Forest Sciences Commons^™

Beaver And Aspen: Synergy Among Keystone Species, Stephen N. Bennett, Nicolaas Bouwes, Paul C. Rogers

Aspen Bibliography

In the West, climate change is likely to increase the frequency, intensity, and duration of drought. Restoration of soils and water storage capacity can help create resilient uplands and riverscapes (i.e., streams and the valley bottoms). Over the past two centuries, common land uses, the removal of beaver and wood, straightening of streams, and damage to riparian areas have created simplified, structurally starved, riverscapes. Degraded streams are very efficient at transporting water, sediment, and nutrients downstream. Aspen forests are also biological hotspots that have been degraded by past land uses such as overbrowsing ungulates, land clearing, fire suppression, and outright …

Biodiversity Within Aspen Forests, Paul C. Rogers

Aspen Bibliography

Aspen have long been known for supporting lush vegetation and rich wildlife habitat. These features, alongside brilliant green and gold seasonal coloration, accompany a broadly appreciated aesthetic for aspen forests by the public-at-large. However, in earlier times timber producers in many locales considered aspen to have low value and actively eliminated them. More recent research has pointed out that relative moisture held within aspen communities facilitates a wide array of species – collectively, biodiversity – compared to surrounding vegetation types. Aspen groves in the Intermountain West, for example, are known to be second only to riparian forests is supporting the …

Role Of Wildfire And Topography In Shaping Aspen Regeneration After The Hayman Fire, Co, Usa, Arianna A. B. Porter

Aspen Bibliography

Unusually rapid and widespread mortality in Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) has been documented throughout the 21st century primarily as a result of warm, dry weather conditions. Although aspen are not drought-adapted, aspen are well adapted to wildfire. Increases in wildfire severity and extent as a result of climate change may provide opportunities for aspen regeneration, especially at mid- and high-elevation sites. Aspen's sensitivity to drought suggests that regeneration following fire might be constrained to cooler and wetter topographic locations on the landscape which reduce drought stress on vegetation. While aspen mortality is demonstrated to occur at low elevation sites, aspen …

Burn Severity And Fire History In The Northwestern Canadian Boreal Forest: Drivers And Ecological Outcomes, Ellen Whitman

Aspen Bibliography

Wildfire is the dominant stand-renewing disturbance in the northwestern Canadian boreal forest. Fires burn extensive areas in Canada, disturbing an average of 1.96 Mha yr−1, primarily in the boreal zone. Fires generally occur every ~30 – > 200 years in this region, due in part to a lack of fuel that allows young stands to resist reburning. Boreal understory plants and trees are adapted to stand-renewing wildfire through mechanisms such as serotiny, seed banking, and resprouting from roots and rhizomes of top-killed individuals. Such adaptations confer resilience to boreal forests, and post-fire vegetation communities generally resemble the pre-fire ones, following a …

Outdoor Education’S Relationship To Adolescent Behavior And Academic Performance In Two East Texas Middle Schools, Trenton Stiefel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, a key part of a child’s development was their exposure to and relationship with the world outdoors – nature. The current movement to promote the inclusion of environmental and outdoor education into curricular and extracurricular activities stems from the mounting evidence that experiences in the outdoors may improve a child’s behavior and mood, as well as improve their academic performance. This mixed-methods study hoped to discover whether or not, on average, children improve their academic performance and/or their individual behavior in school when provided with outdoor education learning experiences. The mindset used in outdoor education research may have to …

Using The Forestry Reclamation Approach For Reclaimed Surface Mineland In The Western Gulf: Effects On Pinus Taeda Seedling Growth And Survival, Cassie Phillips, Jeremy Stovall, Hans Williams, Kenneth Farrish

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While land reclamation efforts of surface mines have considerably increased soil stability since the implementation of SMCRA (Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act), research suggests that resulting soil compaction hinders the productivity of forests post-mining. The Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) was developed to improve forest health in the Appalachian region through a five-step process that minimizes soil compaction and establishes a productive forest. The FRA has not yet been tested in the western Gulf Coastal Plain (GCP). The higher clay content of some GCP soils and the dearth of coarse fragments (e.g. cobbles, stones and boulders) may affect reclamation practices …

Genomic Signatures Of Extensive Inbreeding In Isle Royale Wolves, A Population On The Threshold Of Extinction, Jacqueline A. Robinson, Jannikke Raikkonen, Leah Vucetich, John A. Vucetich, Rolf O. Peterson, Kirk Lohmueller, Robert Wayne

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The observation that small isolated populations often suffer reduced fitness from inbreeding depression has guided conservation theory and practice for decades. However, investigating the genome-wide dynamics associated with inbreeding depression in natural populations is only now feasible with relatively inexpensive sequencing technology and annotated reference genomes. To characterize the genome-wide effects of intense inbreeding and isolation, we performed whole-genome sequencing and morphological analysis of an iconic inbred population, the gray wolves (Canis lupus) of Isle Royale. Through population genetic simulations and comparison with wolf genomes from a variety of demographic histories, we find evidence that severe inbreeding depression …

Effects Of Experimental Forest Management On Avian Communities In The Missouri Ozarks, David R. Hollie

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

In recent decades, concern for migratory birds has stimulated research assessing the relationships between forest management and bird populations. The Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP) is a long-term, landscape-scale experiment designed to examine the effects of even-aged (i.e. clearcutting), uneven-aged (i.e. selection cutting), and no harvest forest management on ecosystem level processes. The management systems were randomly assigned to three sites each (mean area = 400 ha) under a 100-year rotation with a 15-year re-entry period.

In the first chapter, we used non-metric multidimensional scaling and generalized linear mixed models to investigate the effects of silvicultural treatment and year-since-harvest …

Amphibian And Reptile Community Responses To Forest And Riparian Disturbance, Jacquelyn Christine Guzy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Riparian zones are transitional, semi-terrestrial areas regularly influenced by freshwater. These areas serve as dispersal corridors for many animal and plant species and ultimately function as important reservoirs of biodiversity in altered landscapes. While much of the riparian habitat in the United States has been affected by anthropogenic activities, management actions may mitigate potentially negative influences of these activities. For example, Streamside Management Zones (i.e., riparian buffers; SMZs) are commonly implemented within managed forests to protect water quality, but may also provide habitat for riparian-associated wildlife. Yet, little research has rigorously addressed the value of SMZs for wildlife, particularly cryptic …

Cool And Warm Season Climate Signals In Tree Rings From North America, Max Carl Arne Torbenson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Earlywood (EW) and latewood (LW) ring-width chronologies have become an increasingly important proxy in paleoclimate reconstructions. These subannual variables can provide estimates of past hydroclimate variability for seasonal windows that total ring-widths cannot resolve. The strength of the relationship between EW and LW series may influence what type of paleoclimate information is embedded within the tree-ring series. High correlations (> 0.70) between EW and LW are recorded for much of the continent but the magnitude of correlation varies greatly across space and species boundaries. Using four LW chronologies from shortleaf pine, the North American conifer species displaying the lowest EW-LW …

Analysis And Conservation Of Native Forests At Kessler Mountain Fayetteville, Arkansas, Alan James Edmondson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Kessler Mountain in Fayetteville Arkansas has long been recognized for its beauty and natural resources. Parts of Kessler Mountain have been homesteaded and developed in the past, but most of the mountain has remained relatively undisturbed. The planned development of over 4,000 housing units to cover Kessler Mountain stimulated controversy and consideration of other management alternatives. A twist of fate involving an economic recession, a dedicated group of outdoor recreation enthusiasts, and environmental conservationists led to the permanent protection of 384 acres in the Kessler Mountain Regional Park. To help evaluate the natural resources at Kessler Mountain, forest composition, structure, …

Daily To Seasonal Moisture Signals Present In Sub-Annual Tree-Ring Data, Ian Howard

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent decades, there has been an increase in the development of sub-annual earlywood (EW) and latewood (LW) width tree-ring chronologies that have been used to make long-term inferences about discrete seasonal moisture variability for different regions of North America. This doctoral research developed a new network of EW, LW, and adjusted latewood (LWa) tree-ring chronologies from the western Great Plains. These chronologies were used to reconstruct 300+ years of spring and summer moisture variability over the northern and southern Plains. The reconstructions document new information about the long-term seasonal climate history of the Great Plains, including the unusual nature …

Smokejumper Obituary: Gerrard, Doyle W. (Missoula 1953), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Habitat Characteristics And Selection By Ornate Box Turtles In The Sandhills Of South Dakota, Daniel W, Uresk, Alessandra Higa

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

The ornate box turtle (Terrapene ornata Agassiz) is a species of greatest conservation need in South Dakota. Habitat loss through agricultural development and fragmentation is the main threat to the species throughout its range, which extends from Wisconsin and northern Indiana through the central Great Plains, and from southern South Dakota to Arizona, northern Mexico, and the Gulf Coast of Texas. The objectives of this study were to determine the ornate box turtle’s preferred vegetation characteristics (microhabitat) compared to the available habitat (macrohabitat) on the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota Sandhills region, during 2010–2011. In both years, using a modified …

The Transesterification Of Hickory Nuts Into Biodiesel Fuel, Hannah Trauger, Madilynn Dewell, Jahida A. Mendoza

Undergraduate Research Conference

• Biodiesel fuels can be produced from a fat and an alcohol via transesterification

• Hickory nuts have a high fat content (~60 % by weight)

• Can nuts from shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) be used to produce a biodiesel fuel using existing acidcatalyzed transesterification methods?

Extraction And Quantification Of Hydrolyzable Tannins In Acorns From Different Species Of Oak Trees (Quercus Spp.), Sarah Browning, Marshall E. Woodruff

Undergraduate Research Conference

Do white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) prefer to eat certain types of acorns based on tannin content?

Hydrolyzable tannins consist of gallate groups connected via ester linkages to a carbohydrate (D-glucose)

The Prussian Blue method was used to determine hydrolyzable tannin content

Microbial Abundance And The Pattern Of Escherichia Coli Antibiotic Sensitivity And Resistance In Deer Creek And The Potential Impact Of A Veterinarian Hospital’S Input, Sarah Boxer, Tim Gsell

Research Days

The gram-negative bacteria, E. coli, is an indicator of fecal input for both point and non-point source origin. The veterinarian hospital located on Deer Creek may contribute to high antibiotic levels, which are known to select for resistant strains of bacteria living in impacted waters. The water running north of the veterinarian hospital was considered potentially antibiotic influenced as it was downstream of the site. The origin of the stream and sites upstream from the hospital were considered influent water. Sediments were also collected from these sites to determine if more long term resident E. coli were present with elevated …

Assessment Of Soil Particle Size Distribution Under Four Land Covers In Nachusa Grasslands Of Northern Illinois, Reni Truhtcheva Owikoti, Diana Acosta, Markeia Scruggs, Xiaoyong Chen

Research Days

Soil particle composition is one of the main physical properties of soil that affects soil fertility and quality. The fractal dimension of soil particle size distribution (PSD) can be used to quantitatively evaluate the particle composition of soils. Land cover change with corresponding management practices is recognized as one important driving force affecting soil PSD alterations. The objective of this project was to determine the changes in soil PSD under four plant covers (Woodland, Wetland, Prairie, and Savannah) at the Nachusa Grasslands in North Illinois. The soil PSD was determined by their settling rates in an aqueous solution using hydrometer. …

Relative Abundance And Diversity Of Rosaceae From Protected Parks In Northern Areas Of Pakistan, Kishwar Sultana, Madeeha Manzoor, Mohammad Sikandar Farooq

Journal of Bioresource Management

The Rosaceae family is also considered as the rose family. There are 27 genera and nearly 160 species from this family in Pakistan. This study was carried out to determine the diversity and population size of species belonging to the Rosaceae family in selected national parks from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. Unbiased stage-sampling was carried out. Four species belonging to the Rosaceae family were observed in Banjosa Game Reserve. Rosa brunonii and Duchesnea indica present, were not enough to calculate relative abundance. Only two species from this family were recorded from Dhirkot National Park, Rubus fruticosus and Fragaria nubicola …

An Evaluation Of Isotopic (Δ2h) Methods To Provide Estimates Of Avian Breeding And Natal Dispersal, C. Lopez-Calderon, Steven L. Van Wilgenburg, Amber M. Roth, David J. Flaspohler, Keith A. Hobson

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Natal and breeding dispersal represents an important component of animal demography and metapopulation theory. This phenomenon also has implications for conservation and management because understanding movements of individuals potentially allows the identification of key habitats that may be acting as population sources or sinks. Intrinsic markers such as stable isotope abundance in tissues that can be associated with provenance can provide a coarse but pragmatic solution to understanding such movements. Different methodologies have been proposed to quantify natal and breeding dispersal by using stable isotope analyses of keratinous tissues (hair, feathers), each of them with their own advantages and limitations. …