Other Forestry and Forest Sciences Commons^™

Comparative Analysis Of Vermicomposting Practices Utilizing Agroforestry Farm Materials, Theresa Nemesis P. Ocampo Maria, Armie Janica R. Pleto Ma., Reden D. Macalagay, Wilfredo O. Banasihan

The Philippine Agricultural Scientist

Vermicomposting is an effective and eco-friendly method of converting biodegradable materials into fertilizers that promote plant growth and development. This study aimed to assess the efficiency and quality of vermicompost and vermiworms produced using combinations of biodegradable farm materials in agroforestry systems. The materials used for the 6 treatments included combinations of the following materials: fresh leaves of leguminous plants (Gliricidia sepium, Flemingia macrophylla, and Senna spectabilis), fresh cattle manure, and other plant materials (rice straw and banana trunk). Using a 90:10 ratio of plant residues and cattle manure, respectively, a substrate of 100 kg was prepared for each treatment …

Periodic Evaluations Indicate Increased Effectiveness Of Oregon Master Woodland Manager Volunteer Program, Alicia Christiansen, Lauren Grand, Norma Kline, Tiffany Hopkins

Journal of Extension

The Oregon State University Extension Service Master Woodland Manager (MWM) volunteer program trains landowners in core forestry and natural resource topics. Landowners participate in the MWM program to increase their forest management knowledge, improve their own management practices, and prepare them to volunteer in their community (Bowers, 2000). We surveyed MWM volunteers to understand the effectiveness of the program and what barriers exist to volunteering. Volunteers find the program to be increasingly adequate for personal management and answering questions, but time continues to be the biggest barrier for completing required volunteer hours.

Enumerating Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) Concentrations And Evaluating Optical Brighteners As A Potential Indicator Of Human Wastewater Contamination In La Nana Bayou, Banita Creek, And Their Tributaries, Nacogdoches, Texas, Swastika Acharya, Matthew Mcbroom, Yuhui Weng, Yanli Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

La Nana Bayou was added to the Texas 303(d) list in 2000 after it failed to meet water quality standards set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for primary contact recreation due to elevated Escherichia coli (E. coli) levels. E. coli is a bacterial species commonly found in the intestines of humans and warm-blooded animals. It serves as an indicator of fecal contamination in freshwater, though its presence alone cannot identify the contamination source. Optical brighteners (OBs), chemicals found in laundry detergents, cleaning agents, toilet papers, and clothing, are unique to human wastewater. This study aimed …

An Evaluation Of Key Components Of Natural Resource Camps, Undergraduate Persistence And Success In Natural Resources, Brandy Bishop

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the key components that connect natural resource camps, undergraduate persistence, and overall success through gainful employment within the natural resource industry. The aim of this study was to assess early interest and attitudes towards natural resource career pathways and how education interventions shape students’ career outcomes thus leading to overall success. A longitudinal mixed method design was used combining Conservation Careers Camp survey data (n = 39) with institutional records for Forestry majors (n =655) in the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus. Quantitative data was analyzed through …

Stand Strucuture Of Planted Stands In Storm-Water Retention Basins, Jason Lanza

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Trees assist in stormwater retention basin functionality as efficient sources of water removal, and determining stand structure and leaf area of forests can be a measure of their effectiveness. The structure of forest stands on these basins managed for runoff mitigation has received little attention. We investigated the structure and species composition/diversity (tree and herbaceous) of planted, managed stands and naturally regenerated stands on stormwater retention basins managed by Harris County Flood Control District in Harris County, Texas. We determined stand structure variables (trees per hectare, basal area per hectare, quadratic mean diameter, relative density, average tree height, and percent …

Is There A More Effective Design For Quadrat To Increase Ease Of Use And Vegetation Density?, Scott M. Burke Jr., Kristen M Bellisario

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

Quadrats are a special tool in the ecology field that allows the measurement of vegetation density for further data analysis of a habitat. The larger the quadrat cross-sectional area, the better the results of the data, which in turn can make the quadrat hard to carry through field sites. In wildlife corridor research, quadrat surveys provide a quantitative metric for habitat suitability. In this work, we consider the efficiency and ease-of-use benefits for field work in the design of a collapsible version of a quadrat using a House of Quality (standard metric for new design requirements) to assess the customer …

Limited Soil Water Recharge In Summer Affects Seasonal Isotopic Signatures Of Tree Xylem Water, Marius G. Floriancic, Gregory R. Goldsmith, Harsh Beria, Scott T. Allen, James W. Kirchner

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Recent studies have reported that xylem waters in forest trees during the summer growing season are often isotopically similar to winter, rather than summer, precipitation. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this observation, which can be viewed as a form of ecohydrological separation, but empirical tests spanning space and time remain limited. We hypothesise that variations in the seasonal origin of precipitation found in tree xylem waters can be explained by seasonal differences in soil water recharge. We test this hypothesis by evaluating to what extent climatic aridity can explain seasonal signals in extensive surveys of the isotope ratios …

Integrating Belowground Recovery Into Tropical Forest Restoration Design And Monitoring, Lauren Toro, Leland K. Werden, Shalom D. Addo-Danso, Kelly M. Andersen, Sarah Batterman, Matilde M. Bragadini, Pooja Choksi, Rebecca J. Cole, Liza S. Comita, Daniela Cusack, Daisy H. Dent, Lee H. Dietterich, Joshua B. Fisher, Katrin Fleischer, Lucia Fuchslueger, Nohemi Huanca-Nunez, Janey R. Lienau, Lindsay A. Mcculloch, Ember M. Morrissey, Jennifer S. Powers, Mareli Sánchez-Juliá, Oscar Valverde-Barrantes, Anita Weissflog, Michelle Y. Wong

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

There is growing recognition that tropical forest restoration is key for sequestering carbon and enhancing ecosystem resilience. Soils, roots, and soil biota are central to ecosystem function and services, but belowground recovery is largely overlooked in restoration monitoring frameworks. Here, we outline current understanding of the links between above- and belowground recovery in tropical forests by examining how belowground properties before and after intervention influence recovery; by evaluating whether aboveground recovery can serve as a proxy for belowground dynamics; and by proposing a blueprint for monitoring dynamic soil physical (bulk density, aggregate stability), chemical (organic matter or carbon, pH), and …

Assessment Of Spatial Autocorrelation And Scalability In Fine-Scale Wildfire Random Forest Prediction Models, Madeleine Pascolini-Campbell, Joshua B. Fisher, Kerry Cawse-Nicholson, Christine M. Lee, Natasha Stavros

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Wildfire prediction models that can be applied across diverse regions at fine scales (<  100 m) are critical for wildfire management. Remote sensing offers a path forward by providing heterogeneous and dynamic measurements of fuel load, type, and flammability. Machine learning methods such as random forests provide an empirical framework that are high-accuracy, computationally efficient, interpretable and able to model complex ecological relationships. Here we use high resolution (70 m, every 3–5 days) remote sensing observations of evapotranspiration and evaporative stress index, which represent plant water stress, from Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer on Space Station (ECOSTRESS), as well as topography and weather data, to predict burn severity and occurrence for 8 large wildfires that burned 3715 km² from 2021 and 2022 in New Mexico, USA. These fires ranged from low to high burn intensity, and covered a diverse range of ecoregions (deserts, grasslands, forests), plant species, and topographies. We used a single model to predict the burn severity of all wildfires one week before occurrence. The prediction accuracy was greatest when using all predictors (ECOSTRESS, weather, topography) (R² = 0.77). We assessed the role of spatial autocorrelation in driving model performance by: (1) increasing the sample spacing of our dataset, (2) …

Assessing The Influence Of Afforestation On Soil Quality And Soil Organic Carbon: A Case Study In Rashaya District, Lebanon, Mohammad Saleh, Wael Mostafa, Safaa Baydoun, Hisham Salman, Jamilah Borjac

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

Afforestation is a promising strategy for improving soil quality and enhancing carbon sequestration, contributing to climate change mitigation efforts. This study assessed the impact of afforestation on soil parameters in two afforested areas and one natural forest, compared with adjacent non-forested sites in Rashaya al-Wadi, Lebanon. Soil samples (0–30 cm depth) were analyzed for texture, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), soil organic matter (SOM), soil organic carbon (SOC), organic nitrogen (ON), mineral nitrogen (MN), and available phosphorus (AP) using ISO and standardized protocols at the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI). The findings indicate that afforestation significantly increased SOM, SOC, and ON, …

Covered In Snow, Katelynn M. Rogers

Masters Theses

Covered in Snow is a photographic exploration into the ripple effect of maternal loss and environmental decay in my hometown of Canton, Ohio. In the wake of a miscarriage, the woods I had grown up within began calling to me, urging me to return. Unbeknownst to me, a series of accidental deaths of women had been happening throughout these trees my entire life, their stories only coming to the surface as I looked to the trees for solace. This series of inexplicable deaths in the woods I so desperately loved began to alter my relationship to the trees, a distrust …

The State Of Municipal Scale Highest Use Urban Wood Reclamation Projects, Bradley C. Almond

Graduate Liberal Studies Theses and Dissertations

Millions of urban trees are downed annually for various reasons, such as storms, disease, or development. We are all witnesses to the loss of trees as we see the piles of woody waste assembled on the curbside, ready for public works pickup. Today, most urban wood waste ends up in landfills, mulching/chipping facilities, or firewood production. Each of these alternatives results in the release of sequestered carbon back into the atmosphere.

The initial research led to successful diversion from landfills to mulch and firewood operations. Then, the research shifted to converting urban wood waste for its best use, which outlined …

Climate Constrains The Enhancement Of Co2 Fertilization On Forest Gross Primary Productivity, Xinyuan Wei, Daniel J. Hayes, Christopher R. Schwalm, Joshua B. Fisher, Deborah N. Huntzinger, Lei Ma, Rodrigo Vargas, Nathaniel A. Brunsell

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Forest gross primary production (GPP) is influenced by the interplay between climate conditions and atmospheric CO₂ levels, which interact in complex ways, generating both compensating and amplifying effects. In this study, eddy covariance flux measurements from 50 forest ecosystems were integrated with simulations from 14 terrestrial biosphere models to investigate how climate conditions and atmospheric CO₂ concentrations regulate forest GPP. This approach bridges site-level observations with biome-scale model estimates to develop a global understanding. Our findings suggest that in boreal and cold temperate regions, temperature primarily constrains the enhancement of the CO₂ fertilization on forest GPP; however, …

Monitoring Mangrove Dynamics And Evaluating Future Afforestation Potential In The Egyptian Red Sea, Rasha M. Abou Samra, Mansour Almazroui, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Mangrove forests are vital for ecosystem services and coastal management but face stressors from anthropogenic activities and climate change. This study estimates the extent and afforestation potential of mangroves along the Egyptian Red Sea coast from 1984 to 2022 using NDVI derived from Landsat-5 and Sentinel-2 data in Google Earth Engine. Aboveground biomass (AGB), belowground biomass (BGB), carbon (C) stock, and CO₂ sequestration potential were evaluated using Sentinel-2 and elevation data. Future afforestation suitability (2020–2050) under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios was assessed with the MaxEnt model. Mangrove area increased from 0.95 km² in 1984 to 1.46 km^{2 …}

Soil-Based Emissions And Context-Specific Climate Change Planning To Support The United Nations (Un) Sustainable Development Goal (Sdg) On Climate Action: A Case Study Of Georgia (Usa), Davis G. Nelson

All Theses

Soil-based emissions from land conversions are often overlooked in climate planning. The objectives of this study were to use quantitative data on soil-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the state of Georgia (GA) (USA) to examine context-specific (temporal, biophysical, economic, and social) climate planning and legal options to deal with these emissions. Currently, 30% of the land in GA has experienced anthropogenic land degradation (LD) primarily due to agriculture (64%). All seven soil orders were subject to various degrees of anthropogenic LD. Increases in overall LD between 2001 and 2021 indicate a lack of land degradation neutrality (LDN) in GA. …

Forest Above-Ground Biomass Estimation Using Nasa Gedi Lidar Waveforms And Global Tree Allometry, Ian Grant

Theses and Dissertations

Above-ground forest biomass plays a crucial role in global carbon cycles, yet accurately estimating biomass at global scales remains challenging. This thesis addresses two key challenges in processing NASA’s Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) space-borne lidar data to estimate above-ground biomass density (AGBD): accounting for global variation in forest structure and developing robust physical interpretations of lidar returns. The first component of the thesis analyzes global patterns of tree allometry using the Tallo tree allometry dataset, examining relationships between tree dimensions across biomes, continents, and plant functional types. This analysis reveals consistent allometry across continents for some biomes (e.g., tropical …

Coffee Farmgate Price And Post-Harvest Processing In Honduras., Isaac Desouza

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Volatile commodity markets and changing climate expose coffee farmers to price and production risk. Proponents recommend specialty coffee as a strategy to combat price risk, because its unique attributes differentiate it from commodity coffee. Extrinsic and intrinsic attributes define specialty coffee and affect prices at many levels of the supply chain. Despite much work on extrinsic attributes, little is known about how intrinsic attributes relate to farmgate price. Post-harvest processing is itself an intrinsic trait and driver of coffee quality. In 2024 we surveyed 261 coffee farmers from La Paz, Honduras, to uncover relationships between capital, post-harvest processing, and farmgate …

Initial Fungal Decomposer Community Determines Wood-Derived Carbon In Discrete Soil Carbon Pools In Aspen Clearcuts, Theresa K. Meyer

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Soil carbon storage can be affected by forest management activities that alter the amount of biomass at a site, including slash retention and salvage harvesting. Initial fungal colonization of retained biomass may affect soil carbon storage due to differences in fungal decomposition strategies. To examine the effect of wood addition on wood-derived soil carbon storage and the interaction between initial fungal decomposer communities and wood application depth, δ¹³C modified wood inoculated with white- or brown-rot fungi was applied to soils across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Wood-derived carbon was assessed after 3.5 years in bulk soil samples and in three …

Modelling The Hydrologic Impact Of Land Cover On Stormwater Detention Basins In Harris County, Tx, Kabita Sapkota

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Harris County on the upper Gulf Coast in Southeast Texas is susceptible to both riverine and coastal flooding due to intense, short-duration thunderstorms, slow-moving frontal systems, and tropical hurricanes. Low-lying terrain, clay soils with poor drainage, high annual rainfall, and a widespread network of bayous and streams all contribute to frequent flooding. To reduce the impacts of urbanization and the loss of surface storage, the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) built detention basins throughout the county to temporarily store stormwater runoff and release it slowly, lowering peak flows and preventing downstream flooding and erosion. These basins vary in land …

Collaborative Wildfire Governance Within The Southwest Idaho Wildfire Crisis Strategy Landscape: Survey Results 2025, Mahmood Muttaqee, Cody R. Evers, Lindsay K. Campbell, Max Nielsen-Pincus, Olivia Awbrey, Kathryn Hixson, Michelle Johnson, Erika Svendsen

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Collaboration plays a critical role in wildfire risk mitigation efforts. This study examines collaborative wildfire governance networks within Southwest Idaho, a priority landscape designated in 2022 under the USDA Forest Service's Wildfire Crisis Strategy (WCS). Through survey data from 64 respondents, the Fueling Adaptation study aimed to identify the structure, capacity, and gaps in governance networks addressing wildfire risk in Southwest Idaho and understand how WCS investments have influenced wildfire management in the area. The findings reveal a growing governance network centered on the USDA Forest Service and the Idaho Department of Lands and supported by numerous non-governmental organizations and …

Dam It All: A Multi-Scalar Investigation Into The Ecological Role And Function Of Beaver Dams, Kenneth Larsen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The central theme of this dissertation is ecological scaling, which examines how small, localized features, such as beaver ponds, contribute to large-scale watershed processes and how different modeling approaches at various scales reveal distinct insights. Through a combination of probabilistic modeling and high-resolution empirical research, this work demonstrates that small ponded systems, particularly those created by beavers (Castor canadensis), serve as critical biogeochemical control points, whose contributions to sediment and nutrient dynamics have been historically underestimated.

In Chapter 1, I contextualize this research within the broader fields of freshwater ecology, watershed modeling, and ecological restoration. I introduce the …

Assessing The Potential For Bigleaf Maple Syrup Production In Humboldt County, Ca, David A. Reinhart, Juan A. Ramos-Cool, Liam H. Richardson

Undergraduate Scholarship

The bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum, Pursh) is the largest maple of the Pacific Northwest. While it has generally been treated as a nuisance in timber harvesting operations, a small amount of research has been conducted on its sugaring ability in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. This research has yet to reach further south in the species' range. This study aims to help a California landowner understand which maple trees on his property produce the most maple sap, to gauge what environmental factors contribute to maple sap production, and to find greater implications for the production of maple sap …

Modeling Neighborhoods As Fuel For Wildfire, Bryce Alan Young

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wildfire models drive billions of dollars in risk mitigation efforts. However, the modeling community currently lacks a representative fuelscape on which to base simulations of fire spread in the built environment and the wildland-urban interface (WUI) where vegetation and structures act together as fuel for wildfire. This thesis advances wildfire risk modeling by addressing the underdeveloped representation of the built environment in existing frameworks. By identifying inconsistencies in how structure and defensible space features are defined and used across empirical studies, predictive indices, and fire spread models, this research lays the groundwork for standardized modeling approaches and feature selection (Chapter …

Bridging The Gap Between Plot-Level And Landscape-Scale Analysis For Wildfire Risk Assessment, Vanessa Leigh Niemczyk

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Remote sensing technology has advanced greatly over the past couple of decades proving its ability to aid in wildfire risk assessment and improve our understanding of forest structure and fuel inventory across the landscape. While some aerial and satellite sensors perform better than others, they all have a common weakness, their reduced ability to capture understory fuels with high detail. Terrestrial laser scanning is an emerging solution due to its understory perspective. This research leverages the beneficial aspects of both terrestrial laser scanning and various aerial- or satellite-based remote sensing platforms (aerial laser scanning, digital aerial photogrammetry, and Sentinel-2) to …

Tree Crown Economics Of Broadleaf Deciduous Forests, Yiting Fan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Tree crown architecture, a critical determinant of forest ecosystem processes such as photosynthesis, evapotranspiration, and spectral reflectance, is shaped by adaptive trade-offs in resource use and environmental responses. However, significant gaps remain in our understanding of how these traits vary across species, environmental gradients, and temporal scales. This dissertation addresses these gaps by employing remote sensing data across three interconnected studies. Together, these studies advance tree crown economic theory, highlighting how crown traits mediate trade-offs between light capture and water-use efficiency and how these traits influence forest responses to global change. Collectively, this dissertation offer insights for improving models that …

Machine Learning And Uass For Managing Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus Umbellata) On Reclaimed Surface Mines, Sean Michael Keane

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research introduces an innovative approach for managing autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) on reclaimed surface mines through the integration of machine learning algorithms and unmanned aerial systems. The proliferation of autumn olive presents significant ecological challenges on disturbed landscapes, necessitating more efficient detection and control methods. This study evaluated Random Forest classification and deep learning approaches using the U-Net architecture for identifying autumn olive across four phenological stages using high-resolution imagery. The RGB U-Net model achieved F1-scores of 0.927, 0.912, and 0.871 for autumn olive detection during peak, late, and senescence stages respectively, outperforming both multispectral and vegetation …

Investigating Dimensions Of Social Vulnerability To Wildfire: A Case Study Of Western Montana, Ella Brodowski

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Communities across the US are facing increased wildfire risks due in part to historic fire suppression efforts, a warming climate, and an influx of people residing in wildland urban interface (WUI) landscapes. Because of these increasing risks, there have been growing concerns about the social factors that can increase individual and community vulnerability to wildfires. This research adds to the discussion of social vulnerability by examining how people living in a geographic area with heightened wildfire risk think about the ways in which people can be more or less vulnerable to wildfires. Using semi-structured interviews, round table discussions, and field …

Mangroves: A Lesson On Modeling Changing Shorelines, Willa Skye

ENGS 15.11: Design and Education

This lesson is an overview of storm barriers, specifically mangroves and how they maintain shorelines. It is meant to offer a visual experience of coastline protection and provide a background for deeper understanding about intertidal zones and their conservation. Students will spend time creating a solution to a flooding problem by making a mock coast and storm barrier. To wrap-up the lesson, students will pair up, then reflect on their model and then individually write or draw their takeaways.

Synergetic Effect Of Cellulose And Chitosan Polymers In Cancer Treatment, Grace Peterson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research explores the development of a biocompatible, natural drug delivery system designed for targeted cancer therapy. Lung cancer cells are used in these particular tests, but further research indicates treatment could be used for various cancer types. Traditional cancer treatments like chemotherapy are often limited by poor selectivity for tumor cells, causing significant damage to healthy tissues. The study proposes a dual-layered delivery system, utilizing Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC) as the core material and a charge-reversible chitosan shell to encapsulate and target cancer drugs. CMC, with its water solubility and ability to form stable gels, serves as a stable drug …

Modeling Forest Stewardship In Goukdi’N: An Assessment Of Carbon, Wildlife Habitat, And Fire Resilience In A University Forest, Benjamin Stock

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis presents a forest management plan for Goukdi’n (also known as the Jacoby Creek Forest University Tract), a coast redwood–tanoak–Douglas-fir forest within the ancestral homelands of the Wiyot Tribe. This project addresses the need for a forest stewardship approach that supports ecological resilience, cultural values, and long-term forest health in a landscape shaped by industrial logging, fire exclusion, and decades of under-management. To evaluate potential management pathways, forest growth modeling was conducted using the USFS Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) to compare three management prescriptions focused on carbon storage, fire resilience, and structural heterogeneity and a no-action alternative. Model outputs …