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 …

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. …

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 …

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 …

Native And Agricultural Forests At Risk To A Changing Climate In The Northern Plains, Linda A. Joyce, Gary Bentrup, Antony S. Cheng, Peter Kolb, Michele Schoeneberger, Justin Derner

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

Native and agricultural forests in the Northern Plains provide ecosystem services that benefit human society—diversified agricultural systems, forest-based products, and rural vitality. The impacts of recent trends in temperature and disturbances are impairing the delivery of these services. Climate change projections identify future stressors of greater impact, placing at risk crops, soils, livestock, biodiversity, and agricultural and forest-based livelihoods. While these native and agricultural forests are also a viable option for providing mitigation and adaptation services to the Northern Plains, they themselves must be managed in terms of climate change risks. Because agricultural forests are planted systems, the primary approaches …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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. …

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 …

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

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 …

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 …

Secretarial Order 3336 Science Priorities: The Role Of Science Past, Present, And Future, Stephen W. Barrett

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Within sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems, which are home to more than 350 species of plants and animals, potentially more frequent and severe fires are causing an increased threat to human safety, property, rural economies, and wildlife habitat. In particular, the habitat of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), an iconic sagebrush-dependent species, is at risk. In response to this reality, on January 15, 2015, Secretary Sally Jewell signed Secretarial Order 3336 (S.O. 3336), titled “Rangeland Fire Prevention, Management, and Restoration.” The main purpose of the order is to implement enhanced policies and strategies for managing rangeland fire and …

The Importance Of Rivers In Protected Areas: Macroinvertebrate Sampling Reveals The Impact Of Humans And Highways On Water Quality, Marie-Claire Harrison

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The water quality and level of contamination of two rivers in a cloud forest ecosystem in the Mejía region of Ecuador, the Tupí River and the Pilatón River were assessed through benthic macroinvertebrate sampling at various sites along the rivers. Many different biological indices were then used to assess water quality at each site. Pollution in the form of grey water, black water, and petroleum negatively impacted the water quality of the both rivers as they pass through the town of La Esperie. Differences in river structure and size also played a role in determining the prevalence of certain benthic …

Timber Talk, Vol. 54, No. 3, September 2016

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Lumber Market Reports 1

Hardwood Lumber Prices 2

Green Star Gasifier Seeking Wood Fuel 3

Emerald Ash Borer Discovered in Eastern Nebraska 4

Nebraska Forest Industry Spotlight 5

Timber Sales 7

Trading Post 8

Riparian Fuel Treatments In The Western Usa: Challenges And Considerations, Kathleen A. Dwire, Kristen E. Meyer, Gregg Riegel, Timothy Burton

Joint Fire Science Program Synthesis Reports

Fuel reduction treatments are being conducted throughout watersheds of the western United States to reduce hazardous fuels in efforts to decrease the risk of high-severity fire. The number of fuel reduction projects that include near-stream environments is increasing, bringing new challenges to riparian management. Riparian areas are protected by administrative regulations, some of which are largely custodial and restrict active management. However, riparian areas have also been affected by fire suppression, land use, and human disturbance, so manipulative treatments of vegetation and other fuels may be needed in some locations to maintain riparian biodiversity and restore valued functions. This report …