Forest Biology Commons^™

Fuel Treatment Effectiveness In The United States, Mark A. Cochrane, Michael C. Wimberly, Jeffrey C. Eidenshink, Zhi-Liang Zhu, Don Ohlen, Mark Finney, Matt Reeves

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The fire situation in the United States is well documented with a growing prevalence of larger and more intense fires that have increasingly severe consequences for affected ecosystems and human health and well being. Increasingly, fuels management has been put forth and implemented as part of an integral strategy for limiting extreme fire behavior, reducing the area affected by wildfire and minimizing the economic and ecological costs of fires. Communities and land management agencies are now treating millions of acres of wildland fuels annually and an ever-increasing number of wildfires are burning treated lands. Although the scientific premises of various …

Historic Fire Frequency In Mountain Big Sagebrush Communities Of The Eastern Great Basin And Colorado Plateau: A Comparison Of Estimates Based Upon Proxy Fire Scar Records And Predictions Derived From Post-Fire Succession Rates, Stanley G. Kitchen, Peter J. Weisberg

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Knowledge of past fire regimes associated with mountain big sagebrush-dominated landscapes is inadequate for scientifically-based land management that requires assessment of departures from historic conditions. Widely utilized estimates of fire frequency for sagebrush ecosystems are largely based upon few studies using fire-scarred proxy trees positioned at the forest/shrubland ecotone. These studies, all conducted in the northern half of the species distribution, generally fail to adequately address questions of fire behavior across the fuels threshold at the forest/woodland-shrubland ecotone. Alternatively, post-fire rates of succession have been used to suggest fire frequencies compatible with big sagebrush recovery. Minimum and maximum fire-free intervals …

Impacts Of Repeated Wildfire On Vegetation In The Southern Appalachian Mountains, Thomas A. Waldrop, Donald L. Hagan, Matthew Reilly

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The infrequent occurrence of large wildfires in the southern Appalachian Mountains over the last several decades has offered few opportunities to study the impacts of these types of disturbances. As a result, relatively little is known about how heterogeneity in topography, vegetation, and recent disturbance history interact to influence patterns of fire severity across the landscape. Since 2000, five separate wildfires burned a large portion of the area in, and surrounding the Linville Gorge Wilderness in western North Carolina, two burned the same area a second time. Burn severity and vegetative recovery were measured in 152 plots established in 1992 …

Oaks For Nebraska, Justin R. Evertson

Nebraska Statewide Arboretum: Publications

R = belongs to red oak group—acorns mature over two seasons & leaves typically have pointed lobes.
W = belongs to white oak group— acorns mature in one season & leaves typically have rounded lobes.

Estimated size range is height x spread for trees growing in eastern Nebraska.

A few places to see oaks: Indian Cave State Park; Krumme Arboretum in Falls City; Peru State College; Fontenelle Nature Center in Bellevue; Elmwood Park in Omaha; Wayne Park in Waverly; University of Nebraska Lincoln; Lincoln Regional Center Arboretum; Ehman Park in Gothenburg; Highland Park in Hastings; UNL Extension Center & Cody …

Timber Talk, Vol. 51, No. 2, June 1, 2013

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Lumber Market News; Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Green; Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Kiln Dried; Nebraska Timber Industry 2009; Global Timber and Wood Products Market Update; Drying Methods For Small Operators; Nebraska Forestry Spotlight; The Trading Post; Timber Sales.

Five Year Carbon Storage Analysis In The Gordon Natural Area, Joy Fritschle, Chad Hudson, Catherine Spahr, Andy Tamez

Forest Carbon Storage Study Documents

The Gordon Natural Area (GNA) serves as a natural laboratory for a range of class research projects. In a Geography Field Methods course led by Dr. Fritschle, students established five permanent carbon-study plots in 2008. Since then, students have returned to these plots to measure the carbon stock of standing trees in five plots located along a topographic gradient: floodplain, ridge-top, lower mid-slope, mid-slope and upper mid-slope. Using U.S. Forest Service established guidelines, all trees greater than 5 cm and up to 73 cm in diameter at breast height (DBH) were measured and identified within each 40 m circular plot. …

Shagbark Hickory (Carya Ovata) Status At The Gordon Natural Area, Carl Cummins, Greg Turner

Shagbark Hickory Distribution Study Documents

No abstract provided.

Geo402/585: Field Methods; Labs 4-5 Gordon Natural Area Carbon Stock Pilot Study, Joy Fritschle

Gordon Natural Area-related Curricula Documents

No abstract provided.

Distribution Of Soil Density At A Bottomland Hardwood Forest Wetland Restoration, Chicot County, Arkansas, B. E. Sleeper, Robert L. Ficklin

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Bottomland hardwood forest (BLHF) soils provide a myriad of ecosystem services, yet much information is lacking with respect to how soil physical properties influence biogeochemical cycling along topographic gradients. Current patterns of vegetation at a 149ha wetland restoration site in Chicot County, Arkansas, suggest the presence of ecologically significant variation in soil properties within the Perry Clay soil series. A study was initiated in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV) to map soil bulk density and texture as well as to identify the interrelationships between soil physical properties, soil organic carbon, and total nitrogen. A random grid was used to …

Geo 585 Final Project: A Study In The Gordon Natural Area, James Gregory, Tim Snow, Matt Long

Gordon Natural Area Biodiversity Studies Documents

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Streamside Management Zone Timber Harvest On Salamander Communities In Robinson Forest, Thomas Maigret

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

Salamanders are critical components of forest ecosystems, in terms of total biomass, as well as for their value as indicators of ecosystem stress. Considering the worldwide decline in amphibian populations, the known effects of timber harvest on salamander populations, and the importance of the forest products industry in Kentucky and elsewhere, the impacts of silvicultural operations on salamander communities cannot be overlooked. The objective was to investigate the effects of three different silvicultural treatments, each involving different streamside management zone (SMZ) characteristics, on salamander communities in ephemeral streams. Data were collected by regular checks of pitfall traps, coverboards, and transect …

Deriving Biomass Models For Small-Diameter Loblolly Pine On The Crossett Experimental Forest, K. M. Mcelligot, Don C. Bragg

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Foresters and landowners have a growing interest in carbon sequestration and cellulosic biofuels in southern pine forests, and hence need to be able to accurately predict them. To this end, we derived a set of aboveground biomass models using data from 62 small-diameter loblolly pines (Pinus taeda) sampled on the Crossett Experimental Forest in southeastern Arkansas. Of the 25 equations initially evaluated, we chose 17 that best fit our dataset and compared them using a suite of conventional test statistics, including pseudo-R2 , root mean squared error (RMSE), and bias. Because most of the 17 models varied little in pseudoR …

Relationship Between Land-Use And Water Quality In Spring-Fed Streams Of The Ozark National Forest, A. Smartt, S. Ganguly, M. A. Evans-White, B. E. Haggard

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Spring-fed streams are abundant in karst topographic regions such as the Ozarks, providing an important and valuable water resource. Many of these spring-fed streams presently receive agriculture runoff, but few studies have examined the impacts of this runoff on water quality. We examined water quality in Ozark spring-fed streams surrounded by either agricultural (N=3) or primarily forested land (N=3) in the riparian zone. We hypothesized that agricultural sites would have greater dissolved nutrient concentrations and conductivity than forested sites and that water quality would fluctuate with distance from the spring source. Conductivity (p

Comparing Aboveground Biomass Predictions For An Uneven-Aged Pine-Dominated Stand Using Local, Regional, And National Models, Don C. Bragg, K. M. Mcelligott

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Sequestration by Arkansas forests removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, storing this carbon in biomass that fills a number of critical ecological and socioeconomic functions. We need a better understanding of the contribution of forests to the carbon cycle, including the accurate quantification of tree biomass. Models have long been developed to predict aboveground live tree biomass, but few of these have been derived from Arkansas forests. Since there is geographic variability in the growth and yield of pine as a function of genetics, site conditions, growth rate, stand stocking, and other factors, we decided to compare aboveground tree biomass …

Factors Influencing The Establishment And Survival Of Native Hardwood Tree Seedlings Of The Kentucky Inner Bluegrass Blue Ash-Oak Savanna-Woodland, James D. Shaffer

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Historically, the Kentucky Inner Bluegrass blue ash-oak savanna-woodland was the primary ecosystem of the Inner Bluegrass Region (IBR) of Kentucky. After European settlement, the majority (>99%) of Bluegrass savanna was converted to agricultural and urban land uses. Currently remnant savanna tree species are failing to recruit. Therefore, a long-term restoration ecology project researching competition and disturbance on seedling establishment, survival, and growth has been established at Griffith Woods (the largest remaining savanna in Kentucky) in Harrison Co., KY. Fourteen native hardwood tree species (a total of 6,168 seedlings) have been experimentally planted. Light, soil, surrounding vegetation, and herbivory, factors …

Carbon Storage And Sequestration By Trees In Urban And Community Areas Of The United States, David J. Nowak, Eric J. Greenfield, Robert E. Hoehn, Elizabeth Lapoint

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

Carbon storage and sequestration by urban trees in the United States was quantified to assess the magnitude and role of urban forests in relation to climate change. Urban tree field data from 28 cities and 6 states were used to determine the average carbon density per unit of tree cover. These data were applied to statewide urban tree cover measurements to determine total urban forest carbon storage and annual sequestration by state and nationally. Urban whole tree carbon storage densities average 7.69 kg C m^‒2 of tree cover and sequestration densities average 0.28 kg C m^‒2 of tree …

Evaluating Population Connectivity For Species Of Conservation Concern In The American Great Plains, Samuel A. Cushman, Erin L. Landguth, Curtis H. Flather

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

Habitat loss and fragmentation are widely recognized as among the most important threats to global biodiversity. New analytical approaches are providing an improved ability to predict the effects of landscape change on population connectivity at vast spatial extents. This paper presents an analysis of population connectivity for three species of conservation concern [swift fox (Vulpes velox); lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus); massasuaga (Sistrurus catenatus)] across the American Great Plains region. We used factorial least-cost path and resistant kernel analyses to predict effects of landscape conditions on corridor network connectivity. Our predictions of population connectivity provide …

Forest Recovery Patterns In Response To Divergent Disturbance Regimes In The Border Lakes Region Of Minnesota (Usa) And Ontario (Canada), Brian R. Sturtevant, Brian R. Miranda, Peter T. Wolter, Patrick M.A. James, Marie-Josée Fortin, Philip A. Townsend

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

The persistence of landscape-scale disturbance legacies in forested ecosystems depends in part on the nature and strength of feedback among disturbances, their effects, and subsequent recovery processes such as tree regeneration and canopy closure. We investigated factors affecting forest recovery rates over a 25-year time period in a large (6 million ha) landscape where geopolitical boundaries have resulted in important land management legacies (managed forests of Minnesota, USA; managed forests of Ontario, Canada; and a large unmanaged wilderness). Stand-replacing disturbance regimes were quantified across management zones, both inside and outside a central ecoregion, using a time series of classified land …

A Wildfire Risk Assessment Framework For Land And Resource Management, Joe H. Scott, Matthew P. Thompson, David E. Calkin

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

Wildfires can result in significant, long-lasting impacts to ecological, social, and economic systems. It is necessary, therefore, to identify and understand the risks posed by wildland fire, and to develop cost-effective mitigation strategies accordingly. This report presents a general framework with which to assess wildfire risk and explore mitigation options, and illustrates a process for implementing the framework. Two key strengths of the framework are its flexibility— allowing for a multitude of data sources, modeling techniques, and approaches to measuring risk—and its scalability, with potential application for project, forest, regional, and national planning. The specific risk assessment process we introduce …

Integrating Biodiversity And Drinking Water Protection Goals Through Geographic Analysis, James D. Wickham, Curtis H. Flather

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

Aim Biodiversity and drinking water share a common interest in land conservation. Our objective was to identify where that common interest occurs geographically to inform conservation planning.

Location The study focused on 2112 eight-digit hydrologic units (watersheds) occurring in the conterminous United States.

Methods Data on aquatic-dependent species occurrence, drinking water intakes, protected land status and land cover change were compiled for each watershed. We compared these four datasets after defining ‘hotspots’ based on attribute-specific thresholds that included (1) the 90th percentile of at-risk aquatic biodiversity, (2) with and without drinking water intakes, (3) above and below the median percentage …

Wildlife Population And Harvest Trends In The United States A Technical Document Supporting The Forest Service 2010 Rpa Assessment, Curtis H. Flather, Michael S. Knowles, Martin F. Jones, Carol Schilli

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

The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) of 1974 requires periodic assessments of the condition and trends of the nation’s renewable natural resources. Data from many sources were used to document recent historical trends in big game, small game, migratory game birds, furbearers, nongame, and imperiled species. Big game and waterfowl have generally increased in population and harvest trends. Many small upland and webless migratory game bird species have declined notably in population or harvest. Considerable declines in fur harvest since the 2000 RPA Assessment have occurred. Among the 426 breeding bird species with sufficient data to estimate …

The Influence Of Vertical And Horizontal Habitat Structure On Nationwide Patterns Of Avian Biodiversity, Patrick D. Culbert, Volker C. Radeloff, Curtis H. Flather, Josef M. Kellndorfer, Chadwick D. Rittenhouse, Anna M. Pidgeon

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

With limited resources for habitat conservation, the accurate identification of high-value avian habitat is crucial. Habitat structure affects avian biodiversity but is difficult to quantify over broad extents. Our goal was to identify which measures of vertical and horizontal habitat structure are most strongly related to patterns of avian biodiversity across the conterminous United States and to determine whether new measures of vertical structure are complementary to existing, primarily horizontal, measures. For 2,546 North American Breeding Bird Survey routes across the conterminous United States, we calculated canopy height and biomass from the National Biomass and Carbon Dataset (NBCD) as measures …

Keeping It Wild: Mapping Wilderness Character In The United States, Steve Carver, James Tricker, Peter Landres

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

A GIS-based approach is developed to identify the state of wilderness character in US wilderness areas using Death Valley National Park (DEVA) as a case study. A set of indicators and measures are identified by DEVA staff and used as the basis for developing a flexible and broadly applicable framework to map wilderness character using data inputs selected by park staff. Spatial data and GIS methods are used to map the condition of four qualities of wilderness character: natural, untrammelled, undeveloped, and solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation. These four qualities are derived from the US 1964 Wilderness Act and …

Pine As Fast Food: Foraging Ecology Of An Endangered Cockatoo In A Forestry Landscape, William Stock, Hugh Finn, Jackson Parker, Ken Dods

Research outputs 2013

Pine plantations near Perth, Western Australia have provided an important food source for endangered Carnaby’s Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) since the 1940s. Plans to harvest these plantations without re-planting will remove this food source by 2031 or earlier. To assess the impact of pine removal, we studied the ecological association between Carnaby’s Cockatoos and pine using behavioural, nutritional, and phenological data. Pine plantations provided high densities of seed (158 025 seeds ha21) over a large area (c. 15 000 ha). Carnaby’s Cockatoos fed throughout these plantations and removed almost the entire annual crop of pine cones. Peak cockatoo abundance coincided with …

Food Resource Availability For Carnaby's Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus Latirostris On The Swan Coast Plain, Teagan Johnston

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

To achieve a balance between sustainable development and conservation of threatened species, management depends on understanding the predicted response and interaction of that species with their environment in order to develop appropriate mitigating solutions. The Carnaby’s cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris is declining across much of its range due to the detrimental effect of habitat degradation and loss. Since the decline of food resource availability in non-breeding areas is believed to be contributing to the reduction in the number of Carnaby’s cockatoos knowledge of the birds’ foraging ecology and the influence of external factors on food resource availability is essential for effective …