Forest Sciences Commons^™

Herbaceous 2012 (June 3), Amy L. Myers, Julia I. Chapman, Ryan W. Mcewan

Data Files: Drew Woods Permanent Plots

Herbaceous vegetation data collected in 2012 at Drew Woods State Nature Preserve in Darke County, OH. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

Prototype For Monitoring And Forecasting Fall Foliage Coloration In Real Time From Satellite Data, Xiaoyang Zhang, Mitchell D. Goldberg, Yunyue Yu

GSCE Faculty Publications

While determining vegetation phenology from the time series of historical satellite data has been widely investigated throughout the last decade, little effort has been devoted to real-time monitoring and short-term forecasting. The latter is more important for numerical weather modeling, ecosystem forecasting, forest and crop management, and health risk warning. In this study we developed a prototype approach for the real-time monitoring and short-term forecasting of fall foliage status (including low coloration, moderate coloration, near-peak coloration, peak coloration, and post-peak coloration) using temporal satellite observations. The algorithm combined the climatology of vegetation phenology and temporally available satellite observations to establish …

Wildland Urban Interface Assessment Of San Luis Obispo, California, Brian Hanson, Stephen Kadash, Nicholi Mackewicz

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

The purpose of this report is to provide a wildland fire hazard assessment of communities in the city of San Luis Obispo, California, and to identify prescriptions designed to prevent property damage and loss of life in the event of a wildfire. These prescriptions are adopted from established Shelter-In-Place communities who practice fire wise community wildfire prevention.There are eight communities that were identified as being fire prone. Each community had its own set of fire hazard, for example, flammable vegetation against a home, tall dead grass behind structures, or overhanging trees that would prevent an engine from passing. Once the …

Smokejumper Obituary: Rausch, Clarence (Idaho City 1957), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Mccabe, Terry (Ncsb 1958), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Ross, Loyd Dale "Curley" (Mccall 1951), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Herbaceous 2012 (May 19), Amy L. Myers, Julia I. Chapman, Ryan W. Mcewan

Data Files: Drew Woods Permanent Plots

Herbaceous vegetation data collected in 2012 at Drew Woods State Nature Preserve in Darke County, OH. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

Smokejumper Obituary: Baumann, Roddy (Cave Junction 1970), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Herbaceous 2012 (May 5), Amy L. Myers, Julia I. Chapman, Ryan W. Mcewan

Data Files: Drew Woods Permanent Plots

Herbaceous vegetation data collected in 2012 at Drew Woods State Nature Preserve in Darke County, OH. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

Improving Woody Biomass Estimation Efficiency Using Double Sampling, David L. Parrott, John M. Lhotka, Songlin Fei, B. Scott Shouse

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Although double sampling has been shown to be an effective method to estimate timber volume in forest inventories, only a limited body of research has tested the effectiveness of double sampling on forest biomass estimation. From forest biomass inventories collected over 9,683 ha using systematic point sampling, we examined how a double sampling scheme would have affected precision and efficiency in these biomass inventories. Our results indicated that double sample methods would have yielded biomass estimations with similar precision as systematic point sampling when the small sample was ≥ 20% of the large sample. When the small to large sample …

An Investigation Of Fraxinus Americana Branch Sway Using A 3 Dimensional Motion Capture System, Anna T. Campiformio

Master's Theses

Abstract

Wind is a dominant abiotic factor that a tree experiences throughout its lifetime and can cause severe tree damage, resulting in risk of injury to humans, and economic and ecological losses. It is thought that trees develop structural properties and architectures that help withstand loading conditions by dissipating wind energy through damping mechanisms. The role of branch motion in reducing potential dangerous wind loads has been the focus of relatively few studies. Even fewer studies have examined tree sway response to natural wind loaded conditions. In this investigation, branch frequencies were calculated for three Fraxinus americana using a three-dimensional …

Ecological Importance Of Large-Diameter Trees In A Temperate Mixed-Conifer Forest, James A. Lutz, Andrew J. Larson, Mark E. Swanson, James A. Freund

Forest Management Faculty Publications

Large-diameter trees dominate the structure, dynamics and function of many temperate and tropical forests. Although both scaling theory and competition theory make predictions about the relative composition and spatial patterns of large diameter trees compared to smaller diameter trees, these predictions are rarely tested. We established a 25.6 ha permanent plot within which we tagged and mapped all trees greater than or equal to 1 cm dbh, all snags greater than or equal to 10 cm dbh, and all shrub patches greater than or equal to 2 m². We sampled downed woody debris, litter, and duff with line …

Sub-Pixel Classification Of Forest Cover Types In East Texas, Joey Westbrook, I-Kuai Hung, Daniel Unger, Yanli Zhang

Faculty Publications

Sub-pixel classification is the extraction of information about the proportion of individual materials of interest within a pixel. Landcover classification at the sub-pixel scale provides more discrimination than traditional per-pixel multispectral classifiers for pixels where the material of interest is mixed with other materials. It allows for the un-mixing of pixels to show the proportion of each material of interest. The materials of interest for this study are pine, hardwood, mixed forest and non-forest. The goal of this project was to perform a sub-pixel classification, which allows a pixel to have multiple labels, and compare the result to a traditional …

What Is A Windbreak?

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

What is a windbreak?

Windbreaks are plantings of single or multiple rows of trees, shrubs or grass that protect crops, livestock, wildlife or people from wind’s harmful consequences.

Historically, Windbreaks were planted for a single purpose, such as protecting homes from cold winds or soil from erosive winds. Today, Windbreaks are being used to address numerous other problems and provide a variety of other benefits. When properly designed, located and managed Windbreaks can produce one or more environmental and economic benefits. It is important to remember that not all potential benefits can be realized from every Windbreak. In fact, some …

What Is A Riparian Forest Buffer?

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

What is a riparian forest buffer?

Riparian forest buffers are natural or re-established woodlands next to streams, lakes and wetlands. These buffers usually consist of trees, shrubs and grass plantings that are managed to enhance and protect aquatic resources from adverse impacts from the management of adjacent lands. Riparian forest buffers intercept sediment, nutrients, pesticides and other materials in surface runoff and in shallow subsurface water flow so they don’t get into the streams, lakes or wetlands. Temperatures in cold water streams can be maintained with shade from trees along their banks. Woody vegetation also reduces bank erosion by absorbing …

Cheating Cheatgrass: New Research To Combat A Wily Invasive Weed, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Cheatgrass and its cousin, red brome, are exotic annual grasses that have invaded and altered ecosystem dynamics in more than 41 million acres of desert shrublands between the Rockies and the Cascade-Sierra chain. A fungus naturally associated with these Bromus species has been found lethal to the plants’ soil-banked dormant seeds. Supported by the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP), researchers Susan Meyer, Phil Allen, and Julie Beckstead cultured this fungus, Pyrenophora semeniperda, in the laboratory and developed an experimental field application that, in some trials, killed all the dormant soil-banked Bromus seeds, leaving none to germinate the following year. The …

Sediment Removal From The San Gabriel Mountains, Mary C. Ferguson

Pitzer Senior Theses

The issue of sediment removal from the San Gabriel Mountains has been a complex issue that has created problems with beach replenishment, habitat destruction and the need to spend millions of dollars at regular intervals to avoid safety hazards. Most recently 11 acres of riparian habitat, including 179 oaks and 70 sycamores, were removed for sediment placement. Other sites including Hahamongna Watershed Park and La Tuna Canyon also face a similar fate. This thesis questions: How did we get to this point of destroying habitat to dump sediment which is viewed as waste product? What are the barriers for creating …

Sassafras Tea: Using A Traditional Method Of Preparation To Reduce The Carcinogenic Compound Safrole, Kate Cummings

All Theses

The purpose of this research is to quantify the carcinogenic compound safrole in the traditional preparation method of making sassafras tea from the root of Sassafras albidum. The traditional method investigated was typical of preparation by members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and other Appalachian peoples. Sassafras is a tree common to the eastern coast of the United States, especially in the mountainous regions. Historically and continuing until today, roots of the tree are used to prepare fragrant teas and syrups. These traditional uses can be found across cultures throughout its range. Products made from sassafras are banned …

A 1,461-Year Growing Season Precipitation Reconstruction For The Carolina Coastal Plain, Kathryn Perkins Wolff

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A recollection and dating of ancient cypress trees and subfossil logs was performed at Black River, North Carolina, and the separate Black River, South Carolina. The new updated and expanded chronologies date from AD 365 to 2010 and 549 to 2010, respectively. Baldcypress ring-width chronologies are dominated by high inter-annual to decadal variability and do not tend to capture century scale fluctuations in tree-ring growth that could be associated with centennial scale change in climate. The tree-ring chronologies were standardized with a technique designed to preserve low frequency variance known as regional curve standardization. The two chronologies were averaged into …

Developing Silvicultural Protocols For Longleaf Pine (PinusPalustris) Restoration In Loblolly Pine (P. Taeda ) Stands, Benjamin Knapp

All Dissertations

Throughout the southeastern United States, upland pine sites that were once dominated by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) have been converted to faster growing species such as loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.). This study was designed to determine optimal silvicultural techniques for restoring longleaf pine in existing loblolly pine stands while retaining canopy trees and enhancing desirable characteristics of the ground layer vegetation. We applied seven harvesting treatments to six loblolly pine stands at Fort Benning, GA, with treatments including four that created uniform canopy distribution (Control: uncut, with basal area > 14 m2/ha; MedBA: residual basal area of ~ 9 …