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.

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 …

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

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. The full assessment at https://doi.org/10.2737/WO-GTR-96 and summarized here 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 …

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.

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 …

Residential Building Energy Conservation And Avoided Power Plant Emissions By Urban And Community Trees In The United States, David J. Nowak, Nathaniel Appleton, Alexis Ellis, Eric Greenfield

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

Urban trees and forests alter building energy use and associated emissions from power plants by shading buildings, cooling air temperatures and altering wind speeds around buildings. Field data on urban trees were combined with local urban/community tree and land cover maps, modeling of tree effects on building energy use and pollutant emissions, and state energy and pollutant costs to estimate tree effects on building energy use and associated pollutant emissions at the state to national level in the conterminous United States. Results reveal that trees and forests in urban/community areas in the conterminous United States annually reduce electricity use by …

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 …

Are Northeastern U.S. Forests Vulnerable To Extreme Drought?, Adam P. Coble, Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur, Z. Carter Berry, Katie A. Jennings, Cameron D. Mcintire, John L. Campbell, Lindsey E. Rustad, Pamela H. Temper, Heidi Asbjornsen

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

In the Northeastern U.S., drought is expected to increase in frequency over the next century, and therefore, the responses of trees to drought are important to understand. There is recent debate about whether land-use change or moisture availability is the primary driver of changes in forest species composition in this region. Some argue that fire suppression from the early twentieth century to present has resulted in an increase in shade-tolerant and pyrophobic tree species that are drought intolerant, while others suggest precipitation variability as a major driver of species composition. From this debate, an emerging hypothesis is that mesophication and …

The Effects Of Disturbance And Species Specific Interactions On Diversity In An Agent Based Forest Simulation, Matthew E. Mills

Theses and Dissertations

In ecology literature, there is much data which suggests that conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) and abiotic disturbances increase biodiversity in forests. This thesis elucidates the notion that not only do these two forces increase diversity, but they may also interact with one another in order to achieve higher levels of biodiversity. Abiotic disturbances, like fires and hurricanes, can indirectly impact conspecific effects because when these forces remove individuals from the landscape, the role of the conspecific effects will change. The interaction of these two factors in biodiversity are explored in an agent based forest simulation through a resource surface. …

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.

The Effects Of Early Pruning On The Near-Ground Branch Density Of Four Live Fencing Species, Aric Devens

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Crop losses in home gardens greatly impact the wellbeing of rural West African families. Herbivory by migratory or local livestock represents a significant source of crop loss. Live-fencing gardens with thorny hedges is a low-cost and sustainable strategy for reducing losses due to herbivory. However, guidance on the establishment of thorny hedges is inconsistent, poorly publicized, and often anecdotal. Therefore, this study evaluated the effects of three early pruning treatments on near-ground branch density of four thorny species: Vachellia nilotica, Senegalia laeta, Senegalia mellifera, and Prosopis juliflora. Physical measurements and photographic data indicated that after one growing season, V. …

1979 Lilley Cornett Woods Overstory Data, Ryan W. Mcewan, Julia I. Chapman, Robert N. Muller

Data Files: Big Everidge Hollow Permanent Plots

Data collected in 1979 on the overstory 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.

Accompanying photo by Julia I. Chapman.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26890/lcw.s2qvt68sox

Dynamics Of Wild Red Raspberry (Rubus Idaeus L.) And The Influence On Tree Regeneration Within Silvicultural Openings In A Northern Hardwood Stand, Matthew J. Widen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Previous studies have investigated how the abundance of raspberries (Rubus idaeus L.) impacts tree regeneration, but few have linked these impacts to location within canopy openings with a legacy tree. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated the presence, abundance, and location of raspberries within openings containing legacy trees and the resulting impacts on tree regeneration. During the winter of 2003, 49 openings were created of three sizes: small, medium, large and 20 reference single-tree selection sites in a northern hardwood stand in Ford Forest near Alberta, Michigan. Tree regeneration and vegetative species cover were recorded in 2005 and …

Methane Fluxes And Porewater Dissolved Organic Carbon Dynamics From Different Peatlands Types In The Pastaza-Marañon Basin Of The Peruvian Amazon., Jhon Del Aguila-Pasquel

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Relevant components of the carbon budget such as methane fluxes and porewater dissolved organic carbon (DOC) are poorly characterized in the Peruvian Pastaza Marañon basin (PMB). PMB is associated with a tropospheric hotspot for methane and therefore it may represent a significant methane source. We aimed to quantify the magnitude of CH₄ fluxes and porewater DOC; and to determine their predictors across different peatland types in the PMB (open peatland, palm swamp, and pole forest). The study was conducted in two peatland sites covering the three main vegetation types in PMB. We collected gas and water samples using chamber-based …

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 …

Overstory 2017, Mitchell J. Kukla, Corey M. Kuminecz, Julia I. Chapman, Taylor M. Sparbanie, Katherine Schrader, Michelle N. Little, Keith E. Gilland, Ryan W. Mcewan

Data Files: Drew Woods Permanent Plots

Overstory data (woody species ≥2.5 centimeters in diameter at breast height) collected in 2017 at Drew Woods State Nature Preserve in Darke County, OH. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

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

Data Files: Drew Woods Permanent Plots

Sapling data (woody species >50 centimeters in height and <2.5 cm diameter at breast height) collected in 2017 at Drew Woods State Nature Preserve in Darke County, OH. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

Models Of Forest Inventory For Istanbul Forest Using Airborne Lidar And Spaceborne Imagery, Mustafa Kagan Ozkal

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Active remote sensing technology (LiDAR) and passive remote sensing technology (Pleiades and Göktürk-2 satellites) were used to find a meaningful relationship between ground data and remote sensing instruments for Istanbul Forest, Turkey. Two dominant species in the field, oak (deciduous trees) and maritime pine (coniferous trees), were researched. There were 86 plots total, 41 for maritime pine and 45 for oak. Three diameter at breast height (DBH) thresholds were studied. Trees of any DBH (DBH≥0.1 cm), trees ≥8 cm DBH thresholds and, trees ≥10 cm DBH thresholds. Both satellite image metrics were derived from Grey Level Co-occurrence Measures (GLCM). All …

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 …

Structural Integrity And Physical Properties Of Ponderosa Pine Over Time After Death Between Vectors Of Mortality, Edward J. O'Donnell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In an era of accelerated climate change, with persistent and increasing disturbance on our landscapes it is important to increase our knowledge of how these natural disturbances effect our lands. This study investigated the changes that take place in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) stems after death when killed by mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) and by fire. Trees killed by mountain pine beetle as well as trees killed by fire were sampled and separated into two age classes, those dead 0-4 years and those dead 4+ years. Data was gathered on the modulus of rupture, modulus …

The Effect Of Chronic Nutrient Addition From Wastewater On Forest Ecosystems At The Rice Rivers Center, Michael Beck

Theses and Dissertations

Wastewater application to land can be a useful tool for mitigating impacts of nutrient enrichment on aquatic systems. A land application treatment system at VCU’s Rice Rivers Center in Charles City County, VA provided an opportunity to study the impact of wastewater addition on the biogeochemistry of forests representative of the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain. Nutrient concentrations in throughfall and leachate were measured at Treatment and Control sites to assess differences in nutrient deposition and retention. Wastewater amended plots from the Walter L. Rice education building received 20-fold (N) and 6-fold (P) higher inputs relative to Control plots and plots located …

Forest Ecosystems Of Temperate Climatic Regions: From Ancient Use To Climate Change, Frank S. Gilliam

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Humans have long utilized resources from all forest biomes, but the most indelible anthropogenic signature has been the expanse of human populations in temperate forests. The purpose of this review is to bring into focus the diverse forests of the temperate region of the biosphere, including those of hardwood, conifer and mixed dominance, with a particular emphasis on crucial challenges for the future of these forested areas. Implicit in the term ‘temperate’ is that the predominant climate of these forest regions has distinct cyclic, seasonal changes involving periods of growth and dormancy. The specific temporal patterns of seasonal change, however, …

Effects Of Excess Nitrogen On Biogeochemistry Of A Temperate Hardwood Forest: Evidence Of Nutrient Redistribution By A Forest Understory Species, Frank S. Gilliam, Jake H. Billmyer, Christopher A. Walter, William T. Peterjohn

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Excess nitrogen (N) in terrestrial ecosystems can arise from anthropogenically-increased atmospheric N deposition, a phenomenon common in eastern US forests. In spite of decreased N emissions over recent years, atmospheric concentrations of reactive N remain high in areas within this region. Excess N in forests has been shown to alter biogeochemical cycling of essential plant nutrients primarily via enhanced production and leaching of nitrate, which leads to loss of base cations from the soil. The purpose of our study was to investigate this phenomenon using a multifaceted approach to examine foliar nutrients of two herbaceous layer species in one N-treated …

Timber Talk, Vol. 54, No. 4, December 2016

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

In This Issue

Lumber Market Reports 1

Hardwood Lumber Prices 2

Note from the Editor - EAB Meeting Discussion 3

THE CHALLENGE - Using Forest Residues from Forest Operations 4

2016 Tax Tips Bulletin Available 4

Nebraska Forest Industry Spotlight 5

Alaska Airlines’ first flight with biofuel made from forest residuals 7

The Four “P’s” of Marketing Your Small Sawmill Business 7

Trading Post 8

Silica Uptake And Release In Live And Decaying Biomass In A Northern Hardwood Forest, Wim Clymans, Daniel J. Conley, John J. Battles, Patrick J. Frings, Mary Margaret Koppers, Gene E. Likens, Chris E. Johnson

Civil and Environmental Engineering - All Scholarship

In terrestrial ecosystems, a large portion (20–80%) of the dissolved Si (DSi) in soil solution has passed through vegetation. While the importance of this “terrestrial Si filter” is generally accepted, few data exist on the pools and fluxes of Si in forest vegetation and the rate of release of Si from decomposing plant tissues. We quantified the pools and fluxes of Si through vegetation and coarse woody debris (CWD) in a northern hardwood forest ecosystem (Watershed 6, W6) at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) in New Hampshire, USA. Previous work suggested that the decomposition of CWD may have significantly …

Comparison Of Four Harvesting Systems In A Loblolly Pine Plantation, John Klepac, Dana Mitchell

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

Abstract

Felling and skidding operations were monitored while clearcut harvesting a 12-acre area of a 14-year old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantation. The study area contained 465 trees per acre for trees 2.0 inches Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) and larger with a Quadratic Mean Diameter (QMD) of 7.26 inches. Two feller-bunchers (tracked and rubber-tired) and two skidders (conventional and large capacity) were paired to create four different harvesting systems which were randomly assigned to 3-acre units for evaluation of production rates and costs. Each system was balanced to determine the number of machines needed to minimize the …

The Variation Of Productivity And Its Allocation Along A Tropical Elevation Gradient: A Whole Carbon Budget Perspective, Yadvinder Malhi, Cécile A. J. Girardin, Gregory R. Goldsmith, Christopher E. Doughty, Norma Salinas, Daniel B. Metcalfe, Walter Huaraca Huasco, Javier E. Silva-Espejo, Jhon Del Aguilla-Pasquell, Filio Farfán Amézquita, Luiz E.O.C. Aragão, Rossella Guerrieri, Françoise Yoko Ishida, Nur Bahar, William Farfan-Rios, Oliver L. Phillips, Patrick Meir, Miles Silman

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

• Why do forest productivity and biomass decline with elevation? To address this question, research to date generally has focused on correlative approaches describing changes in woody growth and biomass with elevation.
  
  
• We present a novel, mechanistic approach to this question by quantifying the autotrophic carbon budget in 16 forest plots along a 3300 m elevation transect in Peru.
  
  
• Low growth rates at high elevations appear primarily driven by low gross primary productivity (GPP), with little shift in either carbon use efficiency (CUE) or allocation of net primary productivity (NPP) between wood, fine roots and canopy. The lack of trend in …