Forest Sciences Commons^™

Intended And Unintended Consequences Of Wolf Restoration To Yellowstone And Isle Royale National Parks, Douglas W. Smith, Rolf O. Peterson

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Wolves (Canis lupus), a once widely distributed species, were systematically removed from many temperate zone ecosystems due to conflicts with humans. A change in human attitudes and cultural norms has brought about a recovery in some suitable areas, yet reintroductions are still controversial. Two notable reintroduction areas in the United States were Yellowstone and Isle Royale National Parks. Both proposals caused polarization and debate. In Yellowstone opposition focused on outside the park effects, mainly wolves killing livestock and wild game also desired by human hunters. At Isle Royale, opposition was mostly about human interventions into nature and impairment of wilderness …

Seed Rain–Successional Feedbacks In Wet Tropical Forests, Nohemi Huanca Nuñez, Robin L. Chazdon, Sabrina E. Russo

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Abstract

Tropical forest regeneration after abandonment of former agricultural land depends critically on the input of tree seeds, yet seed dispersal is increasingly disrupted in contemporary human-modified landscapes. Here, we introduce the concept of seed rain–successional feedbacks as a deterministic process in which seed rain is shaped by successional dynamics internal to a forest site and that acts to reinforce priority effects. We used a combination of time series and chronosequence approaches to investigate how the quantity and taxonomic and functional composition of seed rain change during succession and to evaluate the strength of seed rain–successional feedbacks, relative to other …

Smokejumper Obituary: Gowen, George W. (Missoula 1954), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Magazine, April 2021, National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper and Static Line Magazines

This issue of the National Smokejumper Association (NSA) Smokejumper Magazine contains the following articles: Message from the President; Air America, The Ranch and The Veil of Secrecy; Sounding Off from the Editor; Family; Smokejumper "Flips"; Dick Johnson Best Pilot; Dry Lakes a Fire Use Event-Good Results; Shaky Acres Montana; Recording Smokejumper History; The Jump List; Legacy Jump List-A Call to Smokejumpers; Odds and Ends; The Greiners That I Knew; Former Jumper Builds One of Nation’s Largest Wildland Firefighting Companies; Off the List; Book Review; NSA Good Samaritan Fund Contributions; A Performance/Nutrition Perspective on the Smokejumper Food Box; The Big Rock …

Examining Natural Resource Conservation: In The Classroom, Through Collaborative Conservation, And Across Public Communication Platforms, Shauni Seccombe

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Hb-Pls: A Statistical Method For Identifying Biological Process Or Pathway Regulators By Integrating Huber Loss And Berhu Penalty With Partial Least Squares Regression, Wenping Deng, Kui Zhang, Cheng He, Sanzhen Liu, Hairong Wei

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Gene expression data features high dimensionality, multicollinearity, and non-Gaussian distribution noise, posing hurdles for identification of true regulatory genes controlling a biological process or pathway. In this study, we integrated the Huber loss function and the Berhu penalty (HB) into partial least squares (PLS) framework to deal with the high dimension and multicollinearity property of gene expression data, and developed a new method called HB-PLS regression to model the relationships between regulatory genes and pathway genes. To solve the Huber-Berhu optimization problem, an accelerated proximal gradient descent algorithm with at least 10 times faster than the general convex optimization solver …

Smokejumper Obituary: Ridgway, John Jack (Cave Junction 1960), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Botantic Garden News, Georgia Southern University

Garden of the Coastal Plain (Archived)

• Online Plant Sale- Starts Fri March 26th

Pando: Charismatic Megaflora And The Populus Paradox, Paul C. Rogers, Lance Oditt

Aspen Bibliography

Within the field of landscape ecology, the Pando aspen grove on the Fishlake National Forest of Utah is legendary—and it is in danger of dying from hotter, drier temperatures and other threats. Pando is one of the largest and oldest known still-living organisms on Earth. Quaking aspen are an important tree species in Greater Yellowstone and the Rocky Mountain West. Enjoy this essay written by a scientist who studies Pando and a photographer who celebrates this arboreal mega-being.

The Annual Rhythmic Differentiation Of Populus Davidiana Growth–Climate Response Under A Warming Climate In The Greater Hinggan Mountains, Ruixin Yun, Yuting Jin, Junxia Li, Zhenju Chen, Zhaoyang Lyu, Ying Zhao, Di Cui

Aspen Bibliography

The stability and balance of forest ecosystems have been seriously affected by climate change. Herein, we use dendrochronological methods to investigate the radial growth and climate response of pioneer tree species in the southern margin of cold temperate coniferous forest based on Populus davidiana growing on the Greater Hinggan Mountains in northeastern China. Correlations of P. davidiana growth with temperature and precipitation in a year (October–September) were rhythmically opposed: while temperatures in previous October–June (winter and spring) and in May–September (growing season) respectively inhibited and promoted radial growth on P. davidiana (p < 0.01), precipitation in the same periods respectively promoted and inhibited of growth (p < 0.01). High temperature or less rain/snow in winter and early spring, and low temperature or excess rainfall in summer, are inconducive to P. davidiana growth and vice versa …

Finding Purpose In The Conservation Of Biodiversity By The Commingling Of Science And Ethics, John A. Vucetich, Ewan A. Macdonald, Dawn Burnham, Jeremy T. Bruskotter, Dominic D.P. Johnson, David W. Macdonald

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Averting the biodiversity crisis requires closing a gap between how humans tend to behave, individually and collectively, and how we ought to behave—“ought to” in the sense of behaviors required to avert the biodiversity crisis. Closing that gap requires synthesizing insight from ethics with insights from social and behavioral sciences. This article contributes to that synthesis, which presents in several provocative hypotheses: (i) Lessening the biodiversity crisis requires promoting pro-conservation behavior among humans. Doing so requires better scientific understanding of how one’s sense of purpose in life affects conservation-relevant behaviors. Psychology and virtue-focused ethics indicate that behavior is importantly influenced …

Innovation And Competitiveness Of The Wood Furniture Industry In Kenya, Gilbert Osoro Ototo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The wood furniture industry in Kenya has been growing rapidly despite a decline in domestic timber supply. Although most furniture is made locally, a larger share is increasingly being imported from other countries, creating competition for domestic manufacturers. The government aims at shifting most of the demand to domestic producers to protect the sector and create jobs. However, lack of innovation has been cited as the main cause of diminishing competitiveness of the sector. Studies have shown that innovation plays a key role in creating new products, improving production processes, and establishing better business systems.

Innovation in the furniture sector …

Smokejumper Obituary: Reed, Robert E. "Bob" (Missoula 1960), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Distribution Pattern And Phytosociological Study Of Trees Associated With Agroforestry In Poonch District Of Jammu And Kashmir, India, Javed Manzoor, Mohd Junaid Jazib

Journal of Bioresource Management

The focus of present study was to find the phytosociology, distribution pattern, and diversity of different species of trees associated with traditional agroforestry in the district of Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Data was collected through quadrat survey method. A total of fifty quadrats of the size (10x10m) each were thrown randomly in agriculture fields. Total 26 tree species belonging to 16 families and 21 genera were encountered in the agricultural fields with Grewia optiva, Pyrus persica and Celtis australis being the tree species in dominance. The most dense species of tree recorded was Grewia optiva with a density value …

Representing Methane Emissions From Wet Tropical Forest Soils Using Microbial Functional Groups Constrained By Soil Diffusivity, Debjani Sihi, Xiaofeng Xu, Mónica Salazar Ortiz, Christine S. O'Connell, Whendee L. Silver, Carla López-Lloreda, Julia M. Brenner, Ryan K. Quinn, Jana R. Phillips, Brent D. Newman, Melanie A. Mayes

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Tropical ecosystems contribute significantly to global emissions of methane (CH₄), and landscape topography influences the rate of CH₄ emissions from wet tropical forest soils. However, extreme events such as drought can alter normal topographic patterns of emissions. Here we explain the dynamics of CH₄ emissions during normal and drought conditions across a catena in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Valley soils served as the major source of CH₄ emissions in a normal precipitation year (2016), but drought recovery in 2015 resulted in dramatic pulses in CH₄ emissions from all topographic positions. Geochemical parameters …

Smokejumper Obituary: Pino, Robert Irey (North Cascades 1951), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Lewis, Robert Garrett (Cave Junction 1954), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Botantic Garden News, Georgia Southern University

Garden of the Coastal Plain (Archived)

• Free Guided Walking Tour/ Fri March 12 at Noon

Bird Communities In African Cocoa Agroforestry Are Diverse But Lack Specialized Insectivores, Crinan Jarrett, Thomas B. Smith, Tabe T.R. Claire, Diogo F. Ferreira, Melanie Tchoumbou, Malange N.F. Elikwo, Jared D. Wolfe, Kristin Brzeski, Andreanna J. Welch, Rachid Hanna, Luke L. Powell

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Forests are being converted to agriculture throughout the Afrotropics, driving declines in sensitive rainforest taxa such as understorey birds. The ongoing expansion of cocoa agriculture, a common small-scale farming commodity, has contributed to the loss of 80% rainforest cover in some African countries. African cocoa farms may provide habitat for biodiversity, yet little is known about their suitability for vertebrate fauna, or the effect of farm management on animal communities. Here, we report the first in-depth investigation into avian diversity and community composition in African cocoa, by assembling a dataset of 9,566 individual birds caught across 83 sites over 30 …

Birds And Bioenergy Within The Americas: A Cross‐National, Social–Ecological Study Of Ecosystem Service Tradeoffs, Jessie L. Knowlton, Kathleen E. Halvorsen, David J. Flaspohler, Christopher R. Webster, Jesse Abrams, Sara M. Almeida, Stefan L. Arriaga‐Weiss, Brad Barnett, Maíra R. Cardoso, Pablo V. Cerqueira, Diana Córdoba, Marcos Persio Dantas‐Santos, Jennifer L. Dunn, Amarella Eastmond, Gina M. Jarvi, Julian A. Licata, Ena Mata‐Zayas, Rodrigo Medeiros, M. Azahara Mesa‐Jurado, Lízbeth Yamily Moo‐Culebro, Cassandra Moseley, Erik Nielsen, Colin Phifer, Erin Pischke, Chelsea Schelly, Theresa Selfa, Chelsea A. Silva, Tatiana Souza, Sam R. Sweitz

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Although renewable energy holds great promise in mitigating climate change, there are socioeconomic and ecological tradeoffs related to each form of renewable energy. Forest‐related bioenergy is especially controversial, because tree plantations often replace land that could be used to grow food crops and can have negative impacts on biodiversity. In this study, we examined public perceptions and ecosystem service tradeoffs between the provisioning services associated with cover types associated with bioenergy crop (feedstock) production and forest habitat‐related supporting services for birds, which themselves provide cultural and regulating services. We combined a social survey‐based assessment of local values and perceptions with …