SQI was used to evaluate and calculate soil quality in the study area. Topographic features (elevation, slope, and aspect), land use, physical properties of the soil (clay content, silt content, …

Energy Crop Yield Simulation And Prediction System Based On Machinelearning Algorithm, Jie Zhang, Zhidong Liu

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The yield of energy crops has been widely questioned by the public, but few researchers have analyzed the yield prediction of these crops, which has greatly limited their distribution and use. Based on this, in this study, a machine learning algorithm was used to design an energy crop yield simulation and prediction system, and this system was used to analyze the yields of four common energy crops. First the factors that affect the yield of energy crops are discussed, and then, the analysis of the machine learning algorithm and its application in the yield prediction of energy crops is presented, …

Exploration Of Agricultural Iot Breeding Tracking Based On A Saliency Visual Targettracking Algorithm, Fuzhi Wang, Changlin Song, Daijun Jiang

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a development trend in modern industry and life. It can not only reduce the cost of industry and agriculture, but also improve the quality of products and the quality of people’s lives. Therefore, IoT breeding is the embodiment of modern intelligent agriculture. For example, in the estrus detection of beef cattle, the quality of video images when tracking beef cattle is reduced due to changes in external climate conditions and the difference between daytime and nighttime illumination. This paper introduces a visual target tracking algorithm based on saliency, so that it has better applicability …

Antioxidants, Enzyme Inhibitory Activities, And Phytochemical Profiles Of Sevenmedicinal Plants Grown With Organic Farming Techniques, Murat Zor, Burçi̇n Özüpek, Sultan Pekacar, Di̇dem Deli̇orman Orhan

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

In this study, the potential antihyperlipidemic, antidiabetic, and antiobesity effects of extracts obtained via infusion techniques from Artemisia absinthium L., Achillea millefolium L., Calendula officinalis L., Fumaria officinalis L., Mentha piperita L., Origanum onites L., and Urtica dioica L. grown with organic farming techniques were investigated using enzyme inhibition methods (α-glucosidase, pancreatic cholesterol esterase, pancreatic lipase, and α-amylase). It is important that natural compounds or extracts to be used in the treatment of metabolic problems have antioxidant effects. The antioxidant effects of these species were tested in terms of ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activity, ferric reducing power, and metal …