Gulf Coast Disaster Management: Forest Damage Detection and Carbon Flux Estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maki, A. E.; Childs, L. M.; Jones, J.; Matthews, C.; Spindel, D.; Batina, M.; Malik, S.; Allain, M.; Brooks, A. O.; Brozen, M.; Chappell, C.; Frey, J. W.

2008-12-01

Along the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard, tropical storms and hurricanes annually cause defoliation and deforestation amongst coastal forests. After a severe storm clears, there is an urgent need to assess impacts on timber resources for targeting state and national resources to assist in recovery. It is important to identify damaged areas following the storm, due to their increased probability of fire risk, as well as the effect upon the carbon budget. Better understanding and management of the immediate and future effects on the carbon cycle in the coastal forest ecosystem is especially important. Current methods of detection involve assessment through ground-based field surveys, aerial surveys, computer modeling of meteorological data, space-borne remote sensing, and Forest Inventory and Analysis field plots. Introducing remotely-sensed data from NASA and NASA-partnered Earth Observation Systems (EOS), this project seeks to improve the current methodology and focuses on a need for methods that are more synoptic than field surveys and more closely linked to the phenomenology of tree loss and damage than passive remote sensing methods. The primary concentration is on the utilization of Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) data products to detect changes in forest canopy height as an indicator of post-hurricane forest disturbances. By analyzing ICESat data over areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, this study shows that ICESsat is a useful method of detecting canopy height change, though further research is needed in mixed forest areas. Other EOS utilized in this study include Landsat, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and the NASA verified and validated international Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) sensor. This study addresses how NASA could apply ICESat data to contribute to an improved method of detecting hurricane-caused forest damage in coastal areas; thus to pinpoint areas more susceptible to fire damage and subsequent loss of carbon sequestration.

Environmental impacts of forest road construction on mountainous terrain

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Forest roads are the base infrastructure foundation of forestry operations. These roads entail a complex engineering effort because they can cause substantial environmental damage to forests and include a high-cost construction. This study was carried out in four sample sites of Giresun, Trabzon(2) and Artvin Forest Directorate, which is in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The areas have both steep terrain (30-50% gradient) and very steep terrain (51-80% gradient). Bulldozers and hydraulic excavators were determined to be the main machines for forest road construction, causing environmental damage and cross sections in mountainous areas. As a result of this study, the percent damage to forests was determined as follows: on steep terrain, 21% of trees were damaged by excavators and 33% of trees were damaged by bulldozers during forest road construction, and on very steep terrain, 27% of trees were damaged by excavators and 44% of trees were damaged by bulldozers during forest road construction. It was also determined that on steep terrain, when excavators were used, 12.23% less forest area was destroyed compared with when bulldozers were used and 16.13% less area was destroyed by excavators on very steep terrain. In order to reduce the environmental damage on the forest ecosystem, especially in steep terrains, hydraulic excavators should replace bulldozers in forest road construction activities. PMID:23497078

Quantification and identification of lightning damage in tropical forests.

PubMed

Yanoviak, Stephen P; Gora, Evan M; Burchfield, Jeffrey M; Bitzer, Phillip M; Detto, Matteo

2017-07-01

Accurate estimates of tree mortality are essential for the development of mechanistic forest dynamics models, and for estimating carbon storage and cycling. However, identifying agents of tree mortality is difficult and imprecise. Although lightning kills thousands of trees each year and is an important agent of mortality in some forests, the frequency and distribution of lightning-caused tree death remain unknown for most forests. Moreover, because all evidence regarding the effects of lightning on trees is necessarily anecdotal and post hoc, rigorous tests of hypotheses regarding the ecological effects of lightning are impossible. We developed a combined electronic sensor/camera-based system for the location and characterization of lightning strikes to the forest canopy in near real time and tested the system in the forest of Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Cameras mounted on towers provided continuous video recordings of the forest canopy that were analyzed to determine the locations of lightning strikes. We used a preliminary version of this system to record and locate 18 lightning strikes to the forest over a 3-year period. Data from field surveys of known lightning strike locations (obtained from the camera system) enabled us to develop a protocol for reliable, ground-based identification of suspected lightning damage to tropical trees. In all cases, lightning damage was relatively inconspicuous; it would have been overlooked by ground-based observers having no knowledge of the event. We identified three types of evidence that can be used to consistently identify lightning strike damage in tropical forests: (1) localized and directionally biased branch mortality associated with flashover among tree and sapling crowns, (2) mortality of lianas or saplings near lianas, and (3) scorched or wilting epiphytic and hemiepiphytic plants. The longitudinal trunk scars that are typical of lightning-damaged temperate trees were never observed in this study. Given the prevalence of communications towers worldwide, the lightning detection system described here could be implemented in diverse forest types. Data from multiple systems would provide an outstanding opportunity for comparative research on the ecological effects of lightning. Such comparative data are increasingly important given expected increases in lightning frequency with climatic change.

Estimating rainforest biomass stocks and carbon loss from deforestation and degradation in Papua New Guinea 1972-2002: Best estimates, uncertainties and research needs.

PubMed

Bryan, Jane; Shearman, Phil; Ash, Julian; Kirkpatrick, J B

2010-01-01

Reduction of carbon emissions from tropical deforestation and forest degradation is being considered a cost-effective way of mitigating the impacts of global warming. If such reductions are to be implemented, accurate and repeatable measurements of forest cover change and biomass will be required. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), which has one of the world's largest remaining areas of tropical forest, we used the best available data to estimate rainforest carbon stocks, and emissions from deforestation and degradation. We collated all available PNG field measurements which could be used to estimate carbon stocks in logged and unlogged forest. We extrapolated these plot-level estimates across the forested landscape using high-resolution forest mapping. We found the best estimate of forest carbon stocks contained in logged and unlogged forest in 2002 to be 4770 Mt (+/-13%). Our best estimate of gross forest carbon released through deforestation and degradation between 1972 and 2002 was 1178 Mt (+/-18%). By applying a long-term forest change model, we estimated that the carbon loss resulting from deforestation and degradation in 2001 was 53 Mt (+/-18%), rising from 24 Mt (+/-15%) in 1972. Forty-one percent of 2001 emissions resulted from logging, rising from 21% in 1972. Reducing emissions from logging is therefore a priority for PNG. The large uncertainty in our estimates of carbon stocks and fluxes is primarily due to the dearth of field measurements in both logged and unlogged forest, and the lack of PNG logging damage studies. Research priorities for PNG to increase the accuracy of forest carbon stock assessments are the collection of field measurements in unlogged forest and more spatially explicit logging damage studies. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimating Damage Cost of Net Primary Production due to Climate Change and Ozone(O3) Effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, J. H.; Lee, D. K.; Park, C.; Sung, S.; Kim, H. G.; Mo, Y.; Kim, S.; Kil, S.

2016-12-01

Forests are absorbing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) through photosynthesis. The forests are not only preventing global warming but also influencing temperature, precipitation and humidity (Costanza et al., 1997; de Groot et al., 2002). Also the forests are recognized as a carbon sink internationally (van Kooten, 2009). The Korean Government supports the economic activity such as carbon offset projects in accordance with 'ACT ON THE MANAGEMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF CARBON SINK' Article27 (Korea Forest Service, 2013) and aims to make a policy which improves the CO2 capacity of forest for Paris Agreement discussed in UNFCCC COP21, December 2015 (Korea Forest Service, 2015). However, the social-economic activities make to increase aerosols as well as greenhouse gases significantly since the industrial revolution, as a result, the chemical composition of the atmosphere has changed significantly. According to the resent studies, not only CO2 but atmospheric chemistries such as ozone (O3), aerosol and black carbon can be an important factor causing climate change (Hansen et al., 2007; IPCC, 2007). In the past, acid rain affected on forest, but in these days, O3, nitrogen oxide (NOX) and sulfur oxide (SOX) are the most threatening factors on forest ecosystem (Lee et al, 2011). In particular, O3accounts for most of the photochemical products and causes a direct significant impact or damage on the plant because of high toxicity (Han et al., 2006). The research questions of this study are "How does O3 effects on forest productivity in the present and future? " What is the damage cost by the O3 effect in the future? In this study, we developed a statistical model using the parameters which effect on the forest productivity. We estimated the forest productivity using on the derived model in the present and future on a SSP scenarios. Lastly, we evaluated the economic effect or damage cost of O3effect by introducing the concept of climate insurance. The average forest productivity, net primary productivity (NPP), in Korea is about 622 gC/m2/yr in the results. And the result shows that NPP decreases about 2.3% by O3 negative effect. The NPP in the future also decreases about 1-2% and the negative effect of O3 is similar. Finally, damage cost by O3 in the future is bigger than damage by climate change.

Summary of taxa-specific research: 2. pathogens

Treesearch

Ned Klopfenstein; Brian Geils

2009-01-01

Damage caused by invasive forest pathogens is widely viewed as more severe, long-term, widespread, and difficult to restore than that caused by any other biological disturbance agent. In the last century, pathogens introduced into our native forests have threatened extinction of native tree species and critically degraded many different ecosystems across North America...

Forest Products Laboratory research program on small-diameter material.

Treesearch

2000-01-01

Forests in the United States contain a significant amount of small-diameter and underutilized material. These overstocked stands not only increase the risk of insect, disease, fire, and drought damage, but also are costly to remove. Finding economical and marketable uses for small-diameter and underutilized material would alleviate these problems while improving...

You'd better walk alone: Changes in forest composition affect pollination efficiency and pre-dispersal cone damage in Iberian Juniperus thurifera forests.

PubMed

Rodríguez-García, E; Mezquida, E T; Olano, J M

2017-11-01

Changes in land-use patterns are a major driver of global environmental change. Cessation of traditional land-use practices has led to forest expansion and shifts in forest composition. Consequently, former monospecific forests maintained by traditional management are progressing towards mixed forests. However, knowledge is scarce on how the presence of other tree species will affect reproduction of formerly dominant species. We explored this question in the wind-pollinated tree Juniperus thurifera. We hypothesised that the presence of heterospecific trees would have a negative effect on cone production and on the proportion of cones attacked by specialised predators. We assessed the relative importance of forest composition on cone production, seed development and pre-dispersal cone damage on nine paired pure and mixed J. thurifera forests in three regions across the Iberian Peninsula. The effects of forest composition on crop size, cone and seed characteristics, as well as damage by pre-dispersal arthropods were tested using mixed models. Cone production was lower and seed abortion higher in mixed forests, suggesting higher pollination failure. In contrast, cone damage by arthropods was higher in pure forests, supporting the hypothesis that presence of non-host plants reduces damage rates. However, the response of each arthropod to forest composition was species-specific and the relative rates of cone damage varied depending on individual tree crops. Larger crop sizes in pure forests compensated for the higher cone damage rates, leading to a higher net production of sound seeds compared to mixed forests. This study indicates that ongoing changes in forest composition after land abandonment may impact tree reproduction. © 2017 German Society for Plant Sciences and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

Biological research on fire in the West

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2005-01-01

Wildland fires are a natural feature of many ecosystems, including grasslands, forests, and shrublands. How-ever, years of fire exclusion have led to accumulations of dead fuels and increases in the density of fire-intolerant species. In most western states, recent fires burning in these altered ecosystems have caused significant damage and huge economic losses to homes, busi-nesses, and communities. They also have dis-turbed forests and rangelands as well as their associated watersheds, plants, and animals. Every western state is concerned about dam-age from such catastrophic fires, and there is strong interest from all sectors in prevent-ing and reducing the resulting damage in the future. There is also interest in the use of fire as a management tool for reducing hazards and restoring damaged ecosystems and for returning fire to its natural role in wilderness ecosystems.

Assessing forest damage in high-elevation coniferous forests in Vermont and New Hampshire using Thematic Mapper data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vogelmann, James E.; Rock, Barrett N.

1988-01-01

This study evaluates the potential of measuring/mapping forest damage in spruce-fir forests in the Green Mountains of Vermont and White Mountains of New Hampshire using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data. The TM 1.65/0.83-micron (TM5/4) and 2.22/0.83-micron (TM7/4) band ratios were found to correlate well with ground-based measurements of forest damage (a measure of percentage foliar loss) at 11 spruce-fir stands located on Camels Hump, a mountain in northern Vermont. Images using 0.56 and 1.65-micron bands with 1.65/0.83-micron band ratios indicated locations of heavy conifer forest damage. Both 1.65/0.83 and 2.22/0.83-micron band ratios were used to quantify levels of conifer forest damage among individual mountains throughout many of the Green and White Mountains. Damage was found to be consistently higher for the Green than the White Mountains.

36 CFR 223.12 - Permission to cut, damage, or destroy trees without advertisement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... destroy trees without advertisement. 223.12 Section 223.12 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST... § 223.12 Permission to cut, damage, or destroy trees without advertisement. Permission may be granted to cut, damage, or destroy trees, portions of trees, or other forest products on National Forest System...

Vegetation dynamics and impacts of Phytophthora ramorum in redwood-tanoak forests in California

Treesearch

S Lynch; R Cobb; D. Rizzo

2009-01-01

Pathogen epidemiology, community ecology of host species, and land use history all play major roles in the current distribution of Phytophthora ramorum and the extent of damage this pathogen has caused in California forests (Rizzo and others 2005, Meentemeyer and others 2008b). Research on the community ecology and the interaction of...

Rapid mapping of hurricane damage to forests

Treesearch

Erik M. Nielsen

2009-01-01

The prospects for producing rapid, accurate delineations of the spatial extent of forest wind damage were evaluated using Hurricane Katrina as a test case. A damage map covering the full spatial extent of Katrina?s impact was produced from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite imagery using higher resolution training data. Forest damage...

Incidence and impact of damage to Virginia's timber, 1986

Treesearch

Cindy M. Huber; Joe P. McClure; Noel D. Cost

1987-01-01

This bulletin reports survey data on agents damaging trees in Virginia's forests. Data were collected in 1984 and 1985 by the Forest Inventory and Analysis Work Unit of the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. This effort was part of the fifth inventory of the State's forests. Damage information similiar to the previous survey was gathered for this...

36 CFR 223.113 - Modification of contracts to prevent environmental damage or to conform to forest plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... environmental damage or to conform to forest plans. Timber sale contract, permits, and other such instruments... revisions of land and resource management plans adopted subsequent to award or issuance of a timber sale... prevent environmental damage or to conform to forest plans. 223.113 Section 223.113 Parks, Forests, and...

Orographic influence on storm damage to forests in mountain areas by the example of windstorm 'Lothar'

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmoeckel, J.; Kottmeier, Ch.

2003-04-01

The extraordinary strong storm 'LOTHAR' on December 26, 1999 caused large damage in the forests of France, Switzerland and Germany. In Germany, specially the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) was concerned. In this contribution an empirical analysis of storm damage in the northern Black Forest is given. The aim is to derive the orographical influence on the windfield from the damage pattern. This is recorded approx. 5 months after the desaster by an airborne survey with a digital line scanner. From these data highly resolved, georeferenced distributions of the vegetation index are calculated (2 m x 2 m pixel size). The damaged forest areas appear with a lower vegetation index than areas with intact vegetation. Demarcation between damaged forest areas and populated or differently used areas is given by a landuse model. Mapping of the storm damages and their combination with a digital elevation model and landuse data is performed in a GIS. It is shown that the damage pattern is significantly affected by orographic factors. Large damage occurred e.g. at the location of saddles between single mountains, on mountain flanks facing to the North and Northwest, and at the windward (west) flanks of extended mountain ridges. Little damage is found in areas that presumably were protected against the wind, i.e. on the leeside (eastern) mountain flanks, in dells and niches as well as in valleys perpendicular to the mean west to southwest winds. To explain the spatially complex distribution of damages more fully, an analysis is made where characteristics of the forest and of the soil are taken into account. The knowledge gained can be profitable for future afforestation in mountain areas to stabilize forests against severe storms.

Characteristics of the Psidium cattleianum (Myrtaceae) Seed bank in Hawaiian lowland wet forests

Treesearch

Amanda L. Uowolo; Julie S. Denslow

2008-01-01

Psidium cattleianum Sabine (strawberry guava) is one of Hawai‘i’s most disruptive alien plants. Dense stands can suppress growth and establishment of native species, support high populations of crop-damaging fruit flies, and preclude restoration or management of native forests. Our research investigated factors affecting persistence of P...

Impacts of Landscape Context on Patterns of Wind Downfall Damage in a Fragmented Amazonian Landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwartz, N.; Uriarte, M.; DeFries, R. S.; Gutierrez-Velez, V. H.; Fernandes, K.; Pinedo-Vasquez, M.

2015-12-01

Wind is a major disturbance in the Amazon and has both short-term impacts and lasting legacies in tropical forests. Observed patterns of damage across landscapes result from differences in wind exposure and stand characteristics, such as tree stature, species traits, successional age, and fragmentation. Wind disturbance has important consequences for biomass dynamics in Amazonian forests, and understanding the spatial distribution and size of impacts is necessary to quantify the effects on carbon dynamics. In November 2013, a mesoscale convective system was observed over the study area in Ucayali, Peru, a highly human modified and fragmented forest landscape. We mapped downfall damage associated with the storm in order to ask: how does the severity of damage vary within forest patches, and across forest patches of different sizes and successional ages? We applied spectral mixture analysis to Landsat images from 2013 and 2014 to calculate the change in non-photosynthetic vegetation fraction after the storm, and combined it with C-band SAR data from the Sentinel-1 satellite to predict downfall damage measured in 30 field plots using random forest regression. We then applied this model to map damage in forests across the study area. Using a land cover classification developed in a previous study, we mapped secondary and mature forest, and compared the severity of damage in the two. We found that damage was on average higher in secondary forests, but patterns varied spatially. This study demonstrates the utility of using multiple sources of satellite data for mapping wind disturbance, and adds to our understanding of the sources of variation in wind-related damage. Ultimately, an improved ability to map wind impacts and a better understanding of their spatial patterns can contribute to better quantification of carbon dynamics in Amazonian landscapes.

Diverse responses of different structured forest to drought in Southwest China through remotely sensed data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Peipei; Zhou, Tao; Zhao, Xiang; Luo, Hui; Gao, Shan; Li, Zheng; Cao, Leyao

2018-07-01

Global climate change leads to gradual increases in the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme drought events. Human activities such as afforestation and deforestation have led to spatial variation in forest structure, causing forests to exhibit an age-spatial structure relationship. Thus, it is of great importance to accurately evaluate the effects of drought stress on forest ecosystems with different forest age structures. Because the spatial heterogeneity varies with drought stress intensity, forest age, there are still a lot of uncertainties in current studies. In this study, based on the field measurement, and the proxy index of stand age (based on forest canopy height from LiDAR and stock volume from inventory) at the regional scale, we analyzed the different drought responses of forest ecosystems with various forest ages across different scales in Yunnan province, southwest China from 2001 to 2014. At the local scale, significant differences in the effects of drought stress were found among forests with various ages, suggesting that older forests suffer more under drought stress than younger forests. At the regional scale, the investigation statistics of forest damage indicated a maximum damage ratio in the forest with tall trees (>32 m), whereas damage was minimal in the forest with short trees (<25 m). The stock volume of the forest exhibited the same pattern, that is, the forest damage ratio increased as the stock volume increased. These data demonstrate that the responses of forest drought could be affected by forest age. Under drought stress, older forests show greater vulnerability and risk of damage, which will require special attention for forest managers, as well as improved risk assessments, in the context of future climate change.

Incidence of insects, diseases, and other damaging agents in Oregon forests.

Treesearch

Paul A. Dunham

2008-01-01

This report uses data from a network of forest inventory plots sampled at two points in time, annual aerial insect and disease surveys, and specialized pest damage surveys to quantify the incidence and impact of insects, diseases, and other damaging agents on Oregon's forests. The number and volume of trees damaged or killed by various agents is summarized....

Post-hurricane forest damage assessment using satellite remote sensing

Treesearch

W. Wang; J.J. Qu; X. Hao; Y. Liu; J.A. Stanturf

2010-01-01

This study developed a rapid assessment algorithm for post-hurricane forest damage estimation using moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) measurements. The performance of five commonly used vegetation indices as post-hurricane forest damage indicators was investigated through statistical analysis. The Normalized Difference Infrared Index (NDII) was...

Forest Restoration following Southern Pine Beetle

Treesearch

John D. Waldron

2011-01-01

Forest restoration is the process of transforming a damaged or unhealthy forest into a healthy one. After the southern pine beetle (SPB) has damaged a forest, it is sometimes, if not most times, necessary to restore that forest. It is important to know the restoration goals, conditions prior to SPB, current conditions, and potential future conditions of the forest...

Short-term effects of hurricane disturbance on food availability for migrant songbirds during autumn stopover

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dobbs, R.C.; Barrow, W.C.; Jeske, C.W.; Dimiceli, J.; Michot, T.C.; Beck, J.W.

2009-01-01

Understanding the consequences of hurricanes on the food resources available to neotropical-nearctic migrant songbirds may provide important insight into the effects of hurricanes on migratory populations. During autumn migration 2006 we investigated the foraging ecology of two species of insectivorous migrants, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) and Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia), and the availability of their foraging substrates and arthropod food resources in two coastal forests in western Louisiana, which were impacted to different degrees by Hurricane Rita in autumn 2005. Both migrant species attacked prey on bark substrates significantly more frequently, and on live foliage less frequently, in severely damaged forest than in lightly damaged forest (??2 tests, P < 0.05). However, both species attacked prey on bark less than expected given its availability (i.e., migrants avoided bark), and attacked prey on live foliage more than expected given its availability (i.e., migrants selected live foliage), in severely damaged forest (??2 tests, P < 0.03). Branch-clipping revealed that arthropod biomass on live hackberry (Celtis laevigata) and sweet acacia (Acacia farnesiana) branches was significantly higher in severely damaged forest than in lightly damaged forest (Mann-Whitney test, P < 0.01). However, because live foliage was significantly less available in severely damaged forest, overall food availability for migrants was lower in severely damaged forest than in lightly damaged forest. Migrant use of, and arthropod biomass on, bark and live-foliage substrates were thus dependent on the availability of those substrates, which differed between sites as a result of hurricane-related habitat disturbance. These results demonstrate that severe hurricane disturbance reduces food availability for insectivorous songbirds during migratory stopover by reducing the availability of preferred foraging substrates. ?? 2009 The Society of Wetland Scientists.

Disentangling factors that control the vulnerability of forests to catastrophic wind damage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dracup, E.; Taylor, A.; MacLean, D.; Boulanger, Y.

2017-12-01

Wind is an important driver of forest dynamics along North America's north-eastern coastal forests, but also damages many commercially managed forests which society relies as an important source of wood fiber. Although the influence of wind on north-eastern forests is well recognized, knowledge of factors predisposing trees to wind damage is less known, especially in the context of large, powerful wind storm events. This is of particular concern as climate change is expected to alter the frequency and severity of strong wind storms affecting this region. On 29 September 2003, Hurricane Juan made landfall over Nova Scotia, Canada as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 158 km/h, and gusts of up to 185 km/h. Hurricane Juan variously damaged a swath of over 600,000 ha of forest. The damaged forest area was surveyed using aerial photography and LandSAT imagery and categorized according to level of wind damage sustained (none, low, moderate, severe) at a resolution of 15 x 15 m square cells. We used Random Forest to analyze and compare level of wind damage in each cell with a myriad of abiotic (exposure, depth to water table, soil composition, etc.) and biotic (tree species composition, canopy closure, canopy height, etc.) factors known or expected to predispose trees to windthrow. From our analysis, we identified topographic exposure, precipitation, and maximum gust speed as the top predictors of windthrow during Hurricane Juan. To our surprise, forest stand factors, such as tree species composition and height, had minimal effects on level of windthrow. These results can be used to construct predictive risk maps which can help society to assess the vulnerability of forests to future wind storm events.

Strategy for increasing the participation of masyarakat peduli api in forest fire control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ni’mah, N. L. K.; Herdiansyah, H.; Soesilo, T. E. B.; Mutia, E. F.

2018-03-01

Forest fires have negative impact on ecology, health, and damage economic activities. One of conservation areas facing the threat of forest fire is Gunung Ciremai National Park. This research aims to formulate a strategy to increase the participation of Masyarakat Peduli Api in the effort of forest fire control. This research use quantitative method with SWOT analysis. Expert consisting of representatives from the national park, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and BPBD Kuningan Regency. An alternative strategy based on SWOT analysis is in quadrant 1 with coordinate point (0,39; 1,23). The position shows that sustainability of national park management through forest fire control can be done with an aggressive strategy. That is maximizing the strength that is owned with its potential as an ecotourism area to increase community motivation to engage in forest fire control activities. Provision of tourism management licenses will create employment opportunities and increase income for the community so it is expected to increase community participation to prevent the occurrence of forest fires rather than forest fire prevention.

Improving Post-Hurricane Katrina Forest Management with MODIS Time Series Products

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewis, Mark David; Spruce, Joseph; Evans, David; Anderson, Daniel

2012-01-01

Hurricane damage to forests can be severe, causing millions of dollars of timber damage and loss. To help mitigate loss, state agencies require information on location, intensity, and extent of damaged forests. NASA's MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series data products offers a potential means for state agencies to monitor hurricane-induced forest damage and recovery across a broad region. In response, a project was conducted to produce and assess 250 meter forest disturbance and recovery maps for areas in southern Mississippi impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The products and capabilities from the project were compiled to aid work of the Mississippi Institute for Forest Inventory (MIFI). A series of NDVI change detection products were computed to assess hurricane induced damage and recovery. Hurricane-induced forest damage maps were derived by computing percent change between MODIS MOD13 16-day composited NDVI pre-hurricane "baseline" products (2003 and 2004) and post-hurricane NDVI products (2005). Recovery products were then computed in which post storm 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 NDVI data was each singularly compared to the historical baseline NDVI. All percent NDVI change considered the 16-day composite period of August 29 to September 13 for each year in the study. This provided percent change in the maximum NDVI for the 2 week period just after the hurricane event and for each subsequent anniversary through 2009, resulting in forest disturbance products for 2005 and recovery products for the following 4 years. These disturbance and recovery products were produced for the Mississippi Institute for Forest Inventory's (MIFI) Southeast Inventory District and also for the entire hurricane impact zone. MIFI forest inventory products were used as ground truth information for the project. Each NDVI percent change product was classified into 6 categories of forest disturbance intensity. Stand age and stand type raster data, also provided by MIFI, were used along with the forest disturbance/recovery products to create forest damage stratification products integrating 3 stand type classes, 6 stand age classes, and 6 forest disturbance intensity classes. This stratification product will be used to aid MIFI timber inventory planning and to prepare for damage assessments due to future hurricane events. Validation of MODIS percent NDVI change products was performed by comparing the MODIS percent NDVI change products to those from Landsat data for the same time and MIFI inventory district area.

Use of waveform lidar and hyperspectral sensors to assess selected spatial and structural patterns associated with recent and repeat disturbance and the abundance of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) in a temperate mixed hardwood and conifer forest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Anderson, J.E.; Ducey, Mark J.; Fast, A.; Martin, M.E.; Lepine, L.; Smith, M.-L.; Lee, T.D.; Dubayah, R.O.; Hofton, M.A.; Hyde, P.; Peterson, Birgit; Blair, J.B.

2011-01-01

Waveform lidar imagery was acquired on September 26, 1999 over the Bartlett Experimental Forest (BEF) in New Hampshire (USA) using NASA's Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS). This flight occurred 20 months after an ice storm damaged millions of hectares of forestland in northeastern North America. Lidar measurements of the amplitude and intensity of ground energy returns appeared to readily detect areas of moderate to severe ice storm damage associated with the worst damage. Southern through eastern aspects on side slopes were particularly susceptible to higher levels of damage, in large part overlapping tracts of forest that had suffered the highest levels of wind damage from the 1938 hurricane and containing the highest levels of sugar maple basal area and biomass. The levels of sugar maple abundance were determined through analysis of the 1997 Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) high resolution spectral imagery and inventory of USFS Northern Research Station field plots. We found a relationship between field measurements of stem volume losses and the LVIS metric of mean canopy height (r2 = 0.66; root mean square errors = 5.7 m3/ha, p < 0.0001) in areas that had been subjected to moderate-to-severe ice storm damage, accurately documenting the short-term outcome of a single disturbance event.

Wind damage effects of Hurricane Andrew on mangrove communities along the southwest coast of Florida, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Doyle, T.W.; Smith, T. J.; Robblee, M.B.

1995-01-01

On August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew downed and defoliated an extensive swath of mangrove trees across the lower Florida peninsula. Permanent field sites were established to assess the extent of forest damage and to monitor the rate and process of forest recovery. Canopy trees suffered the highest mortality particularly for sites within and immediately north of the storm's eyewall. The type and extent of site damage, windthrow, branch loss, and defoliation generally decreased exponentially with increasing distance from the storm track. Forest damage was greater for sites in the storm's right quadrant than in the left quadrant tor the same given distance from the storm center. Stand exposure, both horizontally and vertically, increased the susceptibility and probability of forest damage and accounted for much of the local variability. Slight species differences were found. Laguncularia racemosa exceeded Avicennia germinans and Rhizophora mangle in damage tendency under similar wind conditions. Azimuths of downed trees were strongly correlated with maximum wind speed and vector based on a hurricane simulation of the storm. Lateral branch loss and leaf defoliation on sites without windthrow damage indicated a degree of crown thinning and light penetration equivalent to treefall gaps under normally intact forest conditions. Mangrove species and forests are susceptible to catastrophic disturbance by hurricanes; the impacts of which are significant to changes in forest structure and function.

Mapping Canopy Damage from Understory Fires in Amazon Forests Using Annual Time Series of Landsat and MODIS Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morton, Douglas C.; DeFries, Ruth S.; Nagol, Jyoteshwar; Souza, Carlos M., Jr.; Kasischke, Eric S.; Hurtt, George C.; Dubayah, Ralph

2011-01-01

Understory fires in Amazon forests alter forest structure, species composition, and the likelihood of future disturbance. The annual extent of fire-damaged forest in Amazonia remains uncertain due to difficulties in separating burning from other types of forest damage in satellite data. We developed a new approach, the Burn Damage and Recovery (BDR) algorithm, to identify fire-related canopy damages using spatial and spectral information from multi-year time series of satellite data. The BDR approach identifies understory fires in intact and logged Amazon forests based on the reduction and recovery of live canopy cover in the years following fire damages and the size and shape of individual understory burn scars. The BDR algorithm was applied to time series of Landsat (1997-2004) and MODIS (2000-2005) data covering one Landsat scene (path/row 226/068) in southern Amazonia and the results were compared to field observations, image-derived burn scars, and independent data on selective logging and deforestation. Landsat resolution was essential for detection of burn scars less than 50 ha, yet these small burns contributed only 12% of all burned forest detected during 1997-2002. MODIS data were suitable for mapping medium (50-500 ha) and large (greater than 500 ha) burn scars that accounted for the majority of all fire-damaged forest in this study. Therefore, moderate resolution satellite data may be suitable to provide estimates of the extent of fire-damaged Amazon forest at a regional scale. In the study region, Landsat-based understory fire damages in 1999 (1508 square kilometers) were an order of magnitude higher than during the 1997-1998 El Nino event (124 square kilometers and 39 square kilometers, respectively), suggesting a different link between climate and understory fires than previously reported for other Amazon regions. The results in this study illustrate the potential to address critical questions concerning climate and fire risk in Amazon forests by applying the BDR algorithm over larger areas and longer image time series.

Monitoring gypsy moth defoliation by applying change detection techniques to Landsat imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, D. L.; Stauffer, M. L.

1978-01-01

The overall objective of a research effort at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is to develop and evaluate digital image processing techniques that will facilitate the assessment of the intensity and spatial distribution of forest insect damage in Northeastern U.S. forests using remotely sensed data from Landsats 1, 2 and C. Automated change detection techniques are presently being investigated as a method of isolating the areas of change in the forest canopy resulting from pest outbreaks. In order to follow the change detection approach, Landsat scene correction and overlay capabilities are utilized to provide multispectral/multitemporal image files of 'defoliation' and 'nondefoliation' forest stand conditions.

Differential Responses of Herbivores and Herbivory to Management in Temperate European Beech

PubMed Central

Gossner, Martin M.; Pašalić, Esther; Lange, Markus; Lange, Patricia; Boch, Steffen; Hessenmöller, Dominik; Müller, Jörg; Socher, Stephanie A.; Fischer, Markus; Schulze, Ernst-Detlef; Weisser, Wolfgang W.

2014-01-01

Forest management not only affects biodiversity but also might alter ecosystem processes mediated by the organisms, i.e. herbivory the removal of plant biomass by plant-eating insects and other arthropod groups. Aiming at revealing general relationships between forest management and herbivory we investigated aboveground arthropod herbivory in 105 plots dominated by European beech in three different regions in Germany in the sun-exposed canopy of mature beech trees and on beech saplings in the understorey. We separately assessed damage by different guilds of herbivores, i.e. chewing, sucking and scraping herbivores, gall-forming insects and mites, and leaf-mining insects. We asked whether herbivory differs among different forest management regimes (unmanaged, uneven-aged managed, even-aged managed) and among age-classes within even-aged forests. We further tested for consistency of relationships between regions, strata and herbivore guilds. On average, almost 80% of beech leaves showed herbivory damage, and about 6% of leaf area was consumed. Chewing damage was most common, whereas leaf sucking and scraping damage were very rare. Damage was generally greater in the canopy than in the understorey, in particular for chewing and scraping damage, and the occurrence of mines. There was little difference in herbivory among differently managed forests and the effects of management on damage differed among regions, strata and damage types. Covariates such as wood volume, tree density and plant diversity weakly influenced herbivory, and effects differed between herbivory types. We conclude that despite of the relatively low number of species attacking beech; arthropod herbivory on beech is generally high. We further conclude that responses of herbivory to forest management are multifaceted and environmental factors such as forest structure variables affecting in particular microclimatic conditions are more likely to explain the variability in herbivory among beech forest plots. PMID:25119984

The Role of Topography in the Distribution and Intensity of Damage Caused by Deer in Polish Mountain Forests

PubMed Central

Ciesielski, Mariusz; Stereńczak, Krzysztof; Borowski, Zbigniew

2016-01-01

The increase in the deer population observed in recent decades has strongly impacted forest regeneration and the forest itself. The reduction in the quality of raw wood material, as a consequence of deer-mediated damage, constitutes a significant burden on forest owners. The basis for the commencement of preventive actions in this setting is the understanding of the populations and behaviors of deer in their natural environment. Although multiple studies have been carried out regarding this subject, only a few suggested topography as an important factor that may influence the distribution and intensity of deer-mediated damage. The detailed terrain models based on LiDAR data as well as the data on damage caused by deer from the State Forests database enabled thorough analyses of the distribution and intensity of damage in relation to land form in this study. These analyses were performed on three mountain regions in Poland: the Western Sudety Mountains, the Eastern Sudety Mountains, and the Beskidy Mountains. Even though these three regions are located several dozen to several hundred kilometers apart from each other, not all evaluated factors appeared common among them, and therefore, these regions have been analyzed separately. The obtained results indicated that the forest damage caused by deer increased with increasing altitude above 1000 m ASL. However, much larger areas of damage by deer were observed at elevations ranging from 401 to 1000 m ASL than at elevations below 400 m ASL. Moreover, the locations of damage (forest thickets and old stands) indicated that red deer is the species that exerts the strongest pressure on forest ecosystems. Our results show the importance of deer foraging behavior to the structure of the environment. PMID:27851776

36 CFR 223.12 - Permission to cut, damage, or destroy trees without advertisement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... destroy trees without advertisement. 223.12 Section 223.12 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST... trees without advertisement. Permission may be granted to cut, damage, or destroy trees, portions of trees, or other forest products on National Forest System lands without advertisement when necessary for...

36 CFR 223.12 - Permission to cut, damage, or destroy trees without advertisement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... destroy trees without advertisement. 223.12 Section 223.12 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST... trees without advertisement. Permission may be granted to cut, damage, or destroy trees, portions of trees, or other forest products on National Forest System lands without advertisement when necessary for...

36 CFR 223.12 - Permission to cut, damage, or destroy trees without advertisement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... destroy trees without advertisement. 223.12 Section 223.12 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST... trees without advertisement. Permission may be granted to cut, damage, or destroy trees, portions of trees, or other forest products on National Forest System lands without advertisement when necessary for...

36 CFR 223.12 - Permission to cut, damage, or destroy trees without advertisement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... destroy trees without advertisement. 223.12 Section 223.12 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST... trees without advertisement. Permission may be granted to cut, damage, or destroy trees, portions of trees, or other forest products on National Forest System lands without advertisement when necessary for...

Wind in the forests of southeast Alaska and guides for reducing damage.

Treesearch

A.S. Harris

1999-01-01

Alaska based on the literature and the author's experience. Storm winds resulting in damage to forest stands are described, and some ecological and management considerations of wind that are of concern to forest managers are reviewed. The author made a general reconnaissance of forest conditions on Prince of Wales Island and adjacent islands based on forest-type...

Fragmentation increases wind disturbance impacts on forest structure and carbon stocks in a western Amazonian landscape.

PubMed

Schwartz, Naomi B; Uriarte, María; DeFries, Ruth; Bedka, Kristopher M; Fernandes, Katia; Gutiérrez-Vélez, Victor; Pinedo-Vasquez, Miguel A

2017-09-01

Tropical second-growth forests could help mitigate climate change, but the degree to which their carbon potential is achieved will depend on exposure to disturbance. Wind disturbance is common in tropical forests, shaping structure, composition, and function, and influencing successional trajectories. However, little is known about the impacts of extreme winds on second-growth forests in fragmented landscapes, though these ecosystems are often located in mosaics of forest, pasture, cropland, and other land cover types. Indirect evidence suggests that fragmentation increases risk of wind damage in tropical forests, but no studies have found such impacts following severe storms. In this study, we ask whether fragmentation and forest type (old vs. second growth) were associated with variation in wind damage after a severe convective storm in a fragmented production landscape in western Amazonia. We applied linear spectral unmixing to Landsat 8 imagery from before and after the storm, and combined it with field observations of damage to map wind effects on forest structure and biomass. We also used Landsat 8 imagery to map land cover with the goals of identifying old- and second-growth forest and characterizing fragmentation. We used these data to assess variation in wind disturbance across 95,596 ha of forest, distributed over 6,110 patches. We find that fragmentation is significantly associated with wind damage, with damage severity higher at forest edges and in edgier, more isolated patches. Damage was also more severe in old-growth than in second-growth forests, but this effect was weaker than that of fragmentation. These results illustrate the importance of considering landscape context in planning tropical forest restoration and natural regeneration projects. Assessments of long-term carbon sequestration potential need to consider spatial variation in disturbance exposure. Where risk of extreme winds is high, minimizing fragmentation and isolation could increase carbon sequestration potential. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Relationships between common forest metrics and realized impacts of Hurricane Katrina on forest resources in Mississippi

Treesearch

Sonja N. Oswalt; Christopher M. Oswalt

2008-01-01

This paper compares and contrasts hurricane-related damage recorded across the Mississippi landscape in the 2 years following Katrina with initial damage assessments based on modeled parameters by the USDA Forest Service. Logistic and multiple regressions are used to evaluate the influence of stand characteristics on tree damage probability. Specifically, this paper...

Damage to western Washington forests from November 1955 cold wave.

Treesearch

John W. Duffield

1956-01-01

The cold wave that occurred throughout the Pacific Northwest in mid-November 1955 caused serious damage to the forests of western Washington. Observations indicate that heavy mortality can be expected in 30- to 40-year-old stands in some areas. In addition, widespread damage was suffered by natural regeneration and young plantations, and by 1-0 stock in some forest...

Tree diversity promotes insect herbivory in subtropical forests of south-east China.

PubMed

Schuldt, Andreas; Baruffol, Martin; Böhnke, Martin; Bruelheide, Helge; Härdtle, Werner; Lang, Anne C; Nadrowski, Karin; von Oheimb, Goddert; Voigt, Winfried; Zhou, Hongzhang; Assmann, Thorsten; Fridley, Jason

2010-07-01

1.Insect herbivory can strongly affect ecosystem processes, and its relationship with plant diversity is a central topic in biodiversity-functioning research. However, very little is known about this relationship from complex ecosystems dominated by long-lived individuals, such as forests, especially over gradients of high plant diversity.2.We analysed insect herbivory on saplings of 10 tree and shrub species across 27 forest stands differing in age and tree species richness in an extraordinarily diverse subtropical forest ecosystem in China. We tested whether plant species richness significantly influences folivory in these highly diverse forests or whether other factors play a more important role at such high levels of phytodiversity.3.Leaf damage was assessed on 58 297 leaves of 1284 saplings at the end of the rainy season in 2008, together with structural and abiotic stand characteristics.4.Species-specific mean damage of leaf area ranged from 3% to 16%. Herbivory increased with plant species richness even after accounting for potentially confounding effects of stand characteristics, of which stand age-related aspects most clearly covaried with herbivory. Intraspecific density dependence or other abiotic factors did not significantly influence overall herbivory across forest stands.5.Synthesis.The positive herbivory-plant diversity relationship indicates that effects related to hypotheses of resource concentration, according to which a reduction in damage by specialized herbivores might be expected as host plant concentration decreases with increasing plant diversity, do not seem to be major determinants for overall herbivory levels in our phytodiverse subtropical forest ecosystem. We discuss the potential role of host specificity of dominant herbivores, which are often expected to show a high degree of specialization in many (sub)tropical forests. In the forest system we studied, a much higher impact of polyphagous species than traditionally assumed might explain the observed patterns, as these species can profit from a broad dietary mix provided by high plant diversity. Further testing is needed to experimentally verify this assumption.

36 CFR 261.12 - National Forest System roads and trails.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... by a sign. (c) Damaging and leaving in a damaged condition any such road, trail, or segment thereof... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false National Forest System roads... AGRICULTURE PROHIBITIONS General Prohibitions § 261.12 National Forest System roads and trails. The following...

36 CFR 261.12 - National Forest System roads and trails.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... by a sign. (c) Damaging and leaving in a damaged condition any such road, trail, or segment thereof... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false National Forest System roads... AGRICULTURE PROHIBITIONS General Prohibitions § 261.12 National Forest System roads and trails. The following...

36 CFR 261.12 - National Forest System roads and trails.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... by a sign. (c) Damaging and leaving in a damaged condition any such road, trail, or segment thereof... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false National Forest System roads... AGRICULTURE PROHIBITIONS General Prohibitions § 261.12 National Forest System roads and trails. The following...

36 CFR 261.12 - National Forest System roads and trails.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... by a sign. (c) Damaging and leaving in a damaged condition any such road, trail, or segment thereof... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false National Forest System roads... AGRICULTURE PROHIBITIONS General Prohibitions § 261.12 National Forest System roads and trails. The following...

36 CFR 261.12 - National Forest System roads and trails.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... by a sign. (c) Damaging and leaving in a damaged condition any such road, trail, or segment thereof... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false National Forest System roads... AGRICULTURE PROHIBITIONS General Prohibitions § 261.12 National Forest System roads and trails. The following...

Incidence and impact of damage to and mortality trends of Florida's timber, 1987

Treesearch

Elizabeth A. Brantley; Clair Redmond; Michael Thompson

1994-01-01

This southeastern forest experiment station, headquartered in Asheville, NC, periodically inventories and evaluates forest resources in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The southern region, Forest Health Staff unit, provides training, field support, and evaluation of the data on forest insects, diseases, and other damaging agents.

A Project to Map and Monitor Baldcypress Forests in Coastal Louisiana, Using Landsat, MODIS, and ASTER Satellite Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph; Sader, Steven; Smoot, James

2012-01-01

Cypress swamp forests of Louisiana offer many important ecological and economic benefits: wildlife habitat, forest products, storm buffers, water quality, and recreation. Such forests are also threatened by multiple factors: subsidence, salt water intrusion, sea level rise, persistent flooding, hydrologic modification, hurricanes, insect and nutria damage, timber harvesting, and land use conversion. Unfortunately, there are many information gaps regarding the type, location, extent, and condition of these forests. Better more up to date swamp forest mapping products are needed to aid coastal forest conservation and restoration work (e.g., through the Coastal Forest Conservation Initiative or CFCI). In response, a collaborative project was initiated to develop, test and demonstrate cypress swamp forest mapping products, using NASA supported Landsat, ASTER, and MODIS satellite data. Research Objectives are: Develop, test, and demonstrate use of Landsat and ASTER data for computing new cypress forest classification products and Landsat, ASTER, and MODIS satellite data for detecting and monitoring swamp forest change

Remote Sensing Techniques for Rapid Assessment of Forest Damage Caused by Catastrophic Climatic Events, NA-TP-01-01

Treesearch

William Ciesla; William Frament; Margaret Miller-Weeks

2001-01-01

Catastrophic climatic events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and ice storms can cause billions of dollars in damage to infrastructure and personal property, loss of lives, and damage to natural resources. Forests are especially susceptible to these events. The following is a list of recent climatic events in North America that have had devastating effects on forest...

Assessing forest windthrow damage using single-date, post-event airborne laser scanning data

Treesearch

Gherardo Chirici; Francesca Bottalico; Francesca Giannetti; Barbara Del Perugia; Davide Travaglini; Susanna Nocentini; Erico Kutchartt; Enrico Marchi; Cristiano Foderi; Marco Fioravanti; Lorenzo Fattorini; Lorenzo Bottai; Ronald McRoberts; Erik Næsset; Piermaria Corona; Bernardo Gozzini

2017-01-01

One of many possible climate change effects in temperate areas is the increase of frequency and severity of windstorms; thus, fast and cost efficient new methods are needed to evaluate wind-induced damages in forests. We present a method for assessing windstorm damages in forest landscapes based on a two-stage sampling strategy using single-date, post-event airborne...

Mapping the occurrence of tree damage in the forests of the northern United States

Treesearch

Randall S. Morin; Scott A. Pugh; Jim. Steinman

2016-01-01

The U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis Program uses visual inspections of trees from bottom to top to record damage that is likely to prevent survival, reduce growth, or hinder capability to produce marketable products. This report describes the types of damage and occurrence as measured across the 24-state northern region between 2009 and 2013....

"First aid" for burned watersheds

Treesearch

J. S. Krammes; L. W. Hill

1963-01-01

Most of the vegetative cover on the San Dimas Experimental Forest was destroyed by a wildfire in 1960. Following the fire an emergency research program was initiated to test several "first -aid" treatments aimed at reducing flood and erosion damage from burned watersheds. This paper summarizes first - and second-year results of the research program.

The frequency and intensity of bark beetle infestations recorded in Romanian forests affected by windfall in 1995

Treesearch

V. Mihalciuc; V. Danci; M. Bujila; D. Chira

2003-01-01

Research has been carried out during the past six years (1996-2001), to record the occurrence of wind damage in resinous stands and to monitor the evolution of pest infestations during this period. The level of pest attack has become moderate over time and depended on different types of damaged wood material (cut, broken and fallen trees). We also reported about the...

Rodent Damage to Natural and Replanted Mountain Forest Regeneration

PubMed Central

Heroldová, Marta; Bryja, Josef; Jánová, Eva; Suchomel, Josef; Homolka, Miloslav

2012-01-01

Impact of small rodents on mountain forest regeneration was studied in National Nature Reserve in the Beskydy Mountains (Czech Republic). A considerable amount of bark damage was found on young trees (20%) in spring after the peak abundance of field voles (Microtus agrestis) in combination with long winter with heavy snowfall. In contrast, little damage to young trees was noted under high densities of bank voles (Myodes glareolus) with a lower snow cover the following winter. The bark of deciduous trees was more attractive to voles (22% damaged) than conifers (8%). Young trees growing in open and grassy localities suffered more damage from voles than those under canopy of forest stands (χ 2 = 44.04, P < 0.001). Natural regeneration in Nature Reserve was less damaged compared to planted trees (χ 2 = 55.89, P < 0.001). The main factors influencing the impact of rodent species on tree regeneration were open, grassy habitat conditions, higher abundance of vole species, tree species preferences- and snow-cover condition. Under these conditions, the impact of rodents on forest regeneration can be predicted. Foresters should prefer natural regeneration to the artificial plantings. PMID:22666163

Hurricane Hugo Effects on South Carolina's Forest Resource

Treesearch

Raymond M. Sheffield; Michael T. Thompson

1992-01-01

Hurricane Hugo struck South Carolina in September 1989 causing extensive mortality and damage to forest stands in 23 counties. The Forest Inventory and Analysis Work Unit at the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station conducted a special inventory of the damaged area in 1990. This Paper presents the results of that inventory and documents procedures used in the...

Do natural disturbances or the forestry practices that follow them convert forests to early-successional communities?

PubMed

Brewer, J Stephen; Bertz, Christine A; Cannon, Jeffery B; Chesser, Jason D; Maynard, Erynn E

2012-03-01

Stand-replacing natural disturbances in mature forests are traditionally seen as events that cause forests to revert to early stages of succession and maintain species diversity. In some cases, however, such transitions could be an artifact of salvage logging and may increase biotic homogenization. We present initial (two-year) results of a study of the effects of tornado damage and the combined effects of tornado damage and salvage logging on environmental conditions and ground cover plant communities in mixed oak-pine forests in north central Mississippi. Plots were established in salvage-logged areas, adjacent to plots established before the storm in unlogged areas, spanning a gradient of storm damage intensity. Vegetation change directly attributable to tornado damage was driven primarily by a reduction in canopy cover but was not consistent with a transition to an early stage of succession. Although we observed post-storm increases of several disturbance indicators (ruderals), we also observed significant increases in the abundance of a few species indicative of upland forests. Increases in flowering were just as likely to occur in species indicative of forests as in species indicative of open woodlands. Few species declined as a result of the tornado, resulting in a net increase in species richness. Ruderals were very abundant in salvage-logged areas, which contained significantly higher amounts of bare ground and greater variance in soil penetrability than did damaged areas that were not logged. In contrast to unlogged areas severely damaged by the tornado, most upland forest indicators were not abundant in logged areas. Several of the forest and open-woodland indicators that showed increased flowering in damaged areas were absent or sparse in logged areas. Species richness was lower in salvage-logged areas than in adjacent damaged areas but similar to that in undamaged areas. These results suggest that salvage logging prevented positive responses of several forest and open-woodland species to tornado damage. Anthropogenic disturbances such as salvage logging appear to differ fundamentally from stand-level canopy-reducing disturbances in their effects on ground cover vegetation in the forests studied here and are perhaps more appropriately viewed as contributing to biotic homogenization than as events that maintain diversity.

Using Airborne LIDAR Data for Assessment of Forest Fire Fuel Load Potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

İnan, M.; Bilici, E.; Akay, A. E.

2017-11-01

Forest fire incidences are one of the most detrimental disasters that may cause long terms effects on forest ecosystems in many parts of the world. In order to minimize environmental damages of fires on forest ecosystems, the forested areas with high fire risk should be determined so that necessary precaution measurements can be implemented in those areas. Assessment of forest fire fuel load can be used to estimate forest fire risk. In order to estimate fuel load capacity, forestry parameters such as number of trees, tree height, tree diameter, crown diameter, and tree volume should be accurately measured. In recent years, with the advancements in remote sensing technology, it is possible to use airborne LIDAR for data estimation of forestry parameters. In this study, the capabilities of using LIDAR based point cloud data for assessment of the forest fuel load potential was investigated. The research area was chosen in the Istanbul Bentler series of Bahceköy Forest Enterprise Directorate that composed of mixed deciduous forest structure.

Dynamics of combined forest damage risks for 21st century (SRES A1B, B1)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panferov, Oleg; Merklein, Johannes; Sogachev, Andrey; Junghans, Udo; Ahrends, Bernd

2010-05-01

The ongoing climate change can result in increasing frequency of weather extremes (Leckebusch et al., 2008) which in turn can produce wide area forest damage (windthrows, droughts, insect attacks) within forest ecosystems in Europe. The probability and extent of damage, depend not only on a strength of a driving force itself but especially on combinations of effecting agents and their interactions with forest ecosystem structure and soil properties. The combined effect of several factors which are not the extremes themselves can lead to the biotic and/or abiotic damage so that the combination becomes an extreme event. As soon as a damage event occurs, the forest structure is changed. The changes in forest structure in their turn strengthen or inhibits the influence of different climatic factors thus increase or decrease the probability of the next damage event creating positive or negative feedbacks. To assess the roles of separate meteorological factors and their combinations in forest damage under present and future climatic conditions the coupled model was created in University of Goettingen, as a part of a Decision Support System (Jansen et al, 2008, Panferov et al., 2009). The model combines the 3D ABL Model SCADIS (Panferov and Sogachev, 2008) with modified soil hydrology model BROOK 90 (Federer, 2003, Ahrends et al. 2009) and the model of climate dependent biotic damage. The projected future developments of forest damage events in 21st Century were carried out under conditions of SRES scenarios A1B and B1; the present conditions were evaluated using the measured data of German Weather Service. Climate scenario data of coupled ECHAM5-MPIOM were downscaled by the regional climate model Climate Local Model (CLM) to the spatial resolution of 0.2° x 0.2° and temporal resolution of 24 hours. Using these data as input the small-scale coupled process based modeling was then carried out for example region of Solling, Germany calculating the water and energy balance of forest ecosystems, wind loading on trees and biotic damage for several tree species and typical soil types. The damage risks a certain forest stand at a given soil results from daily combinations of air and soil temperatures, soil water characteristics, static and gust wind loads on trees with dynamic LAI and of soil texture. Some damaged stands show higher vulnerability and thus - positive feedbacks to climate forcing (Vygodskaya et al., 2007). Therefore, changes of microclimate in remaining stands after changes in forest structure are taken into account. Model output is aggregated to 30-years periods and compared to "present conditions" of 1981-2010. The results show considerable increment of both biotic and abiotic risks towards 2100 relatively to "present" caused by weak changes in precipitation and wind patterns and strong increase of mean air temperature and soil temperatures. It is shown, e.g. that the wind- damage-induced changes of structure and microclimate provide a positive feedback i.e. - increase the probability of the next damage event. The study was financed by BMBF within the frames of joint project "Decision Support System - Forest and Climate Change" (DSS-WuK) and by Grant of Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony "KLIFF". We gratefully acknowledge this support.

Discrimination between acute and chronic decline of Central European forests using map algebra of the growth condition and forest biomass fuzzy sets: A case study.

PubMed

Samec, Pavel; Caha, Jan; Zapletal, Miloš; Tuček, Pavel; Cudlín, Pavel; Kučera, Miloš

2017-12-01

Forest decline is either caused by damage or else by vulnerability due to unfavourable growth conditions or due to unnatural silvicultural systems. Here, we assess forest decline in the Czech Republic (Central Europe) using fuzzy functions, fuzzy sets and fuzzy rating of ecosystem properties over a 1×1km grid. The model was divided into fuzzy functions of the abiotic predictors of growth conditions (F pred including temperature, precipitation, acid deposition, soil data and relative site insolation) and forest biomass receptors (F rec including remote sensing data, density and volume of aboveground biomass, and surface humus chemical data). Fuzzy functions were designed at the limits of unfavourable, undetermined or favourable effects on the forest ecosystem health status. Fuzzy sets were distinguished through similarity in a particular membership of the properties at the limits of the forest status margins. Fuzzy rating was obtained from the least difference of F pred -F rec . Unfavourable F pred within unfavourable F rec indicated chronic damage, favourable F pred within unfavourable F rec indicated acute damage, and unfavourable F pred within favourable F rec indicated vulnerability. The model in the 1×1km grid was validated through spatial intersection with a point field of uniform forest stands. Favourable status was characterised by soil base saturation (BS)>50%, BCC/Al>1, C org >1%, MgO>6g/kg, and nitrogen deposition<1200mol(H + )/ha·year. Vulnerable forests had BS humus 46-60%, BCC/Al 9-20 and NDVI≈0.42. Chronic forest damage occurs in areas with low temperatures, high nitrogen deposition, and low soil BS and C org levels. In the Czech Republic, 10% of forests were considered non-damaged and 77% vulnerable, with damage considered acute in 7% of forests and chronic in 5%. The fuzzy model used suggests that improvement in forest health will depend on decreasing environmental load and restoration concordance between growth conditions and tree species composition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Does variable-density thinning increase wind damage in conifer stands on the Olympic Peninsula?

Treesearch

S.D. Roberts; C.A. Harrington; K.R. Buermeyer

2007-01-01

Silvicultural treatments designed to enhance stand structural diversity may result in increased wind damage. The ability to avoid conditions that might lead to excessive wind damage would benefit forest managers. We analyzed wind damage following implementation of a variable-density thinning at four sites on the Olympic National Forest in northwest Washington. The...

Wildland arson: a research assessment

Treesearch

Jeffrey P. Prestemon; David T. Butry

2010-01-01

Wildland arson makes up the majority of fire starts in some parts of the United States and is the second leading cause of fires on Eastern United States Federal forests. Individual arson fires can cause damages to resources and communities totaling over a hundred million dollars. Recent research has uncovered the temporal and spatial patterns of arson fires and their...

AmeriFlux US-Wrc Wind River Crane Site

DOE Data Explorer

Bible, Ken [University of Washington; Wharton, Sonia [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

2016-01-01

This is the AmeriFlux version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Wrc Wind River Crane Site. Site Description - Wind River Field Station flux tower site is located in the T.T. Munger Research Area of the Wind River Ranger District in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Protected since 1926, the T.T. Munger Research Natural Area (RNA) is administered by the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station and Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The Douglas-fir/western hemlock dominant stand is approximately 500 years old and represents end points of several ecological gradients including age, biomass, structural complexity, and density of the dominant overstory species. A complete stand replacement fire, approximately 450-500 years ago, resulted in the initial establishment. No significant disturbances have occurred since the fire aside from those confined to small groups of single trees, such as overturn from high wind activity and mechanical damage from winter precipitation.

A review of spatial aspects of forest damage and recovery on the South Carolina coast following hurricane Hugo

Treesearch

Thomas M. Williams; Bo Song; Carl C. Trettin; Charles A. Gresham

2013-01-01

Southern US coastal forests are subject to damage by major Atlantic Hurricanes at a frequency that influences forest succession. Forest species may be: a) resistant: unchanged in mortality and growth; b) susceptible: increase in mortality and decrease in growth, and c) resilient: increase in mortality but increase in abundance and growth, or d) usurper: absent prior to...

Tree Species Composition and Harvest Intensity Affect Herbivore Density and Leaf Damage on Beech, Fagus sylvatica, in Different Landscape Contexts

PubMed Central

Mangels, Jule; Blüthgen, Nico; Frank, Kevin; Grassein, Fabrice; Hilpert, Andrea; Mody, Karsten

2015-01-01

Most forests are exposed to anthropogenic management activities that affect tree species composition and natural ecosystem processes. Changes in ecosystem processes such as herbivory depend on management intensity, and on regional environmental conditions and species pools. Whereas influences of specific forest management measures have already been addressed for different herbivore taxa on a local scale, studies considering effects of different aspects of forest management across different regions are rare. We assessed the influence of tree species composition and intensity of harvesting activities on arthropod herbivores and herbivore-related damage to beech trees, Fagus sylvatica, in 48 forest plots in three regions of Germany. We found that herbivore abundance and damage to beech trees differed between regions and that – despite the regional differences - density of tree-associated arthropod taxa and herbivore damage were consistently affected by tree species composition and harvest intensity. Specifically, overall herbivore damage to beech trees increased with increasing dominance of beech trees – suggesting the action of associational resistance processes – and decreased with harvest intensity. The density of leaf chewers and mines was positively related to leaf damage, and several arthropod groups responded to beech dominance and harvest intensity. The distribution of damage patterns was consistent with a vertical shift of herbivores to higher crown layers during the season and with higher beech dominance. By linking quantitative data on arthropod herbivore abundance and herbivory with tree species composition and harvesting activity in a wide variety of beech forests, our study helps to better understand the influence of forest management on interactions between a naturally dominant deciduous forest tree and arthropod herbivores. PMID:25938417

Satellite change detection of forest damage near the Chernobyl accident

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McClellan, G.E.; Anno, G.H.

1992-01-01

A substantial amount of forest within a few kilometers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor station was badly contaminated with radionuclides by the April 26, 1986, explosion and ensuing fire at reactor No. 4. Radiation doses to conifers in some areas were sufficient to cause discoloration of needles within a few weeks. Other areas, receiving smaller doses, showed foliage changes beginning 6 months to a year later. Multispectral imagery available from Landsat sensors is especially suited for monitoring such changes in vegetation. A series of Landsat Thematic Mapper images was developed that span the 2 yr following the accident. Quantitative dosemore » estimation for the exposed conifers requires an objective change detection algorithm and knowledge of the dose-time response of conifers to ionizing radiation. Pacific-Sierra Research Corporation's Hyperscout{trademark} algorithm is based on an advanced, sensitive technique for change detection particularly suited for multispectral images. The Hyperscout algorithm has been used to assess radiation damage to the forested areas around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.« less

Satellite data based method for general survey of forest insect disturbance in British Columbia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ranson, J.; Montesano, P.

2008-12-01

Regional forest disturbances caused by insects are important to monitor and quantify because of their influence on local ecosystems and the global carbon cycle. Local damage to forest trees disrupts food supplies and shelter for a variety of organisms. Changes in the global carbon budget, its sources and its sinks affect the way the earth functions as a whole, and has an impact on global climate. Furthermore, the ability to detect nascent outbreaks and monitor the spread of regional infestations helps managers mitigate the damage done by catastrophic insect outbreaks. While detection is needed at a fine scale to support local mitigation efforts, detection at a broad regional scale is important for carbon flux modeling on the landscape scale, and needed to direct the local efforts. This paper presents a method for routinely detecting insect damage to coniferous forests using MODIS vegetation indices, thermal anomalies and land cover. The technique is validated using insect outbreak maps and accounts for fire disturbance effects. The range of damage detected may be used to interpret and quantify possible forest damage by insects.

Mangrove forest recovery in the Everglades following Hurricane Wilma

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sarmiento, Daniel; Barr, Jordan; Engel, Vic; Fuentes, Jose D.; Smith, Thomas J.; Zieman, Jay C.

2009-01-01

On October 24th, 2005, Hurricane Wilma made landfall on the south western shore of the Florida peninsula. This major disturbance destroyed approximately 30 percent of the mangrove forests in the area. However, the damage to the ecosystem following the hurricane provided researchers at the Florida Coastal Everglades (FCE) LTER site with the rare opportunity to track the recovery process of the mangroves as determined by carbon dioxide (CO2) and energy exchanges, measured along daily and seasonal time scales.

Animal damage management handbook.

Treesearch

Hugh C. Black

1994-01-01

This handbook treats animal damage management (ADM) in the West in relation to forest, range, and recreation resources; predator management is not addressed. It provides a comprehensive reference of safe, effective, and practical methods for managing animal damage on National Forest System lands. Supporting information is included in references after each chapter and...

The 2008 South China Freeze and its Impact on the Forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, B.; Ai, C.; Wang, Y.; Li, Z.; Cao, Y.; Wang, X.

2008-12-01

An unprecedented calamity caused by snow and freezing rain occurred in South China in 2008. This freeze was closely related to the La Nina phenomenon according to a report from the World Meteorological Organization. The freeze stroke 19 provinces in China, and damaged forests of 19.33 million ha with a standing volume loss of 371 million m3. It is estimated that the direct economic loss in the form of destroyed forests is over $8 billion. The indirect loss in the form of impaired ecological functions, such as water and soil conservation, water resources conservancy, biodiversity and forest carbon pool etc is enormous. The calamity of snow and freezing rain affected the structure and function of forest ecosystems. The snow load and freezing rain caused mechanical damage to the trees, with the species of Pinus massoniana, Cunninghamia lanceolata, Pinus elliottii and Phyllostachys pubescens etc. being the most seriously affected. The cold weather could also cause the physiological hurt to the trees. The change of the biotic components leads to the change of abiotic components in the ecosystems. The sunlight under the canopy was intensified due to the opening up of the canopy. The air temperature in the forest, the nutrient and microorganism in soil, the litterfall dynamic were also affected. The alteration of the forest ecosystem structure brought in the alteration of its functions. The damage of the ecosystem structure weakened the capacity of the water and soil conservation, water resources conservancy and reduced the biodiversity in forest ecosystems. Forest gaps allow more sunlight into the freeze-damaged ecosystem, inducing the invasion of more masculine species. The direction and progress of the community succession was therefore altered. At the same time, the freeze made a great impact on the stability and health of the forest ecosystem, increasing the potential risk of outbreak of forest fire and plant diseases/insect pests. Some suggestions on the rebuilding and recovery of damaged forest were given in this paper.

Incidence and impact of damage to North Carolina's timber, 1984

Treesearch

Cindy M. Huber; Joe P. McClure; Noel D. Cost

1985-01-01

This bulletin reports survey data on agents damaging trees in North Carolina’s forests. Data were collected in 1982, 1983, and 1984 by the Forest Inventory and Analysis Work Unit of the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. This effort was part of the fifth inventory of the State’s forests. Considerably more information was gathered for this inventory than in the...

Price and Welfare Effects of Catastrophic Forest Damage from Southern Pine Beetle Epidemics

Treesearch

Thomas P. Holmes

1991-01-01

Southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis) epidemics are periodically responsible for catastrophic levels of mortality to southern yellow pine forests. Traditional forest damage appraisal techniques developed for site specific economic analysis are theoretically weak since they do not consider aggregate impacts across ecosystems and related markets. Because the...

Hazard rating forest stands for gypsy moth

Treesearch

Ray R., Jr. Hicks

1991-01-01

A gypsy moth hazard exists when forest conditions prevail that are conducive to extensive damage from gypsy moth. Combining forest hazard rating with information on insect population trends provides the basis for predicting the probability (risk) of an event occurring. The likelihood of defoliation is termed susceptibility and the probability of damage (mortality,...

Design and realization of disaster assessment algorithm after forest fire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Aijun; Wang, Danfeng; Tang, Lihua

2008-10-01

Based on GIS technology, this paper mainly focuses on the application of disaster assessment algorithm after forest fire and studies on the design and realization of disaster assessment based on GIS. After forest fire through the analysis and processing of multi-sources and heterogeneous data, this paper integrates the foundation that the domestic and foreign scholars laid of the research on assessment for forest fire loss with the related knowledge of assessment, accounting and forest resources appraisal so as to study and approach the theory framework and assessment index of the research on assessment for forest fire loss. The technologies of extracting boundary, overlay analysis, and division processing of multi-sources spatial data are available to realize the application of the investigation method of the burnt forest area and the computation of the fire area. The assessment provides evidence for fire cleaning in burnt areas and new policy making on restoration in terms of the direct and the indirect economic loss and ecological and environmental damage caused by forest fire under the condition of different fire danger classes and different amounts of forest accumulation, thus makes forest resources protection operated in a faster, more efficient and more economical way. Finally, this paper takes Lin'an city of Zhejiang province as a test area to confirm the method mentioned in the paper in terms of key technologies.

Development and Evaluation of an Expert System for Diagnosing Pest Damage of Red Pine

Treesearch

Daniel L Schmoldt; George L. Martin

1989-01-01

An expert system for diagnosing pest damage of red pine stands in Wisconsin, PREDICT, runs on IBM or compatible microcomputers and is designed to be useful for field foresters with no advanced training in forest pathology or entomology. PREDICT recognizes 28 damaging agents including species of mammals, insects, and pathogens, as well as two types of abiotic damage....

Role of MODIS Vegetation Phenology Products in the U.S. for Warn Early Warning System for Forest Threats

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph; Hargrove, William; Norman, Steve; Gasser, Gerald; Smoot, James; Kuper, Philip

2012-01-01

U.S. forests occupy approx 751 million acres (approx 1/3 of total land). Several abiotic and biotic damage agents disturb, damage, kill, and/or threaten these forests. Regionally extensive forest disturbances can also threaten human life and property, bio-diversity and water supplies. timely regional forest disturbance monitoring products are needed to aid forest health management work at finer scales. daily MODIS data provide a means to monitor regional forest disturbances on a weekly basis, leveraging vegetation phenology. In response, the USFS and NASA began collaborating in 2006 to develop a Near Real Time (NRT) forest monitoring capability, based on MODIS NDVI data, as part of a national forest threat Early Warning System (EWS).

Forest Health Monitoring in New Hampshire, 1996-1999

Treesearch

Northeastern Research Station

2002-01-01

New Hampshire has mature forests dominated by hardwood species but with significant softwood resources. The majority of the trees are healthy with full crowns (low transparency, high density), little dieback and little damage. Red maple had higher dieback and more damage than other species. Eastern white pine had lower crown densities and little damage.

Silvicultural approaches to animal damage management in Pacific Northwest forests.

Treesearch

Hugh C. Black

1992-01-01

This book examines the potential of Silvicultural approaches for managing animal damage in forests at two levels: management of free-to-grow stands and sitespecific practices that foster prompt and successful regeneration. Introductory chapters provide a historical perspective of animal damage management in the Pacific Northwest, describe the elements of an integrated...

Risk Assessment for the Southern Pine Beetle

Treesearch

Andrew Birt

2011-01-01

The southern pine beetle (SPB) causes significant damage (tree mortality) to pine forests. Although this tree mortality has characteristic temporal and spatial patterns, the precise location and timing of damage is to some extent unpredictable. Consequently, although forest managers are able to identify stands that are predisposed to SPB damage, they are unable to...

Titling indigenous communities protects forests in the Peruvian Amazon.

PubMed

Blackman, Allen; Corral, Leonardo; Lima, Eirivelthon Santos; Asner, Gregory P

2017-04-18

Developing countries are increasingly decentralizing forest governance by granting indigenous groups and other local communities formal legal title to land. However, the effects of titling on forest cover are unclear. Rigorous analyses of titling campaigns are rare, and related theoretical and empirical research suggests that they could either stem or spur forest damage. We analyze such a campaign in the Peruvian Amazon, where more than 1,200 indigenous communities comprising some 11 million ha have been titled since the mid-1970s. We use community-level longitudinal data derived from high-resolution satellite images to estimate the effect of titling between 2002 and 2005 on contemporaneous forest clearing and disturbance. Our results indicate that titling reduces clearing by more than three-quarters and forest disturbance by roughly two-thirds in a 2-y window spanning the year title is awarded and the year afterward. These results suggest that awarding formal land titles to local communities can advance forest conservation.

Titling indigenous communities protects forests in the Peruvian Amazon

PubMed Central

Blackman, Allen; Corral, Leonardo; Lima, Eirivelthon Santos; Asner, Gregory P.

2017-01-01

Developing countries are increasingly decentralizing forest governance by granting indigenous groups and other local communities formal legal title to land. However, the effects of titling on forest cover are unclear. Rigorous analyses of titling campaigns are rare, and related theoretical and empirical research suggests that they could either stem or spur forest damage. We analyze such a campaign in the Peruvian Amazon, where more than 1,200 indigenous communities comprising some 11 million ha have been titled since the mid-1970s. We use community-level longitudinal data derived from high-resolution satellite images to estimate the effect of titling between 2002 and 2005 on contemporaneous forest clearing and disturbance. Our results indicate that titling reduces clearing by more than three-quarters and forest disturbance by roughly two-thirds in a 2-y window spanning the year title is awarded and the year afterward. These results suggest that awarding formal land titles to local communities can advance forest conservation. PMID:28373565

The impacts of tropical cyclones on the net carbon balance of eastern US forests (1851-2000)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisk, J. P.; Hurtt, G. C.; Chambers, J. Q.; Zeng, H.; Dolan, K. A.; Negrón-Juárez, R. I.

2013-12-01

In temperate forests of the eastern US, tropical cyclones are a principal agent of catastrophic wind damage, with dramatic impacts on the structure and functioning of forests. Substantial progress has been made to quantify forest damage and resulting gross carbon emissions from tropical cyclones. However, the net effect of storms on the carbon balance of forests depends not only on the biomass lost in single events, but also on the uptake during recovery from a mosaic of past events. This study estimates the net impacts of tropical cyclones on the carbon balance of US forests over the period 1851-2000. To track both disturbance and recovery and to isolate the effects of storms, a modeling framework is used combining gridded historical estimates of mortality and damage with a mechanistic model using an ensemble approach. The net effect of tropical cyclones on the carbon balance is shown to depend strongly on the spatial and temporal scales of analysis. On average, tropical cyclones contribute a net carbon source over latter half of the 19th century. However, throughout much of the 20th century a regional carbon sink is estimated resulting from periods of forest recovery exceeding damage. The large-scale net annual flux resulting from tropical cyclones varies by up to 50 Tg C yr-1, an amount equivalent to 17%-36% of the US forest carbon sink.

SO2 damage to forests recorded by ERTS-1. [Ontario, Canada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murtha, P. A.

1974-01-01

Sulfur dioxide fumes have been affecting the forests around Wawa, Ontario, which have been under surveillance for a number of years and were recently covered by ultra-small-scale (1:160,000) air photography for damage-assessment purposes. Image interpretation supported by electronic color enhancement was used to delineate on ERTS imagery three damage zones (total-kill, heavy-kill and medium-damage zones). The zones delineated on ERTS imagery are similar to the results of aerial sketch-mapping and air photo interpretation. Band 5 provided the greatest detail for assessing the damage to the forests, followed in successive order by bands 4, 6 and 7. Comparison with ERTS images obtained in the winter showed that even though the total-kill could be separated from heavy-kill damage zones, total-kill could not be consistently separated from clear-cut logging, burned areas, frozen lakes and bogs.

Harvest impacts in uneven-aged and even-aged Missouri Ozark forests

Treesearch

John P. Dwyer; Daniel C. Dey; William D. Walter; Randy G. Jensen

2004-01-01

Forest managers are concerned about the potential damage to residual trees and site from cyclic harvest re-entries into the same forest stand. This study summarizes logging and felling damage resulting from the harvesting of silvicultural treatments on a large landscape experiment in southern Missouri that is designed to compare impacts of even-aged, uneven-aged and no...

Conceptual framework for improved wind-related forest threat assessment in the Southeastern United States

Treesearch

Scott L. Goodrick; John A. Stanturf

2010-01-01

In the Southeastern United States, forests are subject to a variety of damage-causing wind phenomena that range in scale from very localized (downbursts and tornadoes) to broad spatial scales (hurricanes). Incorporating the threat of wind damage into forest management plans requires tools capable of assessing risk across this range of scales. Our conceptual approach...

Forest health assessment for eastern hardwood forests

Treesearch

Daniel B. Twardus

1995-01-01

Information presented here, was obtained generally from 3 sources: the Cooperative Forest Health Protection Program, the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program and the National Forest Health Monitoring Program. The Cooperative Forest Health Protection Program is a joint State-Federal effort responsible for forest-wide surveys of forest damage. From these surveys, we...

Incidence and impact of damage to South Carolina's timber, 1979

Treesearch

Robert L. Anderson; Joe P. McClure; William H. Hoffard; Noel D. Cost

1981-01-01

This bulletin reports survey data on agents damaging trees in South Carolina’s forests. Data were collected in 1977 and 1978 by the Renewable Resources Evaluation Work Unit of the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station.

Impact of Hurricane Iniki on native Hawaiian Acacia koa forests: damage and two-year recovery

Treesearch

Robin A. Harrington; James H. Fownes; Paul G. Scowcroft; Cheryl S. Vann

1997-01-01

Damage to Hawaiian Acacia koa forest by Hurricane Iniki was assessed by comparison with our previous measures of stand structure and leaf area index (LAI) at sites along a precipitation/elevation gradient on western Kauai. Reductions in LAI ranged from 29 to 80% and were correlated with pre-hurricane LAI and canopy height. The canopy damage...

Windstorm damage in Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (Minnesota, USA): Evaluating landscape-level risk factors

Treesearch

W. Keith Moser; Mark D. Nelson

2009-01-01

Ecosystem management requires an understanding of disturbance processes and their influence on forests. One of these disturbances is damage due to severe wind events. In an ideal model, assessing risk of windstorm damage to a forested ecosystem entails defining tree-, stand-, and landscape-level factors that influence response and recovery. Data are not always...

Rapid assessment of wildfire damage using Forest Inventory data: A case in Georgia

Treesearch

Richard A. Harper; John W. Coulsten; Jeffery A. Turner

2009-01-01

The rapid assessment of damage caused by natural disasters is essential for planning the appropriate amount of disaster relief funds and public communication. Annual Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data provided initial estimates of damage to timberland in a timely manner to State leaders during the 2007 Georgia Bay Complex Wildfire in southeast Georgia. FIA plots...

The potential to characterize ecological data with terrestrial laser scanning in Harvard Forest, MA.

PubMed

Orwig, D A; Boucher, P; Paynter, I; Saenz, E; Li, Z; Schaaf, C

2018-04-06

Contemporary terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is being used widely in forest ecology applications to examine ecosystem properties at increasing spatial and temporal scales. Harvard Forest (HF) in Petersham, MA, USA, is a long-term ecological research (LTER) site, a National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) location and contains a 35 ha plot which is part of Smithsonian Institution's Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO). The combination of long-term field plots, eddy flux towers and the detailed past historical records has made HF very appealing for a variety of remote sensing studies. Terrestrial laser scanners, including three pioneering research instruments: the Echidna Validation Instrument, the Dual-Wavelength Echidna Lidar and the Compact Biomass Lidar, have already been used both independently and in conjunction with airborne laser scanning data and forest census data to characterize forest dynamics. TLS approaches include three-dimensional reconstructions of a plot over time, establishing the impact of ice storm damage on forest canopy structure, and characterizing eastern hemlock ( Tsuga canadensis ) canopy health affected by an invasive insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid ( Adelges tsugae ). Efforts such as those deployed at HF are demonstrating the power of TLS as a tool for monitoring ecological dynamics, identifying emerging forest health issues, measuring forest biomass and capturing ecological data relevant to other disciplines. This paper highlights various aspects of the ForestGEO plot that are important to current TLS work, the potential for exchange between forest ecology and TLS, and emphasizes the strength of combining TLS data with long-term ecological field data to create emerging opportunities for scientific study.

The potential to characterize ecological data with terrestrial laser scanning in Harvard Forest, MA

PubMed Central

Boucher, P.; Saenz, E.; Li, Z.

2018-01-01

Contemporary terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is being used widely in forest ecology applications to examine ecosystem properties at increasing spatial and temporal scales. Harvard Forest (HF) in Petersham, MA, USA, is a long-term ecological research (LTER) site, a National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) location and contains a 35 ha plot which is part of Smithsonian Institution's Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO). The combination of long-term field plots, eddy flux towers and the detailed past historical records has made HF very appealing for a variety of remote sensing studies. Terrestrial laser scanners, including three pioneering research instruments: the Echidna Validation Instrument, the Dual-Wavelength Echidna Lidar and the Compact Biomass Lidar, have already been used both independently and in conjunction with airborne laser scanning data and forest census data to characterize forest dynamics. TLS approaches include three-dimensional reconstructions of a plot over time, establishing the impact of ice storm damage on forest canopy structure, and characterizing eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) canopy health affected by an invasive insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae). Efforts such as those deployed at HF are demonstrating the power of TLS as a tool for monitoring ecological dynamics, identifying emerging forest health issues, measuring forest biomass and capturing ecological data relevant to other disciplines. This paper highlights various aspects of the ForestGEO plot that are important to current TLS work, the potential for exchange between forest ecology and TLS, and emphasizes the strength of combining TLS data with long-term ecological field data to create emerging opportunities for scientific study. PMID:29503723

Forest management under changing climate conditions: Is timing a tool for Sustainable Forest Management? Relevant questions for research development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Aprile, Fabrizio; McShane, Paul; Tapper, Nigel

2013-04-01

Change of climate conditions influence energy fluxes applicable to forest ecosystems. These affect cycles of nutrients and materials, primary productivity of the ecosystem, biodiversity, ecological functionality and, consequently, carbon equilibria of the forest ecosystem. Temporal factors influence physical, biological, ecological, and climatic processes and functions. For example, seasonality, cycles, periodicity, and trends in climate variables; tree growth, forest growth, and forest metabolic activities (i.e., photosynthesis and respiration) are commonly known to be time-related. In tropical forests, the impacts of changing climate conditions may exceed temperature and/or precipitation thresholds critical to forest tree growth or health. Historically, forest management emphasises growth rates and financial returns as affected by species and site. Until recently, the influence of climate variability on growth dynamics has not been influential in forest planning and management. Under this system, especially in climatic and forest regions where most of species are stenoecious, periodical wood harvesting may occur in any phase of growth (increasing, decreasing, peak, and trough). This scenario presents four main situations: a) harvesting occurs when the rate of growth is decreasing: future productivity is damaged; the minimum biomass capital may be altered, and CO2 storage is negatively affected; b) harvesting occurs during a trough of the rate of growth: the minimum biomass capital necessary to preserve the resilience of the forest is damaged; the damage can be temporary (decades) or permanent; CO2 storage capacity is deficient - which may be read as an indirect emission of CO2 since the balance appears negative; c) harvesting occurs when the rate of growth is increasing: the planned wood mass can be used without compromising the resilience and recovery of the forest; CO2 storage remains increasing; d) harvesting occurs during a peak period of growth: the wood mass harvested can be even higher than planned, and the rate of CO2 storage can be above the average. A real risk for SFM under changing climatic conditions is that negative effects may be amplified; critical thresholds of temperature and/or rainfall for tree growth and stress may be exceeded with impacts on growth response, resilience, and CO2 balance that are not completely known. Furthermore, temporal changes in silvicultural and harvesting operations may lead to increased carbon emissions. Under this scenario and the consequent risks to SFM forestry operations should be planned or scheduled in periods when climate variables influencing tree growth and stress are within the relative thresholds. In this way, silvicultural operations and harvesting are going to be optimised to climate variability and forest growth responses, rather than just forest timber production.

On Wind Forces in the Forest-Edge Region During Extreme-Gust Passages and Their Implications for Damage Patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gromke, Christof; Ruck, Bodo

2018-03-01

A damage pattern that is occasionally found after a period of strong winds shows an area of damaged trees inside a forest stand behind an intact stripe of trees directly at the windward edge. In an effort to understand the mechanism leading to this damage pattern, wind loading in the forest-edge region during passages of extreme gusts with different characteristics are investigated using a scaled forest model in the wind tunnel. The interaction of a transient extreme gust with the stationary atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) as a background flow at the forest edge leads to the formation of a vortex at the top of the canopy. This vortex intensifies when travelling downstream and subsequently deflects high-momentum air from above the canopy downwards resulting in increased wind loading on the tree crowns. Under such conditions, the decrease in wind loading in the streamwise direction can be relatively weak compared to stationary ABL approach flows. The resistance of trees with streamwise distance from the forest edge, however, is the result of adaptive growth to wind loading under stationary flow conditions and shows a rapid decline within two to three tree heights behind the windward edge. For some of the extreme gusts realized, an exceedance of the wind loading over the resistance of the trees is found at approximately three tree heights behind the forest edge, suggesting that the damage pattern described above can be caused by the interaction of a transient extreme gust with the stationary ABL flow.

Incidence and impact of damage to Florida's timber, 1980

Treesearch

Robert L. Anderson; Joe P. McClure; Noel D. Cost; William H. Hoffard

1983-01-01

This bulletin reports survey data on agents damaging trees in Florida’s forests. Data were collected in 1978, 1979, and 1980 by the Renewable Resources Evaluation Work Unit of the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. This effort was part of the fifth inventory of the State’s forests. Considerably more information was gathered in this than in previous inventories....

Land application of hydrofracturing fluids damages a deciduous forest stand in West Virginia

Treesearch

Mary Beth Adams

2011-01-01

In June 2008, 303,000 L of hydrofracturing fluid from a natural gas well were applied to a 0.20-ha area of mixed hardwood forest on the Fernow Experimental Forest, West Virginia. During application, severe damage and mortality of ground vegetation was observed, followed about 10 d later by premature leaf drop by the overstory trees. Two years after fluid application,...

A study on the utilization of forest policy to review from the aspect of climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ardhana, I. Putu Gede

2017-11-01

The purpose of this study was to review the utilization of forests from the policy aspects of climate change. This was then associated with the implementation of governmental commitment to carry out REDD+ to cope with the impact of climate change and to achieve sustainable development. Firstly, the author studied this problem from data and information about vast forest areas and conservative water areas in Indonesia. According to provincial governments, there have been several decision letters from the Minister of Forestry from different years ranging from 1999-2014. Comparing the forest areas in letters of 2005, 2008, and 2015, it can be suggested that the areas allocated as productive forest exceeded the areas of conserved or protected forest. This indicates that the utilization of forest as a development resource has occurred, and will continue to become an important element in Indonesia. Furthermore, Indonesian forests continue to suffer deforestation and forest degradation. Therefore, the author presented data and information about deforestation and forest degradation that occurred from forest damage and forest fires. Thirdly, the author presented data and information about the deforestation rate from 2000-2014. In 1989, rehabilitation activities were carried out for critical lands, and from 2012-2014, rehabilitation of forest and riverside areas occurred. This research uses descriptive methods with an approximation of legislation and an approach to librarianship. Then, this study is described in a narrative as well as an interpretive style, and compiled in the form of a working paper. From the results of this research, it can be concluded that Indonesian governmental policy regarding forest utilization has wide potential mitigations, and it is absolutely necessary to consistently implement a number of such programs related to climate change.

36 CFR 228.15 - Operations within National Forest Wilderness.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... to minimize damage from forest insects, disease, and fire. (f) The Chief, Forest Service, shall allow... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Operations within National Forest Wilderness. 228.15 Section 228.15 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT...

Ongoing change of site conditions important for sustainable forest management planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bidló, András; Horváth, Adrienn; Gulyás, Krisztina; Gálos, Borbála

2016-04-01

Observed tree mortality of the last decades has shown that the vulnerable forest ecosystems are especially affected by the recurrent, long lasting droughts, heat waves and their consequences. From all site conditions climate is changing the fastest, in this way it can be the largest threatening factor in the 21st century. Beyond climate, soil characteristics are playing an important influencing role. Until now, silvicultural technologies and species preferences of many countries are prescribed by binding regulation based on climate conditions that are assumed to be constant over time. Therefore the aim of our research was to investigate the ongoing and projected change of site conditions that are considered to be of primary importance in terms of tree species selection. For a case study region in Hungary (Keszthely Mountains, near to Lake Balaton) long-term climate tendencies have been determined for the period 1961-2100, as well as a detailed soil sample analysis has been carried out including ~100 sites. Results show a 0.5 degree increase of temperature and a 6-7 % decrease of the precipitation amount for the summer months in the last decades. For the future, significant warming and drying of summers is expected. Decrease of the summer precipitation sum can exceed 25 % until the end of the century, probability of extreme hot days may increase. These tendencies together with the unfavourable soil conditions and biotic damages can be the reason of the ongoing forest dieback. One of the characteristic soil type of the region is rendzina with a thin topsoil layer and an unfavourable water holding capacity. These properties are limiting the amount of available water for plants, especially in case of intense precipitation events. Black pine stands planted on rendzinas after many years of grazing; therefore erosion may have played a significant role. Not only microclimate conditions but also soil types show a large diversity within a relatively small distance. However, tree mortality has been observed also in stands on favourable soils (rusty brown forest soil, brown earth, lessivated brown forest soil) because these soil sites can only mitigate the damage of extremes. Consequently, there is ongoing change of site conditions that are important for the sustainable forest management planning. Therefore it is an urgent need to rethink regulations considering the changing climate and soil conditions in order to decide about sustainable tree species preference and to maintain forest cover. Keywords: climate change impacts, forest mortality, adaptation, sustainable forest management planning Acknowledgements: Research is supported by the "Agroclimate.2" (VKSZ_12-1-2013-0034) EU-national joint funded research project.

Evaluation of ikonos satellite imagery for detecting ice storm damage to oak forests in Eastern Kentucky

Treesearch

W. Henry McNab; Tracy Roof

2006-01-01

Ice storms are a recurring landscape-scale disturbance in the eastern U.S. where they may cause varying levels of damage to upland hardwood forests. High-resolution Ikonos imagery and semiautomated detection of ice storm damage may be an alternative to manually interpreted aerial photography. We evaluated Ikonos multispectral, winter and summer imagery as a tool for...

Animal damage to conifers on national forests in the Pacific Northwest region.

Treesearch

Glenn L. Crouch

1969-01-01

Animal damage to conifers is a timely topic in the Pacific Northwest. Foresters in this Region are increasingly concerned and perplexed by damage caused by animals to natural and planted seedlings and larger growing stock. Nearly every animal inhabiting for st land is believed to injure seedlings and small trees to some degree. Mice girdle small trees, and bears girdle...

Home wreckers in search of moisture

Treesearch

Carol A. Clausen; Frederick Green

2002-01-01

Research at the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) related to durability and disaster mitigation includes damage by decay fungi and termites and contamination by mold fungi. All these household pests are attracted to excess moisture, which can result from inadequate surface drying of condensation, leaks in pipes and foundations, poor ventila-tion, or flooding. Homeowners...

The origin of Ceratocystis fagacearum, the oak wilt fungus

Treesearch

Jennifer Juzwik; Thomas C. Harrington; William L. MacDonald; David N. Appel

2008-01-01

The oak wilt pathogen, Ceratocystis fagacearum, may be another example of a damaging, exotic species in forest ecosystems in the United States. Though C. fagacearum has received much research attention, the origin of the fungus is unknown. The pathogen may have been endemic at a low incidence until increased disturbances, changes...

Condition and fate of logged forests in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Asner, Gregory P; Broadbent, Eben N; Oliveira, Paulo J C; Keller, Michael; Knapp, David E; Silva, José N M

2006-08-22

The long-term viability of a forest industry in the Amazon region of Brazil depends on the maintenance of adequate timber volume and growth in healthy forests. Using extensive high-resolution satellite analyses, we studied the forest damage caused by recent logging operations and the likelihood that logged forests would be cleared within 4 years after timber harvest. Across 2,030,637 km2 of the Brazilian Amazon from 1999 to 2004, at least 76% of all harvest practices resulted in high levels of canopy damage sufficient to leave forests susceptible to drought and fire. We found that 16+/-1% of selectively logged areas were deforested within 1 year of logging, with a subsequent annual deforestation rate of 5.4% for 4 years after timber harvests. Nearly all logging occurred within 25 km of main roads, and within that area, the probability of deforestation for a logged forest was up to four times greater than for unlogged forests. In combination, our results show that logging in the Brazilian Amazon is dominated by highly damaging operations, often followed rapidly by deforestation decades before forests can recover sufficiently to produce timber for a second harvest. Under the management regimes in effect at the time of our study in the Brazilian Amazon, selective logging would not be sustained.

Condition and fate of logged forests in the Brazilian Amazon

PubMed Central

Asner, Gregory P.; Broadbent, Eben N.; Oliveira, Paulo J. C.; Keller, Michael; Knapp, David E.; Silva, José N. M.

2006-01-01

The long-term viability of a forest industry in the Amazon region of Brazil depends on the maintenance of adequate timber volume and growth in healthy forests. Using extensive high-resolution satellite analyses, we studied the forest damage caused by recent logging operations and the likelihood that logged forests would be cleared within 4 years after timber harvest. Across 2,030,637 km2 of the Brazilian Amazon from 1999 to 2004, at least 76% of all harvest practices resulted in high levels of canopy damage sufficient to leave forests susceptible to drought and fire. We found that 16 ± 1% of selectively logged areas were deforested within 1 year of logging, with a subsequent annual deforestation rate of 5.4% for 4 years after timber harvests. Nearly all logging occurred within 25 km of main roads, and within that area, the probability of deforestation for a logged forest was up to four times greater than for unlogged forests. In combination, our results show that logging in the Brazilian Amazon is dominated by highly damaging operations, often followed rapidly by deforestation decades before forests can recover sufficiently to produce timber for a second harvest. Under the management regimes in effect at the time of our study in the Brazilian Amazon, selective logging would not be sustained. PMID:16901980

Quantitative Classification and Environmental Interpretation of Secondary Forests 18 Years After the Invasion of Pine Forests by Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Nematoda: Aphelenchoididae) in China

PubMed Central

Wang, Zhuang; Luo, You-Qing; Shi, Juan; Gao, Ruihe; Wang, Guoming

2014-01-01

Abstract With growing concerns over the serious ecological problems in pine forests ( Pinus massoniana , P. thunbergii ) caused by the invasion of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (the pine wood nematode), a particular challenge is to determine the succession and restoration of damaged pine forests in Asia. We used two-way indicator species analysis and canonical correlation analysis for the hierarchical classification of existing secondary forests that have been restored since the invasion of B. xylophilus 18 years ago. Biserial correlation analysis was used to relate the spatial distribution of species to environmental factors. After 18 years of natural recovery, the original pine forest had evolved into seven types of secondary forest. Seven environmental factors, namely soil depth, humus depth, soil pH, aspect, slope position, bare rock ratio, and distance to the sea, were significantly correlated with species distribution. Furthermore, we proposed specific reform measures and suggestions for the different types of secondary forest formed after the damage and identified the factors driving the various forms of restoration. These results suggest that it is possible to predict the restoration paths of damaged pine forests, which would reduce the negative impact of B. xylophilus invasions. PMID:25527600

Do one percent of the forest fires cause ninety-nine percent of the damage? Forest Science

Treesearch

David Strauss; Larry Bednar; Romain Mees

1989-01-01

A relatively small number of forest fires are responsible for a very high proportion of the total damage. The proportion due to the fraction p of largest fires, when plotted against p, is a measure of variability of fire sizes that is especially sensitive to the important extreme events. We find the theoretical form of the plot for several commonly used distributions...

Cumulative impacts of hurricanes on Florida mangrove ecosystems: Sediment deposition, storm surges and vegetation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, T. J.; Anderson, G.H.; Balentine, K.; Tiling, G.; Ward, G.A.; Whelan, K.R.T.

2009-01-01

Hurricanes have shaped the structure of mangrove forests in the Everglades via wind damage, storm surges and sediment deposition. Immediate effects include changes to stem size-frequency distributions and to species relative abundance and density. Long-term impacts to mangroves are poorly understood at present. We examine impacts of Hurricane Wilma on mangroves and compare the results to findings from three previous storms (Labor Day, Donna, Andrew). Surges during Wilma destroyed ??? 1,250 ha of mangroves and set back recovery that started following Andrew. Data from permanent plots affected by Andrew and Wilma showed no differences among species or between hurricanes for stem mortality or basal area lost. Hurricane damage was related to hydro-geomorphic type of forest. Basin mangroves suffered significantly more damage than riverine or island mangroves. The hurricane by forest type interaction was highly significant. Andrew did slightly more damage to island mangroves. Wilma did significantly more damage to basin forests. This is most likely a result of the larger and more spatially extensive storm surge produced by Wilma. Forest damage was not related to amount of sediment deposited. Analyses of reports from Donna and the Labor Day storm indicate that some sites have recovered following catastrophic disturbance. Other sites have been permanently converted into a different ecosystem, namely intertidal mudflats. Our results indicate that mangroves are not in a steady state as has been recently claimed. ?? 2009 The Society of Wetland Scientists.

Assessing Potential of VIIRS Data for Contribution to a Forest Threat Early Warning System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph P.

2007-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the contributions by the Rapid Prototyping Capability (RPC) towards using Visible Infrared Imager / Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) data in assessing the damage to forests. The Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003 mandates development of national Early Warning System (EWS) for forest threat monitoring and mitigation. NASA Stennis is working with the US Forest Service to develop needed components of this EWS. The use of MODIS data for monitoring forest disturbance at broad regional scales is a componet of this program. This RPC experiment was initiated to assess potential of the MODIS follow-on, VIIRS, for monitoring forest disturbance at broad scales and thereby contributing to the EWS. This presentation reviews the potential use of the VIIRS to examine the damage to forests caused by gyspy moths in the West Virginia and Virginia area.

Remote detection of forest damage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rock, B. N.; Vogelmann, J. E.; Vogelmann, A. F.; Hoshizaki, T.; Williams, D. L.

1986-01-01

The use of remote sensing to discriminate, measure, and map forest damage is evaluated. TM spectal coverage, a helicopter-mounted radiometer, and ground-based surveys were utilized to examine the responses of the spruces and firs of Camels Hump Mountain, Vermont to stresses, such as pollution and trace metals. The basic spectral properties of vegetation are described. Forest damage at the site was estimated as 11.8-76.0 percent for the spruces and 19-43.8 percent for the balsam firs. Shifts in the spectra of the conifers in particular in the near IR region are analyzed, and variations in the mesophyll cell anatomy and pigment content of the spruces and firs are investigated. The relations between canopy moisture and damage is studied. The TM data are compared to aircraft data and found to be well correlated.

Studies of images of short-lived events using ERTS data. [forest fires, oil spills, vegetation damage, volcanoes, storm ridges, earthquakes, and floods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deutschman, W. A. (Principal Investigator)

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Detection of short-lived events has continued. Forest fires, oil spills, vegetation damage, volcanoes, storm ridges, earthquakes, and floods have been detected and analyzed.

Hurricane Mitch: Landscape Analysis of Damaged Forest Resources of the Bay Islands and Caribbean Coast of Honduras

USGS Publications Warehouse

Doyle, Thomas W.; Michot, Thomas C.; Roetker, Fred; Sullivan, Jason; Melder, Marcus; Handley, Benjamin; Balmat, Jeff

2002-01-01

The advent of analog and digital video has provided amateur photographers with professional-like technology to capture dynamic images with ease and clarity. Videography is also rapidly changing traditional business and scientific applications. In the natural sciences, camcorders are being used largely to record timely observations of plant and animal behavior or consequence of some catastrophic event. Spectacular video of dynamic events such as hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and wildfire document the active process and aftermath. Scientists can analyze video images to quantify aspects of a given event, behavior, or response, temporally and spatially. In this study we demonstrate the simple use of an aerial application of videography to record the spatial extent and damage expression of mangrove forest in the Bay Islands and mainland coast of northern Honduras from wind damage following Hurricane Mitch (1998). In this study, we conducted a video overflight of coastal forests of the Bay Islands and mainland coast of northern Honduras 14 months after impact by Hurricane Mitch (1998). Coastal areas were identified where damage was evident and described relative to damage extent to forest cover, windfall orientation, and height of downed trees. The variability and spatial extent of impact on coastal forest resources is related to reconstructed wind profiles based on model simulations of Mitch's path, strength, and circulation during landfall.

GIS-based estimation of the winter storm damage probability in forests: a case study from Baden-Wuerttemberg (Southwest Germany).

PubMed

Schindler, Dirk; Grebhan, Karin; Albrecht, Axel; Schönborn, Jochen; Kohnle, Ulrich

2012-01-01

Data on storm damage attributed to the two high-impact winter storms 'Wiebke' (28 February 1990) and 'Lothar' (26 December 1999) were used for GIS-based estimation and mapping (in a 50 × 50 m resolution grid) of the winter storm damage probability (P(DAM)) for the forests of the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg (Southwest Germany). The P(DAM)-calculation was based on weights of evidence (WofE) methodology. A combination of information on forest type, geology, soil type, soil moisture regime, and topographic exposure, as well as maximum gust wind speed field was used to compute P(DAM) across the entire study area. Given the condition that maximum gust wind speed during the two storm events exceeded 35 m s(-1), the highest P(DAM) values computed were primarily where coniferous forest grows in severely exposed areas on temporarily moist soils on bunter sandstone formations. Such areas are found mainly in the mountainous ranges of the northern Black Forest, the eastern Forest of Odes, in the Virngrund area, and in the southwestern Alpine Foothills.

Adapting forest health assessments to changing perspectives on threats--a case example from Sweden.

PubMed

Wulff, Sören; Lindelöw, Åke; Lundin, Lars; Hansson, Per; Axelsson, Anna-Lena; Barklund, Pia; Wijk, Sture; Ståhl, Göran

2012-04-01

A revised Swedish forest health assessment system is presented. The assessment system is composed of several interacting components which target information needs for strategic and operational decision making and accommodate a continuously expanding knowledge base. The main motivation for separating information for strategic and operational decision making is that major damage outbreaks are often scattered throughout the landscape. Generally, large-scale inventories (such as national forest inventories) cannot provide adequate information for mitigation measures. In addition to broad monitoring programs that provide time-series information on known damaging agents and their effects, there is also a need for local and regional inventories adapted to specific damage events. While information for decision making is the major focus of the health assessment system, the system also contributes to expanding the knowledge base of forest conditions. For example, the integrated monitoring programs provide a better understanding of ecological processes linked to forest health. The new health assessment system should be able to respond to the need for quick and reliable information and thus will be an important part of the future monitoring of Swedish forests.

Tropical forest loss and its multitrophic effects on insect herbivory.

PubMed

Morante-Filho, José Carlos; Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor; Lohbeck, Madelon; Tscharntke, Teja; Faria, Deborah

2016-12-01

Forest loss threatens biodiversity, but its potential effects on multitrophic ecological interactions are poorly understood. Insect herbivory depends on complex bottom-up (e.g., resource availability and plant antiherbivore defenses) and top-down forces (e.g., abundance of predators and herbivorous), but its determinants in human-altered tropical landscapes are largely unknown. Using structural equation models, we assessed the direct and indirect effects of forest loss on insect herbivory in 40 landscapes (115 ha each) from two regions with contrasting land-use change trajectories in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest. We considered landscape forest cover as an exogenous predictor and (1) forest structure, (2) abundance of predators (birds and arthropods), and (3) abundance of herbivorous arthropods as endogenous predictors of insect leaf damage. From 12 predicted pathways, 11 were significant and showed that (1) leaf damage increases with forest loss (direct effect); (2) leaf damage increases with forest loss through the simplification of vegetation structure and its associated dominance of herbivorous insects (indirect effect); and further demonstrate (3) a lack of top-down control of herbivores by predators (birds and arthropods). We conclude that forest loss favors insect herbivory by undermining the bottom-up control (presumably reduced plant antiherbivore defense mechanisms) in forests dominated by fast-growing pioneer plant species, and by improving the conditions required for herbivores proliferation. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

Erosion and restoration of two headwater wetlands following an extreme wildfire

Treesearch

Jonathan Long; Javis Davis

2016-01-01

Wildfire can damage headwater wetlands, yet the value of post-fire restoration treatments in channels has been contested. Staff from the White Mountain Apache Tribe, students from the local Cibecue Community School, and researchers from the U.S. Forest Service collaboratively recorded channel responses over 13 years at two headwater wetlands lying within watersheds...

Not so hot: Rapid recovery of soil temperature and respiration following tornado damage, regardless of disturbance severity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagendra, U.; Peterson, C.

2013-12-01

Forest disturbances such as tornadoes are expected to raise soil temperatures and increase soil respiration. Opening canopy gaps allows solar radiation to heat the forest floor, and damaged plant roots provide fuel for decomposition. Patches of disturbed forest can range from low severity (some defoliation, broken branches) to high severity (uprooted or snapped trees). Disturbance severity affects plant population and community processes, such as regeneration mode, species diversity, and community structure. We expect disturbance severity to also affect ecosystem processes such as soil respiration. Severe disturbances cause more distinct, and often larger, canopy gaps than mild disturbances, and damage more standing biomass, both above- and below-ground. We would expect these larger gaps and greater litter amounts to increase soil temperature and respiration in more severely disturbed forest patches. In April 2011, a moderate (EF-3) tornado damaged portions of the Chattahoochee National Forest in NE Georgia, USA. Our lab has been characterizing the damage and regeneration in sections of the forest since summer 2011. In Spring 2013, we installed 4 iButton temperature sensors in each of 14 plots across a range of disturbance severity (for a total of 56 sensors). Severity was determined by percent of initial tree basal area downed by the tornado, and ranged from 8% to 100% basal area down. The iButtons monitored soil temperature at a depth of 5 cm every hour for 85 days. In July 2013, integrated 24-hour soil respiration was measured at the same locations using soda lime absorption in sealed PVC collars. Soil temperature at 5 cm averaged 12.66 °C. Contrary to expectations, average daily temperatures did not increase with greater plot damage severity (R2 = 0.001). Daily variation was only slightly higher in plots of very high severity. Overall, soil temperatures appeared to have returned to pre-disturbance temperatures more quickly than expected. Results for upcoming months will be presented at the meeting. Soil respiration was relatively high in all plots (4.49 +/-1.19 g C m-2 hr-1). Contrary to expectations, respiration did not vary significantly with plot damage severity (R2 = 0.0676). The temperature and respiration data together suggest potentially rapid ecosystem recovery after these types of wind disturbances. The flush of understory growth in open patches may insulate the forest floor from solar radiation, even though the forest canopy is still open. These unexpected preliminary results may indicate that ecosystem processes in southern forests are more resilient to disturbances than previously thought. Although forests become carbon sinks immediately after disturbances, they may return to carbon neutral or sink status relatively quickly, given the right circumstances.

Combining Radar and Optical Data for Forest Disturbance Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ranson, K. Jon; Smith, David E. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Disturbance is an important factor in determining the carbon balance and succession of forests. Until the early 1990's researchers have focused on using optical or thermal sensors to detect and map forest disturbances from wild fires, logging or insect outbreaks. As part of a NASA Siberian mapping project, a study evaluated the capability of three different radar sensors (ERS, JERS and Radarsat) and an optical sensor (Landsat 7) to detect fire scars, logging and insect damage in the boreal forest. This paper describes the data sets and techniques used to evaluate the use of remote sensing to detect disturbance in central Siberian forests. Using images from each sensor individually and combined an assessment of the utility of using these sensors was developed. Transformed Divergence analysis and maximum likelihood classification revealed that Landsat data was the single best data type for this purpose. However, the combined use of the three radar and optical sensors did improve the results of discriminating these disturbances.

Geospatial relationships of tree species damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in south Mississippi

Treesearch

Mark W. Garrigues; Zhaofei Fan; David L. Evans; Scott D. Roberts; William H. Cooke III

2012-01-01

Hurricane Katrina generated substantial impacts on the forests and biological resources of the affected area in Mississippi. This study seeks to use classification tree analysis (CTA) to determine which variables are significant in predicting hurricane damage (shear or windthrow) in the Southeast Mississippi Institute for Forest Inventory District. Logistic regressions...

Forest Health Monitoring in Massachusetts, 1996-1999

Treesearch

Northeastern Research Station

2002-01-01

Massachusetts has mature forests dominated by hardwood species. Most of the trees are healthy, with full crowns (low transparency, high density), little dieback and little damage. Red maple trees made up almost one quarter of the trees and had slightly higher amounts of dieback, thinner crowns, and more damage than other common tree species.

Forest canopy damage and recovery in reduced-impact and conventional selective logging in eastern Para, Brazil.

Treesearch

Rodrigo Pereira Jr.; Johan Zweedea; Gregory P. Asnerb; Keller; Michael

2002-01-01

We investigated ground and canopy damage and recovery following conventional logging and reduced-impact logging (RIL) of moist tropical forest in the eastern Amazon of Brazil. Paired conventional and RIL blocks were selectively logged with a harvest intensity of approximately 23 m3 ha

Predicting Post-Fire Severity Effects in Coast Redwood Forests Using FARSITE

Treesearch

Hugh Scanlon; Yana Valachovic

2006-01-01

Assessing post-fire impacts in coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests can be difficult due to rough terrain, limited roads, and dense canopies. Remote sensing techniques can identify overstory damage, locating high intensity damage areas, although this can underestimate the effects on the understory vegetation and soils. To accurately assess...

Budworm damage in Canada: some observations on mortality

Treesearch

Thomas F. McLintock

1951-01-01

Information about spruce budworm damage in Canadian forests may be useful in reducing losses in Maine if the infestation becomes epidemic there. For this reason the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station has been studying the budworm epidemic in southwestern Quebec since 1945. Since trees are still dying, results of these studies must be considered indicative rather...

Intensive longleaf pine management for hurricane recovery: fourth-year results

Treesearch

David S. Dyson; Dale G. Brockway

2015-01-01

The frequency and intensity of hurricanes affecting the United States has been projected to increase during coming decades, and this rising level of cyclonic storm activity is expected to substantially damage southeastern forests. Although hurricane damage to forests in this region is not new, recent emphasis on longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill...

A brush fire forensic case.

PubMed

Rella, R; Sturaro, A; Parvoli, G; Ferrara, D; Casellato, U; Vadalà, G

2005-01-01

In Italy, every summer forest fires attract public attention due to the number of victims, the intensity of the fires, the areas devastated, the environmental damage and the loss of property. Excluding some fires by natural causes, other causes are related to the social, economic, and productive profile of the territory. The erroneous expectation is that wooded areas destroyed by fire can then be used for private interests. Often, a fire, started to clear a small area, can completely change the expected result, producing disaster, loss of property, destruction of entire forests and resident fauna, and kill innocent people. In this case report, the reconstruction of an arson scene, the analytical techniques and the results obtained are illustrated in this paper, with the aim of sharing with other research laboratories the current knowledge on forest fire.

Mapping potential carbon and timber losses from hurricanes using a decision tree and ecosystem services driver model.

PubMed

Delphin, S; Escobedo, F J; Abd-Elrahman, A; Cropper, W

2013-11-15

Information on the effect of direct drivers such as hurricanes on ecosystem services is relevant to landowners and policy makers due to predicted effects from climate change. We identified forest damage risk zones due to hurricanes and estimated the potential loss of 2 key ecosystem services: aboveground carbon storage and timber volume. Using land cover, plot-level forest inventory data, the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model, and a decision tree-based framework; we determined potential damage to subtropical forests from hurricanes in the Lower Suwannee River (LS) and Pensacola Bay (PB) watersheds in Florida, US. We used biophysical factors identified in previous studies as being influential in forest damage in our decision tree and hurricane wind risk maps. Results show that 31% and 0.5% of the total aboveground carbon storage in the LS and PB, respectively was located in high forest damage risk (HR) zones. Overall 15% and 0.7% of the total timber net volume in the LS and PB, respectively, was in HR zones. This model can also be used for identifying timber salvage areas, developing ecosystem service provision and management scenarios, and assessing the effect of other drivers on ecosystem services and goods. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tools for enhancing motivation in teaching climate change and impacts for students in forest- and environmental engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gálos, Borbála

2017-04-01

Climate change is observed to have severe impacts on forest ecosystems. Ongoing research projects are dealing with the complex analysis of the causes of the health status decline and mortality of the vulnerable tree species. In the Carpathian Basin, recurrent long lasting drought periods and heatwaves of the last decades initiated the sequence of abiotic and biotic impacts in the beech and oak forests. Threatening extreme events are very likely to occur more frequent under changing climate conditions until the end of the 21st century. Therefore adaptation strategies and renewed regulations of the tree species selection are necessary. Learning material of forest education needs to be continuously updated with the new aspects and results of recent research and forest management planning. Therefore ideas and tools have been developed for teaching climate change impacts for students in forest- and environmental engineering. Using examples from world sport championships (e.g. losers and winners of climate change) these tools are applied to communicate the basic research questions in an easily understandable way as well as to motivate students and raise their awareness for the complex processes of forest - climate interactions. By the application of the developed examples for motivation, the key competences and learning outcomes can be the following: • students get an insight into the observed and projected tendencies of climate extremes; • they get an impression on the complexity of the climate change related damage chains; • they will be able to identify the climatic drivers of forest decline and mortality; • with the skill of critical thinking they will be able to evaluate the ecological role of forests that are already affected and that could be affected by the consequences of changing climate conditions; • they recognize the importance and urgency of the appropriate decisions in forestry and nature conservation. Keywords: climate change impacts, forest education, teaching tools for motivation The research is supported by the ÚNKP-16-4-3 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities.

Pervasive growth reduction in Norway spruce forests following wind disturbance.

PubMed

Seidl, Rupert; Blennow, Kristina

2012-01-01

In recent decades the frequency and severity of natural disturbances by e.g., strong winds and insect outbreaks has increased considerably in many forest ecosystems around the world. Future climate change is expected to further intensify disturbance regimes, which makes addressing disturbances in ecosystem management a top priority. As a prerequisite a broader understanding of disturbance impacts and ecosystem responses is needed. With regard to the effects of strong winds--the most detrimental disturbance agent in Europe--monitoring and management has focused on structural damage, i.e., tree mortality from uprooting and stem breakage. Effects on the functioning of trees surviving the storm (e.g., their productivity and allocation) have been rarely accounted for to date. Here we show that growth reduction was significant and pervasive in a 6.79 million hectare forest landscape in southern Sweden following the storm Gudrun (January 2005). Wind-related growth reduction in Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) forests surviving the storm exceeded 10% in the worst hit regions, and was closely related to maximum gust wind speed (R(2) = 0.849) and structural wind damage (R(2) = 0.782). At the landscape scale, wind-related growth reduction amounted to 3.0 million m(3) in the three years following Gudrun. It thus exceeds secondary damage from bark beetles after Gudrun as well as the long-term average storm damage from uprooting and stem breakage in Sweden. We conclude that the impact of strong winds on forest ecosystems is not limited to the immediately visible area of structural damage, and call for a broader consideration of disturbance effects on ecosystem structure and functioning in the context of forest management and climate change mitigation.

Pervasive Growth Reduction in Norway Spruce Forests following Wind Disturbance

PubMed Central

Seidl, Rupert; Blennow, Kristina

2012-01-01

Background In recent decades the frequency and severity of natural disturbances by e.g., strong winds and insect outbreaks has increased considerably in many forest ecosystems around the world. Future climate change is expected to further intensify disturbance regimes, which makes addressing disturbances in ecosystem management a top priority. As a prerequisite a broader understanding of disturbance impacts and ecosystem responses is needed. With regard to the effects of strong winds – the most detrimental disturbance agent in Europe – monitoring and management has focused on structural damage, i.e., tree mortality from uprooting and stem breakage. Effects on the functioning of trees surviving the storm (e.g., their productivity and allocation) have been rarely accounted for to date. Methodology/Principal Findings Here we show that growth reduction was significant and pervasive in a 6.79·million hectare forest landscape in southern Sweden following the storm Gudrun (January 2005). Wind-related growth reduction in Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) forests surviving the storm exceeded 10% in the worst hit regions, and was closely related to maximum gust wind speed (R2 = 0.849) and structural wind damage (R2 = 0.782). At the landscape scale, wind-related growth reduction amounted to 3.0 million m3 in the three years following Gudrun. It thus exceeds secondary damage from bark beetles after Gudrun as well as the long-term average storm damage from uprooting and stem breakage in Sweden. Conclusions/Significance We conclude that the impact of strong winds on forest ecosystems is not limited to the immediately visible area of structural damage, and call for a broader consideration of disturbance effects on ecosystem structure and functioning in the context of forest management and climate change mitigation. PMID:22413012

Hurricane Katrina's carbon footprint on U.S. Gulf Coast forests.

PubMed

Chambers, Jeffrey Q; Fisher, Jeremy I; Zeng, Hongcheng; Chapman, Elise L; Baker, David B; Hurtt, George C

2007-11-16

Hurricane Katrina's impact on U.S. Gulf Coast forests was quantified by linking ecological field studies, Landsat and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image analyses, and empirically based models. Within areas affected by relatively constant wind speed, tree mortality and damage exhibited strong species-controlled gradients. Spatially explicit forest disturbance maps coupled with extrapolation models predicted mortality and severe structural damage to approximately 320 million large trees totaling 105 teragrams of carbon, representing 50 to 140% of the net annual U.S. forest tree carbon sink. Changes in disturbance regimes from increased storm activity expected under a warming climate will reduce forest biomass stocks, increase ecosystem respiration, and may represent an important positive feedback mechanism to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Remote Sensing of Forest Health Indicators for Assessing Change in Forest Health

Treesearch

Michael K. Crosby; Zhaofei Fan; Martin A. Spetich; Theodor D. Leininger

2012-01-01

Oak decline poses a substantial threat to forest health in the Ozark Highlands of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, where coupled with diseases and insect infestations, it has damaged large tracts of forest lands. Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) crown health indicators (e.g. crown dieback, etc.), collected by the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and...

Observed response of vulnerable forest ecosystems to ongoing site condition changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bidló, András; Gulyás, Krisztina; Gálos, Borbála; Horváth, Adrienn

2017-04-01

In the last decades, several symptoms of drought damages have been observed in the Hungarian forests (e.g. sparse canopy, leaf drop, top drying, fungal diseases). Forest responses are also influenced by other factors beyond climate (e.g. available water content, soil conditions, biotic damages, adaptive capacity, etc.). Our aim was to prepare a complex analysis of the change of all site conditions, that could lead to the observed health status decline of the forest tree species. For a case study region in Hungary (Keszthely Mountains, near to Lake Balaton) precipitation and temperature tendencies as well as the frequency of extreme dry summers have been determined for the period 1961-2100. Soil conditions have been investigated in 9 profiles and soil mapping analysis has been carried out including 100 sites with hand soil auger. For the investigation of the water-balance we used the modified Thornthwaite-type monthly model and determined water stress when the relative extractable water (REW) decreased below 40% (Granier et al., 1999). In the last 30 years three severe droughts have been detected when duration of extremely dry and hot periods exceeded 3-4 years. Not only orographic and microclimate conditions but also soil types show a large diversity within a relatively small distance in the case study area. On rendzina with shallow topsoil layer thickness, low water holding capacity, black pine was planted. Brown earth with medium and brown forest soils with deep topsoil layer thickness is favourable for oak (sessile or Turkey) and beech. These microscale differences between the three site condition types resulted different available water contents quantified by the modified Thornthwaite-type monthly water-balance model. Our results show the different sensitivity of the studied sites to water stress. It means that the local scale orographic and soil conditions can enhance the projected drought risk of the region. However, the favourable microclimatic effects of the existing forest stands are still a knowledge gap and the topic of the ongoing research. The research is supported by the "Agroclimate-2" (VKSZ_12-1-2013-0034) joint EU-national research project and by the ÚNKP-16-4-3 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities. Keywords: climate extremes, changing site conditions, water stress

Invasive plants, insects, and diseases in the forests of the Anthropocene

Treesearch

Alexander M. Evans

2014-01-01

Invasive species, non-native plants, insects, and diseases can devastate forests. They outcompete native species, replace them in the ecosystem, and even drive keystone forest species to functional extinction. Invasives have negative effects on forest hydrology, carbon storage, and nutrient cycling. The damage caused by invasive species exacerbates the other forest...

Farm Crops Depredation by European Bison ( Bison bonasus) in the Vicinity of Forest Habitats in Northeastern Poland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hofman-Kamińska, Emilia; Kowalczyk, Rafał

2012-10-01

European bison, the largest mammal in Europe, after being exterminated in the wild and then restored during the 20th century is still listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) as a species vulnerable to extinction. However, the increasing number of European bison, through creation of new and expansion of existing populations strongly increases the risk of human-bison conflict in the near future. We analyzed the depredation of farm crops by bison and the factors influencing the level of damage in the vicinity of two forest areas inhabited by bison in northeastern Poland. Between 2000 and 2010, the total cost of compensation was € 196,200. The level of damage and amount of compensation was increasing from year to year in both forests and correlated with the number of bison. The majority of damage (57 % of cases) was recorded in winter (December-March). Snow depth and temperature did not influence the frequency of damage. The incidences of damage increased with decreasing distance from the woodland patches, therefore, 69 % of cases in Białowieża Forest, and 80 % in Knyszyn Forest were recorded closer than 0.5 km from nearest woodland patch. The majority of the crops damaged by bison were cereals (61 %) but also hay (20 %) and rape (13 %). When compared to the availability of crops, bison strongly selected rape and rye in both regions. This study is the first addressing the increasing problem of human-bison conflict in re-introduced populations and analyzing long-term data on crop depredation. Such situations probably occur in the majority of growing and expanding bison populations, however, it has not yet to be monitored and is rather neglected in post-Soviet countries.

A sugar maple planting study in Vermont

Treesearch

Harry W. Yawney; Clayton M., Jr. Carl; Clayton M. Carl

1970-01-01

Past attempts to establish sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) by planting have generally met with little success. The failures have been blamed mainly on competition by other vegetation and on damage done by animals. Finding an effective way to establish sugar maple seedlings is a key part in the research being carried on in Vermont by the USDA Forest Service to...

Setting limits: Using air pollution thresholds to protect and restore U.S

Treesearch

Mark E Fenn; Kathleen F. Lambert; Tamara F. Blett; Douglas A. Burns; Linda H. Pardo; Gary M. Lovett; Richard A. Haeuber; David C. Evers; Charles T. Driscoll; Dean S. Jeffries

2011-01-01

More than four decades of research provide unequivocal evidence that sulfur, nitrogen, and mercury pollution have altered, and will continue to alter, our nation’s lands and waters. The emission and deposition of air pollutants harm native plants and animals, degrade water quality, affect forest productivity, and are damaging to human health. Many air quality policies...

Mount St. Helens Quick Response Damage Assessment Using High-Altitude Infrared Photography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hinkle, Richard E.; Prill, James C.; Pruitt, John R.

1981-11-01

After the destructive volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, there was a need for a quick response damage assessment. Timeliness of the information was emphasized because of the need to immediately devise land man-agement plans for timber sale operations, rehabilitation efforts, fire protection activities, and areas to be preserved. High-altitude color-infrared photography was collected during May and June by the National Aeronautics and Space Administra-tion (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC). Interpretation of the photography plus a helicopter trip into the area provided the basis for the construction of 58 map-registered overlays within a 3-week period. These overlays depicted in detail the damage to timber resources, the transportation network, and the watershed. Using the 14 timber loss overlays, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service personnel were able to digitize cells depicting ownership, degree of damage, and the preeruption cover classes. These digitized data provided such informa-tion as the total area affected within and outside the national forest, total timber acreage destroyed and damaged, the sizes of timber destroyed, and the acreage of barren land both before and after the eruption. The hydrology and transportation overlays provided information for an alert system to locate areas needing in-depth studies. These problem areas were then studied in detail on low-altitude color photography so that potential erosion sites could receive preventive treatments and essential access roads needed for fire control and timber salvage could be repaired.

Economic Valuation as an Instrument to Determine The Management Strategy of Baros Mangrove Forest, Bantul, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waluyo Jati, Irawan; Pribadi, Rudhi

2018-02-01

The Baros mangrove forest in Bantul Regency is now beginning to develop. Many government and private sectors programs are rolled out to support its development. The development of the Baros mangrove forest must be in accordance with the rules of conservation so that it will not damage the mangrove ecosystem. Mangrove forest has high economical and ecological value but is very vulnerable if lack of wisdom in maintaining, preserving and managing them. The involvement of government and other stakeholders are essential in determining management policies. Unawareness of society and the government to the importance of mangrove ecosystem can cause development of it becomes uncontrolled, consequently can destroy it. Mangrove forests are an important natural resource in coastal environments, and have three main functions: physical, biological, and economic functions. To quantify the functions of mangrove forests as the basis to determine the policy is required a research instrument called economic valuation. The approach of this study is the literature review from various studies before to perceive the influence of economic valuation in determining the management strategy of Baros mangrove forest in Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Amazon Forests Response to Droughts: A Perspective from the MAIAC Product

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bi, Jian; Myneni, Ranga; Lyapustin, Alexei; Wang, Yujie; Park, Taejin; Chi, Chen; Yan, Kai; Knyazikhin, Yuri

2016-01-01

Amazon forests experienced two severe droughts at the beginning of the 21st century: one in 2005 and the other in 2010. How Amazon forests responded to these droughts is critical for the future of the Earth's climate system. It is only possible to assess Amazon forests' response to the droughts in large areal extent through satellite remote sensing. Here, we used the Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) vegetation index (VI) data to assess Amazon forests' response to droughts, and compared the results with those from the standard (Collection 5 and Collection 6) MODIS VI data. Overall, the MAIAC data reveal more realistic Amazon forests inter-annual greenness dynamics than the standard MODIS data. Our results from the MAIAC data suggest that: (1) the droughts decreased the greenness (i.e., photosynthetic activity) of Amazon forests; (2) the Amazon wet season precipitation reduction induced by El Niño events could also lead to reduced photosynthetic activity of Amazon forests; and (3) in the subsequent year after the water stresses, the greenness of Amazon forests recovered from the preceding decreases. However, as previous research shows droughts cause Amazon forests to reduce investment in tissue maintenance and defense, it is not clear whether the photosynthesis of Amazon forests will continue to recover after future water stresses, because of the accumulated damages caused by the droughts.

Forest Health Monitoring in Maine, 1996-1999.

Treesearch

Northeastern Research Station

2002-01-01

Maine has mixed-age forests dominated by softwood species. Most of the trees are healthy, with full crowns (low transparency, high density), little dieback and little damage. Red maple had higher amounts of dieback but seemed to maintain crown fullness. Eastern white pine and northern white cedar had lower densities as well as higher rates of damage.

Forest Health Monitoring in Connecticut, 1996-1999

Treesearch

Northeastern Research Station

2002-01-01

Connecticut has mature forests dominated by hardwoods. Most trees are healthy with full crowns (low transparency and high density), little dieback and little damage. The exception is eastern hemlock, which was in poor condition, with thin crowns, more dieback and more damage, especially broken tops. These conditions are likely the result of attack by the hemlock woolly...

Forest Health Monitoring in New York, 1996-1999

Treesearch

Northeastern Research Station

2002-01-01

New York has mature forests dominated by hardwood species, but with a significant and varied softwood resource. Most of the trees are healthy, with full crowns (low transparency, high density), little dieback and little damage. American beech tends to be in poorer condition, with thin crowns, higher dieback, and more damage, especially broken and dead branches.

Assessment of fastener corrosion and salt damage in the bilge of the Eureka

Treesearch

Samuel L. Zelinka; Grant T. Kirker

2018-01-01

This report summarizes inspection of corrosion and salt damage on the National Historical Landmark ferryboat Eureka, built in 1890 and displayed at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). The USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) was contacted by the NPS because of concerns about...

Assessment and management of animal damage in Pacific Northwest forests: an annotated bibliography.

Treesearch

D.M. Loucks; H.C. Black; M.L. Roush; S.R. Radosevich

1990-01-01

This annotated bibliography of published literature provides a comprehensive source of information on animal damage assessment and management for forest land managers and others in the Pacific Northwest. Citations and abstracts from more than 900 papers are indexed by subject and author. The publication complements and supplements A Silvicultural Approach to...

Effects of ice storm damage on hardwood survival and growth in Ohio

Treesearch

Richard M. Turcotte; Thomas R. Elliott; Mary Ann Fajvan; Yong-Lak Park; Daniel A. Snider; Patrick C. Tobin

2012-01-01

In 2003, an ice storm occurred across four Mid-Atlantic states. This study investigated the effects of the ice-storm damage on growth and mortality of five tree species (Acer rubrum, Acer saccharum, Quercus alba, Quercus prinus, and Quercus rubra) from three forest stands in the Wayne National Forest in Ohio. We remeasured the same...

Combined effects of environmental disturbance and climate warming on insect herbivory in mountain birch in subarctic forests: Results of 26-year monitoring.

PubMed

Kozlov, M V; Zverev, V; Zvereva, E L

2017-12-01

Both pollution and climate affect insect-plant interactions, but the combined effects of these two abiotic drivers of global change on insect herbivory remain almost unexplored. From 1991 to 2016, we monitored the population densities of 25 species or species groups of insects feeding on mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) in 29 sites and recorded leaf damage by insects in 21 sites in subarctic forests around the nickel-copper smelter at Monchegorsk, north-western Russia. The leaf-eating insects demonstrated variable, and sometimes opposite, responses to pollution-induced forest disturbance and to climate variations. Consequently, we did not discover any general trend in herbivory along the disturbance gradient. Densities of eight species/species groups correlated with environmental disturbance, but these correlations weakened from 1991 to 2016, presumably due to the fivefold decrease in emissions of sulphur dioxide and heavy metals from the smelter. The densities of externally feeding defoliators decreased from 1991 to 2016 and the densities of leafminers increased, while the leaf roller densities remained unchanged. Consequently, no overall temporal trend in the abundance of birch-feeding insects emerged despite a 2-3°C elevation in spring temperatures. Damage to birch leaves by insects decreased during the observation period in heavily disturbed forests, did not change in moderately disturbed forests and tended to increase in pristine forests. The temporal stability of insect-plant interactions, quantified by the inverse of the coefficient of among-year variations of herbivore population densities and of birch foliar damage, showed a negative correlation with forest disturbance. We conclude that climate differently affects insect herbivory in heavily stressed versus pristine forests, and that herbivorous insects demonstrate diverse responses to environmental disturbance and climate variations. This diversity of responses, in combination with the decreased stability of insect-plant interactions, increases the uncertainty in predictions on the impacts of global change on forest damage by insects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Wildlife and habitat damage assessment from Hurricane Charley: recommendations for recovery of the J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge Complex

USGS Publications Warehouse

Meyers, J. Michael; Langtimm, Catherine A.; Smith, Thomas J.; Pednault-Willett, Kendra

2006-01-01

• On 13 August 2004, the first of four hurricanes to strike Florida in <6 weeks came ashore near J. N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge (JNDDNWR) Complex, Sanibel Island, Florida. The eye of Category 4 Hurricane Charley passed just north of Sanibel Island with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (123 knots) and a storm surge of 0.3-2.7 m (1-9 ft). Three USGS-BRD scientists (coastal ecologist and research wildlife biologists) and a USFWS wildlife biologist surveyed the storm damage to JNDDNWR Complex on the ground from 20-24 September 2004. • At the request of United States Fish and Wildlife Service refuge staff, the USGS team concentrated on assessing damage to wetlands and habitat for selected bird populations (especially mangrove forests, Mangrove Cuckoos [Coccyzus minor], and Black-whiskered Vireo [Vireo altiloquus]), waterbird rookeries (mangrove islands), impoundments (waterbirds and waterfowl), sea grass beds (manatees), and upland hardwood hammocks and ridges (threatened eastern indigo snake [Drymarchon couperi]). • The refuge complex sustained moderate to catastrophic damage to vegetation, especially mangrove forests and waterbird nesting or roosting islands. Lumpkin Island, Hemp Island, and Bird Key waterbird nesting areas had >50% and sometimes 90% of their vegetation severely damaged (dead, broken tree stems, and tipped trees). The Shell Mound Trail area of JNDDNWR sustained catastrophic damage to its old growth mangrove forests. Direct storm mortality and injury to manatees in the area of the JNDDNWR Complex was probably slight as manatees may have several strategies to reduce storm mortality. Damage to seagrass beds, an important habitat for manatees, fishes and invertebrates, is believed to be limited to the breach at North Captiva Island. At this breach, refuge staff documented inundation of beds by sand and scarring by trees dragged by winds. • Because seagrass beads and manatee habitat extend beyond refuge boundaries (see p. 28), a regional approach with partner agencies to more thoroughly assess storm impacts and monitor recovery of seagrass and manatees is recommended. • Besides intensive monitoring of waterbirds and their nesting habitat (pre- and post-storm), the survey team recommends that the Mangrove Cuckoo be used as an indicator species for recovery of mangrove forests and also for monitoring songbirds at risk (this songbird is habitat-area sensitive). Black-whiskered Vireo may be another potential indicator species to monitor in mangrove forests. Monitoring for these species can be done by distance sampling on transects or by species presenceabsence from point counts. • Damaged vegetation should be monitored for recovery (permanent or long-term plots), especially where previous study plots have been established and with additional plots in mangrove forests of waterbird nesting islands and freshwater wetlands. • Potential loss of wetlands (and information for management) may be prevented by water level monitoring (3 permanent stations), locating the positions (GPS-GIS) and maintaining existing water control structures, creating a GIS map of the refuge with accurate vertical data, and monitoring and eradicating invasive plants. Invasive species, including Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius) and air potato (Dioscorea bulbifora), were common in a very limited survey and may become more dominant in areas damaged by the storm. Special attention is needed to eradicate these exotic plants. • As an important monitoring goal, the survey team recommends that species presence-absence data analysis (with probability of detection) be used to determine changes in animal communities. This could be accomplished possibly with comparison to other storm-damaged and undamaged refuges in the Region. This information may be helpful to refuge managers when storms return in the future.

Positive lightning and severe weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Price, C.; Murphy, B.

2003-04-01

In recent years researchers have noticed that severe weather (tornados, hail and damaging winds) are closely related to the amount of positive lightning occurring in thunderstorms. On 4 July 1999, a severe derecho (wind storm) caused extensive damage to forested regions along the United States/Canada border, west of Lake Superior. There were 665,000 acres of forest destroyed in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in Minnesota and Quetico Provincial Park in Canada, with approximately 12.5 million trees blown down. This storm resulted in additional severe weather before and after the occurrence of the derecho, with continuous cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning occurring for more than 34 hours during its path across North America. At the time of the derecho the percentage of positive cloud-to-ground (+CG) lightning measured by the Canadian Lightning Detection Network (CLDN) was greater than 70% for more than three hours, with peak values reaching 97% positive CG lightning. Such high ratios of +CG are rare, and may be useful indicators for short-term forecasts of severe weather.

Acid deposition effects on forest composition and growth on the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia

Treesearch

P.E. Elias; J.A. Burger; M.B. Adams

2009-01-01

The northern and central Appalachian forests are subject to high levels of atmospheric acid deposition (AD), which has been shown in some forests to negatively impact forest growth as well as predispose the forest system to damage from secondary stresses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible contribution of AD to changes in composition and...

36 CFR 228.15 - Operations within National Forest Wilderness.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... Preservation System. Subject to valid existing rights, no person shall have any right or interest in or to any... to minimize damage from forest insects, disease, and fire. (f) The Chief, Forest Service, shall allow...

Daily MODIS Data Trends of Hurricane-Induced Forest Impact and Early Recovery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramsey, Elijah, III; Spruce, Joseph; Rangoonwala, Amina; Suzuoki, Yukihiro; Smoot, James; Gasser, Jerry; Bannister, Terri

2011-01-01

We studied the use of daily satellite data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors to assess wetland forest damage and recovery from Hurricane Katrina (29 August 2005 landfall). Processed MODIS daily vegetation index (VI) trends were consistent with previously determined impact and recovery patterns provided by the "snapshot" 25 m Landsat Thematic Mapper optical and RADARSAT-1 synthetic aperture radar satellite data. Phenological trends showed high 2004 and 2005 pre-hurricane temporal correspondence within bottomland hardwood forest communities, except during spring green-up, and temporal dissimilarity between these hardwoods and nearby cypress-tupelo swamp forests (Taxodium distichum [baldcypress] and Nyssa aquatica [water tupelo]). MODIS VI trend analyses established that one year after impact, cypress-tupelo and lightly impacted hardwood forests had recovered to near prehurricane conditions. In contrast, canopy recovery lagged in the moderately and severely damaged hardwood forests, possibly reflecting regeneration of pre-hurricane species and stand-level replacement by invasive trees.

36 CFR 261.6 - Timber and other forest products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... or otherwise damaging any timber, tree, or other forest product, except as authorized by a special-use authorization, timber sale contract, or Federal law or regulation. (b) Cutting any standing tree... otherwise identifying any tree or other forest product in a manner similar to that employed by forest...

Forest structure following tornado damage and salvage logging in northern Maine, USA

Treesearch

Shawn Fraver; Kevin J. Dodds; Laura S. Kenefic; Rick Morrill; Robert S. Seymour; Eben Sypitkowski

2017-01-01

Understanding forest structural changes resulting from postdisturbance management practices such as salvage logging is critical for predicting forest recovery and developing appropriate management strategies. In 2013, a tornado and subsequent salvage operations in northern Maine, USA, created three conditions (i.e., treatments) with contrasting forest structure:...

36 CFR 261.6 - Timber and other forest products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... or otherwise damaging any timber, tree, or other forest product, except as authorized by a special-use authorization, timber sale contract, or Federal law or regulation. (b) Cutting any standing tree... otherwise identifying any tree or other forest product in a manner similar to that employed by forest...

36 CFR 261.6 - Timber and other forest products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... or otherwise damaging any timber, tree, or other forest product, except as authorized by a special-use authorization, timber sale contract, or Federal law or regulation. (b) Cutting any standing tree... otherwise identifying any tree or other forest product in a manner similar to that employed by forest...

36 CFR 261.6 - Timber and other forest products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... or otherwise damaging any timber, tree, or other forest product, except as authorized by a special-use authorization, timber sale contract, or Federal law or regulation. (b) Cutting any standing tree... otherwise identifying any tree or other forest product in a manner similar to that employed by forest...

36 CFR 261.6 - Timber and other forest products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... or otherwise damaging any timber, tree, or other forest product, except as authorized by a special-use authorization, timber sale contract, or Federal law or regulation. (b) Cutting any standing tree... otherwise identifying any tree or other forest product in a manner similar to that employed by forest...

Response of Eucalyptus species to frost damage at the Redwood Experimental Forest

Treesearch

Danny G. Heavilin

1978-01-01

In 1961 a feasibility study was done to determine if certain Eucalyptus species could be grown along the California North Coast for timber or ornamental purposes. Of the 207 trees, representing 31 species, planted on the Redwood Experimental Forest, only 12 trees in 5 species were recorded in the 1976 survival examination. The single most damaging factor was frost....

The historical role of Ips hauseri (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in the spruce forest of Ile-Alatausky and Medeo National Parks

Treesearch

N. Mukhamadiev; A. Lynch; C. O' Connor; A. Sagitov; N. Ashikbaev; I. Panyushkina

2014-01-01

On 17 May and 27 June 2011 severe cyclonic storms damaged several hundred hectares of spruce forest (Picea schrenkiana) in the Tian Shan Mountains. Bark beetle populations increased rapidly in dead and damaged trees, particularly Ips hauseri, I. typographus, I. sexdentatus, and Piiyogenesperfossus (all Coleoptera: Curculionidae), and there is concern about the...

February 1994 ice storm: forest resource damage assessment in northern Mississippi

Treesearch

Dennis M. Jacobs

2000-01-01

During February 8­11, 1994, a severe winter storm moved from Texas and Oklahoma to the mid-Atlantic depositing in northern Mississippi a major ice accumulation of 3 to 6 inches. An assessment of forest resource damage was initiated immediately after the storm by performing an airborne video mission to acquire aerial imagery linked to global positioning coordinates....

Community composition of soil bacteria nearly a decade after a fire in a tropical rainforest in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

PubMed

Isobe, Kazuo; Otsuka, Shigeto; Sudiana, Imade; Nurkanto, Arif; Senoo, Keishi

2009-10-01

Soil bacterial community compositions in burnt and unburnt areas in a tropical rainforest in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, were investigated 8 and 9 years after a fire by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis targeting the 16S rRNA gene. Three study sites were set in the forest area devoid of fire damage (control), and in the lightly damaged and heavily damaged forest areas. Succession of aboveground vegetation in the two damaged areas had clearly proceeded after the fire, but the vegetation types still differed from the unburnt area at the time of this study. Community composition of total soil bacteria was similar among the three areas, and so was that of actinobacteria. However, the composition of ammonia oxidizing bacteria clearly differed depending on the presence or absence of past fire damage. These results indicate that even nearly a decade after the forest fire, impacts of the fire remained on the community composition of ammonia oxidizing bacteria, but not apparently on those of dominant bacteria and actinobacteria.

A Multi-temporal Analysis of Logging Impacts on Tropical Forest Structure Using Airborne Lidar Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keller, M. M.; Pinagé, E. R.; Duffy, P.; Longo, M.; dos-Santos, M. N.; Leitold, V.; Morton, D. C.

2017-12-01

The long-term impacts of selective logging on carbon cycling and ecosystem function in tropical-forests are still uncertain. Despite improvements in selective logging detection using satellite data, quantifying changes in forest structure from logging and recovery following logging is difficult using orbital data. We analyzed the dynamics of forest structure comparing logged and unlogged forests in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon (Paragominas Municipality, Pará State) using small footprint discrete return airborne lidar data acquired in 2012 and 2014. Logging operations were conducted at the 1200 ha study site from 2006 through 2013 using reduced impact logging techniques—management practices that minimize canopy and ground damage compared to more common conventional logging. Nevertheless, logging still reduced aboveground biomass by 10% to 20% in logged areas compared to intact forests. We aggregated lidar point-cloud data at spatial scales ranging from 50 m to 250 m and developed a binomial classification model based on the height distribution of lidar returns in 2012 and validated the model against the 2014 lidar acquisition. We accurately classified intact and logged forest classes compared with field data. Classification performance improved as spatial resolution increased (AUC = 0.974 at 250 m). We analyzed the differences in canopy gaps, understory damage (based on a relative density model), and biomass (estimated from total canopy height) of intact and logged classes. As expected, logging greatly increased both canopy gap formation and understory damage. However, while the area identified as canopy gap persisted for at least 8 years (from the oldest logging treatments in 2006 to the most recent lidar acquisition in 2014), the effects of ground damage were mostly erased by vigorous understory regrowth after about 5 years. The rate of new gap formation was 6 to 7 times greater in recently logged forests compared to undisturbed forests. New gaps opened at a rate of 1.8 times greater than background even 8 years following logging demonstrating the occurrence of delayed tree mortality. Our study showed that even low-intensity anthropogenic disturbances can cause persistent changes in tropical forest structure and dynamics.

Preliminary assessment of airborne imaging spectrometer and airborne thematic mapper data acquired for forest decline areas in the Federal Republic of Germany

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herrmann, Karin; Ammer, Ulrich; Rock, Barrett; Paley, Helen N.

1988-01-01

This study evaluated the utility of data collected by the high-spectral resolution airborne imaging spectrometer (AIS-2, tree mode, spectral range 0.8-2.2 microns) and the broad-band Daedalus airborne thematic mapper (ATM, spectral range 0.42-13.0 micron) in assessing forest decline damage at a predominantly Scotch pine forest in the FRG. Analysis of spectral radiance values from the ATM and raw digital number values from AIS-2 showed that higher reflectance in the near infrared was characteristic of high damage (heavy chlorosis, limited needle loss) in Scotch pine canopies. A classification image of a portion of the AIS-2 flight line agreed very well with a damage assessment map produced by standard aerial photointerpretation techniques.

Condition and fate of logged forests in the Brazilian Amazon.

Treesearch

Gregory P. Asner; Eben N. Broadbent; Paulo J. C. Oliveira; Michael Keller; David E. Knapp; Jose N. M. Silva

2006-01-01

The long-term viability of a forest industry in the Amazon region of Brazil depends on the maintenance of adequate timber volume and growth in healthy forests. Using extensive high-resolution satellite analyses, we studied the forest damage caused by recent logging operations and the likelihood that logged forests would be cleared within 4 years after timber harvest....

How Much Water Trees Access and How It Determines Forest Response to Drought

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berdanier, A. B.; Clark, J. S.

2015-12-01

Forests are transformed by drought as water availability drops below levels where trees of different sizes and species can maintain productivity and survive. Physiological studies have provided detailed understanding of how species differences affect drought vulnerability but they offer almost no insights about the amount of water different trees can access beyond general statements about rooting depth. While canopy architecture provides strong evidence for light availability aboveground, belowground moisture availability remains essentially unknown. For example, do larger trees always have greater access to soil moisture? In temperate mixed forests, the ability to access a large soil moisture pool could minimize damage during drought events and facilitate post-drought recovery, potentially at the expense of neighboring trees. We show that the pool of accessible soil moisture can be estimated for trees with data on whole-plant transpiration and that this data can be used to predict water availability for forest stands. We estimate soil water availability with a Bayesian state-space model based on a simple water balance, where cumulative depressions in water use below potential transpiration indicate soil resource depletion. We compare trees of different sizes and species, extend these findings to the entire stand, and connect them to our recent research showing that tree survival after drought depends on post-drought growth recovery and local moisture availability. These results can be used to predict competitive abilities for soil water, understand ecohydrological variation within stands, and identify trees that are at risk of damage from future drought events.

Guam's forest resources, 2002.

Treesearch

Joseph A. Donnegan; Sarah L. Butler; Walter Grabowiecki; Bruce A. Hiserote; David. Limtiaco

2004-01-01

The Forest Inventory and Analysis Program collected, analyzed, and summarized field data on 46 forested plots on the island of Guam. Estimates of forest area, tree stem volume and biomass, the numbers of trees, tree damages, and the distribution of tree sizes were summarized for this statistical sample. Detailed tables and graphical highlights provide a summary of Guam...

Palau's forest resources, 2003.

Treesearch

Joseph A. Donnegan; Sarah L. Butler; Olaf Kuegler; Brent J. Stroud; Bruce A. Hiserote; Kashgar. Rengulbai

2007-01-01

The Forest Inventory and Analysis Program collected, analyzed, and summarized field data on 54 forested plots on the islands in the Republic of Palau. Estimates of forest area, tree stem volume and biomass, the numbers of trees, tree damages, and the distribution of tree sizes were summarized for this statistical sample. Detailed tables and graphical highlights provide...

Ecological importance of intermediate windstorms rivals large, infrequent disturbances in the northern Great Lakes

Treesearch

Kirk M. Stueve; Charles H. (Hobie) Perry; Mark D. Nelson; Sean P. Healey; Andrew D. Hill; Gretchen G. Moisen; Warren B. Cohen; Dale D. Gormanson; Chengquan Huang

2011-01-01

Exogenous disturbances are critical agents of change in temperate forests capable of damaging trees and influencing forest structure, composition, demography, and ecosystem processes. Forest disturbances of intermediate magnitude and intensity receive relatively sparse attention, particularly at landscape scales, despite influencing most forests at least once per...

Incidence and impacts of damage to Alabama's timber, 1983

Treesearch

Paul A. Mistretta; Carl V. Bylin

1986-01-01

The Southern Forest Experiment Station in Starkville, MS, periodically inventories and evaluates forest resources in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, and Texas. Survey data were collected in 1981, 1982, and 1983 by the Forest Inventory and Analysis work unit of the Southern Forest Experiment Station as part of the fifth...

Incidence and impact of damage to Louisiana's timber, 1985

Treesearch

Paul A. Mistretta; Carl V. Bylin

1987-01-01

The Southern Forest Experiment Station in Starkville, MS, periodically inventories and evaluates forest resources in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Puerto Rico. Survey data were collected in 1983, 1984, and 1985 by the Forest Inventory and Analysis work unit of the Southern Forest Experiment Station as part of the fifth...

The largest forest fires in Portugal: the constraints of burned area size on the comprehension of fire severity.

PubMed

Tedim, Fantina; Remelgado, Ruben; Martins, João; Carvalho, Salete

2015-01-01

Portugal is a European country with highest forest fires density and burned area. Since beginning of official forest fires database in 1980, an increase in number of fires and burned area as well as appearance of large and catastrophic fires have characterized fire activity in Portugal. In 1980s, the largest fires were just a little bit over 10,000 ha. However, in the beginning of 21st century several fires occurred with a burned area over 20,000 ha. Some of these events can be classified as mega-fires due to their ecological and socioeconomic severity. The present study aimed to discuss the characterization of large forest fires trend, in order to understand if the largest fires that occurred in Portugal were exceptional events or evidences of a new trend, and the constraints of fire size to characterize fire effects because, usually, it is assumed that larger the fire higher the damages. Using Portuguese forest fire database and satellite imagery, the present study showed that the largest fires could be seen at the same time as exceptional events and as evidence of a new fire regime. It highlighted the importance of size and patterns of unburned patches within fire perimeter as well as heterogeneity of fire ecological severity, usually not included in fire regime description, which are critical to fire management and research. The findings of this research can be used in forest risk reduction and suppression planning.

Accidents caused by hazardous trees on California forest recreation sites

Treesearch

Lee A. Paine

1966-01-01

From 1959 to early 1966, tree failures caused an average of more than two injuries or deaths per year on forest recreation sites in California. Annual property damage is estimated at $25,100. Conifers accounted for three of every four accidents reported; pines and true firs were involved in 6 of every 10 incidents involving property damage, and in 9 of every 10...

Evaluation of landsat imagery for detecting ice storm damage in upland forests of Eastern Kentucky

Treesearch

Henry W. McNab; Tracy Roof; Jeffrey F. Lewis; David L. Loftis

2007-01-01

Two categories of forest canopy damage (none to light vs. moderate to heavy) resulting from a 2003 ice storm in eastern Kentucky could be identified on readily available Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery using change detection techniques to evaluate the ratio of spectral bands 4 and 5. Regression analysis was used to evaluate several model formulations based on the...

Influence of weather factors on moisture content of light fuels in forests of the northern Rocky Mountains

Treesearch

George M. Jemison

1935-01-01

The necessity of forest-fire protection is generally recognized in the United Slates. The tremendous damage done by forest fires each year to valuable timber, watershed cover, forest range, wildlife, recreational facilities, and personal property has impressed upon the people the need for preventing and controlling forest fires so far as this is humanly possible.

Relation of weather forecasts to the prediction of dangerous forest fire conditions

Treesearch

R. H. Weidman

1923-01-01

The purpose of predicting dangerous forest-fire conditions, of course, is to reduce the great cost and damage caused by forest fires. In the region of Montana and northern Idaho alone the average cost to the United States Forest Service of fire protection and suppression is over $1,000,000 a year. Although the causes of forest fires will gradually be reduced by...

Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico Landsat Analysis

DOE Data Explorer

Feng, Yanlei; Chambers, Jeff [LBNL; Negron-Juarez, Robinson [LBNL; Patricola, Chris; Clinton, Nick; Uriarte, Maria; Hall, Jaz; Collins, William

2018-01-01

Hurricane Maria made landfall as a strong Category 4 storm in southeast Puerto Rico on September 20th, 2018. The powerful storm traversed the island in a northwesterly direction causing widespread destruction. This study focused on a rapid assessment of Hurricane Marias impact to Puerto Ricos forests. Calibrated and corrected Landsat 8 image composites for the entire island were generated using Google Earth Engine for a comparable pre-Maria and post-Maria time period that accounted for phenology. Spectral mixture analysis (SMA) using image-derived end members was carried out on both composites to calculate the change in the non-photosynthetic vegetation (Delta-NPV) spectral response, a metric that quantifies the increased fraction of exposed wood and surface litter associated with tree mortality and crown damage from the storm. Hurricane simulations were also conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional climate model to estimate wind speeds associated with forest disturbance. Dramatic changes in forest structure across the entire island were evident from pre- and post-Maria composited Landsat 8 images. A Delta-NPV map for only the forested pixels illustrated significant spatial variability in disturbance, with patterns that associated with factors such as slope, aspect and elevation. An initial order-of-magnitude impact estimate based on previous work indicated that Hurricane Maria may have caused mortality and severe damage to 23-31 million trees. Additional field work and image analyses are required to further detail the impact of Hurricane Maria to Puerto Rico forests. A minor update to this dataset was posted on April 20, 2018. The previous version is being retired. If you need access to the prior version of the data, email ngee-tropics-archive@lbl.gov.

An attribute-based approach to contingent valuation of forest protection programs

Treesearch

Christopher C. Moore; Thomas P. Holmes; Kathleen P. Bell

2011-01-01

The hemlock woolly adelgid is an invasive insect that is damaging hemlock forests in the eastern United States. Several control methods are available but forest managers are constrained by cost, availability, and environmental concerns. As a result forest managers must decide how to allocate limited conservation resources over heterogeneous landscapes. We develop an...

Federated States of Micronesia's forest resources, 2006

Treesearch

Joseph A. Donnegan; Sarah L. Butler; Olaf Kuegler; Bruce A. Hiserote

2011-01-01

The Forest Inventory and Analysis program collected, analyzed, and summarized field data on 73 forested field plots on the islands of Kosrae, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Estimates of forest area, tree stem volume and biomass, the numbers of trees, tree damages, and the distribution of tree sizes were summarized for this...

Productivity and diversity of morel mushrooms in healthy, burned, and insect damaged forests of northeastern Oregon.

Treesearch

David Pilz; Nancy S. Weber; M. Carol Carter; Catherine G. Parks; Randy. Molina

2004-01-01

Large commercial crops of morels are harvested annually from montane coniferous forests of the Northwestern United States. Although some morels fruit annually in nondisturbed forests, others fruit copiously in areas experiencing fire, insect infestations, tree mortality, and soil disturbance. Many forest managers currently use thinning and prescribed fire to re-create...

Stormwise: Integrating arboriculture and silviculture to create storm-resilient roadside forests

Treesearch

Jeffrey S. Ward; Thomas E. Worthley; Thomas J. Degnan; Joseph P. Barsky

2017-01-01

The band of trees within 30 m of roads (i.e., roadside forests) is often left unmanaged during traditional forest management activities because of liability concerns about inadvertently causing a vehicular accident or damaging utility lines during harvests. The trees in these same neglected forests often cause extensive utility outages and road blockages during extreme...

Monitoring forest changes in the southwestern United States using multitemporal Landsat data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vogelmann, James E.; Tolk, Brian L.; Zhu, Zhiliang

2009-01-01

Landsat time series data sets were acquired for the Santa Fe National Forest in New Mexico. This area includes the San Pedro Parks Wilderness area, which was designated as an official wilderness in 1964. Eight autumnal Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) scenes acquired from 1988 to 2006 were analyzed to determine whether significant changes have occurred throughout the region during the past 18 years and, if so, to assess whether the changes are long-term and gradual or short-term and abrupt. It was found that, starting in about 1995, many of the conifer stands within the Wilderness area showed consistently gradual and marked increases in the Shortwave Infrared/Near Infrared Index. These trends generally imply decreases in canopy greenness or increases in mortality. Other high-elevation conifer forests located outside of the Wilderness area showed similar spectral trends, indicating that changes are potentially widespread. The spatial patterns of forest damage as inferred from the image analyses were very similar to the general patterns of insect defoliation damage mapped via aerial sketch mapping by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Forest Health Monitoring Program. A field visit indicated that zones of spectral change are associated with high levels of forest damage and mortality, likely caused by a combination of insects and drought. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of using historical Landsat data for providing objective and consistent long-term assessments of the gradual ecosystem changes that are occurring within the western United States.

Fall rates of prescribed fire-killed ponderosa pine. Forest Service research paper

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harrington, M.G.

1996-05-01

Fall rates of prescribed fire-killed ponderosa pine were evaluated relative to tree and fire damage characteristics. High crown scorch and short survival time after fire injury were factors leading to a high probability of early tree fall. The role of chemical defense mechanisms is discussed. Results apply to prescribed-fire injured, second-growth ponderosa pine less than 16 inches diameter at breast height.

Modelling the influence of predicted future climate change on the risk of wind damage within New Zealand's planted forests.

PubMed

Moore, John R; Watt, Michael S

2015-08-01

Wind is the major abiotic disturbance in New Zealand's planted forests, but little is known about how the risk of wind damage may be affected by future climate change. We linked a mechanistic wind damage model (ForestGALES) to an empirical growth model for radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don) and a process-based growth model (cenw) to predict the risk of wind damage under different future emissions scenarios and assumptions about the future wind climate. The cenw model was used to estimate site productivity for constant CO2 concentration at 1990 values and for assumed increases in CO2 concentration from current values to those expected during 2040 and 2090 under the B1 (low), A1B (mid-range) and A2 (high) emission scenarios. Stand development was modelled for different levels of site productivity, contrasting silvicultural regimes and sites across New Zealand. The risk of wind damage was predicted for each regime and emission scenario combination using the ForestGALES model. The sensitivity to changes in the intensity of the future wind climate was also examined. Results showed that increased tree growth rates under the different emissions scenarios had the greatest impact on the risk of wind damage. The increase in risk was greatest for stands growing at high stand density under the A2 emissions scenario with increased CO2 concentration. The increased productivity under this scenario resulted in increased tree height, without a corresponding increase in diameter, leading to more slender trees that were predicted to be at greater risk from wind damage. The risk of wind damage was further increased by the modest increases in the extreme wind climate that are predicted to occur. These results have implications for the development of silvicultural regimes that are resilient to climate change and also indicate that future productivity gains may be offset by greater losses from disturbances. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Use of damage surveys and field inventories to evaluate oak and sugar maple health in the northern United States

Treesearch

Randall S Morin; Christopher W. Woodall; Jim Steinman; Charles H. Perry

2009-01-01

Oak species (Quercus spp.) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum) are substantial components of the forest ecosystems in the 24-state region spanning the northern U.S. During recent decades, both damage surveys and forest inventories have documented declines of sugar maple and oak health. In order to more fully assess the status of oak and sugar maple health, we examined...

Comparisons of protein profiles of beech bark disease resistant and susceptible American beech (Fagus grandifolia)

Treesearch

Mary E. Mason; Jennifer L. Koch; Marek Krasowski; Judy Loo

2013-01-01

Beech bark disease is an insect-fungus complex that damages and often kills American beech trees and has major ecological and economic impacts on forests of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canadian forests. The disease begins when exotic beech scale insects feed on the bark of trees, and is followed by infection of damaged bark tissues by one of the...

Vegetation Disturbance and Recovery Following a Rare Windthrow Event in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernardes, S.; Madden, M.

2016-06-01

The tornado outbreak of April 2011 in the Southeastern United States caused major damage to property and natural ecosystems. During the outbreak, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM) was hit by an EF4 tornado, resulting in a long strip of broken branches and toppled old-growth forest trees. Little is known of the consequences of extreme windthrow events, partly due to limitations in characterizing and monitoring wind-driven vegetation disturbance and recovery over large areas and over time. This work analyzed vegetation damage in the GRSM resulting from the 2011 tornado outbreak and monitored vegetation recovery in the region over a four-year period. Anomalies of the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) calculated using Landsat scenes showed that the 2011 tornado affected 21.38 km2 of forest, including submesic to mesic oak/hardwoods, Southern Appalachian cove hardwood forests and montane alluvial forests. Tornado damage severity was mapped and investigated by using anomalies of EVI over space and time and showed track discontinuity and significant variation in damage intensity along the tornado track, suggesting vortex-topography interactions. Temporal profiles and spatial representations of EVI anomalies for the period 2011-2015 indicated that EVI in 2015 was above pre-event values, indicating homogeneous canopy and lack of vertical structure during regrowth.

36 CFR 228.110 - Indemnification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Indemnification. 228.110 Section 228.110 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MINERALS Oil... United States for: (a) Injury, loss or damage, including fire suppression costs, which the United States...

Daily MODIS data trends of hurricane-induced forest impact and early recovery

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ramsey, Elijah W.; Spruce, Joseph; Rangoonwala, Amina; Suzuoki, Yukihiro; Smoot, James; Gasser, Jerry; Bannister, Terri

2011-01-01

We studied the use of daily satellite data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors to assess wetland forest damage and recovery from Hurricane Katrina (29 August 2005 landfall). Processed MODIS daily vegetation index (VI) trends were consistent with previously determined impact and recovery patterns provided by the "snapshot" 25 m Landsat Thematic Mapper optical and RADARSAT-1 synthetic aperture radar satellite data. Phenological trends showed high 2004 and 2005 pre-hurricane temporal correspondence within bottomland hardwood forest communities, except during spring green-up, and temporal dissimilarity between these hardwoods and nearby cypress-tupelo swamp forests (Taxodium distichum [baldcypress] and Nyssa aquatica [water tupelo]). MODIS VI trend analyses established that one year after impact, cypress-tupelo and lightly impacted hardwood forests had recovered to near pre-hurricane conditions. In contrast, canopy recovery lagged in the moderately and severely damaged hardwood forests, possibly reflecting regeneration of pre-hurricane species and stand-level replacement by invasive trees.

Methods to Reduce Forest Residue Volume after Timber Harvesting and Produce Black Carbon.

PubMed

Page-Dumroese, Deborah S; Busse, Matt D; Archuleta, James G; McAvoy, Darren; Roussel, Eric

2017-01-01

Forest restoration often includes thinning to reduce tree density and improve ecosystem processes and function while also reducing the risk of wildfire or insect and disease outbreaks. However, one drawback of these restoration treatments is that slash is often burned in piles that may damage the soil and require further restoration activities. Pile burning is currently used on many forest sites as the preferred method for residue disposal because piles can be burned at various times of the year and are usually more controlled than broadcast burns. In many cases, fire can be beneficial to site conditions and soil properties, but slash piles, with a large concentration of wood, needles, forest floor, and sometimes mineral soil, can cause long-term damage. We describe several alternative methods for reducing nonmerchantable forest residues that will help remove excess woody biomass, minimize detrimental soil impacts, and create charcoal for improving soil organic matter and carbon sequestration.

Landscape analysis and pattern of hurricane impact and circulation on mangrove forests of the everglades

USGS Publications Warehouse

Doyle, T.W.; Krauss, K.W.; Wells, C.J.

2009-01-01

The Everglades ecosystem contains the largest contiguous tract of mangrove forest outside the tropics that were also coincidentally intersected by a major Category 5 hurricane. Airborne videography was flown to capture the landscape pattern and process of forest damage in relation to storm trajectory and circulation. Two aerial video transects, representing different topographic positions, were used to quantify forest damage from video frame analysis in relation to prevailing wind force, treefall direction, and forest height. A hurricane simulation model was applied to reconstruct wind fields corresponding to the ground location of each video frame and to correlate observed treefall and destruction patterns with wind speed and direction. Mangrove forests within the storm's eyepath and in the right-side (forewind) quadrants suffered whole or partial blowdowns, while left-side (backwind) sites south of the eyewall zone incurred moderate canopy reduction and defoliation. Sites along the coastal transect sustained substantially more storm damage than sites along the inland transect which may be attributed to differences in stand exposure and/or stature. Observed treefall directions were shown to be non-random and associated with hurricane trajectory and simulated forewind azimuths. Wide-area sampling using airborne videography provided an efficient adjunct to limited ground observations and improved our spatial understanding of how hurricanes imprint landscape-scale patterns of disturbance. ?? 2009 The Society of Wetland Scientists.

36 CFR 9.51 - Damages and penalties.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Damages and penalties. 9.51... MINERALS MANAGEMENT Non-Federal Oil and Gas Rights § 9.51 Damages and penalties. (a) The operator shall be... employees from any damages or claims for injury or death of persons and damage or loss of property by any...

36 CFR 9.51 - Damages and penalties.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Damages and penalties. 9.51... MINERALS MANAGEMENT Non-Federal Oil and Gas Rights § 9.51 Damages and penalties. (a) The operator shall be... employees from any damages or claims for injury or death of persons and damage or loss of property by any...

36 CFR 9.51 - Damages and penalties.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Damages and penalties. 9.51... MINERALS MANAGEMENT Non-Federal Oil and Gas Rights § 9.51 Damages and penalties. (a) The operator shall be... employees from any damages or claims for injury or death of persons and damage or loss of property by any...

36 CFR 9.51 - Damages and penalties.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Damages and penalties. 9.51... MINERALS MANAGEMENT Non-Federal Oil and Gas Rights § 9.51 Damages and penalties. (a) The operator shall be... employees from any damages or claims for injury or death of persons and damage or loss of property by any...

36 CFR 9.51 - Damages and penalties.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Damages and penalties. 9.51... MINERALS MANAGEMENT Non-Federal Oil and Gas Rights § 9.51 Damages and penalties. (a) The operator shall be... employees from any damages or claims for injury or death of persons and damage or loss of property by any...

Contrasting Patterns of Damage and Recovery in Logged Amazon Forests From Small Footprint LiDAR Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morton, D. C.; Keller, M.; Cook, B. D.; Hunter, Maria; Sales, Marcio; Spinelli, L.; Victoria, D.; Andersen, H.-E.; Saleska, S.

2012-01-01

Tropical forests ecosystems respond dynamically to climate variability and disturbances on time scales of minutes to millennia. To date, our knowledge of disturbance and recovery processes in tropical forests is derived almost exclusively from networks of forest inventory plots. These plots typically sample small areas (less than or equal to 1 ha) in conservation units that are protected from logging and fire. Amazon forests with frequent disturbances from human activity remain under-studied. Ongoing negotiations on REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation plus enhancing forest carbon stocks) have placed additional emphasis on identifying degraded forests and quantifying changing carbon stocks in both degraded and intact tropical forests. We evaluated patterns of forest disturbance and recovery at four -1000 ha sites in the Brazilian Amazon using small footprint LiDAR data and coincident field measurements. Large area coverage with airborne LiDAR data in 2011-2012 included logged and unmanaged areas in Cotriguacu (Mato Grosso), Fiona do Jamari (Rondonia), and Floresta Estadual do Antimary (Acre), and unmanaged forest within Reserva Ducke (Amazonas). Logging infrastructure (skid trails, log decks, and roads) was identified using LiDAR returns from understory vegetation and validated based on field data. At each logged site, canopy gaps from logging activity and LiDAR metrics of canopy heights were used to quantify differences in forest structure between logged and unlogged areas. Contrasting patterns of harvesting operations and canopy damages at the three logged sites reflect different levels of pre-harvest planning (i.e., informal logging compared to state or national logging concessions), harvest intensity, and site conditions. Finally, we used multi-temporal LiDAR data from two sites, Reserva Ducke (2009, 2012) and Antimary (2010, 2011), to evaluate gap phase dynamics in unmanaged forest areas. The rates and patterns of canopy gap formation at these sites illustrate potential issues for separating logging damages from natural forest disturbances over longer time scales. Multi-temporal airborne LiDAR data and coincident field measurements provide complementary perspectives on disturbance and recovery processes in intact and degraded Amazon forests. Compared to forest inventory plots, the large size of each individual site permitted analyses of landscape-scale processes that would require extremely high investments to study using traditional forest inventory methods.

Cumulative effects of forest management activities: how might they occur?

Treesearch

R. M. Rice; R. B. Thomas

1985-01-01

Concerns are often voiced about possible environmental damage as the result of the cumulative sedimentation effects of logging and forest road construction. In response to these concerns, National Forests are developing procedures to reduce the possibility that their activities may lead to unacceptable cumulative effects

Assessment of Post Forest Fire Landslides in Uttarakhand Himalaya, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, N.; Singh, R. B.

2017-12-01

According to Forest Survey of India-State Forest Report (2015), the total geographical area of Uttarakhand is 53, 483 covers km2 out of which 24,402 km2 area covers under total forest covers. As noticed during last week of April, 2016 forest of Uttarakhand mountains was gutted down due to major incidences of fire. This incident caused huge damage to different species of flora-fauna, human being, livestock, property and destruction of mountain ecosystem. As per media reports, six people were lost their lives and recorded several charred carcasses of livestock's due to this incident. The forest fire was affected the eleven out of total thirteen districts which roughly covers the 0.2% (approx.) of total vegetation covers.The direct impact of losses are easy to be estimated but indirect impacts of this forest fire are yet to be occurred. The threat of post Forest fire induced landslides during rainfall is themain concern. Since, after forest fire top soil and rocks are loose due to loss of vegetation as binding and protecting agent against rainfall. Therefore, the pore water pressure and weathering will be very high during rainy season which can cause many landslides in regions affected by forest fire. The demarcation of areas worse affected by forest fire is necessary for issuing alerts to habitations and important infrastructures. These alerts will be based upon region specific probable rainfall forecasting through Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). The main objective is to develop a tool for detecting early forest fire and to create awareness amongst mountain community, researchers and concerned government agencies to take an appropriate measures to minimize the incidences of Forest fire and impact of post forest fire landslides in future through implementation of sustainable mountain strategy.

Forest health in a changing world: Effects of globalization and climate change on forest insect and pathogen impacts

Treesearch

T. D. Ramsfield; Barbara Bentz; M. Faccoli; H. Jactel; E. G. Brockerhoff

2016-01-01

Forests and trees throughout the world are increasingly affected by factors related to global change. Expanding international trade has facilitated invasions of numerous insects and pathogens into new regions. Many of these invasions have caused substantial forest damage, economic impacts and losses of ecosystem goods and services provided by trees. Climate...

Hurricane impacts on forest resources in the Eastern United States: a post-sandy assessment

Treesearch

Greg C. Liknes; Susan J. Crocker; Randall S. Morin; Brian F. Walters

2015-01-01

Extreme weather events play a role in shaping the composition and structure of forests. Responding to and mitigating a storm event in a forested environment requires information about the location and severity of tree damage. However, this information can be difficult to obtain immediately following an event. Post-storm assessments using regularly collected forest...

Using Forest Service forest inventory and analysis data to estimate regional oak decline and oak mortality

Treesearch

Kathryn W. Kromroy; Jennifer Juzwik; Paul Castillo; Mark H. Hansen

2008-01-01

Damage and mortality data are collected as part of the US Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) ongoing assessments of the nation's timberlands. The usefulness and value of FIA tree data in assessing historical levels of oak decline and oak mortality were investigated for seven Midwestern states. The data were collected during two periodic...

1954 hurricane damage on Penobscot Experimental Forest

Treesearch

T. J. Grisez

1954-01-01

The two hurricanes "Carol" and "Edna" that struck inland over New England this summer caused some timber losses. But the damage was neither so extensive nor so severe as the damage done by the hurricane of 1938 and the storms of 1950.

Forest fire damage appraisal procedures and tables fo the northeast

Treesearch

A.W. Lindenmuth Jr.; J.J. Keetch; Ralph M. Nelson

1951-01-01

Forest fire control in the Northeast is a bigger and more responsible job than most people realize.  State , Federal, and other agencies cur­ rently spend some 6 millions of dollars in prevention  efforts and in sup­pressing the 15 or 16 thousand fires that burn each year. There is good reason, therefore, to deve lop better and more uniform method s of damage appraisal...

Severely insect-damaged forest: A temporary trap for red squirrels?

Treesearch

Claire A. Zugmeyer; John L. Koprowski

2009-01-01

Recent insect infestations in the spruce-fir forest in the Pinalenno Mountains of southeastern Arizona provided an opportunity to document response to severe forest disturbance and existence of an ecological trap for an endemic montane isolate, the endangered Mt. Graham red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis). From September 2003 to...

Pine dwarfmistletoe on the Pringle Falls Experimental Forest.

Treesearch

L.F. Roth

1953-01-01

Dwarfmistletoe (Arceuthobium campylopodum forma typicum (Engelm.) Gill) is widespread in the ponderosa pine forests of Oregon and Washington. The importance of dwarfmistletoe as a damaging agent in the pine forest of the Pacific Northwest was described by Weir in 1916. In some localities present infestations are so heavy that...

Landscape Context and Regional Patterns in Arkansas' Forests

Treesearch

Victor A. Rudis

2001-01-01

Abstract - Recent results from Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) surveys provided an opportunity to explore the spatial and temporal context for Arkansas’ forests, including associated range, recreation, water, and wildlife habitat resources. Noted were damage agents and multipurpose resource indicators: evidence of human-associated activities (...

Combined fluorescence, reflectance, and ground measurements of a stressed Norway spruce forest for forest damage assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Banninger, C.

1991-01-01

The detection and monitoring of stress and damage in forested areas is of utmost importance to forest managers for planning purposes. Remote sensing are the most suitable means to obtain this information. This requires that remote sensing data employed in a forest survey be properly chosen and utilized for their ability to measure canopy spectral features directly related to key tree and canopy properties that are indicators of forest health and vitality. Plant reflectance in the visible to short wave IR regions (400 to 2500 nm) provides information on its biochemical, biophysical, and morphological make up, whereas plant fluorescence in the 400 to 750 nm region is more indicative of the capacity and functioning of its photosynthetic apparatus. A measure of both these spectral properties can be used to provide an accurate assessment of stress and damage within the forest canopy. Foliar chlorophyll and nitrogen are essential biochemical constituents required for the proper functioning and maintenance of a plant's biological processes. Chlorophyll-a is the prime reactive center for photosynthesis, by which a plant converts CO2 and H2O into necessary plant products. Nitrogen forms an important component of the amino-acids, enzymes, proteins, alkaloids, and cyanogenic compounds that make up a plant, including its pigments. Both chlorophyll and nitrogen have characteristic absorption features in the visible to short wave IR region. By measuring the wavelength position and depth of these features and the fluorescence response of the foliage, the health and vitality of a canopy can be ascertained. Examples for a stressed Norway spruce forest in south-eastern Austria are presented.

Contribution of insectivorous avifauna to top down control of Lindera benzoin herbivores at forest edge and interior habitats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skoczylas, Daniel R.; Muth, Norris Z.; Niesenbaum, Richard A.

2007-11-01

Predation of herbivorous Lepidoptera larvae by insectivorous avifauna was estimated on Lindera benzoin in edge and interior habitats at two sites in eastern Pennsylvania (USA). Clay baits modeled after Epimecis hortaria (Geometridae) larvae, the primary herbivore of L. benzoin at our study sites, were used to estimate predation by birds. In both habitat types, models were placed on uninjured L. benzoin leaves as well as on leaves that had prior insect herbivore damage. Rates of model attack were greater, and model longevity reduced, in forest edge plots compared to interiors. Naturally occurring herbivore damage on L. benzoin was greater in forest interiors. However, model attack was not significantly greater on leaves with prior herbivory damage, suggesting that birds do not effectively use this type of leaf damage as a cue in their foraging. Our findings are consistent with a contribution of bird predation towards top-down control of herbivory in this system. We further discuss these results in a broader context considering the possible effects of habitat type on leaf quality, leaf defense, and herbivore performance.

New species of Mycosphaerella from Myrtaceae in plantations and native forests in eastern Australia.

PubMed

Carnegie, Angus J; Burgess, Treena I; Beilharz, Vyrna; Wingfield, Michael J

2007-01-01

The majority of Mycosphaerella species from eucalypts (Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora) in Australia have been recorded only from trees growing in plantations. This illustrates a bias in research in the past two decades toward commercial enterprise, and it emphasises a lack of understanding of the occurrence of these important fungi under natural conditions. Surveys of foliar fungi in native forests in eastern Australia, as well as adjacent plantations, thus have been initiated in recent years. In this study we describe four new species of Mycosphaerella from Eucalyptus spp. as well as other Myrtaceae. Mycosphaerella tumulosa sp. nov. (anamorph: Pseudocercospora sp.) was found on more than seven species of Eucalyptus and Corymbia in native forests and plantations in northeastern New South Wales and southeastern Queensland and appears to be relatively common, although not damaging to these trees. Mycosphaerella multiseptata sp. nov. was recorded from several locations on species of Angophora in native forests and amenity plantings. Mycosphaerella pseudovespa sp. nov. was found in one location in native forest on E. biturbinata. The first species of Mycosphaerella to be described from Syncarpia, M. syncarpiae sp. nov., was found in native forests in numerous locations from Sydney through to northeastern New South Wales and appears to be relatively common.

The Estimation Modelling of Damaged Areas by Harmful Animals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, R.; Sung, M.; Hwang, J.; Jeon, S. W.

2017-12-01

The Republic of Korea has undergone rapid development and urban development without sufficient consideration of the environment. This type of growth is accompanied by a reduction in forest area and wildlife habitat. It is a phenomenon that affects the habitat of large mammals more than small. Especially in Korea, the damage caused by wild boar(Sus scrofa) is harsher than other large mammalian species like water deer(Hydropotes inermis), which also means that the number of these reported cases of this species is higher than ones of other mammals. Wild boar has three to eight cubs per year and it is possible to breed every year, which makes it more populous comparing with the fragmented habitats. It could be regarded as one of the top predators in Korea, which it is inevitable for humans to intervene this creature in population control. In addition, some individuals have been forced to be retreated from other habitats in major habitats, or to invade human activity areas for food activity, thereby destroying crops. Ultimately, this mammal species has been treated as farm pest animals through committing road kills and urban emergences. In this study, we has estimated possible farm pest animal present points from the damage district using 2,505 hazardous wildlife damage areas with four types of geological informations, four kinds of forest information, land cover, and distribution of farmland occurred in Gyeongnam province in Korea. In the estimating model, utilizing MAXENT, information of background point was set to 10,000, 70% of the damaged sites were used to construct the model, 30% was used for verification, and 10 times of crossvalidate were proceeded - verified by AUC of ROC. As a result of analyses, AUC was 0.847, and the percent contribution of the forest information was the distance toward inner-forest areas, 36.1%, the land cover, 16.5%, the distance from the field, 14.9%. Furthermore, the permutation importance was 24.9% of the cover, 12.3% of the height, and 11.9% of the slope. The results indicate that the areas with high damage predictions were highly cultivated in valleys adjacent to the forests. This can be interpreted as a result of reflecting the characteristics of feeding on the farmland where the wild boar, which has forests as its main habitat, can access relatively easily and obtain good quality food.

Economic valuation of landslide damage in hilly regions: a case study from Flanders, Belgium.

PubMed

Vranken, Liesbet; Van Turnhout, Pieter; Van Den Eeckhaut, Miet; Vandekerckhove, Liesbeth; Poesen, Jean

2013-03-01

Several regions around the globe are at risk of incurring damage from landslides, but only few studies have concentrated on a quantitative estimate of the overall damage caused by landslides at a regional scale. This study therefore starts with a quantitative economic assessment of the direct and indirect damage caused by landslides in a 2,910 km study area located west of Brussels, a low-relief region susceptible to landslides. Based on focus interviews as well as on semi-structured interviews with homeowners, civil servants and the owners and providers of lifelines such as electricity and sewage, a quantitative damage assessment is provided. For private properties (houses, forest and pasture land) we estimate the real estate and production value losses for different damage scenarios, while for public infrastructure the costs of measures to repair and prevent landslide induced damage are estimated. In addition, the increase in amenity value of forests and grasslands due to the occurrence of landslides is also calculated. The study illustrates that a minority of land (only 2.3%) within the study area is used for dwellings, roads and railway lines, but that these land use types are responsible for the vast majority of the economic damage due to the occurrence of landslides. The annual cost of direct damage due to landsliding amounts to 688,148 €/year out of which 550,740 €/year for direct damage to houses, while the annual indirect damage augments to 3,020,049 €/year out of which 2,007,375 €/year for indirect damage to real estate. Next, the study illustrates that the increase of the amenity value of forests and grasslands outweighs the production value loss. As such the study does not only provide quantitative input data for the estimation of future risks, but also important information for government officials as it clearly informs about the costs associated with certain land use types in landslide areas. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A data mining approach to derive flood-related economic vulnerability of companies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sieg, Tobias; Kreibich, Heidi; Vogel, Kristin; Merz, Bruno

2017-04-01

The assessment of vulnerability gained more and more attention in flood risk research during the recent years. However, there is still not much knowledge available about flood vulnerability of companies and its influencing factors. This study follows the natural sciences concept which defines vulnerability as the degree of loss to a given element at risk resulting from flooding of a given magnitude. Machine learning algorithms like Random Forests (RFs) are promising approaches, since they consider many influencing variables and as such allow for a detailed assessment of flood vulnerability. Only these variables which are meaningful for the differentiation of a certain target variable are used by the derived models. This allows for an identification of relevant damage influencing variables and hence for a more detailed picture of flood vulnerability of companies. This study aims to identify relevant damage influencing variables by means of the variable importance provided by Random Forests. The data sets used are taken from two surveys conducted after the floods in the Elbe and Danube catchments in the years 2002 and 2013 in Germany. Damage to buildings (n = 430), equipment (n = 651) as well as goods and stock (n = 530) are taken into account. The analysis is done for the entire data set as well as for four groups of different company sectors and the corresponding data subsets. Relevant damage influencing variables separated by sector and assets are identified as, for example, the degree of contamination or precautionary measures undertaken before the flood event. The results provide insight into the damage processes and improve data-acquisition in future surveys by, for instance, asking specific questions for company sectors and assets.

Forest Health Monitoring in Pennsylvania 1998-1999

Treesearch

Northeastern Research Station

2002-01-01

Pennsylvania has mature forests dominated by hardwood species. Red maple was common in all size classes. Most trees are healthy, with full crowns (low transparency, high density), little dieback, and little damage.

Dwarf forest recovery after disturbances in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico

Treesearch

P.L. Weaver

2008-01-01

Dwarf forest in Puerto Rico’s Luquillo Mountains varies according to substrate and topography with very short, dense forest growing on exposed, rocky sites. High elevation level sites suffered considerable damage during past hurricanes whereas the trees on certain lower slopes were protected by ridges or spurs. Post-disturbance recovery of dwarf forest on two types of...

Exotic Forest Insect Pests and Their Impact on Forest Management

Treesearch

Therese M. Poland; Robert A. Haack

2003-01-01

More than 4500 exotic organisms are now established in the United States, of which over 400 are insects that feed on trees and shrubs. While most exotic insects cause little or no damage, a few have become serious pests and have greatly altered native forest ecosystems. Three of the most recently introduced exotic forest pests are the pine shoot beetle, the Asian...

Acute and long-term effects of irradiation on pine (Pinus silvestris) strands post-Chernobyl.

PubMed

Arkhipov, N P; Kuchma, N D; Askbrant, S; Pasternak, P S; Musica, V V

1994-12-11

The effect of ionizing irradiation on the viability of pine stands after the fallout from the damaged nuclear energy plant at Chernobyl (ChNPP) was shown within the territory of the 10-km zone. During the period 1986-1991, irradiated and damaged forest stands, so-called 'red forest', located in this area were systematically classified by observation. Mortality rate, re-establishment, development of tree canopies, reproduction anomalies and stand viability were shown to be dependent on absorbed irradiation dose, on the age of the stand and on forest composition. For pine stands in the acutely affected zone, doses of more than 60 Gy resulted in a massive mortality and no regeneration of pine trees since 1987. The injured trees had burned or had dried-up. The drying process was accelerated by a massive production of pathogenic insects invading the dying trees. Specifically, irradiation doses of 10-60 Gy, 1-10 Gy and 0.1-1 Gy caused high, medium and low injury to the forest stands, respectively. Doses of less than 0.1 Gy did not cause any visible damage to the trees. In 1987, repair processes were displayed by the tree canopies and practically the entire viability of the forest stands had recovered except for trees in the acute and highly affected zones. The young forest was reestablished in the same place as the perished trees and new pine saplings were planted on the reclaimed areas.

Estimation on rubber tree disturbance caused by typhoon Damery (200518) with Landsat and MODIS data in Hainan Island of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Chenyan; Fang, Weihua; Li, Jian

2016-04-01

In 2005, Typhoon Damery (200518) caused severe damage to the rubber trees in Hainan Island with its destructive winds and rainfall. Selection of proper vegetation indices using multi-source remote sensing data is critical to the assessment of forest disturbance and damage loss for this event. In this study, we will compare the performance of seven vegetation indices derived from MODIS and Landsat TM imageries prior to and after typhoon Damery, in order to select an optimal index for identifying rubber tree disturbance. The indices to be compared are normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Normalized Difference Infrared Index (NDII), Enhanced vegetation index (EVI), Leaf area index (LAI), forest z-score (IFZ), and Disturbance Index (DI). The ground truth data of rubber tree damage collected through field investigation was used to verify and compare the results. Our preliminary result for the area with ground-truth data shows that DI has the most significant performance for disturbance detection for this typhoon event. This index DI is then applied to all the areas in Hainan Island hit by Darmey to evaluate the overall forest damage severity. At last, rubber tree damage severity is analyzed with other typhoon hazard factors such as wind, topography, soil and precipitation.

A guide for salvaging white pine injured by forest fires

Treesearch

Thomas W. McConkey; Donald R. Gedney

1951-01-01

White pine forests are severely damaged by forest fires. Generally a fire kills all trees less than 20 feet high immediately. Larger trees may die later, depending on the degree of injury. Salvage operations must be started soon after a fire, because insects and fungi quickly attack trees that are killed.

Understanding and controlling nonnative forest pests in the South

Treesearch

Donald A. Duerr; James H. Miller

2005-01-01

lnvasive nonnative forest pests are multiplying and spreading in every forest type in the Southern United States, The costs of controlling these pests have become extremely high, and the damage they cause to ecosystem composition, structure, and function continues to increase. Plants imported for potential release for forage, crops, soil reclamation, and ornamental...

Common fungal diseases of Russian forests

Treesearch

Evgeny P. Kuz' michevl; Ella s. Sokolova; Elena G. Kulikova

2001-01-01

Describes common fungal diseases of Russian forests, including diagnostic signs and symptoms, pathogen biology, damage caused by the disease, and methods of control. The fungal diseases are divided into two groups: those that are the most common in Russian forests and those that are found only in Russia. Within each group, diseases are subdivided by plant organ...

Forest nursery pest management in Cuba

Treesearch

Rene Alberto Lopez Castilla; Angela Duarte Casanova; Celia Guerra Rivero; Haylett Cruz Escoto; Natividad Triguero Issasi

2002-01-01

A systematic survey of methods to detect pests in forest nurseries before they damage plants was done. These surveys recorded the most important forest nursery pests during 18 years (from 1980 to 1998) and their geographical and temporal distribution in the principal enterprises in Cuba. Approximately a dozen insect species and three fungi species responsible for the...

Impacts and management implications of ice storms on forests in the southern United States

Treesearch

Don C. Bragg; Michael G Shelton; Boris Zeide

2003-01-01

Abstract: This review explores the ecological and silvicultural impacts of ice storms on forests in the southern United States. Different environmental factors like weather conditions, topography, vegetation, stand density, and management practices influence the degree of glaze damage a particular forest may experience. Additionally, the frequent...

Forest Floor Characteristics in Southwestern Wisconsin

Treesearch

M. Dean Knighton

1970-01-01

Percent slope, aspect, topographic position, and crown closure were found to have no significant influence on forest floor depth in southwestern Wisconsin. However, a significant decrease in forest floor depth and an increase in soil compaction were found on currently grazed slopes. Yet when grazing is stopped recovery is apperently quick with no permanent damage....

Invasive Bark Beetles, Forest Insect& Disease Leaflet 176

Treesearch

J.C. Lee; R.A. Haack; J.F. Negron; J.J. Witcosky; S.J. Seybold

2007-01-01

Bark beetles (Scolytidae) are among the most damaging insects in Northern Hemisphere forests, killing trees by direct feeding and by vectoring fungal pathogens. In addition to an already formidable native bark beetle complex, the number of exotic scolytids in U.S. forests has increased rapidly, with 53 known species established as of June 2007.

Logging damage in thinned, young-growth true fir stands in California and recommendations for prevention.

Treesearch

Paul E. Aho; Gary Fiddler; Mike. Srago

1983-01-01

Logging-damage surveys and tree-dissection studies were made in commercially thinned, naturally established young-growth true fir stands in the Lassen National Forest in northern California. Significant damage occurred to residual trees in stands logged by conventional methods. Logging damage was substantially lower in stands thinned using techniques designed to reduce...

Pileated woodpecker damage to red-cockaded woodpecker cavity trees in eastern Texas

Treesearch

Daniel Saenz; Richard N. Conner; Clifford E. Shackelford; D. Craig Rudolph

1998-01-01

The authors surveyed all known red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) cavity trees (n = 514) in the Angelina National Forest in eastern Texas for pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) damage. They compared the frequency of pileated woodpecker damage to red-cockaded woodpecker cavity trees in longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) habitat to damage in loblolly (P....

Methods to Reduce Forest Residue Volume after Timber Harvesting and Produce Black Carbon

PubMed Central

Busse, Matt D.; Archuleta, James G.; McAvoy, Darren; Roussel, Eric

2017-01-01

Forest restoration often includes thinning to reduce tree density and improve ecosystem processes and function while also reducing the risk of wildfire or insect and disease outbreaks. However, one drawback of these restoration treatments is that slash is often burned in piles that may damage the soil and require further restoration activities. Pile burning is currently used on many forest sites as the preferred method for residue disposal because piles can be burned at various times of the year and are usually more controlled than broadcast burns. In many cases, fire can be beneficial to site conditions and soil properties, but slash piles, with a large concentration of wood, needles, forest floor, and sometimes mineral soil, can cause long-term damage. We describe several alternative methods for reducing nonmerchantable forest residues that will help remove excess woody biomass, minimize detrimental soil impacts, and create charcoal for improving soil organic matter and carbon sequestration. PMID:28377830

Evaluations of plastic mesh tubes for protecting conifer seedling from pocket gophers in three western states

USGS Publications Warehouse

Engeman, Richard M.; Anthony, Richard M.; Barnes, Victor G.; Krupa, Heather W.; Evans, James

1999-01-01

The efficacy of plastic mesh tubes for protecting conifer seedlings from pocket gopher damage was evaluated on three national forest lands in three states. In each area, cohorts of 640 protected seedlings and 640 unprotected seedlings (3,840 total) were individually monitored for damage, survival, and growth twice each summer for 5 yr after planting. Substantial differences were found between protected and unprotected seedlings for time until occurrence of damage, survival time, proportion damaged and proportion surviving, as well as differences in growth. Over the three forest study sites, the proportion of unprotected seedlings damaged ranged from 60-89%, whereas the proportion of protected seedlings damaged after 5 yr ranged from 18-27%. The proportion of unprotected seedlings that died of gopher damage over 5 yr ranged from 46-64%, versus 1-19% for protected seedlings. Height growth was 25% greater for protected seedlings. Even when only undamaged seedlings were considered, protected seedlings exhibited superior height growth, possibly due to a more favorable microclimate provided by the tubes. These results were reflected in the higher and more uniform stocking rates for protected seedlings.

Effects of tornado damage, prescribed fire, and salvage logging on natural oak (Quercus spp.) regeneration in a xeric southern USA Coastal Plain oak/pine forest

Treesearch

Jeffery B. Cannon; J. Stephen Brewer

2013-01-01

Due in large part to fire exclusion, many oak-dominated (Quercus spp.) forests, woodlands, and savannas throughout eastern North America are being replaced by less diverse forest ecosystems. In the interior coastal plain of the southern United States, these forests are dominated in the mid- and understory by mesophytic species such as Acer...

Protecting the forests while allowing removal of damaged trees may imperil saproxylic insect biodiversity in the Hyrcanian Beech Forests of Iran

Treesearch

Müller Jörg; Thorn Simon; Baier Roland; Sagheb-Talebi Khosro; Barimani Hassan V.; Seibold Sebastian; Michael D. Ulyshen; Gossner Martin M.

2015-01-01

The 1.8 million ha of forest south of the Caspian Sea represent a remarkably intact ecosystem with numerous old-growth features and unique species assemblages. To protect these forests, Iranian authorities recently passed a law which protects healthy trees but permits the removal of injured, dying and dead trees. To quantify the biodiversity effects of this strategy,...

Proceedings of the International Symposium on Air Pollution and Climate Change Effects on Forest Ecosystems

Treesearch

Andrzej Bytnerowicz; Michael J. Arbaugh; Susan L. Schilling

1998-01-01

Industrial air pollution has been identified as one of the primary causes of severe damage to forests of central Europe in the past 30 to 40 years. The mountain forest ecosystems have been affected considerably, resulting in extensive areas of severely deteriorated forest stands (e.g., the Krusne Hory of the Czech Republic or the Izerske and Sudety Mountains along the...

Insects that damage white oak acorns

Treesearch

Lester P. Gibson; Lester P. Gibson

1972-01-01

To grow oak trees--either in forests or for shade trees--crops of good acorns are needed. Yet in some places and at some times, acorn crops are destroyed or badly damaged by insects. To prevent this we need to know, first of all, which insects do the damage.

Best Longitudinal Adjustment of Satellite Trajectories for the Observation of Forest Fires (Blastoff): A Stochastic Programming Approach to Satellite System Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoskins, Aaron B.

Forest fires cause a significant amount of damage and destruction each year. Optimally dispatching resources reduces the amount of damage a forest fire can cause. Models predict the fire spread to provide the data required to optimally dispatch resources. However, the models are only as accurate as the data used to build them. Satellites are one valuable tool in the collection of data for the forest fire models. Satellites provide data on the types of vegetation, the wind speed and direction, the soil moisture content, etc. The current operating paradigm is to passively collect data when possible. However, images from directly overhead provide better resolution and are easier to process. Maneuvering a constellation of satellites to fly directly over the forest fire provides higher quality data than is achieved with the current operating paradigm. Before launch, the location of the forest fire is unknown. Therefore, it is impossible to optimize the initial orbits for the satellites. Instead, the expected cost of maneuvering to observe the forest fire determines the optimal initial orbits. A two-stage stochastic programming approach is well suited for this class of problem where initial decisions are made with an uncertain future and then subsequent decisions are made once a scenario is realized. A repeat ground track orbit provides a non-maneuvering, natural solution providing a daily flyover of the forest fire. However, additional maneuvers provide a second daily flyover of the forest fire. The additional maneuvering comes at a significant cost in terms of additional fuel, but provides more data collection opportunities. After data are collected, ground stations receive the data for processing. Optimally selecting the ground station locations reduce the number of built ground stations and reduces the data fusion issues. However, the location of the forest fire alters the optimal ground station sites. A two-stage stochastic programming approach optimizes the selection of ground stations to maximize the expected amount of data downloaded from a satellite. The approaches of selecting initial orbits and ground station locations including uncertainty will provide a robust system to reduce the amount of damage caused by forest fires.

Evaluation and Repair of War-Damaged Port Facilities. Report 3. Concepts for Expedient War-Damage Repair of Pier and Wharf Decking

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-01

calculations) Timber or laminated wood could be used to provide a deck for an expedient repair. Forest products may be the materials of choice because of...splits in the wood near the end of the timber. This problem may be mitigated by nail or glue laminating smaller members into mats of the desired...explanation of possible uses for laminated forest products in expedient port construction. As mentioned in the discussion con-^ cerning prefabricated

Automatic Detection of Storm Damages Using High-Altitude Photogrammetric Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Litkey, P.; Nurminen, K.; Honkavaara, E.

2013-05-01

The risks of storms that cause damage in forests are increasing due to climate change. Quickly detecting fallen trees, assessing the amount of fallen trees and efficiently collecting them are of great importance for economic and environmental reasons. Visually detecting and delineating storm damage is a laborious and error-prone process; thus, it is important to develop cost-efficient and highly automated methods. Objective of our research project is to investigate and develop a reliable and efficient method for automatic storm damage detection, which is based on airborne imagery that is collected after a storm. The requirements for the method are the before-storm and after-storm surface models. A difference surface is calculated using two DSMs and the locations where significant changes have appeared are automatically detected. In our previous research we used four-year old airborne laser scanning surface model as the before-storm surface. The after-storm DSM was provided from the photogrammetric images using the Next Generation Automatic Terrain Extraction (NGATE) algorithm of Socet Set software. We obtained 100% accuracy in detection of major storm damages. In this investigation we will further evaluate the sensitivity of the storm-damage detection process. We will investigate the potential of national airborne photography, that is collected at no-leaf season, to automatically produce a before-storm DSM using image matching. We will also compare impact of the terrain extraction algorithm to the results. Our results will also promote the potential of national open source data sets in the management of natural disasters.

Multi-scale monitoring of landscape change after the 2011 tsunami

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hara, K.; Zhao, Y.; Harada, I.; Tomita, M.; Park, J.; Jung, E.; Kamagata, N.; Hirabuki, Y.

2015-04-01

The Great East Japan Earthquake (magnitude 9.0; occurred on 11th March 2011) and subsequent huge tsunami caused widespread damage along the Pacific Ocean coast of eastern Honshu, Japan. This research utilizes multi-resolution remote sensing images to clarify the impact on landscapes caused by this disaster, and also to monitor the subsequent survival and recovery process in the Sendai Bay region. The coastal landscape in the target area features a narrow strip of coastal sand barrier, historically stabilized by planted pine groves; backed by a low-lying plain that has traditionally been diked and converted to irrigated rice paddies. Farmsteads on the flat alluvial plain are surrounded by groves called "Igune", consisting primarily of conifers. MODIS data (250 m resolution) were employed to map the overall extent of inundation and damage on the regional landscape scale. The major damage caused by the tsunami, destruction of coastal pine forests and inundation or rice paddies on the plain, was identified at this level. Progressively finer scale analysis were then implemented using SPOT/HRG-2 (10 m resolution) data; GeoEye-1 fine resolution data (0.5 m) and very fine resolution aerial photographs (10 cm) and LiDAR. These results demonstrated the minute details of the damage and recovery process. Some patches of pine forest, for example, were seen to have survived, and some coastal plant communities were already recovering only a year after the disaster. Continuous monitoring using field work and remote sensing is required for balanced regional strategies that provide for economic and social recovery and as well as restoration of vegetation, biodiversity and vital ecosystem services.

Water and Forest Health: Drought Stress as a Core Driver of Forest Disturbances and Tree Mortality in Western North America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, C. D.; Williams, P.

2012-12-01

Increasing warmth and dry climate conditions have affected large portions of western North America in recent years, causing elevated levels of both chronic and acute forest drought stress. In turn, increases in drought stress amplify the incidence and severity of the most significant forest disturbances in this region, including wildfire, drought-induced tree mortality, and outbreaks of damaging insects and diseases. Regional patterns of drought stress and various forest disturbances are reviewed, including interactions among climate and the various disturbance processes; similar global-scale patterns and trends of drought-amplified forest die-off and high-severity wildfire also are addressed. New research is presented that derives a tree-ring-based Forest Drought Stress Index (FDSI) for the three most widespread conifer species (Pinus edulis, Pinus ponderosa, and Pseudotsuga menziesii) in the southwestern US (Arizona, New Mexico), demonstrating nonlinear escalation of FDSI to levels unprecedented in the past 1000 years, in response to both drought and especially recent warming. This new work further highlights strong correlations between drought stress and amplified forest disturbances (fire, bark beetle outbreaks), and projects that by ca. 2050 anticipated regional warming will cause mean FDSI levels to reach extreme levels that may exceed thresholds for the survival of current tree species in large portions of their current range. Given recent trends of forest disturbance and projections for substantially warmer temperatures and greater drought stress for much of western North America in coming years, the growing risks to western forest health are becoming clear. This emerging understanding suggests an urgent need to determine potentials and methods for managing water on-site to maintain the vigor and resilience of western forests in the face of increasing levels of climate-induced water stress.

Hurricane impacts on a pair of coastal forested watersheds: implications of selective hurricane damage to forest structure and streamflow dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jayakaran, A. D.; Williams, T. M.; Ssegane, H.; Amatya, D. M.; Song, B.; Trettin, C. C.

2014-03-01

Hurricanes are infrequent but influential disruptors of ecosystem processes in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Every southeastern forested wetland has the potential to be struck by a tropical cyclone. We examined the impact of Hurricane Hugo on two paired coastal South Carolina watersheds in terms of streamflow and vegetation dynamics, both before and after the hurricane's passage in 1989. The study objectives were to quantify the magnitude and timing of changes including a reversal in relative streamflow difference between two paired watersheds, and to examine the selective impacts of a hurricane on the vegetative composition of the forest. We related these impacts to their potential contribution to change watershed hydrology through altered evapotranspiration processes. Using over 30 years of monthly rainfall and streamflow data we showed that there was a significant transformation in the hydrologic character of the two watersheds - a transformation that occurred soon after the hurricane's passage. We linked the change in the rainfall-runoff relationship to a catastrophic change in forest vegetation due to selective hurricane damage. While both watersheds were located in the path of the hurricane, extant forest structure varied between the two watersheds as a function of experimental forest management techniques on the treatment watershed. We showed that the primary damage was to older pines, and to some extent larger hardwood trees. We believe that lowered vegetative water use impacted both watersheds with increased outflows on both watersheds due to loss of trees following hurricane impact. However, one watershed was able to recover to pre hurricane levels of evapotranspiration at a quicker rate due to the greater abundance of pine seedlings and saplings in that watershed.

Hurricane impacts on a pair of coastal forested watersheds: implications of selective hurricane damage to forest structure and streamflow dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jayakaran, A. D.; Williams, T. M.; Ssegane, H.; Amatya, D. M.; Song, B.; Trettin, C. C.

2013-09-01

Hurricanes are infrequent but influential disruptors of ecosystem processes in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Every southeastern forested wetland has the potential to be struck by a tropical cyclone. We examined the impact of Hurricane Hugo on two paired coastal watersheds in South Carolina in terms of stream flow and vegetation dynamics, both before and after the hurricane's passage in 1989. The study objectives were to quantify the magnitude and timing of changes including a reversal in relative streamflow-difference between two paired watersheds, and to examine the selective impacts of a hurricane on the vegetative composition of the forest. We related these impacts to their potential contribution to change watershed hydrology through altered evapotranspiration processes. Using over thirty years of monthly rainfall and streamflow data we showed that there was a significant transformation in the hydrologic character of the two watersheds - a transformation that occurred soon after the hurricane's passage. We linked the change in the rainfall-runoff relationship to a catastrophic shift in forest vegetation due to selective hurricane damage. While both watersheds were located in the path of the hurricane, extant forest structure varied between the two watersheds as a function of experimental forest management techniques on the treatment watershed. We showed that the primary damage was to older pines, and to some extent larger hardwood trees. We believe that lowered vegetative water use impacted both watersheds with increased outflows on both watersheds due to loss of trees following hurricane impact. However, one watershed was able to recover to pre hurricane levels of canopy transpiration at a quicker rate due to the greater abundance of pine seedlings and saplings in that watershed.

Essential oil yield and composition reflect browsing damage of junipers.

PubMed

Markó, Gábor; Gyuricza, Veronika; Bernáth, Jeno; Altbacker, Vilmos

2008-12-01

The impact of browsing on vegetation depends on the relative density and species composition of browsers. Herbivore density and plant damage can be either site-specific or change seasonally and spatially. For juniper (Juniperus communis) forests of a sand dune region in Hungary, it has been assumed that plant damage investigated at different temporal and spatial scales would reflect selective herbivory. The level of juniper damage was tested for a possible correlation with the concentration of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) in plants and seasonal changes in browsing pressure. Heavily browsed and nonbrowsed junipers were also assumed to differ in their chemical composition, and the spatial distribution of browsing damage within each forest was analyzed to reveal the main browser. Long-term differences in local browsing pressure were also expected and would be reflected in site-specific age distributions of distant juniper populations. The concentrations of PSMs (essential oils) varied significantly among junipers and seasons. Heavily browsed shrubs contained the lowest oil yield; essential oils were highest in shrubs bearing no damage, indicating that PSMs might contribute to reduce browsing in undamaged shrubs. There was a seasonal fluctuation in the yield of essential oil that was lower in the summer period than in other seasons. Gas chromatography (GC) revealed differences in some essential oil components, suggesting that certain chemicals could have contributed to reduced consumption. The consequential long-term changes were reflected in differences in age distribution between distant juniper forests. These results confirm that both the concentration of PSMs and specific compounds of the essential oil may play a role in selective browsing damage by local herbivores.

Estimation of the high-spatial-resolution variability in extreme wind speeds for forestry applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venäläinen, Ari; Laapas, Mikko; Pirinen, Pentti; Horttanainen, Matti; Hyvönen, Reijo; Lehtonen, Ilari; Junila, Päivi; Hou, Meiting; Peltola, Heli M.

2017-07-01

The bioeconomy has an increasing role to play in climate change mitigation and the sustainable development of national economies. In Finland, a forested country, over 50 % of the current bioeconomy relies on the sustainable management and utilization of forest resources. Wind storms are a major risk that forests are exposed to and high-spatial-resolution analysis of the most vulnerable locations can produce risk assessment of forest management planning. In this paper, we examine the feasibility of the wind multiplier approach for downscaling of maximum wind speed, using 20 m spatial resolution CORINE land-use dataset and high-resolution digital elevation data. A coarse spatial resolution estimate of the 10-year return level of maximum wind speed was obtained from the ERA-Interim reanalyzed data. Using a geospatial re-mapping technique the data were downscaled to 26 meteorological station locations to represent very diverse environments. Applying a comparison, we find that the downscaled 10-year return levels represent 66 % of the observed variation among the stations examined. In addition, the spatial variation in wind-multiplier-downscaled 10-year return level wind was compared with the WAsP model-simulated wind. The heterogeneous test area was situated in northern Finland, and it was found that the major features of the spatial variation were similar, but in some locations, there were relatively large differences. The results indicate that the wind multiplier method offers a pragmatic and computationally feasible tool for identifying at a high spatial resolution those locations with the highest forest wind damage risks. It can also be used to provide the necessary wind climate information for wind damage risk model calculations, thus making it possible to estimate the probability of predicted threshold wind speeds for wind damage and consequently the probability (and amount) of wind damage for certain forest stand configurations.

Spectral characterization of forest damage occurring on Whiteface Mountain, NY - Studies with the Fluorescence Line Imager (FLI) and ground-based spectrometers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rock, B. N.; Moss, D. M.; Miller, J. R.; Freemantle, J. R.; Boyer, M. G.

1990-01-01

Ground-based spectral characteristics of fir wave damage and an analysis of calibrated FLI data acquired along the same fir wave utilized for the in situ measurements are presented. Derivative curve data were produced from both in situ and FLI reflectance measurements for the red edge spectral region for birch and for various portions of a fir wave. The results suggested that with proper atmospheric correction of airborne imaging spectrometer data sets, the derivative curve approach will provide an accurate means of assessing red edge parameters, and that such data will permit identification of specific types of forest damage on the basis of spectral fine features.

Understanding the drivers of extensive plant damage in boreal and Arctic ecosystems: Insights from field surveys in the aftermath of damage.

PubMed

Bjerke, Jarle W; Treharne, Rachael; Vikhamar-Schuler, Dagrun; Karlsen, Stein R; Ravolainen, Virve; Bokhorst, Stef; Phoenix, Gareth K; Bochenek, Zbigniew; Tømmervik, Hans

2017-12-01

The exact cause of population dieback in nature is often challenging to identify retrospectively. Plant research in northern regions has in recent decades been largely focussed on the opposite trend, namely increasing populations and higher productivity. However, a recent unexpected decline in remotely-sensed estimates of terrestrial Arctic primary productivity suggests that warmer northern lands do not necessarily result in higher productivity. As large-scale plant dieback may become more frequent at high northern latitudes with increasing frequency of extreme events, understanding the drivers of plant dieback is especially urgent. Here, we report on recent extensive damage to dominant, short, perennial heath and tundra plant populations in boreal and Arctic Norway, and assess the potential drivers of this damage. In the High-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, we recorded that 8-50% of Cassiope tetragona and Dryas octopetala shoots were dead, and that the ratios of dead shoots increased from 2014 to 2015. In boreal Norway, 38-63% of Calluna vulgaris shoots were dead, while Vaccinium myrtillus had damage to 91% of shoots in forested sites, but was healthy in non-forested sites. Analyses of numerous sources of environmental information clearly point towards a winter climate-related reason for damage to three of these four species. In Svalbard, the winters of 2011/12 and 2014/15 were documented to be unusually severe, i.e. insulation from ambient temperature fluctuation by snow was largely absent, and ground-ice enforced additional stress. In boreal Norway, the 2013/14 winter had a long period with very little snow combined with extremely low precipitation rates, something which resulted in frost drought of uncovered Calluna plants. However, extensive outbreaks of a leaf-defoliating geometrid moth were identified as the driver of Vaccinium mortality. These results suggest that weather and biotic extreme events potentially have strong impacts on the vegetation state of northern lands. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A synoptic climatology for forest fires in the NE US and future implications for GCM simulations

Treesearch

Yan Qing; Ronald Sabo; Yiqiang Wu; J.Y. Zhu

1994-01-01

We studied surface-pressure patterns corresponding to reduced precipitation, high evaporation potential, and enhanced forest-fire danger for West Virginia, which experienced extensive forest-fire damage in November 1987. From five years of daily weather maps we identified eight weather patterns that describe distinctive flow situations throughout the year. Map patterns...

A five-year record of lightning storms and forest fires

Treesearch

H. T. Gisborne

1931-01-01

According to the records compiled by the supervisors of the national forests in the northern Rocky Mountain region, lightning has been responsible for a greater number of fires, more burned area, more damage, and more expense of suppression in this territory than all other causes of forest fires combined. Smokers, campers, brush burners, incendiarists, lumbering...

Social preferences toward energy generation with woody biomass from public forests in Montana, USA

Treesearch

Robert M. Campbell; Tyron J. Venn; Nathaniel M. Anderson

2016-01-01

In Montana, USA, there are substantial opportunities for mechanized thinning treatments on public forests to reduce the likelihood of severe and damaging wildfires and improve forest health. These treatments produce residues that can be used to generate renewable energy and displace fossil fuels. The choice modeling method is employed to examine the marginal...

Aerial sketchmapping for monitoring forest conditions in Southern Brazil

Treesearch

Y. M. Malheiros de Oliveira; M. A. Doetzer Rosot; N. B. da Luz; W. M. Ciesla; E.W. Johnson; R. Rhea; J.F. Jr. Penteado

2006-01-01

Aerial sketchmapping is a simple, low cost remote sensing method used for detection and mapping of forest damage caused by biotic agents (insects, pathogens and other pests) and abiotic agents (wind, fire, storms, hurricane, ice storms) in North America. This method was introduced to Brazil in 2001/2002 via a USDA Forest Service/EMBRAPA technical exchange program,...

Confronting challenges to economic analysis of biological invasions in forests

Treesearch

Thomas P Holmes

2010-01-01

Biological invasions of forests by non-indigenous organisms present a complex, persistent, and largely irreversible threat to forest ecosystems around the globe. Rigorous assessments of the economic impacts of introduced species, at a national scale, are needed to provide credible information to policy makers. It is proposed here that microeconomic models of damage due...

Cumulative watershed effects of fuel management in the western United States

Treesearch

William J. Elliot; Ina Sue Miller; Lisa Audin

2010-01-01

Fire suppression in the last century has resulted in forests with excessive amounts of biomass, leading to more severe wildfires, covering greater areas, requiring more resources for suppression and mitigation, and causing increased onsite and offsite damage to forests and watersheds. Forest managers are now attempting to reduce this accumulated biomass by thinning,...

Financial and ecological indicators of reduced impact logging performance in the eastern Amazon

Treesearch

Thomas P. Holmes; Geoffrey M. Blate; Johan C. Zweede; Rodrigo Pereira; Paulo Barreto; Frederick Boltz; Roberto Bauch

2002-01-01

Reduced impact logging (RIL) systems are currently being promoted in Brazil and other tropical countries in response to domestic and international concern over the ecological and economic sustainability of harvesting natural tropical forests. RIL systems are necessary, but not sufficient, for sustainable forest management because they reduce damage to the forest...

Forest insect conditions in the Northeast - 1954

Treesearch

W. E. Waters

1955-01-01

Forest insects continued to be a major cause of timber loss in the Northeast in 1954. A diversity of destructive pests caused these losses in different ways: by outright killing trees; by reducing growth; by reducing merchantable volume; and by reducing the quality of forest products. Some of the insects caused serious damage to woodlands that have high recreational...

Field guide to diseases & insects of the Rocky Mountain Region

Treesearch

Forest Health Protection Rocky Mountain Region

2010-01-01

This field guide is a forest management tool for field identification of biotic and abiotic agents that damage native trees in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming, which constitute the USDA Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Region. The guide focuses only on tree diseases and forest insects that have significant economic, ecological, and/ or...

Biotic agents that damage black locust in Hungary

Treesearch

Jozsef Toth

2003-01-01

Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) plays an important role in Hungarian forestry and represents 21.6% of the total forested area (370 thousand hectares); approximately 19.2% of the area in Hungary is forested. Black locust forests have increased by more than one percent over the last 5 years demonstrating that it is a preferred tree species...

No rest for the laurels: symbiotic invaders cause unprecedented damage to southern USA forests

Treesearch

M. A. Hughes; J. J. Riggins; F. H. Koch; A. I. Cognato; C. Anderson; J. P. Formby; T. J. Dreaden; R. C. Ploetz; J. A. Smith

2017-01-01

Laurel wilt is an extraordinarily destructive exotic tree disease in the southeastern United States that involves new-encounter hosts in the Lauraceae, an introduced vector (Xyleborus glabratus) and pathogen symbiont (Raffaelea lauricola). USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis data were used to estimate that over 300 million trees of redbay (Persea borbonia...

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands' forest resources, 2004

Treesearch

Joseph A. Donnegan; Sarah L. Butler; Olaf Kuegler; Bruce A. Hiserote

2011-01-01

The Forest Inventory and Analysis program collected, analyzed, and summarized field data on 37 field plots on the islands of Rota, Tinian, and Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Estimates of forest area, tree stem volume and biomass, the numbers of trees, tree damages, and the distribution of tree sizes were summarized for this...

Snow-covered Landsat time series stacks improve automated disturbance mapping accuracy in forested landscapes

Treesearch

Kirk M. Stueve; Ian W. Housman; Patrick L. Zimmerman; Mark D. Nelson; Jeremy B. Webb; Charles H. Perry; Robert A. Chastain; Dale D. Gormanson; Chengquan Huang; Sean P. Healey; Warren B. Cohen

2011-01-01

Accurate landscape-scale maps of forests and associated disturbances are critical to augment studies on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the carbon cycle, especially in terms of understanding how the spatial and temporal complexities of damage sustained from disturbances influence forest structure and function. Vegetation change tracker (VCT) is a highly automated...

Forest insect and fungal pathogen responses to drought [Chapter 6

Treesearch

Thomas E. Kolb; Christopher J. Fettig; Barbara J. Bentz; Jane E. Stewart; Aaron S. Weed; Jeffrey A. Hicke; Matthew P. Ayres

2016-01-01

Recent changes in precipitation patterns and in the occurrence of extreme temperature and precipitation events have been documented in many forested regions of the United States (Ryan and Vose 2012). Changes in drought intensity and frequency have the potential to alter populations and impacts of tree-damaging forest insects and pathogens (Ayers and Lombardero...

Working forests, forest health and management challenges in the redwood region

Treesearch

Ken Pimlott

2017-01-01

As California continues into a fifth year of drought, tree mortality enhanced by the unprecedented bark beetle epidemic contributes to wildfires that continue to increase in frequency and severity. Recent fires have posed increasing fire suppression challenges, life safety concerns, post fire watershed impacts and lasting damage to forested landscapes. The ability of...

Herbivores and pathogens on Alnus viridis subsp. fruticosa in interior Alaska: effects of leaf, tree, and neighbour characteristics on damage levels

Treesearch

Christa P.H. Mulder; Bitty A. Roy; Sabine Gusewell

2008-01-01

Parasite damage strongly affects dynamics of boreal forests. Damage levels may be affected by climate change, either directly or indirectly through changes in properties of host trees. We examined how herbivore and pathogen damage in Alnus viridis subsp. fruticosa (Rupr.) Nym. depend on leaf morphology and chemistry, tree size...

Elections and Deforestation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanford, L.

2017-12-01

When do politicians' re-election strategies cause serious environmental damage? This paper focuses on a case of deforestation, and argues that the protection of forested areas is a long-term public good while their destruction provides short-term, private goods for local voters and elected officials. Politicians give voters access to forested areas for commercial use of timber and small-scale farming in exchange for electoral support. I test the theory that competitive elections are associated with higher rates of deforestation using remote sensed satellite data of forest cover and data on national elections cross-nationally. The findings suggest that rates of forest cover loss are 50% higher in anocracies during election years, and more than double the average rate in years when there are competitive elections in anocracies and democracies. This suggests that democratic elections can be an important source of environmental damage, such as deforestation, contrary to the conventional wisdom that democratization improves environmental protection.

Damage and mortality assessment of redwood and mixed conifer forest types in Santa Cruz County following wildfire

Treesearch

Steve R. Auten; Nadia Hamey

2012-01-01

On August 12, 2009, the Lockheed Fire ignited the west slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains burning approximately 7,819 acres. A mixture of vegetation types were in the path of the fire, including approximately 2,420 acres of redwood forest and 1,951 acres of mixed conifer forest types representative of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Foresters and land managers were left with...

A guide to selected non-timber forest products of the Hayfork Adaptive Management Area, Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests, California

Treesearch

Yvonne Everett

1997-01-01

Demand for non-timber forest products (NTFPs) is increasing, and growing numbers of people are enhancing their incomes by harvesting NTFPs from the wild. If forest ecosystems are to continue to produce NTFPs in the long run, harvesters must learn how to gather them in ways that minimize harvest damage to woods and wildlife. This guide, developed in a collaborative,...

Demographics and density estimates of two three-toed box turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis) populations within forest and restored prairie sites in central Missouri.

PubMed

O'Connor, Kelly M; Rittenhouse, Chadwick D; Millspaugh, Joshua J; Rittenhouse, Tracy A G

2015-01-01

Box turtles (Terrapene carolina) are widely distributed but vulnerable to population decline across their range. Using distance sampling, morphometric data, and an index of carapace damage, we surveyed three-toed box turtles (Terrapene carolina triunguis) at 2 sites in central Missouri, and compared differences in detection probabilities when transects were walked by one or two observers. Our estimated turtle densities within forested cover was less at the Thomas S. Baskett Wildlife Research and Education Center, a site dominated by eastern hardwood forest (d = 1.85 turtles/ha, 95% CI [1.13, 3.03]) than at the Prairie Fork Conservation Area, a site containing a mix of open field and hardwood forest (d = 4.14 turtles/ha, 95% CI [1.99, 8.62]). Turtles at Baskett were significantly older and larger than turtles at Prairie Fork. Damage to the carapace did not differ significantly between the 2 populations despite the more prevalent habitat management including mowing and prescribed fire at Prairie Fork. We achieved improved estimates of density using two rather than one observer at Prairie Fork, but negligible differences in density estimates between the two methods at Baskett. Error associated with probability of detection decreased at both sites with the addition of a second observer. We provide demographic data on three-toed box turtles that suggest the use of a range of habitat conditions by three-toed box turtles. This case study suggests that habitat management practices and their impacts on habitat composition may be a cause of the differences observed in our focal populations of turtles.

Economic Impacts of Non-Native Forest Insects in the Continental United States

PubMed Central

Aukema, Juliann E.; Leung, Brian; Kovacs, Kent; Chivers, Corey; Britton, Kerry O.; Englin, Jeffrey; Frankel, Susan J.; Haight, Robert G.; Holmes, Thomas P.; Liebhold, Andrew M.; McCullough, Deborah G.; Von Holle, Betsy

2011-01-01

Reliable estimates of the impacts and costs of biological invasions are critical to developing credible management, trade and regulatory policies. Worldwide, forests and urban trees provide important ecosystem services as well as economic and social benefits, but are threatened by non-native insects. More than 450 non-native forest insects are established in the United States but estimates of broad-scale economic impacts associated with these species are largely unavailable. We developed a novel modeling approach that maximizes the use of available data, accounts for multiple sources of uncertainty, and provides cost estimates for three major feeding guilds of non-native forest insects. For each guild, we calculated the economic damages for five cost categories and we estimated the probability of future introductions of damaging pests. We found that costs are largely borne by homeowners and municipal governments. Wood- and phloem-boring insects are anticipated to cause the largest economic impacts by annually inducing nearly $1.7 billion in local government expenditures and approximately $830 million in lost residential property values. Given observations of new species, there is a 32% chance that another highly destructive borer species will invade the U.S. in the next 10 years. Our damage estimates provide a crucial but previously missing component of cost-benefit analyses to evaluate policies and management options intended to reduce species introductions. The modeling approach we developed is highly flexible and could be similarly employed to estimate damages in other countries or natural resource sectors. PMID:21931766

Contribution of Near Real Time MODIS-Based Forest Disturbance Detection Products to a National Forest Threat Early Warning System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph; Hargrove, William; Gasser, Gerald; Smoot, James; Kuper, Philip

2011-01-01

U.S. forests occupy approx. 751 million acres (approx. 1/3 of total land). These forests are exposed to multiple biotic and abiotic threats that collectively damage extensive acreages each year. Hazardous forest disturbances can threaten human life and property, bio-diversity and water supplies. Timely regional forest monitoring products are needed to aid forest management and decision making by the US Forest Service and its state and private partners. Daily MODIS data products provide a means to monitor regional forest disturbances on a weekly basis. In response, we began work in 2006 to develop a Near Real Time (NRT) forest monitoring capability, based on MODIS NDVI data, as part of a national forest threat early warning system (EWS)

Kanawha State Forest, WV: Wildland fire fuel load assessment and geospatial distribution

Treesearch

Adele Fenwick; Jamie L. Schuler; Shawn Grushecky; Thomas M. Schuler; Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy

2014-01-01

Fire has become a major concern along the wildland-urban interface (WUI), and there is increased awareness that fires could result in serious damage to people and property in residential areas occurring in forested landscapes. Part of the long-term strategy the West Virginia Division of Forestry outlined in the 2010 West Virginia Statewide Forest Resource Assessment...

The West Virginia university forest hazard rating study: the hazards of hazard rating

Treesearch

Ray R., Jr. Hicks; David E. Fosbroke; Shrivenkar Kosuri; Charles B. Yuill

1991-01-01

The West Virginia University (WVU) Forest is a 7,600-acre tract located along the leading edge of gypsy moth infestation. The hazard rating study at the WVU Forest serves three objectives. First, hazard rating is being used to determine the extent and distribution of damage that can be expected when gypsy moth defoliation occurs. Second, susceptibility and...

A conceptual framework: redifining forests soil's critical acid loads under a changing climate

Treesearch

Steven G. McNulty; Johnny L. Boggs

2010-01-01

Federal agencies of several nations have or are currently developing guidelines for critical forest soil acid loads. These guidelines are used to establish regulations designed to maintain atmospheric acid inputs below levels shown to damage forests and streams. Traditionally, when the critical soil acid load exceeds the amount of acid that the ecosystem can absorb, it...

Ecosystem responses to variable-density thinning for forest restoration in Mill Creek

Treesearch

Lathrop P. Leonard; John-Pascal Berrill; Christa M. Dagley

2017-01-01

Variable-density thinning (VDT) has promise as a forest restoration tool that accelerates development of old-growth redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (D.Don) Endl.) forest characteristics (O’Hara et al. 2010) but can lead to bear damage in north coastal California (Hosack and Fulgham 1998, Perry et al. 2016). Three novel VDT prescriptions (O’...

The value of fuel management in reducing wildfire damage

Treesearch

Kenneth W. Outcalt; Dale D. Wade

2000-01-01

The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of a regular prescribed burning program to reduce mortality of southern pines when forests are burned by wildfire. The study was installed on the Osceola National Forest in where about 10,000 ha of flatwoods forest type was burned by arson set wildfires under extreme conditions in June 1998. Stands within the...

Effects of forest road amelioration techniques on soil bulk density, surface runoff, sediment transport, soil moisture and seedling growth

Treesearch

Randy K. Kolka; Mathew F. Smidt

2004-01-01

Although numerous methods have been used to retire roads, new technologies have evolved that can potentially ameliorate soil damage, lessen ,the generation of nonpoint source pollution and increase tree productivity on forest roads. In this study we investigated the effects of three forest road amelioration techniques, subsoiling, recontouring and traditional...

Modeling Gypsy Moth-Related Tree Mortality Under Different Outbreak Scenarios in Interior Highlands Forests

Treesearch

Kurt W. Gottschalk; James M. Guldin; Jimmie J. Colbert

2004-01-01

A simulation was conducted to determine how growth of forests in the Interior Highlands would change under attack by the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.). Simulations were conducted for three different outbreak intensities using the Gypsy Moth Stand-Damage Model. Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) inventory data were used as input for the simulation...

Invasive species overarching priorities to 2029

Treesearch

Kelly Burnett; Susan J. Frankel; Melody Keena; Mee-Sook Kim; Ned B. Klopfenstein; Michael E. Ostry; Carolyn Hull Sieg

2010-01-01

Invasive species are one of the greatest threats to forest, range, aquatic, and urban forest ecosystem health. They contribute to the endangerment of native species and may lead to other severe ecological and financial consequences in our Nation’s wildlands and urban forests. Costs the public pays for damage, losses, and control efforts are estimated at more than $138...

Terrestrial applications of FEP-encapsulated solar cell modules. [power systems using Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene encapsulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forestieri, A. F.; Ratajczak, A. F.

1974-01-01

The NASA-Lewis Research Center program of transferring the FEP-encapsulated solar cell technology developed for the space program to terrestrial applications is presented. The electrical power system design and the array mechanical design are described, and power systems being tested are discussed. The latter are located at NOAA-RAMOS weather stations at Sterling, Va., and Mammoth Mountain, Calif.; on the roof of the Lewis Research Center; on a NOAA-Coast Guard buoy in the Gulf of Mexico; in a U.S. Forest Service mountaintop voice repeater station in the Inyo National Forest, Calif., and in a backpack charger for portable transmitter/receivers being used in the same place. Preliminary results of testing are still incomplete, but show that rime ice can cause cracks in modular cells without damaging the FEP though, which keeps the grid lines intact, and that electrically active elements of the module must be completely sealed from salt water to prevent FEP delamination.

Multicriteria evaluation of simulated logging scenarios in a tropical rain forest.

PubMed

Huth, Andreas; Drechsler, Martin; Köhler, Peter

2004-07-01

Forest growth models are useful tools for investigating the long-term impacts of logging. In this paper, the results of the rain forest growth model FORMIND were assessed by a multicriteria decision analysis. The main processes covered by FORMIND include tree growth, mortality, regeneration and competition. Tree growth is calculated based on a carbon balance approach. Trees compete for light and space; dying large trees fall down and create gaps in the forest. Sixty-four different logging scenarios for an initially undisturbed forest stand at Deramakot (Malaysia) were simulated. The scenarios differ regarding the logging cycle, logging method, cutting limit and logging intensity. We characterise the impacts with four criteria describing the yield, canopy opening and changes in species composition. Multicriteria decision analysis was used for the first time to evaluate the scenarios and identify the efficient ones. Our results plainly show that reduced-impact logging scenarios are more 'efficient' than the others, since in these scenarios forest damage is minimised without significantly reducing yield. Nevertheless, there is a trade-off between yield and achieving a desired ecological state of logged forest; the ecological state of the logged forests can only be improved by reducing yields and enlarging the logging cycles. Our study also demonstrates that high cutting limits or low logging intensities cannot compensate for the high level of damage caused by conventional logging techniques.

Southern California Disasters II

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicholson, Heather; Todoroff, Amber L.; LeBoeuf, Madeline A.

2015-01-01

The USDA Forest Service (USFS) has multiple programs in place which primarily utilize Landsat imagery to produce burn severity indices for aiding wildfire damage assessment and mitigation. These indices provide widely-used wildfire damage assessment tools to decision makers. When the Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI) is launched in 2022, the sensor's hyperspectral resolution will support new methods for assessing natural disaster impacts on ecosystems, including wildfire damage to forests. This project used simulated HyspIRI data to study three southern California fires: Aspen, French, and King. Burn severity indices were calculated from the data and the results were quantitatively compared to the comparable USFS products currently in use. The final results from this project illustrate how HyspIRI data may be used in the future to enhance assessment of fire-damaged areas and provide additional monitoring tools for decision support to the USFS and other land management agencies.

Reconstruction of stand dynamics over the last 2500 years from spruce remains in a treeline peatland

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arseneault, D.; Payette, S.

1995-06-01

Stem remains of black spruce Picea mariana (Mill. BSP.) buried in a permafrost treeless peatland were used for the reconstruction of the long-term forest dynamics at treeline in northeastern Canada. Because most spruce remains were well preserved, forest development was assessed from stem morphology (growth form) and tree ring patterns. The peatland border was colonized by a spruce forest from at least 500 BC (2500 BP) to 1568 AD. Most spruce individuals showed an erect, monopodial bole with only minor stem damage at the snow-air interface. The forest successfully regenerated after two fire events around 350 BC and 10 AD.more » The number of damaged stems at the snow-air interface increased after another fire around 700 AD, although faster ring growth occurred between 860 and 1000 AD (Medieval period). The forest shifted to an open krummholz after the last fire in 1568 AD because of reduced postfire regeneration and site opening. Reforestation of the site would necessitate sustained warmer conditions than those presently prevailing there.« less

A methodological framework to assess the carbon balance of tropical managed forests.

PubMed

Piponiot, Camille; Cabon, Antoine; Descroix, Laurent; Dourdain, Aurélie; Mazzei, Lucas; Ouliac, Benjamin; Rutishauser, Ervan; Sist, Plinio; Hérault, Bruno

2016-12-01

Managed forests are a major component of tropical landscapes. Production forests as designated by national forest services cover up to 400 million ha, i.e. half of the forested area in the humid tropics. Forest management thus plays a major role in the global carbon budget, but with a lack of unified method to estimate carbon fluxes from tropical managed forests. In this study we propose a new time- and spatially-explicit methodology to estimate the above-ground carbon budget of selective logging at regional scale. The yearly balance of a logging unit, i.e. the elementary management unit of a forest estate, is modelled by aggregating three sub-models encompassing (i) emissions from extracted wood, (ii) emissions from logging damage and deforested areas and (iii) carbon storage from post-logging recovery. Models are parametrised and uncertainties are propagated through a MCMC algorithm. As a case study, we used 38 years of National Forest Inventories in French Guiana, northeastern Amazonia, to estimate the above-ground carbon balance (i.e. the net carbon exchange with the atmosphere) of selectively logged forests. Over this period, the net carbon balance of selective logging in the French Guianan Permanent Forest Estate is estimated to be comprised between 0.12 and 1.33 Tg C, with a median value of 0.64 Tg C. Uncertainties over the model could be diminished by improving the accuracy of both logging damage and large woody necromass decay submodels. We propose an innovating carbon accounting framework relying upon basic logging statistics. This flexible tool allows carbon budget of tropical managed forests to be estimated in a wide range of tropical regions.

Integrating geographic information systems and remote sensing with spatial econometric and mixed logit models for environmental valuation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wells, Aaron Raymond

This research focuses on the Emory and Obed Watersheds in the Cumberland Plateau in Central Tennessee and the Lower Hatchie River Watershed in West Tennessee. A framework based on market and nonmarket valuation techniques was used to empirically estimate economic values for environmental amenities and negative externalities in these areas. The specific techniques employed include a variation of hedonic pricing and discrete choice conjoint analysis (i.e., choice modeling), in addition to geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing. Microeconomic models of agent behavior, including random utility theory and profit maximization, provide the principal theoretical foundation linking valuation techniques and econometric models. The generalized method of moments estimator for a first-order spatial autoregressive function and mixed logit models are the principal econometric methods applied within the framework. The dissertation is subdivided into three separate chapters written in a manuscript format. The first chapter provides the necessary theoretical and mathematical conditions that must be satisfied in order for a forest amenity enhancement program to be implemented. These conditions include utility, value, and profit maximization. The second chapter evaluates the effect of forest land cover and information about future land use change on respondent preferences and willingness to pay for alternative hypothetical forest amenity enhancement options. Land use change information and the amount of forest land cover significantly influenced respondent preferences, choices, and stated willingness to pay. Hicksian welfare estimates for proposed enhancement options ranged from 57.42 to 25.53, depending on the policy specification, information level, and econometric model. The third chapter presents economic values for negative externalities associated with channelization that affect the productivity and overall market value of forested wetlands. Results of robust, generalized moments estimation of a double logarithmic first-order spatial autoregressive error model (inverse distance weights with spatial dependence up to 1500m) indicate that the implicit cost of damages to forested wetlands caused by channelization equaled -$5,438 ha-1. Collectively, the results of this dissertation provide economic measures of the damages to and benefits of environmental assets, help private landowners and policy makers identify the amenity attributes preferred by the public, and improve the management of natural resources.

Acid rain mitigation experiment shifts a forested watershed from a net sink to a net source of nitrogen

PubMed Central

Rosi-Marshall, Emma J.; Bernhardt, Emily S.; Buso, Donald C.; Driscoll, Charles T.; Likens, Gene E.

2016-01-01

Decades of acid rain have acidified forest soils and freshwaters throughout montane forests of the northeastern United States; the resulting loss of soil base cations is hypothesized to be responsible for limiting rates of forest growth throughout the region. In 1999, an experiment was conducted that reversed the long-term trend of soil base cation depletion and tested the hypothesis that calcium limits forest growth in acidified soils. Researchers added 1,189 kg Ca2+ ha−1 as the pelletized mineral wollastonite (CaSiO3) to a 12-ha forested watershed within the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Significant increases in the pH and acid-neutralizing capacity of soils and streamwater resulted, and the predicted increase in forest growth occurred. An unanticipated consequence of this acidification mitigation experiment began to emerge a decade later, with marked increases in dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) exports in streamwater from the treated watershed. By 2013, 30-times greater DIN was exported from this base-treated watershed than from adjacent reference watersheds, and DIN exports resulting from this experiment match or exceed earlier reports of inorganic N losses after severe ice-storm damage within the study watershed. The discovery that CaSiO3 enrichment can convert a watershed from a sink to a source of N suggests that numerous potential mechanisms drive watershed N dynamics and provides new insights into the influence of acid deposition mitigation strategies for both carbon cycling and watershed N export. PMID:27335456

Acid rain mitigation experiment shifts a forested watershed from a net sink to a net source of nitrogen.

PubMed

Rosi-Marshall, Emma J; Bernhardt, Emily S; Buso, Donald C; Driscoll, Charles T; Likens, Gene E

2016-07-05

Decades of acid rain have acidified forest soils and freshwaters throughout montane forests of the northeastern United States; the resulting loss of soil base cations is hypothesized to be responsible for limiting rates of forest growth throughout the region. In 1999, an experiment was conducted that reversed the long-term trend of soil base cation depletion and tested the hypothesis that calcium limits forest growth in acidified soils. Researchers added 1,189 kg Ca(2+) ha(-1) as the pelletized mineral wollastonite (CaSiO3) to a 12-ha forested watershed within the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Significant increases in the pH and acid-neutralizing capacity of soils and streamwater resulted, and the predicted increase in forest growth occurred. An unanticipated consequence of this acidification mitigation experiment began to emerge a decade later, with marked increases in dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) exports in streamwater from the treated watershed. By 2013, 30-times greater DIN was exported from this base-treated watershed than from adjacent reference watersheds, and DIN exports resulting from this experiment match or exceed earlier reports of inorganic N losses after severe ice-storm damage within the study watershed. The discovery that CaSiO3 enrichment can convert a watershed from a sink to a source of N suggests that numerous potential mechanisms drive watershed N dynamics and provides new insights into the influence of acid deposition mitigation strategies for both carbon cycling and watershed N export.

Near-ground tornado wind fields

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McDonald, J.R.

1984-07-01

A study of near-ground tornado wind fields has been conducted by inspecting damage and debris patterns found in tornado damage paths. Because there were no significant tornado events (F4 or greater) during the contract performance period, data from the literature and the files of the Institute for Disaster Research were used to perform the analyses. The results indicate: (1) maximum tornado wind speed ever experienced or expected is in the range of 250 to 300 mph; (2) appearance of damage, taken by itself, is a misleading parameter of tornado intensity. Type of construction, age of construction, materials and other constructionmore » features significantly affect structural performance of a building subjected to wind loads and should be taken into account in assigning Fujita-Scale ratings; (3) damage to forests gives a good indication of tornado wind field flow patterns, but do not give verifiable values of wind speed; (4) factors such as translational speed, wind direction and path width affect appearance of damage or a tornado; and (5) even the most awesome appearing missiles do not require incredible wind speeds to explain them. Some progress in computer simulation of tornado missiles have been made. 31 references, 8 figures, 2 tables.« less

Root growth studies of willow cuttings using Rhizoboxes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Omarova, Dinara; Lammeranner, Walter; Florineth, Florin

2014-05-01

Riparian forests (Tugay forests) in Central Asia (Kazakhstan) play a significant in soil protection. However, unadapted forest use leads to damage and loss of these fragile ecosystems. Willows have a crucial function in the ecosystem of these riparian forests. Willows facilitate the colonization with other important tree species and furthermore they protect the soil from wind and water erosion. To propagate willows and to estimate the beneficial effects of these plants it is important to know the root growth development. The research design is planned as model experiment with rhizoboxes. Rhizoboxes are non-invasive investigation methods which offer the possibility to survey the root system growth dynamics in time and space. A total of 33 rhizoboxes in size of 50cm x 75 cm x 5 cm will be constructed. The rhizoboxes will be tilted by 45 degrees using the gravitropism of the roots. The willow cuttings (Salix purpurea) will be planted in three different soil types. Each test series (growth period) will take three months. Investigated parameters will be root architecture, dynamic of root growth and above and below ground biomass allocation. Data will be drawn from photographic surveys which will be performed once a week. The contribution will present the methodology of these rhizobox investigations.

Statistical Analysis of the Effectiveness of Seawalls and Coastal Forests in Mitigating Tsunami Impacts in Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures.

PubMed

Nateghi, Roshanak; Bricker, Jeremy D; Guikema, Seth D; Bessho, Akane

2016-01-01

The Pacific coast of the Tohoku region of Japan experiences repeated tsunamis, with the most recent events having occurred in 1896, 1933, 1960, and 2011. These events have caused large loss of life and damage throughout the coastal region. There is uncertainty about the degree to which seawalls reduce deaths and building damage during tsunamis in Japan. On the one hand they provide physical protection against tsunamis as long as they are not overtopped and do not fail. On the other hand, the presence of a seawall may induce a false sense of security, encouraging additional development behind the seawall and reducing evacuation rates during an event. We analyze municipality-level and sub-municipality-level data on the impacts of the 1896, 1933, 1960, and 2011 tsunamis, finding that seawalls larger than 5 m in height generally have served a protective role in these past events, reducing both death rates and the damage rates of residential buildings. However, seawalls smaller than 5 m in height appear to have encouraged development in vulnerable areas and exacerbated damage. We also find that the extent of flooding is a critical factor in estimating both death rates and building damage rates, suggesting that additional measures, such as multiple lines of defense and elevating topography, may have significant benefits in reducing the impacts of tsunamis. Moreover, the area of coastal forests was found to be inversely related to death and destruction rates, indicating that forests either mitigated the impacts of these tsunamis, or displaced development that would otherwise have been damaged.

Statistical Analysis of the Effectiveness of Seawalls and Coastal Forests in Mitigating Tsunami Impacts in Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures

PubMed Central

Nateghi, Roshanak; Bricker, Jeremy D.; Guikema, Seth D.; Bessho, Akane

2016-01-01

The Pacific coast of the Tohoku region of Japan experiences repeated tsunamis, with the most recent events having occurred in 1896, 1933, 1960, and 2011. These events have caused large loss of life and damage throughout the coastal region. There is uncertainty about the degree to which seawalls reduce deaths and building damage during tsunamis in Japan. On the one hand they provide physical protection against tsunamis as long as they are not overtopped and do not fail. On the other hand, the presence of a seawall may induce a false sense of security, encouraging additional development behind the seawall and reducing evacuation rates during an event. We analyze municipality-level and sub-municipality-level data on the impacts of the 1896, 1933, 1960, and 2011 tsunamis, finding that seawalls larger than 5 m in height generally have served a protective role in these past events, reducing both death rates and the damage rates of residential buildings. However, seawalls smaller than 5 m in height appear to have encouraged development in vulnerable areas and exacerbated damage. We also find that the extent of flooding is a critical factor in estimating both death rates and building damage rates, suggesting that additional measures, such as multiple lines of defense and elevating topography, may have significant benefits in reducing the impacts of tsunamis. Moreover, the area of coastal forests was found to be inversely related to death and destruction rates, indicating that forests either mitigated the impacts of these tsunamis, or displaced development that would otherwise have been damaged. PMID:27508461

Beaver lodge distributions and damage assessments in a forested wetland ecosystem in the southern United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

King, S.L.; Keeland, B.D.; Moore, J.L.

1998-01-01

Caddo Lake, USA, a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, is a lacustrine wetland complex consisting of stands of flooded baldcypress intermixed with open water and emergent wetland habitats. Recently, concern has been expressed over a perceived increase in the beaver population and the impact of beaver on the long-term sustainability of the baldcypress ecosystem. We used intensive beaver lodge surveys to determine the distribution and relative abundance of beaver and the amount, type, and distribution of beaver damage to mature trees and seedlings at Caddo Lake. A total of 229 lodges were located with a combination of aerial and boat/ground surveys. Most lodges were located in open water and edge habitats. About 95% of the lodges were occupied by beaver or nutria. Some form of damage was exhibited by one or more trees near 85% of the lodges. Intensive damage assessments around 35 lodges indicated that most damage to trees, baldcypress in particular, was restricted to peeling or stripping of bark which is believed to have minimal effect on tree survival. Surveys of regeneration indicated that baldcypress seedlings were very abundant; however, over 99.9% were less than 30 cm tall. The lack of recruitment into the larger size classes appears to be a result of high stand densities and water management practices. At this time, the young age and density of the baldcypress forests suggest that recruitment is not a major concern and herbivore damage appears to be having a minimal effect on the forest.

Forest stand losses to gypsy moth in the Poconos

Treesearch

David A. Gansner; Owen W. Herrick

1978-01-01

A Study of forest stand losses associated with the gypsy moth outbreak of the early 1970's in the Pocono Mountain Region of northeastern Pennsylvania, showed that while most of the stands incurred little or no loss, a few suffered heavy damage

Observations on fire-damaged white pine in southwestern Maine July 1948

Treesearch

A. D. Nutting; John R. McGuire

1948-01-01

In October 1947 forest fires over-ran about 130,000 acres of forest land in southwestern Maine. Some 48,000 acres of merchantable timber were included in the fire area. Three-quarters of the saw-timber volume was white pine.

Effects of sevin-4-oil, dimilin, and orthene on forest birds in northeastern Oregon

Treesearch

Merle L. Richmond; Charles J. Henny; Randy L. Floyd; William R. Mannan; Deborah M. Finch; Lawrence R. DeWeese

1979-01-01

The possible harmful effect of insecticides on nontarget organisms should be a prominent concern in all attempts to control forest pests. Although all wildlife must be considered, birds are particularly vulnerable. The study reported here was part of the effort to find an environmentally safe method to control one of the major sources of insect damage to forest trees...

Comparing vegetation cover in the Santee Experimental Forest, South Carolina (USA), before and after hurricane Hugo: 1989-2011

Treesearch

Giovanni R. Cosentino

2013-01-01

Hurricane Hugo struck the coast of South Carolina on September 21, 1989 as a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Landsat Thematic mapper was utilized to determine the extent of damage experienced at the Santee Experimental Forest (SEF) (a part of Francis Marion National Forest) in South Carolina. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the...

If you take stand, how can you manage an ecosystem? The complex art of raising a forest.

Treesearch

Sally Duncan

2000-01-01

Managing whole ecosystem is a concept gaining considerable acceptance among forest managers throughout the Northwest, but it does not have a clear or simple definition. Terminology and definitions can be confusing. Forests are complex places, formed by complex processes, and the moment we try to simplify, we are likely to damage the healthy functioning of...

A Drought Index for Forest Fire Control

Treesearch

John J. Keetch; George M. Byram

1968-01-01

The moisture content of the upper soil, as well as that of the covering layer of duff, has an important effect on the fire suppression effort in forest and wildland areas. In certain forested areas of the United States, fires in deep duff fuels are of particular concern to the fire control manager. When these fuels are dry, fires burn deeply, dam-age is excessive, and...

Assessing Oak Decline Incidence and Distribution in the Southern U.S. Using Forest Inventory and Analysis Data

Treesearch

Steven W. Oak; James R. Steinman; Dale A. Starkey; Edwin K. Yockey

2004-01-01

Forest Inventory and Analysis data for twelve southern states were used to evaluate regional oak decline status. Total host type, vulnerable host type, and affected areas were determined. The attributes used for classification were forest type, predominant stem size class, oak basal area percent, and dieback damage coding. Host type totaled 104.7 million acres in the...

Regeneration in windthrow areas in hemiboreal forests: the influence of microsite on the height growths of different tree species

Treesearch

F. Vodde; K. Jõgiste; L. Gruson; T. Ilisson; K. Köster; J.A. Stanturf

2010-01-01

Natural regeneration of windthrow areas is an important issue when planning forestry measures after forest disturbances. Seedling recruitment was investigated in storm-damaged hemiboreal mixed forests in eastern Estonia. The establishment and growth of seedlings from natural regeneration was registered for tree species in soil pits and in mounds of uprooted trees in...

Long-term changes in forest composition and diversity following early logging (1919-1923) and the decline of American chestnut (Castanea dentata)

Treesearch

Katherine J. Elliott; Wayne T. Swank

2008-01-01

Chestnut blight fungus (Endothia parasitica [Murr.] P.I. And. & H.W. And. is a classic example of an invasive species, which severely damaged populations of its host, Castanea dentata, and had widespread and long-term impacts on eastern North American forests. Concurrently, forests were further disturbed by lumbering, which was common across the...

Hurricane impacts on a pair of coastal forested watersheds: implications of selective hurricane damage to forest structure and streamflow dynamics

Treesearch

A.D. Jayakaran; T.M. Williams; H. Ssegane; D.M. Amatya; B. Song; C.C. Trettin

2014-01-01

Hurricanes are infrequent but influential disruptors of ecosystem processes in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Every southeastern forested wetland has the potential to be struck by a tropical cyclone. We examined the impact of Hurricane Hugo on two paired coastal South Carolina watersheds in terms of streamflow and vegetation dynamics, both before and after...

Simulating damage for wind storms in the land surface model ORCHIDEE-CAN (revision 4262)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yi-Ying; Gardiner, Barry; Pasztor, Ferenc; Blennow, Kristina; Ryder, James; Valade, Aude; Naudts, Kim; Otto, Juliane; McGrath, Matthew J.; Planque, Carole; Luyssaert, Sebastiaan

2018-03-01

Earth system models (ESMs) are currently the most advanced tools with which to study the interactions among humans, ecosystem productivity, and the climate. The inclusion of storm damage in ESMs has long been hampered by their big-leaf approach, which ignores the canopy structure information that is required for process-based wind-throw modelling. Recently the big-leaf assumptions in the large-scale land surface model ORCHIDEE-CAN were replaced by a three-dimensional description of the canopy structure. This opened the way to the integration of the processes from the small-scale wind damage risk model ForestGALES into ORCHIDEE-CAN. The integration of ForestGALES into ORCHIDEE-CAN required, however, developing numerically efficient solutions to deal with (1) landscape heterogeneity, i.e. account for newly established forest edges for the parameterization of gusts; (2) downscaling spatially and temporally aggregated wind fields to obtain more realistic wind speeds that would represents gusts; and (3) downscaling storm damage within the 2500 km2 pixels of ORCHIDEE-CAN. This new version of ORCHIDEE-CAN was parameterized over Sweden. Subsequently, the performance of the model was tested against data for historical storms in southern Sweden between 1951 and 2010 and south-western France in 2009. In years without big storms, here defined as a storm damaging less than 15 × 106 m3 of wood in Sweden, the model error is 1.62 × 106 m3, which is about 100 % of the observed damage. For years with big storms, such as Gudrun in 2005, the model error increased to 5.05 × 106 m3, which is between 10 and 50 % of the observed damage. When the same model parameters were used over France, the model reproduced a decrease in leaf area index and an increase in albedo, in accordance with SPOT-VGT and MODIS records following the passing of Cyclone Klaus in 2009. The current version of ORCHIDEE-CAN (revision 4262) is therefore expected to have the capability to capture the dynamics of forest structure due to storm disturbance on both regional and global scales, although the empirical parameters calculating gustiness from the gridded wind fields and storm damage from critical wind speeds may benefit from regional fitting.

The potential negative impacts of global climate change on tropical montane cloud forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foster, Pru

2001-10-01

Nearly every aspect of the cloud forest is affected by regular cloud immersion, from the hydrological cycle to the species of plants and animals within the forest. Since the altitude band of cloud formation on tropical mountains is limited, the tropical montane cloud forest occurs in fragmented strips and has been likened to island archipelagoes. This isolation and uniqueness promotes explosive speciation, exceptionally high endemism, and a great sensitivity to climate. Global climate change threatens all ecosystems through temperature and rainfall changes, with a typical estimate for altitude shifts in the climatic optimum for mountain ecotones of hundreds of meters by the time of CO 2 doubling. This alone suggests complete replacement of many of the narrow altitude range cloud forests by lower altitude ecosystems, as well as the expulsion of peak residing cloud forests into extinction. However, the cloud forest will also be affected by other climate changes, in particular changes in cloud formation. A number of global climate models suggest a reduction in low level cloudiness with the coming climate changes, and one site in particular, Monteverde, Costa Rica, appears to already be experiencing a reduction in cloud immersion. The coming climate changes appear very likely to upset the current dynamic equilibrium of the cloud forest. Results will include biodiversity loss, altitude shifts in species' ranges and subsequent community reshuffling, and possibly forest death. Difficulties for cloud forest species to survive in climate-induced migrations include no remaining location with a suitable climate, no pristine location to colonize, migration rates or establishment rates that cannot keep up with climate change rates and new species interactions. We review previous cloud forest species redistributions in the paleo-record in light of the coming changes. The characteristic epiphytes of the cloud forest play an important role in the light, hydrological and nutrient cycles of the cloud forest and are especially sensitive to atmospheric climate change, especially humidity, as the epiphytes can occupy incredibly small eco-niches from the canopy to crooks to trunks. Even slight shifts in climate can cause wilting or death to the epiphyte community. Similarly, recent cloud forest animal redistributions, notably frog and lizard disappearances, may be driven by climate changes. Death of animals or epiphytes may have cascading effects on the cloud forest web of life. Aside from changes in temperature, precipitation, and cloudiness, other climate changes may include increasing dry seasons, droughts, hurricanes and intense rain storms, all of which might increase damage to the cloud forest. Because cloud forest species occupy such small areas and tight ecological niches, they are not likely to colonize damaged regions. Fire, drought and plant invasions (especially non-native plants) are likely to increase the effects of any climate change damage in the cloud forest. As has frequently been suggested in the literature, all of the above factors combine to make the cloud forest a likely site for observing climate change effects in the near future.

Evaluating the Impacts of Extreme Events on Ecological Processes Through the Lens of an Ice Storm Manipulation Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, J. L.; Rustad, L.; Driscoll, C. T.; Fahey, T.; Garlick, S.; Groffman, P.; Schaberg, P. G.

2016-12-01

It is increasingly evident that human-induced climate change is altering the prevalence and severity of extreme weather events. Ice storms are an example of a rare and typically localized extreme weather event that is difficult to predict and has impacts that are poorly understood. We used long-term data and a field manipulation experiment to evaluate how ice storms alter the structure, function, and composition of forest ecosystems. Plots established after a major ice storm in the Northeast in 1998 were re-sampled to evaluate longer-term (17 yr) responses of tree health, productivity, and species composition. Results indicate, that despite changes in herbaceous vegetation in the years immediately after the ice storm, the forest canopy recovered, albeit with some changes in composition, most notably a release of American Beech. An ice storm field manipulation experiment was used to evaluate mechanistic understanding of short term ecological responses. Water from a stream was sprayed above the forest canopy when air temperatures were below freezing, which was effective in simulating a natural ice storm. The experimental design consisted of three levels of ice thickness treatment with two replicates per treatment. The plots with the two more severe icing treatments experienced significant damage to the forest canopy, creating gaps. These plots also had large inputs of fine and coarse woody debris to the forest floor. The exposure to light and presence of brush piles in the more heavily damaged plots resulted in warming with increased spatial variability of soil temperature. Preliminary results from the early growing season have shown no significant changes in soil respiration or soil solution losses of nutrients despite significant forest canopy damage. Further monitoring will determine whether these trends continue in the future.

Setting limits: Using air pollution thresholds to protect and restore US ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fenn, Mark E.; Lambert, Kathleen F.; Blett, Tamara F.; Burns, Douglas A.; Pardo, Linda H.; Lovett, Gary M.; Haeuber, Richard A.; Evers, David C.; Driscoll, Charles T.; Jeffries, Dean S.

2011-01-01

More than four decades of research provide unequivocal evidence that sulfur, nitrogen, and mercury pollution have altered, and will continue to alter, our nation's lands and waters. The emission and deposition of air pollutants harm native plants and animals, degrade water quality, affect forest productivity, and are damaging to human health. Many air quality policies limit emissions at the source but these control measures do not always consider ecosystem impacts. Air pollution thresholds at which ecological effects are observed, such as critical loads, are effective tools for assessing the impacts of air pollution on essential ecosystem services and for informing public policy. U.S. ecosystems can be more effectively protected and restored by using a combination of emissions-based approaches and science-based thresholds of ecosystem damage.

Forest investigations by polarimetric AIRSAR data in the Harz mountains

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keil, M.; Poll, D.; Raupenstrauch, J.; Tares, T.; Winter, R.

1993-01-01

The Harz Mountains in the North of Germany have been a study site for several remote sensing investigations since 1985, as the mountainous area is one of the forest regions in Germany heavily affected by forest decline, especially in the high altitudes above 800 m. In a research program at the University of Berlin, methods are developed for improving remote sensing assessment of forest structure and forest state by additional GIS information, using several datasets for establishing a forest information system. The Harz has been defined as a test site for the SIR-C/X-SAR mission which is going to deliver multifrequency and multipolarizational SAR data from orbit. In a pilot project let by DLR-DFD, these data are to be investigated for forestry and ecology purposes. In preparing a flight campaign to the SIR-C / X-SAR mission, 'MAC EUROPE 1991', performed by NASA/JPL, an area of about 12 km in the Northern Harz was covered with multipolarizational AIRSAR data in the C-, L- and P-band, including the Brocken, the highest mountain of the Harz, with an altitude of 1142 m. The multiparameter AIRSAR data are investigated for their information content on the forest state, regarding the following questions: (1) information on forest stand parameters like forest types, age classes and crown density, especially for the separation of deciduous and coniferous forest; (2) information on the storm damages (since 1972) and the status of regeneration; (3) information on the status of forest destruction because of forest decline; and (4) influence of topography, local incidence angle and soil moisture on the SAR data. Within the project various methods and tools have been developed for the investigation of multipolarimetric radar backscatter responses and for discrimination purposes, in order to use the multipolarization information of the compressed Stokes matrix delivered by JPL.

Mass movement response to forest management in the central Oregon coast ranges.

Treesearch

Stuart Gresswell; David Heller; Douglas N. Swanston

1979-01-01

Timber management activities have clearly accelerated the number and frequency of soil mass movements on the Mapleton District , Siuslaw National Forest as a result of the November 29-December 1, 1975 storm. Exclusive of roads, clearcutting is the most damaging activity.

36 CFR 9.41 - Operating standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Operating standards. 9.41 Section 9.41 Parks, Forests, and Public Property NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR... bearing trees against destruction, obliteration, or damage from operations and shall be responsible for...

36 CFR 9.41 - Operating standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Operating standards. 9.41 Section 9.41 Parks, Forests, and Public Property NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR... bearing trees against destruction, obliteration, or damage from operations and shall be responsible for...

Forest Nursery Notes, Volume 30, Issue 1

Treesearch

R. Kasten Dumroese; Tom D. Landis

2010-01-01

Forest Nursery Notes (FNN) is a nursery news and literature service that is distributed free of charge to over 1,200 cooperators in the United States, Canada, and other foreign countries. This issue's topics include: fertigation, holdover nursery stock, late-season fertilization, and bird damage.

Seedling mortality in Hawaiian rain forest: The role of small-scale physical disturbance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Drake, D.R.; Pratt, L.W.

2001-01-01

Most montane rain forests on the island of Hawaii consist of a closed canopy formed by Cibotium spp. tree ferns beneath an open canopy of emergent Metrosideros polymorpha trees. We used artificial seedlings to assess the extent to which physical disturbance caused by the senescing fronds of tree ferns and the activities of feral pigs might limit tree regeneration. Artificial seedlings were established terrestrially (N = 300) or epiphytically (N = 300) on tree fern stems. Half of the seedlings on each substrate were in an exclosure lacking feral pigs and half were in forest with pigs present. After one year, the percentage of seedlings damaged was significantly greater among terrestrial seedlings (25.7%) than epiphytic seedlings (11.3%). Significantly more terrestrial seedlings were damaged in the presence of pigs (31.3%) than in the absence of pigs (20.0%). Senescing fronds of tree ferns were responsible for 60.3 percent of the damaged seedlings. Physical disturbance is potentially a major cause of seedling mortality and may reduce the expected half-life of a seedling cohort to less than two years.

Multidimensional trade-offs in species responses to disturbance: implications for diversity in a subtropical forest.

PubMed

Uriarte, María; Clark, James S; Zimmerman, Jess K; Comita, Liza S; Forero-Montaña, Jimena; Thompson, Jill

2012-01-01

Species employ diverse strategies to cope with natural disturbance, but the importance of these strategies for maintaining tree species diversity in forests has been debated. Mechanisms that have the potential to promote tree species coexistence in the context of repeated disturbance include life history trade-offs in colonization and competitive ability or in species' ability to survive at low resource conditions and exploit the temporary resource-rich conditions often generated in the wake of disturbance (successional niche). Quantifying these trade-offs requires long-term forest monitoring and modeling. We developed a hierarchical Bayes model to investigate the strategies tree species employ to withstand and recover from hurricane disturbance and the life history trade-offs that may facilitate species coexistence in forests subject to repeated hurricane disturbance. Unlike previous approaches, our model accommodates temporal variation in process error and observations from multiple sources. We parameterized the model using growth and mortality data from four censuses of a 16-ha plot taken every five years (1990-2005), together with damage data collected after two hurricanes and annual seed production data (1992-2005). Species' susceptibilities to hurricane damage as reflected by changes in diameter growth and fecundity immediately following a storm were weak, highly variable, and unpredictable using traditional life history groupings. The lower crowding conditions (e.g., high light) generated in the wake of storms, however, led to greater gains in growth and fecundity for pioneer and secondary-forest species than for shade-tolerant species, in accordance with expectation of life history. We found moderate trade-offs between survival in high crowding conditions, a metric of competitive ability, and long-distance colonization. We also uncovered a strong trade-off between mean species fecundity in low crowding conditions, a metric of recovery potential, and competitive ability. Trade-offs in competitive and colonization ability, in addition to successional niche processes, are likely to contribute to species persistence in these hurricane-impacted forests. The strategies species employ to cope with hurricane damage depend on the degree to which species rely on sprouting, repair of adult damage, changes in demographic rates in response to enhanced resource availability after storms, or long-distance dispersal as recovery mechanisms.

Coupled effects of wind-storms and drought on tree mortality across 115 forest stands from the Western Alps and the Jura mountains.

PubMed

Csilléry, Katalin; Kunstler, Georges; Courbaud, Benoît; Allard, Denis; Lassègues, Pierre; Haslinger, Klaus; Gardiner, Barry

2017-12-01

Damage due to wind-storms and droughts is increasing in many temperate forests, yet little is known about the long-term roles of these key climatic factors in forest dynamics and in the carbon budget. The objective of this study was to estimate individual and coupled effects of droughts and wind-storms on adult tree mortality across a 31-year period in 115 managed, mixed coniferous forest stands from the Western Alps and the Jura mountains. For each stand, yearly mortality was inferred from management records, yearly drought from interpolated fields of monthly temperature, precipitation and soil water holding capacity, and wind-storms from interpolated fields of daily maximum wind speed. We performed a thorough model selection based on a leave-one-out cross-validation of the time series. We compared different critical wind speeds (CWSs) for damage, wind-storm, and stand variables and statistical models. We found that a model including stand characteristics, drought, and storm strength using a CWS of 25 ms -1 performed the best across most stands. Using this best model, we found that drought increased damage risk only in the most southerly forests, and its effect is generally maintained for up to 2 years. Storm strength increased damage risk in all forests in a relatively uniform way. In some stands, we found positive interaction between drought and storm strength most likely because drought weakens trees, and they became more prone to stem breakage under wind-loading. In other stands, we found negative interaction between drought and storm strength, where excessive rain likely leads to soil water saturation making trees more susceptible to overturning in a wind-storm. Our results stress that temporal data are essential to make valid inferences about ecological impacts of disturbance events, and that making inferences about disturbance agents separately can be of limited validity. Under projected future climatic conditions, the direction and strength of these ecological interactions could also change. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Detecting Plant Stress

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

Through an exclusive patent license from NASA Stennis Space Center, Spectrum Technologies, Inc., has developed a hand-held tool that helps farmers, foresters and other growers detect unhealthy crops before the human eye can see the damage. Developed by two NASA researchers, the Observer,TM shows the viewer which plants are under stress through multispectral imaging, a process that uses specific wavelengths of the light spectrum to obtain information about objects-in this case, plants. With this device, several wavelengths of light collect information about the plant and results are immediately processed and displayed. NASA research found that previsible signs of stress, such as such as a lack of nutrients, insufficient water, disease, or insect damage, can be detected by measuring the chlorophyll content based on light energy reflected from the plant. The Observer detects stress up to 16 days before deterioration is visible to the eye. Early detection provides an opportunity to reverse stress and save the plant. The hand-held, easily operated unit works in both natural and artificial light, making it suitable for outdoor or indoor planting.

Water quality impacts from an ORV trail stream crossing in the Talladega National Forest, Alabama, USA

Treesearch

Renee D. Ayala; Puneet Srivastava; Christian J. Brodbeck; Emily a. Carter; Timothy P. McDonald

2005-01-01

Off-Road Vehicles (ORVs) are one of the most damaging forms of recreation utilized in our National Forests. Erosion from ORV trails can be a major source of water quality impact. In 2003, a study was initiated in the Talladega National Forest to quantifjl water quality impacts of an ORV trail crossing a local stream. Automated samplers were installed upstream and...

Large-scale patterns of insect and disease activity in the Conterminous United States and Alaska from the National Insect and Disease Detection Survey Database, 2007 and 2008

Treesearch

Kevin M. Potter

2012-01-01

Analyzing patterns of forest pest infestation is necessary for monitoring the health of forested ecosystems because of the impacts that insects and diseases can have on forest structure, composition, biodiversity, and species distributions (Castello and others 1995). In particular, introduced nonnative insects and diseases can extensively damage the diversity, ecology...

Science You Can Use Bulletin: From watersheds to the web: Online tools for modeling forest soil erosion

Treesearch

Sue Miller; Bill Elliot; Pete Robichaud; Randy Foltz; Dennis Flanagan; Erin Brooks

2014-01-01

Forest erosion can lead to topsoil loss, and also to damaging deposits of sediment in aquatic ecosystems. For this reason, forest managers must be able to estimate the erosion potential of both planned management activities and catastrophic events, in order to decide where to use limited funds to focus erosion control efforts. To meet this need, scientists from RMRS (...

Combining satellite imagery with forest inventory data to assess damage severity following a major blowdown event in northern Minnesota, USA

Treesearch

Mark D. Nelson; Sean P. Healey; W. Keith Moser; Mark H. Hansen

2009-01-01

Effects of a catastrophic blowdown event in northern Minnesota, USA were assessed using field inventory data, aerial sketch maps and satellite image data processed through the North American Forest Dynamics programme. Estimates were produced for forest area and net volume per unit area of live trees pre- and post-disturbance, and for changes in volume per unit area and...

The Northeastern Ice Storm 1998, A forest damage assessment for New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine

Treesearch

Margaret Miller-Weeks; Chris Eagar; Christina M. Petersen

1999-01-01

The ice storm of January 1998 affected 17 million acres of forestland in northern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, including parts of the Green Mountain National Forest and the White Mountain National Forest. Portions of eastern Canada were also impacted, especially Quebec. The weight of accumulated ice caused trees to snap off or bend over to the ground....

Optimal strategies for the surveillance and control of forest pathogens: A case study with oak wilt

Treesearch

Tetsuya Horie; Robert G. Haight; Frances R. Homans; Robert C. Venette

2013-01-01

Cost-effective strategies are needed to find and remove diseased trees in forests damaged by pathogens. We develop a model of cost-minimizing surveillance and control of forest pathogens across multiple sites where there is uncertainty about the extent of the infestation in each site and when the goal is to minimize the expected number of new infections. We allow for a...

An Evaluation of the Role of Ozone, Acid Deposition, and other Airborne Pollutants in the Forests of Eastern North America

Treesearch

J.H.B. Garner; Terry Pagano; Ellis B. Cowling

1989-01-01

Existing knowledge on air pollutants that occur in the forests of eastern North America is summarized and interpreted.Resolution is sought to the conflict between the prevailing scientific judgment that ozone and other oxidants are most likely to be damaging eastern forests and the prevailing public perception that acidic and acidifying substances are the most likely...

A Global Perspective on Warmer Droughts as a Key Driver of Forest Disturbances and Tree Mortality (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, C. D.

2013-12-01

Recent global warming, in concert with episodic droughts, is causing elevated levels of both chronic and acute forest water stress across large regions. Such increases in water stress affect forest dynamics in multiple ways, including by amplifying the incidence and severity of many significant forest disturbances, particularly drought-induced tree mortality, wildfire, and outbreaks of damaging insects and diseases. Emerging global-scale patterns of drought-related forest die-off are presented, including a newly updated map overview of documented drought- and heat-induced tree mortality events from around the world, demonstrating the vulnerability of all major forest types to forest drought stress, even in typically wet environments. Comparative patterns of drought stress and associated forest disturbances are reviewed for several regions (southwestern Australia, Inner Asia, western North America, Mediterranean Basin), including interactions among climate and various disturbance processes. From the Southwest USA, research is presented that derives a tree-ring-based Forest Drought Stress Index (FDSI) for the most regionally-widespread conifer species (Pinus edulis, Pinus ponderosa, and Pseudotsuga menziesii), demonstrating recent escalation of FDSI to extreme levels relative to the past 1000 years, due to both drought and especially warming. This new work further highlights strong correlations between drought stress and amplified forest disturbances (fire, bark beetle outbreaks), and projects that by CE 2050 anticipated regional warming will cause mean FDSI values to reach historically unprecedented levels that may exceed thresholds for the survival of current tree species in large portions of their current range in the Southwest. Similar patterns of recent climate-amplified forest disturbance risk are apparent from a variety of relatively dry regions across this planet, and given climate projections for substantially warmer temperatures and greater drought stress for many areas globally, the growing water-stress risks to forest health in such regions are becoming clearer. However, the effects of drought stress on forest dynamics are ameliorated through diverse compensatory and resilience-enhancing mechanisms and processes which operate at scales ranging from intracellular tree physiologies and individual tree developmental and morphological adjustments to species population-level demographic and genetic responses to forest stand-level structural and compositional responses up to landscape-scale tree host-insect pest outbreak dynamics and forest-climate ecohydrological feedbacks. In addition, significant uncertainties exist regarding how various other global atmospheric changes (e.g., CO2 enrichment, increased N deposition, and elevated surface-level ozone) will interact with the world's diverse spectrum of tree species to also affect global forest dynamics. Research efforts to address such core scientific uncertainties associated with modeling drought-induced tree mortality and resultant forest dynamics will be discussed.

II. Pathogens

Treesearch

Ned B. Klopfenstein; Brian W. Geils

2011-01-01

Invasive fungal pathogens have caused immeasurably large ecological and economic damage to forests. It is well known that invasive fungal pathogens can cause devastating forest diseases (e.g., white pine blister rust, chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease, dogwood anthracnose, butternut canker, Scleroderris canker of pines, sudden oak death, pine pitch canker) (Maloy 1997...

Visual aids for aerial observers on forest insect surveys.

Treesearch

A.T. Larsen

1957-01-01

Aerial surveys are widely used to detect, appraise, and map damage caused to forest trees by insects. The success of these surveys largely depends upon the ability of observers to distinguish differences in foliage color and tree condition. The observers' ability is influenced by several factors.

Tree damage resulting from thinning in young-growth Douglas-fir and western hemlock.

Treesearch

Norman P. Worthington

1961-01-01

Thinning trials on three cooperative experimental forests in western Washington have provided an excellent opportunity to evaluate tree damage resulting from typical thinning operations in young-growth timber. The type and degree of damage can, of course, be expected to strongly affect condition and vigor of the residual stand and ultimate success of a thinning regime...

Airborne Videography and GPS for Assessment of Forest Damage in Southern Louisiana from Hurricane Andrew

Treesearch

D.M. Jacobs; Susan Eggen-McIntosh

1993-01-01

Abstract: One week after Hurricane Andrew made landfall in Louisiana in August 1992, an airborne videography system, with a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, was used to assess timberland damage across a 1.7 million-ha (4.2 million-acre) study area. Ground observations were made to identify different intensities of timber damage and then...

Advances in threat assessment and their application to forest and rangeland management—Volume 2

Treesearch

H. Michael Rauscher; Yasmeen Sands; Danny C. Lee; Jerome S. Beatty

2010-01-01

Risk is a combined statement of the probability that something of value will be damaged and some measure of the damage’s adverse effect. Wildfires burning in the uncharacteristic fuel conditions now typical throughout the Western United States can damage ecosystems and adversely affect environmental conditions. Wildfire behavior can be modified by prefire fuel...

Residual tree damage during selection cuts using two skidding systems in the Missouri Ozarks

Treesearch

Robert L. Ficklin; John P. Dwyer; Bruce E. Cutter; Tom Draper

1997-01-01

Today, there is an interest in using alternative silvicultural systems like selection and two-aged management, because the public finds these systems more acceptable than clearcutting. However, repeated entries into forest stands to remove timber increase the risk of residual stand damage. Harvest techniques are desirable that (1) reduce the risk of stand damage and (2...

Investigation of the detection and monitoring of forest insect infestation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, R. C. (Principal Investigator)

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Significant progress has been made in detecting insect outbreaks from ERTS-1 data during this period. It is possible to differentiate forested areas with heavy damage from those with little or no damage. The analysis is made with color infrared positive transparencies and prints. Enlargement of the transparencies makes it possible to detect and map areas of three degrees of tree mortality into heavy, medium, and light. It was also noted that shadows cast by massive rock domes closely resemble natural lakes.

A computer vision system for the recognition of trees in aerial photographs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pinz, Axel J.

1991-01-01

Increasing problems of forest damage in Central Europe set the demand for an appropriate forest damage assessment tool. The Vision Expert System (VES) is presented which is capable of finding trees in color infrared aerial photographs. Concept and architecture of VES are discussed briefly. The system is applied to a multisource test data set. The processing of this multisource data set leads to a multiple interpretation result for one scene. An integration of these results will provide a better scene description by the vision system. This is achieved by an implementation of Steven's correlation algorithm.

A Loblolly Pine Management Guide: Managing Site Damage from Logging

Treesearch

W.H. McKee; G.E. Hatchell; A.E. Tiarks

1985-01-01

Serious damage to forest sites during logging can be avoided through careful planning of logging, preparation of the site for logging, and close supervision of the work.Losses in productivity caused by compaction can be largely restored by cultivation and fertilization.

Wildlife and habitat damage assessment from Hurricane Charley: recommendations for recovery of the J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge Complex. [Final report to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

USGS Publications Warehouse

Meyers, J.M.; Langtimm, C.A.; Smith, T. J.; Pednault-Willett, K.

2005-01-01

On 13 August 2004, the first of four hurricanes to strike Florida in 50% and sometimes 90% of their vegetation severely damaged (dead, broken tree stems, and tipped trees). Shell Mound Trail of JNDDNWR sustained catastrophic damage to its old growth mangrove forests. Direct storm mortality and injury to manatees in the area was probably slight. Because seagrass beads and manatee habitat extend beyond refuge boundaries, we recommended a regional approach with partner agencies to more thoroughly assess storm impacts and monitor recovery of seagrass and manatees. Besides intensive monitoring of waterbirds and their nesting habitat (pre- and post-storm), we recommend that the Mangrove Cuckoo be used as an indicator species for recovery of mangrove forests and also for monitoring songbirds at risk. Black-whiskered Vireo may be another potential indicator species to monitor in mangrove forests. Damaged vegetation should be monitored for recovery (permanent or long-term plots), especially where previous study plots have been established and with additional plots in mangrove forests of waterbird nesting islands and freshwater wetlands. Potential loss of wetlands may be prevented by water level monitoring, locating the positions (GPS-GIS) and maintaining existing water control structures, creating a GIS map of refuge with accurate vertical data, and monitoring and eradicating invasive plants. Invasive species, including Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius) and air potato (Dioscorea bulbifora), were common in a very limited survey. As an important monitoring goal, we recommend that species presence-absence data analysis (with probability of detection) be used to determine changes in animal communities. This could be accomplished possibly with comparison to other storm-damaged and undamaged refuges in the Region. This information may be helpful to refuge managers when storms return in the future.

Catastrophic wind damage to North American forests and the potential impact of climate change.

PubMed

Peterson, C J

2000-11-15

Catastrophic winds from tornadoes and downbursts are a major cause of natural disturbance in forests of eastern North America, accounting for thousands of hectares of disturbed area annually. Wind disturbance shows substantial regional variation, decreasing from the mid-west to the east and from the south-east to New England. In terms of the relative importance among these types of storms, more forest damage results from tornadoes in the south-east and mid-west, while downbursts are the most important type of wind disturbance in the Great Lakes area. Downbursts vary widely in size, but large ones can damage thousands of hectares, while tornadoes are much smaller, seldom affecting more than several hundred hectares. Tornadoes cause the most severe wind disturbances. Site characteristics such as physiography, soil moisture, and soil depth; stand characteristics like density and canopy roughness; and tree characteristics such as size, species, rooting depth, and wood strength, are the factors most recognized as influencing damage patterns. The consequences of wind damage to forests, such as change in environmental conditions, density, size structure, species composition, and successional status, occur on both immediate (hours-to-days) and long-term (months-to-decades) time scales. Most wind disturbances result in the post-disturbance vegetation being comprised of surviving canopy trees, and varying amounts of sprouts, released understory stems, and new seedlings. Stand size structure is usually reduced, and successional status of a forest is often advanced. Diversity can be either increased or decreased, depending on the measure of abundance used to calculate diversity. Because tornadoes and downbursts are in part products of thermodynamic climatic circumstances, they may be affected by anticipated changes in climatic conditions as the 21st century progresses. However, the current understanding of tornado and downburst formation from supercell storms is very incomplete, and climate-change model predictions sufficiently coarse, that predictions of changes in frequency, size, intensity, or timing of these extreme events must be regarded as highly uncertain. Moreover, retrospective approaches that employ tree demography and dendrochronology require prohibitively large sample sizes to resolve details of the relationship between climate fluctuations and characteristics of these storms. To improve predictions of changes in the climatology of these storms, we need improved understanding of the genesis of tornadoes and downbursts within thunderstorms, and greater resolution in global climate models. To improve coping strategies, forest scientists can contribute by giving more attention to how various silvicultural actions influence stand and tree vulnerability. Finally, increased focus on the dynamics of forest recovery and regrowth may suggest management actions that can facilitate desired objectives after one of these unpredictable wind disturbances.

Mapping Historic Gypsy Moth Defoliation with MODIS Satellite Data: Implications for Forest Threat Early Warning System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spurce, Joseph P.; Hargrove, William; Ryan, Robert E.; Smooth, James C.; Prados, Don; McKellip, Rodney; Sader, Steven A.; Gasser, Jerry; May, George

2008-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews a project, the goal of which is to study the potential of MODIS data for monitoring historic gypsy moth defoliation. A NASA/USDA Forest Service (USFS) partnership was formed to perform the study. NASA is helping USFS to implement satellite data products into its emerging Forest Threat Early Warning System. The latter system is being developed by the USFS Eastern and Western Forest Threat Assessment Centers. The USFS Forest Threat Centers want to use MODIS time series data for regional monitoring of forest damage (e.g., defoliation) preferably in near real time. The study's methodology is described, and the results of the study are shown.

36 CFR 520.3 - Preservation of property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Preservation of property. 520.3 Section 520.3 Parks, Forests, and Public Property SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION RULES AND REGULATIONS... Preservation of property. It is unlawful willfully to destroy, damage, or remove property or any part thereof...

Forestry-related pathways for the movement of exotic plant pests into and within the greater Caribbean region

Treesearch

Leslie Newton; Heike Meissner; Andrea. Lemay

2011-01-01

Forests of the Greater Caribbean Region (GCR) are important ecologically and economically. These unique ecosystems are under increasing pressure from exotic pests, which may cause extensive environmental damage and cost billions of dollars in control programs, lost production, and forest restoration.

Economic Analysis of Biological Invasions in Forests

Treesearch

Tomas P. Holmes; Julian Aukema; Jeffrey Englin; Robert G. Haight; Kent Kovacs; Brian Leung

2014-01-01

Biological invasions of native forests by nonnative pests result from complex stochastic processes that are difficult to predict. Although economic optimization models describe efficient controls across the stages of an invasion, the ability to calibrate such models is constrained by lack of information on pest population dynamics and consequent economic damages. Here...

Relating lightning data to fire occurrence data

Treesearch

Frank H. Koch

2009-01-01

Lightning disturbance can affect forest health at various scales. Lightning strikes may kill or weaken individual trees. Lightning-damaged trees may in turn function as epicenters of pest outbreaks in forest stands, as is the case with the southern pine beetle and other bark beetles (Rykiel and others 1988).

Habitat selection is unaltered after severe insect infestation: Concerns for forest-dependent species

Treesearch

Claire A. Zugmeyer; John L. Koprowski

2009-01-01

Severe disturbance may alter or eliminate important habitat structure that helps preserve food caches of foodhoarding species. Recent recolonization of an insect-damaged forest by the endangered Mt. Graham red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis) provided an opportunity to examine habitat selection for midden (cache) sites following...

New turf for gypsy moth; there's more at risk downrange

Treesearch

David A. Gansner; Owen W. Herrick; Paul S. DeBald; Jesus A. Cota

1983-01-01

Data collected from 600 field plots in central Pennsylvania forests threatened by gypsy moth point to a greater potential for damage downrange. Though greater than in the Poconos, losses are not expected to be spectacular. Still, some forest landowners will suffer heavy tree mortality to the pest.

36 CFR 504.12 - Items to be checked.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Items to be checked. 504.12 Section 504.12 Parks, Forests, and Public Property SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING... assist in walking), or other objects capable of inflicting damage to property or exhibits may be required...

36 CFR 504.12 - Items to be checked.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Items to be checked. 504.12 Section 504.12 Parks, Forests, and Public Property SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING... assist in walking), or other objects capable of inflicting damage to property or exhibits may be required...

36 CFR 504.12 - Items to be checked.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Items to be checked. 504.12 Section 504.12 Parks, Forests, and Public Property SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING... assist in walking), or other objects capable of inflicting damage to property or exhibits may be required...

Financial and Economic Analysis of Reduced Impact Logging

Treesearch

Tom Holmes

2016-01-01

Concern regarding extensive damage to tropical forests resulting from logging increased dramatically after World War II when mechanized logging systems developed in industrialized countries were deployed in the tropics. As a consequence, tropical foresters began developing logging procedures that were more environmentally benign, and by the 1990s, these practices began...

Photo guide for estimating risk to hardwood trees during prescribed burning operations in eastern oak forests

Treesearch

Patrick H. Brose

2009-01-01

A field guide of 40 photographs of common hardwood trees of eastern oak forests and fuel loadings surrounding their bases. The guide contains instructions on how to rapidly assess a tree's likelihood to be damaged or killed by prescribed burning.

Altered performance of forest pests under atmospheres enriched by C02 and O3

Treesearch

Kevin E. Percy; Caroline S. Awmack; Richard L. Lindroth; Mark E. Kubiske; Brian J. Kopper; J. G. Isebrands; Kurt S. Pregitzer; George R. Hendrey; Richard E. Dickson; Donald R. Zak; Elina Oksanen; Jaak Sober; Richard Harrington; David F. Karnosky

2002-01-01

Human activity causes increasing background concentrations of the greenhouse gases C02 and O3. Increased levels of C02 can be found in all terrestrial ecosystems. Damaging O3 concentrations currently occur over 29% of the world's temperate and subpolar forests but are...

36 CFR 261.5 - Fire.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... that is not a prescribed fire that damages the National Forest System. (f) Building, attending... prevent its escape. (g) Negligently failing to maintain control of a prescribed fire on Non-National... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Fire. 261.5 Section 261.5...

36 CFR 261.5 - Fire.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... that is not a prescribed fire that damages the National Forest System. (f) Building, attending... prevent its escape. (g) Negligently failing to maintain control of a prescribed fire on Non-National... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Fire. 261.5 Section 261.5...

36 CFR 261.5 - Fire.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... that is not a prescribed fire that damages the National Forest System. (f) Building, attending... prevent its escape. (g) Negligently failing to maintain control of a prescribed fire on Non-National... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Fire. 261.5 Section 261.5...

36 CFR 261.5 - Fire.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... that is not a prescribed fire that damages the National Forest System. (f) Building, attending... prevent its escape. (g) Negligently failing to maintain control of a prescribed fire on Non-National... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Fire. 261.5 Section 261.5...

36 CFR 261.5 - Fire.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... that is not a prescribed fire that damages the National Forest System. (f) Building, attending... prevent its escape. (g) Negligently failing to maintain control of a prescribed fire on Non-National... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Fire. 261.5 Section 261.5...

Fungi and diseases - natural components of healthy forests

Treesearch

M. E. Ostry; G. Laflamme

2009-01-01

Forest health is described and perceived in different ways by the general public, land owners, managers, politicians, and scientists, depending on their values and objectives. Native tree pathogens and diseases are often associated with negative impacts even though damage is limited or not widespread. Too often, the concepts of tree...

76 FR 4859 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-27

... severely damaged by natural disasters. The authorities to collect information for this collection are found... sharing with agricultural producers the cost of rehabilitating farmland damaged by natural disaster, and... cooperation with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Forest Service, and other agencies and...

The effects of a western spruce budworm outbreak on the dead wood component in relation to ownership in forests of eastern Oregon

Treesearch

David Azuma

2010-01-01

Forest Inventory and Analysis data were used to investigate the effects of a severe western spruce budworm outbreak on the dead wood component of forests in 11 counties of eastern Oregon for two time periods. The ownership and the level of damage (as assessed by aerial surveys) affected the resulting down woody material and standing dead trees. The pattern of coarse...

A canopy trimming experiment in Puerto Rico: the response of litter invertebrate communities to canopy loss and debris deposition in a tropical forest subject to hurricanes

Treesearch

Barbara A. Richardson; Michael J. Richardson; Grizelle Gonzalez; Aaron B. Shiels; Diane S. Srivastava

2010-01-01

Hurricanes cause canopy removal and deposition of pulses of litter to the forest floor. A Canopy Trimming Experiment (CTE) was designed to decouple these two factors, and to investigate the separate abiotic and biotic consequences of hurricane-type damage and monitor recovery processes. As part of this experiment, effects on forest floor invertebrate communities were...

Effect of simulated ice storm damage on loblolly pine tree and stand growth

Treesearch

Rodney E. Will; Thomas Hennessey; Thomas Lynch; Robert Heinemann; Randal Holeman; Dennis Wilson

2012-01-01

Ice damage to loblolly pine plantations is a recurrent problem in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas with significant ice events occurring recently in 1995, twice in 2000, and in 2007. Following ice damage, forest owners need to decide to clear-cut and replant, thin or partial cut to rehabilitate, or take no action. A quantitative assessment of tree and stand growth...

Hazard rating for gypsy moth on a Macintosh computer: a component of the GypsES system

Treesearch

Mark J. Twery; Gregory A. Elmes

1991-01-01

As gypsy moth expands into a new region, the threat of damage from its infestation is increasing greatly. The potential economic damage from the pest is extensive, considerably compounding the already substantial aesthetic damage and urban nuisance problems. One way to help forest managers deal with this threat is by providing them with a computer program which can...

Field and airborne spectral characterization of suspected damage in red spruce (picea rubens) from Vermont

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rock, B. N.; Vogelmann, J. E.; Williams, D. L.

1985-01-01

The utilization of remote sensing to monitor forest damage due to acid deposition is investigated. Spectral and water measurements and aircraft radiance data of red spruce and balsam fir, collected in Camels Hump Mountain and Ripton, Vermont between August 13-20, 1984, are analyzed to evaluate the damage levels of the trees. Variations in reflectance features and canopy moisture content are studied. It is observed that damage correlates with elevation (greater damage at higher elevations); xylem water column tension is greater at higher damage sites; and a 'blue shift' is indicated in the spectral data at high damage sites.

VAM populations in relation to grass invasion associated with forest decline.

PubMed

Vosatka, M; Cudlin, P; Mejstrik, V

1991-01-01

Spruce stands in Northern Bohemia forests, damaged to various degrees by industrial pollution, have shown establishment of grass cover following tree defoliation. Populations of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi were studied under this grass cover in four permanent plots with spruce under different levels of pollution stress. Soil and root samples were collected in April and June within each plot as follows: (1) sites without grass, (2) sites with initial stages of grass invasion, and (3) sites with fully developed grass cover. In all plots, the highest number of propagules were recovered from samples taken from sites having full grass cover. Mycorrhizal infection of grass was highest in the plot with the severest pollution damage and lowest in the least damaged plot. The development of grass cover and VAM infection of grass increased with tree defoliation caused by air pollution.

The exotic wasp Megastigmus transvaalensis (Hymenoptera: Torymidae): first record and damage on the Brazilian peppertree, Schinus terebinthifolius drupes, in São Paulo, Brazil.

PubMed

Ferreira-Filho, Pedro J; Piña-Rodrigues, Fátima C M; Silva, José M S; Guerreiro, Julio C; Ghiotto, Thaís C; Piotrowski, Ivonir; Dias, Luiz P; Wilcken, Carlos F; Zanuncio, José C

2015-01-01

This paper records the first report of Megastigmus transvaalensis Hussey (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) in Brazilian peppertree, Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi (Anacardiaceae) drupes in Sorocaba, state of São Paulo, Brazil. This wasp is an invasive species and was found damaging S. terebinthifolius drupes in urban areas (35.0 ± 15.8%), natural forests (21.5 ± 10.2%) and restoration areas (15.8 ± 8.4%). The bio-ecology and damage caused by M. transvaalensis in the S. terebinthifolius drupes warrants further study focused upon the management of this phytophagous wasp. Megastigmus transvaalensis has a potential to be disseminated throughout Brazil and is posing a threat to the natural regeneration of S. terebinthifolius in the native forests and restoration areas and ecological regions of this country.

Sugar maple and yellow birch seedling growth after simulated browsing.

Treesearch

Frederick T. Metzger

1977-01-01

Simulating natural damage to leaders of forest-grown seedlings of yellow birch and sugar maple resulted in no loss of vigor but a loss in net height growth. Leader elongation depended upon seedling, shoot, and bud characteristics rather than on the extent of damage.

Development of a fire detection algorithm for the COMS (Communication Ocean and Meteorological Satellite)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Goo; Kim, Dae Sun; Lee, Yang-Won

2013-10-01

The forest fires do much damage to our life in ecological and economic aspects. South Korea is probably more liable to suffer from the forest fire because mountain area occupies more than half of land in South Korea. They have recently launched the COMS(Communication Ocean and Meteorological Satellite) which is a geostationary satellite. In this paper, we developed forest fire detection algorithm using COMS data. Generally, forest fire detection algorithm uses characteristics of 4 and 11 micrometer brightness temperature. Our algorithm additionally uses LST(Land Surface Temperature). We confirmed the result of our fire detection algorithm using statistical data of Korea Forest Service and ASTER(Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) images. We used the data in South Korea On April 1 and 2, 2011 because there are small and big forest fires at that time. The detection rate was 80% in terms of the frequency of the forest fires and was 99% in terms of the damaged area. Considering the number of COMS's channels and its low resolution, this result is a remarkable outcome. To provide users with the result of our algorithm, we developed a smartphone application for users JSP(Java Server Page). This application can work regardless of the smartphone's operating system. This study can be unsuitable for other areas and days because we used just two days data. To improve the accuracy of our algorithm, we need analysis using long-term data as future work.

Improvement of Forest Fire Detection Algorithm Using Brightness Temperature Lapse Rate Correction in HIMAWARI-8 IR Channels: Application to the 6 may 2017 Samcheok City, Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, S. H.; Park, W.; Jung, H. S.

2018-04-01

Forest fires are a major natural disaster that destroys a forest area and a natural environment. In order to minimize the damage caused by the forest fire, it is necessary to know the location and the time of day and continuous monitoring is required until fire is fully put out. We have tried to improve the forest fire detection algorithm by using a method to reduce the variability of surrounding pixels. We focused that forest areas of East Asia, part of the Himawari-8 AHI coverage, are mostly located in mountainous areas. The proposed method was applied to the forest fire detection in Samcheok city, Korea on May 6 to 10, 2017.

Non-supervised method for early forest fire detection and rapid mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Artés, Tomás; Boca, Roberto; Liberta, Giorgio; San-Miguel, Jesús

2017-09-01

Natural hazards are a challenge for the society. Scientific community efforts have been severely increased assessing tasks about prevention and damage mitigation. The most important points to minimize natural hazard damages are monitoring and prevention. This work focuses particularly on forest fires. This phenomenon depends on small-scale factors and fire behavior is strongly related to the local weather. Forest fire spread forecast is a complex task because of the scale of the phenomena, the input data uncertainty and time constraints in forest fire monitoring. Forest fire simulators have been improved, including some calibration techniques avoiding data uncertainty and taking into account complex factors as the atmosphere. Such techniques increase dramatically the computational cost in a context where the available time to provide a forecast is a hard constraint. Furthermore, an early mapping of the fire becomes crucial to assess it. In this work, a non-supervised method for forest fire early detection and mapping is proposed. As main sources, the method uses daily thermal anomalies from MODIS and VIIRS combined with land cover map to identify and monitor forest fires with very few resources. This method relies on a clustering technique (DBSCAN algorithm) and on filtering thermal anomalies to detect the forest fires. In addition, a concave hull (alpha shape algorithm) is applied to obtain rapid mapping of the fire area (very coarse accuracy mapping). Therefore, the method leads to a potential use for high-resolution forest fire rapid mapping based on satellite imagery using the extent of each early fire detection. It shows the way to an automatic rapid mapping of the fire at high resolution processing as few data as possible.

Direct observation of morphological evolution of a catalyst during carbon nanotube forest growth: new insights into growth and growth termination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeong, Seojeong; Lee, Jaegeun; Kim, Hwan-Chul; Hwang, Jun Yeon; Ku, Bon-Cheol; Zakharov, Dmitri N.; Maruyama, Benji; Stach, Eric A.; Kim, Seung Min

2016-01-01

In this study, we develop a new methodology for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis that enables us to directly investigate the interface between carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays and the catalyst and support layers for CNT forest growth without any damage induced by a post-growth TEM sample preparation. Using this methodology, we perform in situ and ex situ TEM investigations on the evolution of the morphology of the catalyst particles and observe the catalyst particles to climb up through CNT arrays during CNT forest growth. We speculate that the lifted catalysts significantly affect the growth and growth termination of CNT forests along with Ostwald ripening and sub-surface diffusion. Thus, we propose a modified growth termination model which better explains various phenomena related to the growth and growth termination of CNT forests.In this study, we develop a new methodology for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis that enables us to directly investigate the interface between carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays and the catalyst and support layers for CNT forest growth without any damage induced by a post-growth TEM sample preparation. Using this methodology, we perform in situ and ex situ TEM investigations on the evolution of the morphology of the catalyst particles and observe the catalyst particles to climb up through CNT arrays during CNT forest growth. We speculate that the lifted catalysts significantly affect the growth and growth termination of CNT forests along with Ostwald ripening and sub-surface diffusion. Thus, we propose a modified growth termination model which better explains various phenomena related to the growth and growth termination of CNT forests. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr05547d

The use of quantitative models in sea otter conservation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tinker, M. Tim

2015-01-01

Sea otters are good indicators of ocean health. In addition, they are a keystone species, offering a stabilizing effect on ecosystem, controlling sea urchin populations that would otherwise inflict damage to kelp forest ecosystems. The kelp forest ecosystem is crucial for marine organisms and contains coastal erosion. With the concerns about the imperiled status of sea otter populations in California, Aleutian Archipelago and coastal areas of Russia and Japan, the last several years have shown growth of interest culturally and politically in the status and preservation of sea otter populations. Sea Otter Conservation brings together the vast knowledge of well-respected leaders in the field, offering insight into the more than 100 years of conservation and research that have resulted in recovery from near extinction. This publication assesses the issues influencing prospects for continued conservation and recovery of the sea otter populations and provides insight into how to handle future global changes.

The impact of parasitoid emergence time on host-parasitoid population dynamics.

PubMed

Cobbold, Christina A; Roland, Jens; Lewis, Mark A

2009-01-01

We investigate the effect of parasitoid phenology on host-parasitoid population cycles. Recent experimental research has shown that parasitized hosts can continue to interact with their unparasitized counterparts through competition. Parasitoid phenology, in particular the timing of emergence from the host, determines the duration of this competition. We construct a discrete-time host-parasitoid model in which within-generation dynamics associated with parasitoid timing is explicitly incorporated. We found that late-emerging parasitoids induce less severe, but more frequent, host outbreaks, independent of the choice of competition model. The competition experienced by the parasitized host reduces the parasitoids' numerical response to changes in host numbers, preventing the 'boom-bust' dynamics associated with more efficient parasitoids. We tested our findings against experimental data for the forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria Hübner) system, where a large number of consecutive years at a high host density is synonymous with severe forest damage.

Hurricane Katrina impacts on Mississippi forests

Treesearch

Sonja N. Oswalt; Christopher Oswalt; Jeffery Turner

2008-01-01

Hurricane Katrina triggered public interest and concern for forests in Mississippi that required rapid responses from the scientific community. A uniform systematic sample of 3,590 ground plots were established and measured in 687 days immediately after the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast. The hurricane damaged an estimated 521 million trees with more...

Forest Health Monitoring in Vermont, 1996-1999

Treesearch

Northeastern Research Station

2002-01-01

Vermont forests vary in size and age class. Trees are distributed evenly between hardwood and softwood species but hardwood dominated the seedling sample. Most of the trees are healthy, with full crowns (low transparency, high density), little dieback and little damage. White and green ash had higher transparencies and lower crown densities possibly explained by the...

Soil alkalinity on recent burns

Treesearch

Robert Marshall; Clarence Averill

1928-01-01

During late July and early August, 1926, the Kaniksu National Forest in northern Idaho experienced its most severe fire damage since the advent of the white man in that region. About 125,000 acres were burned as a result of the conflagrations. The destroyed forests consisted largely of western white pine (Pinus mionticola), western larch (Larix occidentalis), Douglas...

Exotic forest insects and residential property values

Treesearch

Thomas P. Holmes; Elizabeth A. Murphy; Kathleen P. Bell

2006-01-01

This paper presents a case study of the economic damages to homeowners in a northern New Jersey community due to an exotic forest insect-the hemlock woolly adelgid. Hedonic property value methods are used to estimate the effect of hemlock health on property values. A statistically significant relationship between hemlock health and residential property values is...

25 CFR 163.26 - Forest product harvesting permits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Forest product harvesting permits. 163.26 Section 163.26 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND AND WATER GENERAL FORESTRY REGULATIONS... be used by the Secretary in his or her discretion for planting or other work to offset damage to the...

Preference of dendrophagous insects for forest borders

Treesearch

Andrey V. Gurov

1991-01-01

Numerous investigations have shown that forest insect outbreaks usually occur in specific habitats. Frequently these outbreaks do not generally extend to other territories occupied by these same host trees. Moreover, in every stand subjected to an outbreak, both slightly undamaged plots and heavily damaged plots are found. Perhaps some plots are initially more...

Villaflores: Municipal forest fire management model

Treesearch

Pedro Martínez Muñoz; Carlos Alberto Velázquez Sanabria

2013-01-01

As provided for in the General Law on Sustainable Forestry Development, the Municipality of Villaflores has worked on a continuous basis since 2002 to reduce the damage caused by forest fires as part of its working agenda, in conjunction with Federal and State agencies and NGOs. The work plan has the following phases: a) Inter-agency coordination:...

Herbicides for Forest Plantations

Treesearch

H. H. Hadley; C. B. Briscoe

1966-01-01

MSMA, sodium cacodylate, diquat, aminotriazole, paraquat + surfactant, 2,4-0 amine, ametryne, and picram were tested for use as herbicides in forest plantations. MSMA gave best weed control per dollar of her bicide. Picram also gave good control on dry sites, although more expensive than MSMA, but damaged planted trees. When herbicides were applied during or just...

Evaluating the vulnerability of Maine forests to wind damage

Treesearch

Thomas E. Perry; Jeremy S. Wilson

2010-01-01

Numerous factors, some of which cannot be controlled, are continually interacting with the forest resource, introducing risk to management, and making consistent predictable management outcomes uncertain. Included in these factors are threats or hazards such as windstorms and wildfire. Factors influencing the probability (risk) of windthrow or windsnap occurring can be...

A highly aggregated geographical distribution of forest pest invasions in the USA

Treesearch

Andrew M. Liebhold; Deborah G. McCullough; Laura M. Blackburn; Susan J. Frankel; Betsy Von Holle; Juliann E. Aukema

2013-01-01

Geographical variation in numbers of established non-native species provides clues to the underlying processes driving biological invasions. Specifically, this variation reflects landscape characteristics that drive non-native species arrival, establishment and spread. Here, we investigate spatial variation in damaging non-native forest insect and pathogen species to...

Hiker trampling impacts on Eastern forests

Treesearch

R.E. Leonard; J.L. McMahon; K.M. Kehoe; K.M. Kehoe

1985-01-01

Trampling impact studies were conducted in two eastern forest stands in the White Mountains, New Hampshire. Changes in plant mortality on simulated trails during a trampling period and a recovery period were monitored photographically. The extent of damage and rate of recovery varied among species. For most species, the greatest change in plant mortality occurred...

36 CFR § 504.12 - Items to be checked.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2013-07-01 2012-07-01 true Items to be checked. § 504.12 Section § 504.12 Parks, Forests, and Public Property SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION RULES AND REGULATIONS... needed to assist in walking), or other objects capable of inflicting damage to property or exhibits may...

Ecosystem management and our national forests -- is there a role for forest herbicides?

Treesearch

Charles K. McMahon; J.H. Miller; D.F. Thomas

1994-01-01

Abstract.Environmentally safe, selective herbicide treatments can be adapted to manage habitats and direct succession toward desired future conditions within the principles of Ecosystem Management (EM). Six roles for herbicide treatments in EM are suggested: create and maintain desired habitats; create mixed and unevenaged stands; restore damaged...

Diagnosing injury to eastern forest trees

Treesearch

John M. Skelly; Donald D. Davis; William Merrill; E. Alan Cameron; H. Daniel Brown; David B. Drummond; Leon S., eds. Dochinger

1987-01-01

The purpose of this manual is to assist members of the National Vegetation Survey in recognizing air pollutant-induced injury and in identifying disease and insect damage that may be confused with air pollutant-induced injury to forest vegetation in the eastern United States. Ozone, sulfur dioxide, and, to a limited geographic extent, hydrogen fluoride, are all...

People and forests in East Kalimantan

Treesearch

Kuswata Kartawinata; Timothy C. Jessup; A. P. Vayda; S. Riswan; Cynthia Mackie; Nancy E. Peluso

1992-01-01

Two major Indonesian-MAB (Man and the Biosphere) projects were carried out in the province of East Kalimantan, Indonesia, in the 1980s. Investigators found that farmers vary in their reason for practicing shifting cultivation of logging and agriculture, in their intensity of farming, and in the amount of damage they caused forests in their practices. Shifting...

New instrument expanding individual tree stem analysis

Treesearch

Neil A. Clark

2001-01-01

Forest health, vitality, and productivity are interrelated and are maintained by using sound forest management. There are some standard indicators that are measured to assess the extent and severity of damage inflicted by biotic and abiotic agents. Assessment of these indicators using affordable methods is a subjective process. A video rangefinder instrument is...

Three studies on ponderosa pine management on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation: stocking control in uneven-aged stands, forest products from fire-damage trees, and fuels reduction

Treesearch

John V. Arena

2005-01-01

Over 60,000 acres of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa P. and C. Lawson) forest on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation (WSIR) in Oregon are managed using an uneven-age system. Three on-going studies on WSIR address current issues in the management of pine forests: determining levels of growing stock for uneven-age management, fire effects on wood...

Using GIS and Ahp for Planning Primer Transportation of Forest Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akay, A. E.; Yılmaz, B.

2017-11-01

Primer transportation is one of the most costly and time consuming forestry activities in extraction of timber from forest lands. Transportation methods are essentially determined based on terrain characteristics, especially ground slope. Besides, unsuitable machine selection and unplanned operations may cause ecological damages such as soil disturbance. Soil damage can lead to long term impacts on forest ecosystem. Thus, the optimum transportation methods should be determined by considering not only economic factors but also topographical factors and soil conditions. In recent decades, some of the advanced features of Geographical Information System (GIS) assist decision makers to solve such complex transportation problems with various constraints. In this study, it was aimed to plan forest transportation operation by using GIS integrated Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, considering ground slope, soil type, and available transportation equipment in the region. This method was implemented within the border of İnegöl Forest Enterprise Chief in the city of Bursa in Turkey. Alternative transportation method included cable system, chute system, skidder, and farm tractor. GIS-based method integrated with AHP found that skidder was the optimal transportation method for about 60% of the study area, while farm tractor was the second most suitable method with 25% ground cover. The results indicated that GIS-based decision support systems can be effectively used as rational, quick, and economic tool for forest transportation planning.

75 FR 70083 - Emergency Forest Restoration Program and Emergency Conservation Program

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-17

... Iniki in 1993 and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 where the extent and magnitude of damage made... rehabilitate farmland damaged by wind erosion, floods, hurricanes, or other natural disasters, and for carrying... the 2008 Farm Bill and the current ECP definition, which includes wildfires, hurricanes or excessive...

Release, browse damage, and growth of young white pines

Treesearch

Thomas W. McConkey

1960-01-01

Exactly what happens to young white pine seedlings that have been released from hardwood competition and allowed to grow, subject to browse damage, for a 7-year period? Some indications of the results of such treatment can be seen from recent work on the Massabesic Experimental Forest in Maine.

Timber salvage economics

Treesearch

Jeffrey P. Prestemon; Thomas P. Holmes

2008-01-01

Timber salvage is commonly done following natural disturbances, to recover some value from damaged forests. Decision making about salvage, however, is affected by ownership objectives, the nature of the damage agent, site factors, and the strength of the local timber market. For profit-maximizing landowners, salvage decisions must balance the cost of harvesting...

Management of white grubs in forest nurseries

Treesearch

David Smitley

2010-01-01

In Michigan, the most important white grub pests of nursery seedlings are European chafer beetle (Rhizotrogus majalis) and June beetles (Phyllophaga spp.). If damage is observed and white grubs found, beds can be protected from future damage with imidacloprid applied as Discus or Marathon once per year in June or July.

Impacts of pear thrips on a Pennsylvania sugarbush: third year results

Treesearch

Thomas E. Kolb; Larry H. McCormick

1993-01-01

Pear thrips, Taeniothrips inconsequens (Uzel) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), were first positively identified as causing damage to sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) in forest environments in the United States in 1980. Damage in Pennsylvania from this insect has occurred consistently since 1980, with the most extensive impact in 1988...

User's guide to the stand-damage model: a component of the gypsy moth life system model

Treesearch

J. J. Colbert; George Racin

1995-01-01

The Stand-Damage Model (a component of the Gypsy Moth Life System Model) simulates the growth of a mixed hardwood forest and incorporates the effects of defoliation by gypsy moth or tree harvesting as prescribed by the user. It can be used to assess the damage from expected defoliation, view the differences between various degrees of defoliation, and describe the...

Hurricane Andrew Damage in Relation to Wood Decay Fungi and Insects in Bottomland Hardwoods of the Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana

Treesearch

Theodor D. Leininger; A. Dan Wilson; Donald G. Lester

1997-01-01

Hurricane Andrew caused damage to more than 780 sq.km of bottomland hardwood and cypress-tupelo forests in the Atchafalaya Basin of Louisiana in August 1992. Trees in bottomland hardwood sites were examined, in early May 1994, for signs and symptoms of wood decay fungi, and for insect damage, ostensibly present before the hurricane, which may have predisposed trees to...

Using remotely sensed data and elementary analytical techniques in post-katrina mississippi to examine storm damage modeling

Treesearch

Curtis A. Collins; David L. Evans; Keith L. Belli; Patrick A. Glass

2010-01-01

Hurricane Katrina’s passage through south Mississippi on August 29, 2005, which damaged or destroyed thousands of hectares of forest land, was followed by massive salvage, cleanup, and assessment efforts. An initial assessment by the Mississippi Forestry Commission estimated that over $1 billion in raw wood material was downed by the storm, with county-level damage...

Glaze Damage In 13- To 18-Year-Old, Natural, Even-Aged Stands of Loblolly Pines in Southeastern Arkansas

Treesearch

Michael D. Cain; Michael G. Shelton

2002-01-01

In late December 1998, a severe winter storm deposited 2.1 inches of precipitation on the Crossett Experimental Forest in southeastern Arkansas. Ice, in the form of glaze, accumulated on needles and branches of trees, and resulted in visual damage to sapling and pulpwood-sized pines. Within 60 days after the storm, damage was assessed within naturally regenerated,...

Modeling and Assessing Insect Disturbance on Boreal Forests in the Krasnoyarsk region of Russia by Employing the FAREAST Gap Model and Local Forest Inventory and Disturbance Data.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erler, A. E.; Shuman, J. K.; Soukhavolosky, V.; Kovalev, A.; Stevens, T.; Shugart, H. H.

2008-12-01

FAREAST: an individual-based forest dynamics model was initially developed to simulate the forested region around Changbai Mountain in northern China. In recent years the model has been expanded across Siberia. The model output for biomass (tCha-1) has been verified against forest inventory data for a number of sites across Russia. With this success, an additional module for the model was written by Anton Kovalev to predict the impact of insect disturbance on the Boreal forests. This model predicts the probability of an insect outbreak occurring, and then, by assessing each individual tree in a modeled stand, predicts whether a tree will be killed as a result of insect predation. From this, a disturbance index is calculated that includes lost biomass as a result of insect disturbance and subsequent species composition. This disturbance "fingerprint" is being compared to forest inventory and insect disturbance data from the Usolsky forests in the Krasnoyarsk region of central Siberia. Silkworm disturbance is expressed in this geo- database as a percentage of trees damaged or killed in a stand. The forest inventory data allows us to calculate a biomass estimate that will be compared to the biomass outputs generated by the model post insect disturbance. The validation of simulated biomass with independent inventory data confirms that FAREAST is a robust model of Russian forest dynamics. Effective validation of the insect disturbance model will allow us to generate a more complete picture of the changing ecology of the Siberian Boreal landscape. The economic cost of lumber lost as a result of Silkworm damage has been enormous, if verified, FAREAST will afford us the opportunity to estimate the extent of that loss and predict the changing ecological dynamics of the Boreal forest system under the worlds evolving climate.

Changes in forest biomass and linkage to climate and forest disturbances over Northeastern China.

PubMed

Zhang, Yuzhen; Liang, Shunlin

2014-08-01

The forests of northeastern China store nearly half of the country's total biomass carbon stocks. In this study, we investigated the changes in forest biomass by using satellite observations and found that a significant increase in forest biomass took place between 2001 and 2010. To determine the possible reasons for this change, several statistical methods were used to analyze the correlations between forest biomass dynamics and forest disturbances (i.e. fires, insect damage, logging, and afforestation and reforestation), climatic factors, and forest development. Results showed that forest development was the most important contributor to the increasing trend of forest biomass from 2001 to 2010, and climate controls were the secondary important factor. Among the four types of forest disturbance considered in this study, forest recovery from fires, and afforestation and reforestation during the past few decades played an important role in short-term biomass dynamics. This study provided observational evidence and valuable information for the relationships between forest biomass and climate as well as forest disturbances. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Flood damage estimation of companies: A comparison of Stage-Damage-Functions and Random Forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sieg, Tobias; Kreibich, Heidi; Vogel, Kristin; Merz, Bruno

2017-04-01

The development of appropriate flood damage models plays an important role not only for the damage assessment after an event but also to develop adaptation and risk mitigation strategies. So called Stage-Damage-Functions (SDFs) are often applied as a standard approach to estimate flood damage. These functions assign a certain damage to the water depth depending on the use or other characteristics of the exposed objects. Recent studies apply machine learning algorithms like Random Forests (RFs) to model flood damage. These algorithms usually consider more influencing variables and promise to depict a more detailed insight into the damage processes. In addition they provide an inherent validation scheme. Our study focuses on direct, tangible damage of single companies. The objective is to model and validate the flood damage suffered by single companies with SDFs and RFs. The data sets used are taken from two surveys conducted after the floods in the Elbe and Danube catchments in the years 2002 and 2013 in Germany. Damage to buildings (n = 430), equipment (n = 651) as well as goods and stock (n = 530) are taken into account. The model outputs are validated via a comparison with the actual flood damage acquired by the surveys and subsequently compared with each other. This study investigates the gain in model performance with the use of additional data and the advantages and disadvantages of the RFs compared to SDFs. RFs show an increase in model performance with an increasing amount of data records over a comparatively large range, while the model performance of the SDFs is already saturated for a small set of records. In addition, the RFs are able to identify damage influencing variables, which improves the understanding of damage processes. Hence, RFs can slightly improve flood damage predictions and provide additional insight into the underlying mechanisms compared to SDFs.

Using forest inventory data to assess use restrictions on private timberland in Illinois. Forest Service resource bulletin

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Leatherberry, E.C.

1993-01-01

About half of the Nation's 731 million acres of forest land is privately owned. Traditionally, most private forest land was open for public uses, especially hunting. Today, however, keep out' or no trespassing' signs are seen increasingly throughout the countryside. The situation concerns policymakers and administrators because private lands are important recreational and aesthetic resources. Private landowners close their land to public use for many reasons. Generally, liability concerns, property damage, reasons for owning land, landowner attitudes about hunting or other consumptive uses, and landowners' intent to lease or charge a fee for access.

A Novel Ice Storm Experiment for Evaluating the Ecological Impacts of These Extreme Weather Events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Driscoll, C. T.; Campbell, J. L.; Rustad, L.; Fahey, T.; Fahey, R. T.; Garlick, S.; Groffman, P.; Hawley, G. J.; Schaberg, P. G.

2017-12-01

Ice storms are among the most destructive natural disturbances in some regions of the world, and are an example of an extreme weather event that can profoundly disrupt ecosystem function. Despite potential dire consequences of ice storms on ecosystems and society, we are poorly positioned to predict responses because severe ice storms are infrequent and understudied. Since it is difficult to determine when and where ice storms will occur, most previous research has consisted of ad hoc attempts to characterize impacts in the wake of major icing events. To evaluate ice storm effects in a more controlled manner, we conducted a novel ice storm manipulation experiment at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. Water was sprayed above the forest canopy in sub-freezing conditions to simulate a glaze ice event. Treatments included replicate plots that received three levels of radial ice thickness (6, 13, and 19 mm) and reference plots that were not sprayed. Additionally, two of the mid-level treatment plots received ice applications in back-to-back years to evaluate effects associated with ice storm frequency. Measures of the forest canopy, including hemispherical photography, photosynthetically active radiation, and ground-based LiDAR, indicated that the ice loads clearly damaged vegetation and opened up the canopy, allowing more light to penetrate. These changes in the canopy were reflected in measurements of fine and coarse woody debris that were commensurate with the level of icing. Soil respiration declined in the most heavily damaged plots, which we attribute to changes in root activity. Although soil solution nitrogen showed clear seasonal patterns, there was no treatment response. These results differ from the severe regional natural ice storm of 1998, which caused large leaching losses of nitrate in soil solutions and stream water during the growing season after the event, due to lack of uptake by damaged vegetation. It is not yet clear why there is a discrepancy between the results from our experiment and the natural ice storm, even though the levels of damage were comparable. It is possible that large declines in N supply observed over the last two decades have resulted in a tightening of the nitrogen cycle. Quantification of additional pools and fluxes (especially foliar N) should provide further insight.

Ecosystem disturbances in Central European spruce forests: a multi-proxy integration of dendroecology and sedimentary records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clear, Jennifer; Chiverrell, Richard; Kunes, Petr; Svoboda, Miroslav; Boyle, John

2016-04-01

Disturbance dynamics in forest ecosystems shows signs of perturbation in the light of changing climate regimes with the frequency and intensity of events (e.g. pathogens in North America and Central Europe) amplified, becoming more frequent and severe. The montane Norway spruce (Picea abies) dominated forests of Central Europe are a niche habitat and environment; situated outside their natural boreal distribution (e.g. Fenno-Scandinavia). These communities are at or near their ecological limits and are vulnerable to both short term disturbances (e.g. fire, windstorm and pathogens) and longer-term environmental change (e.g. climate induced stress and changing disturbance patterns). Researches have linked negative impacts on spruce forest with both wind disturbance (wind-throw) and outbreaks of spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus), and there is growing evidence for co-association with wind damage enhancing pathogenic outbreaks. Examples include: in the Bohemian Forest (Czech Republic) the mid-1990s spruce bark beetle outbreak and the 2007 windstorm and subsequent bark beetle outbreak. In the High Tatra Mountains (Slovakia) there is a further co-association of forest disturbance with windstorms (2004 and 2014) and an ongoing bark beetle outbreak. The scale and severity of these recent outbreaks of spruce bark beetle are unprecedented in the historical forest records. Here, findings from ongoing research developing and integrating data from dendroecological, sedimentary palaeoecological and geochemical time series to develop a longer-term perspective on forest dynamics in these regions. Tree-ring series from plots or forest stands (>500) are used alongside lake (5) and forest hollow (3) sediments from the Czech and Slovak Republics to explore the local, regional and biogeographical scale of forest disturbances. Dendroecological data showing tree-ring gap recruitment and post-suppression growth release highlight frequent disturbance events focused on tree or forest stand spatial scales, but are patchy in terms of reoccurrence. However they highlight levels of disturbance in the late 19th Century. Sediment records from lakes and forest hollows record variable pollen influx (beetle host / non-host ratios) and a stratigraphy that includes mineral in-wash events. μXRF scanning of lakes in the region with varying catchments and catchment-to-lake area ratios show spikes in K, Zr, Ti concentrations reflecting frequent erosive episodes throughout the Holocene. Linking across the temporal scales inherent in dendroecological (0 to 250 years) and sedimentary (0 to 11,500 years) is enhancing our understanding of disturbance dynamics. The identified recent and ongoing forest disturbances coupled with well-evidenced events in the 19th century highlight the need for the longer sedimentary perspective to assess whether contemporary climate warming has and continues to stretch the resilience of these fragile ecosystems. Our data are informative to the ongoing land-management conflict between active forest management (harvesting valuable timber and salvage logging) and forest conservation agenda encouraging forest dynamics and disturbance recovery.

Rehabilitation of degraded forests in Asia. World Bank technical paper

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Banerjee, A.K.

The degraded forests discussed in this paper are those that have been so badly damaged they have completely lost their protective or productive functions--but still retain their potential revive. The paper focusses on the major areas in Asia fitting this description: swidden agriculture areas in moist forests; human-induced extensive Imperata grasslands; repeatedly hacked, low-profile hardwood forests; and overlogged forests. The areas are defined carefully to determine their extent in Asia; key characteristics are described; their impacts on the local ecology are evaluated; the social and economic pressures that prolong the degradation are analyzed; and technical methods for rehabilitating the damagedmore » areas are proposed.« less

Time series data of a broadleaved secondary forest in Japan as affected by deer and mass mortality of oak trees.

PubMed

Itô, Hiroki

2017-01-01

Abandonment of broadleaved secondary forests that have been used for various purposes may cause the loss of biodiversity. Some of these forests suffer from diseases such as Japanese oak wilt. An increasing number of deer also impact some of them. Monitoring and recording the status of such forests is important for their proper management. This data set provides a concrete example of temporal changes in a temperate broadleaved secondary forest. The forest has been damaged by mass mortality of oak trees caused by Japanese oak wilt disease. In addition, the forest has been under foraging pressure by sika deer ( Cervus nippon Temminck). The data set can provide information on how such a forest has changed in species composition of the canopy and sub-canopy layers and in species occurrence in the understory layer.

Effects of protection forests on rockfall risks: implementation in the Swiss risk concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trappmann, Daniel; Moos, Christine; Fehlmann, Michael; Ernst, Jacqueline; Sandri, Arthur; Dorren, Luuk; Stoffel, Markus

2016-04-01

Forests growing on slopes below active rockfall cliffs can provide effective protection for human lives and infrastructures. The risk-based approach for natural hazards in Switzerland shall take such biological measures just like existing technical protective measures into account, provided that certain criteria regarding condition, maintenance and durability are met. This contribution describes a project in which we are investigating how the effects of protection forests can be considered in rockfall risk analyses in an appropriate way. In principle, protection forests reduce rockfall risks in three different ways: (i) reduction of the event magnitude (energy) due to collisions with tree stems; (ii) reduction of frequency of occurrence of a given scenario (block volume arriving at the damage potential); (iii) reduction of spatial probability of occurrence (spread and runout) of a given scenario in case of multiple fragments during one event. The aim of this work is to develop methods for adequately implementing these three effects of rockfall protection forests in risk calculations. To achieve this, we use rockfall simulations taking collisions with trees into account and detailed field validation. On five test sites, detailed knowledge on past rockfall activity is gathered by combining investigations of impacted trees, analysis of documented historical events, and deposits in the field. Based on this empirical data on past rockfalls, a methodology is developed that allows transferring real past rockfall activity to simulation results obtained with the three-dimensional, process-based model Rockyfor3D. Different ways of quantifying the protective role of forests will be considered by comparing simulation results with and without forest cover. Combining these different research approaches, systematic considerations shall lead to the development of methods for adequate inclusion of the protective effects of forests in risk calculations. The applicability of the developed methods will be tested on the case study slopes in order to ensure practical applicability to a broad range of rockfall situations on forested slopes.

Ecological restoration of southwestern ponderosa pine ecosystems: A broad perspective

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, Craig D.; Savage, Melissa; Falk, Donald A.; Suckling, Kieran F.; Swetnam, Thomas W.; Schulke, Todd; Stacey, Peter B.; Morgan, Penelope; Hoffman, Martos; Klingel, Jon T.

2002-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to promote a broad and flexible perspective on ecological restoration of Southwestern (U.S.) ponderosa pine forests. Ponderosa pine forests in the region have been radically altered by Euro-American land uses, including livestock grazing, fire suppression, and logging. Dense thickets of young trees now abound, old-growth and biodiversity have declined, and human and ecological communities are increasingly vulnerable to destructive crown fires. A consensus has emerged that it is urgent to restore more natural conditions to these forests. Efforts to restore Southwestern forests will require extensive projects employing varying combinations of young-tree thinning and reintroduction of low-intensity fires. Treatments must be flexible enough to recognize and accommodate: high levels of natural heterogeneity; dynamic ecosystems; wildlife and other biodiversity considerations; scientific uncertainty; and the challenges of on-the-ground implementation. Ecological restoration should reset ecosystem trends toward an envelope of “natural variability,” including the reestablishment of natural processes. Reconstructed historic reference conditions are best used as general guides rather than rigid restoration prescriptions. In the long term, the best way to align forest conditions to track ongoing climate changes is to restore fire, which naturally correlates with current climate. Some stands need substantial structural manipulation (thinning) before fire can safely be reintroduced. In other areas, such as large wilderness and roadless areas, fire alone may suffice as the main tool of ecological restoration, recreating the natural interaction of structure and process. Impatience, overreaction to crown fire risks, extractive economics, or hubris could lead to widespread application of highly intrusive treatments that may further damage forest ecosystems. Investments in research and monitoring of restoration treatments are essential to refine restoration methods. We support the development and implementation of a diverse range of scientifically viable restoration approaches in these forests, suggest principles for ecologically sound restoration that immediately reduce crown fire risk and incrementally return natural variability and resilience to Southwestern forests, and present ecological perspectives on several forest restoration approaches.

Forest products research in IUFRO history and potential

Treesearch

Robert L. Youngs; John A. Youngquist

1999-01-01

When silviculture researchers in central Europe were gathering together to form IUFRO in 1892, forest products researchers were occupied with making useful forest products and conserving the forest resource through wise use. Forest products researchers did not become an active part of IUFRO until 50 years later. Research in forest products was stimulated by World War I...

Forest impact estimated with NOAA AVHRR and landsat TM data related to an empirical hurricane wind-field distribution

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ramsey, Elijah W.; Hodgson, M.E.; Sapkota, S.K.; Nelson, G.A.

2001-01-01

An empirical model was used to relate forest type and hurricane-impact distribution with wind speed and duration to explain the variation of hurricane damage among forest types along the Atchafalaya River basin of coastal Louisiana. Forest-type distribution was derived from Landsat Thematic Mapper image data, hurricane-impact distribution from a suite of transformed advanced very high resolution radiometer images, and wind speed and duration from a wind-field model. The empirical model explained 73%, 84%, and 87% of the impact variances for open, hardwood, and cypress-tupelo forests, respectively. These results showed that the estimated impact for each forest type was highly related to the duration and speed of extreme winds associated with Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The wind-field model projected that the highest wind speeds were in the southern basin, dominated by cypress-tupelo and open forests, while lower wind speeds were in the northern basin, dominated by hardwood forests. This evidence could explain why, on average, the impact to cypress-tupelos was more severe than to hardwoods, even though cypress-tupelos are less susceptible to wind damage. Further, examination of the relative importance of wind speed in explaining the impact severity to each forest type showed that the impact to hardwood forests was mainly related to tropical-depression to tropical-storm force wind speeds. Impacts to cypress-tupelo and open forests (a mixture of willows and cypress-tupelo) were broadly related to tropical-storm force wind speeds and by wind speeds near and somewhat in excess of hurricane force. Decoupling the importance of duration from speed in explaining the impact severity to the forests could not be fully realized. Most evidence, however, hinted that impact severity was positively related to higher durations at critical wind speeds. Wind-speed intervals, which were important in explaining the impact severity on hardwoods, showed that higher durations, but not the highest wind speeds, were concentrated in the northern basin, dominated by hardwoods. The extreme impacts associated with the cypress-tupelo forests in the southeast corner of the basin intersected the highest durations as well as the highest wind speeds. ?? 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Inc.

78 FR 73498 - Stanislaus National Forest, CA; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-06

... Statement. SUMMARY: The Stanislaus National Forest proposes to remove hazard trees and dead trees within the... trees which pays for their removal from the woods and potentially other future restoration treatments... varied from low to high, but many areas contain trees killed or so severely damaged that they are not...

Western spruce budworm as related to stand characteristics in the bitterroot national forest

Treesearch

Carroll B. Williams; Patrick J. Shea; Gerald S. Walton

1971-01-01

Relation of population density to certain stand conditions and damage indicators was analyzed in four drainages on the Bitterroot National Forest of Montana. Western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman) populations were strongly related to plot basal area, tree species, and tree crown levels, and also to current and past levels of tree defoliation....

Water quality impacts of forest fires

Treesearch

Tecle Aregai; Daniel Neary

2015-01-01

Forest fires have been serious menace, many times resulting in tremendous economic, cultural and ecological damage to many parts of the United States. One particular area that has been significantly affected is the water quality of streams and lakes in the water thirsty southwestern United States. This is because the surface water coming off burned areas has resulted...

Interactions of forest management practices and tip moth damage

Treesearch

John T. Nowak

1999-01-01

Intensive forest management practices have been shown to increase tree growth and shorten rotation time. However, they may also increase the need for insect pest management because of higher infestation levels and lower action thresholds. The Nantucket pine tip moth (Rhyacionia frustrana [Comstock]) is one insect that is expected to become more important with more...

Soil Quality Standards Monitoring Program administration and implementation

Treesearch

Randy L. Davis; Felipe Sanchez; Sharon DeHart

2010-01-01

Forest managers and resource scientists and specialists are engaged in a partnership to sustain the natural resource value of our national forests. Managers are faced with deciding which activities provide the best resource benefits with the least resource damage. Many, but not all, aspects of the decision process must be based on the science supporting our current...

Long-term sedimentation effects of different patterns of timber harvesting

Treesearch

R. R. Ziemer; J. Lewis; T. E. Lisle; Rice. R. M.

1991-01-01

Abstract - It is impractical to address the long-term effect of forest management strategies on erosion, sedimentation, and the resultant damage to fish habitat experimentally because to do so would require studying large watersheds for a century or more. Monte Carlo simulations were conducted on three hypothetical 10 000 ha, fifth-order forested watersheds. One...

Pest Fact Sheet 2007: Southern Pine Beetle prevention initiative: Working for healthier forests

Treesearch

R-8 and Southern Research Station U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Forest Health Protection

2007-01-01

From 1999 to 2003, southern pine beetle (SPB) caused unprecedented damage to pine forests in southern Appalachian mountains. These losses severely impacted the natural resource base that supports the South's tourism and wood-based manufacturing industries and also destroyed the habitat of threatened and endangered species, such as the red-cockaded woodpecker....

Comparison of silvicultural and natural disturbance effects on terrestrial salamanders in northern hardwood forests

Treesearch

Daniel J. Hocking; Kimberly J. Babbitt; Mariko Yamasaki

2013-01-01

In forested ecosystems timber harvesting has the potential to emulate natural disturbances, thereby maintaining the natural communities adapted to particular disturbances. We compared the effects of even-aged (clearcut and patch cut) and uneven-aged (group cut, single-tree selection) timber management techniques with natural ice-storm damage and unmanipulated reference...

Population Dynamics of Southern Pine Beetle in Forest Landscapes

Treesearch

Andrew Birt

2011-01-01

Southern pine beetle (SPB) is an important pest of Southeastern United States pine forests. Periodic regional outbreaks are characterized by localized areas of tree mortality (infestations) surrounded by areas with little or no damage. Ultimately, this spatiotemporal pattern of tree mortality is driven by the dynamics of SPB populations—more specifically, by rates of...

Report on 1958 forest tree seed crop in New England

Treesearch

A.C. Hart

1959-01-01

Forest tree seed crops in 1958 were considerably better than those in 1957, according to observers. However, heavy and medium seed crops of some species were spotty in occurrence. Late spring frosts were probably responsible for poor or failing crops of some species in Vermont, New Hampshire, and northwestern Connecticut. Cone weevils were reported damaging the white...

Can Landscape-scale management influence insect outbreak dynamics? A natural experiment for eastern spruce budworm

Treesearch

Brian R. Sturtevant; V. Quinn; L.E. Robert; D. Kneeshaw; P. James; M.-J. Fortin; P. Wolter; P. Townsend; B. Cooke; D. Anderson

2010-01-01

The balance of evidence suggests forest insect outbreaks today are more damaging than ever because of changes in forest composition and structure induced by fire suppression and post-harvest proliferation of tree species intolerant to herbivory. We hypothesized that landscape connectivity of acceptable host trees increases defoliator population connectivity, altering...

The canary in the coal mine: Sprouts as a rapid indicator of browse impact in managed forests

Treesearch

Alex Royo; David W. Kramer; Karl V. Miller; Nathan P. Nibbelink; Susan L. Stout

2016-01-01

Forest managers are frequently confronted with sustaining vegetation diversity and structure in land-scapes experiencing high ungulate browsing pressure. Often, managers monitor browse damage and risk to plant communities using vegetation as indicators (i.e., phytoindicators). Although useful, the efficacy of traditional phytoindicators is sometimes hampered by limited...

Goldspotted oak borer in California: Invasion history, biology, impact, management, and implications for Mediterranean forests worldwide

Treesearch

Tom Coleman; Steven Seybold

2016-01-01

In 2008, the goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus auroguttatus Schaeffer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), was fi rst linked to elevated levels of oak mortality in southern California (CA), but it appears to have impacted oak woodlands and mixed conifer forests across all land ownerships in this region for nearly two decades. This unexpectedly damaging...

Observations of bird numbers and species following a historic wildfire in Arizona ponderosa pine forests

Treesearch

Peter F. Ffolliott; Cody L. Stropki; Hui Chen; Daniel G. Neary

2009-01-01

The Rodeo-Chediski Wildfire, the largest in Arizona's history, damaged or destroyed ecosystem resources or disrupted ecosystem functioning in a mostly mosaic pattern throughout the ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests exposed to the burn. Impacts of the wildfire on the occurrence of birds and their diversities were studied on...

Banking on the future: progress, challenges and opportunities for the genetic conservation of forest trees

Treesearch

Kevin M. Potter; Robert M. Jetton; Andrew Bower; Douglass F. Jacobs; Gary Man; Valerie D. Hipkins; Murphy Westwood

2017-01-01

Genetic diversity provides the essential basis for the adaptation and resilience of tree species to environmental stress and change. The genetic conservation of tree species is an urgent global necessity as forest conversion and fragmentation continue apace, damaging insects and pathogens are transported between continents, and climate change alters local habitat...

Prescribed burning with spot fires in the Georgia Coastal Plain

Treesearch

R. W. Johansen

1984-01-01

The use of prescribed fire in the management of pine forests is common throughout much of the South, but one recurring problem that worries the forest landowner is not having enough suitable burning weather to satisfactorily complete all scheduled fires. Being able to burn areas considerably faster, without causing undue damage, could be a solution.

A biogeochemical comparison of two well-buffered catchments with contrasting histories of acid deposition

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shanley, J.B.; Kram, P.; Hruska, J.; Bullen, T.D.

2004-01-01

Much of the biogeochemical cycling research in catchments in the past 25 years has been driven by acid deposition research funding. This research has focused on vulnerable base-poor systems; catchments on alkaline lithologies have received little attention. In regions of high acid loadings, however, even well-buffered catchments are susceptible to forest decline and episodes of low alkalinity in streamwater. As part of a collaboration between the Czech and U.S. Geological Surveys, we compared biogeochemical patterns in two well-studied, well-buffered catchments: Pluhuv Bor in the western Czech Republic, which has received high loading of atmospheric acidity, and Sleepers River Research Watershed in Vermont, U.S.A., where acid loading has been considerably less. Despite differences in lithology, wetness, forest type, and glacial history, the catchments displayed similar patterns of solute concentrations and flow. At both catchments, base cation and alkalinity diluted with increasing flow, whereas nitrate and dissolved organic carbon increased with increasing flow. Sulfate diluted with increasing flow at Sleepers River, while at Pluhuv Bor the sulfate-flow relation shifted from positive to negative as atmospheric sulfur (S) loadings decreased and soil S pools were depleted during the 1990s. At high flow, alkalinity decreased to near 100 ??eq L-1 at Pluhuv Bor compared to 400 ??eq L-1 at Sleepers River. Despite the large amounts of S flushed from Pluhuv Bor soils, these alkalinity declines were caused solely by dilution, which was greater at Pluhuv Bor relative to Sleepers River due to greater contributions from shallow flow paths at high flow. Although the historical high S loading at Pluhuv Bor has caused soil acidification and possible forest damage, it has had little effect on the acid/base status of streamwater in this well-buffered catchment. ?? 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Merging National Forest and National Forest Health Inventories to Obtain an Integrated Forest Resource Inventory – Experiences from Bavaria, Slovenia and Sweden

PubMed Central

Kovač, Marko; Bauer, Arthur; Ståhl, Göran

2014-01-01

Backgrounds, Material and Methods To meet the demands of sustainable forest management and international commitments, European nations have designed a variety of forest-monitoring systems for specific needs. While the majority of countries are committed to independent, single-purpose inventorying, a minority of countries have merged their single-purpose forest inventory systems into integrated forest resource inventories. The statistical efficiencies of the Bavarian, Slovene and Swedish integrated forest resource inventory designs are investigated with the various statistical parameters of the variables of growing stock volume, shares of damaged trees, and deadwood volume. The parameters are derived by using the estimators for the given inventory designs. The required sample sizes are derived via the general formula for non-stratified independent samples and via statistical power analyses. The cost effectiveness of the designs is compared via two simple cost effectiveness ratios. Results In terms of precision, the most illustrative parameters of the variables are relative standard errors; their values range between 1% and 3% if the variables’ variations are low (s%<80%) and are higher in the case of higher variations. A comparison of the actual and required sample sizes shows that the actual sample sizes were deliberately set high to provide precise estimates for the majority of variables and strata. In turn, the successive inventories are statistically efficient, because they allow detecting the mean changes of variables with powers higher than 90%; the highest precision is attained for the changes of growing stock volume and the lowest for the changes of the shares of damaged trees. Two indicators of cost effectiveness also show that the time input spent for measuring one variable decreases with the complexity of inventories. Conclusion There is an increasing need for credible information on forest resources to be used for decision making and national and international policy making. Such information can be cost-efficiently provided through integrated forest resource inventories. PMID:24941120

Restoration of freshwater Cypress-Tupelo Wetlands in the southeastern U.S. following severe hurricanes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Conner, William H.; Krauss, Ken W.; Shaffer, Gary P.; Stanturf, John A.; Madsen, Palle; Lamb, David

2012-01-01

Freshwater forested wetlands commonly occur in the lower Coastal Plain of the southeastern US with baldcypress (Taxodium distichum [L.] L.C. Rich.) and water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica L.) often being the dominant trees. Extensive anthropogenic activities combined with eustatic sea-level rise and land subsidence have caused widespread hydrological changes in many of these forests. In addition, hurricanes (a common, although aperiodic occurrence) cause wide-spread damage from wind and storm surge events, with impacts exacerbated by human-mediated coastal modifications (e.g., dredging, navigation channels, etc.). Restoration of forested wetlands in coastal areas is important because emergent canopies can greatly diminish wind penetration, thereby reducing the wind stress available to generate surface waves and storm surge that are the major cause of damage to coastal ecosystems and their surrounding communities. While there is an overall paucity of large-scale restoration efforts within coastal forested wetlands of the southeastern US, we have determined important characteristics that should drive future efforts. Restoration efforts may be enhanced considerably if coupled with hydrological enhancement, such as freshwater, sediment, or sewage wastewater diversions. Large-scale restoration of coastal forests should be attempted to create a landscape capable of minimizing storm impacts and maximizing wetland sustainability in the face of climate change. Planting is the preferred regeneration method in many forested wetland sites because hydrological alterations have increased flooding, and planted seedlings must be protected from herbivory to enhance establishment. Programs identifying salt tolerance in coastal forest tree species need to be continued to help increase resilience to repetitive storm surge events.

Application of remote sensing in agriculture and forestry and ground truth documentation in resource planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

Varied small scale imagery was used for detecting and assessing damage by the southern pine beetle. The usefulness of ERTS scanner imagery for vegetation classification and pine beetle damage detection and assessment is evaluated. Ground truth acquisition for forest identification using multispectral aerial photographs is reviewed.

Assessing the cost of an invasive forest pathogen; A case study with oak wilt

Treesearch

Robert G. Haight; Frances R. Homans; Tetsuya Horie; Shefali V. Mehta; David J. Smith; Robert C. Venette

2011-01-01

Economic assessment of damage caused by invasive alien species provides useful information to consider when determining whether management programs should be established, modified, or discontinued. We estimate the baseline economic damage from an invasive alien pathogen, Ceratocystis fagacearum, a fungus that causes oak wilt, which is a significant...

Management of western dwarf mistletoe in ponderosa and Jeffrey pines in forest recreation areas

Treesearch

Robert F. Scharpf; Richard S. Smith; Detlev Vogler

1988-01-01

Pines on many high value recreational sites in the Western United States suffer damage and death from western dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium campylopodum Engelm.). Dwarf mistletoe alone, however, is not solely responsible. Other pests and environmental conditions interact with dwarf mistletoe to damage and kill trees. An integrated pest management...

Following the fate of harvest-damaged trees 13 years after harvests

Treesearch

Randy G. Jensen; John M. Kabrick

2014-01-01

Logging damage to residual trees during harvest operations can reduce the future volume, quality, and value of wood products. Timber harvests in 1996 on the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP) provided a rare opportunity to follow the fate of trees wounded by felling or by skidding with rubber-tired skidders.

Moderating night radiative cooling reduces frost damage to Metrosideros polymorpha seedlings used for forest restoration in Hawaii

Treesearch

Paul G. Scowcroft; Frederick C. Meinzer; Guillermo Goldstein; Peter J. Melcher; Jack Jeffrey

2000-01-01

Winter frosts caused by radiative cooling were hypothesized to limit successful reintroduction of Hawaiian plants other than Acacia koa to alien-dominated grasslands above 1700 m elevation. We determined, in the laboratory, the temperature at which irreversible tissue damage occurred to Metrosideros polymorpha leaves. We also...

Predictions of southern pine beetle populations using a forest ecosystem model

Treesearch

S.G. McNulty; P.L. Lorio; M.P. Ayres; J.D. Reeve

1998-01-01

Dendroctonus fiontaiis Zimm. (southern pine beetle (SPB)) has caused over $900 million in damage to pines in the southern United States between 1960 and 1990 (Price et al.. 1992). The damage of SPB to loblolly (Pinus tuedu L.), shortleaf (Pinus echinata Mill.), and pitch (Pinus rigida Mill.) pine has long been...

How to use the Stand-Damage Model: Version 2.0. (Computer program)

Treesearch

J.J. Colbert; George Racin

2001-01-01

The Stand-Damage Model simulates the growth of a forest stand, a spatially homogeneous collection of trees growing on a site. The model simulates growth from an initial inventory, user-prescribed management practices, and the effects of gypsy moth defoliation. Here we provide installation and operating instructions for Version 2.0.

Tolerance to insect defoliation: biocenotic aspects

Treesearch

Andrey A. Pleshanov; Victor I. Voronin; Elena S. Khlimankova; Valentina I. Epova

1991-01-01

Woody plant resistance to insect damage is of great importance in forest protection, and tree tolerance is an important element of this resistance. The compensating mechanisms responsible for tolerance are nonspecific as a rule and develop after damage has been caused by phytophagous animals or other unfavorable effects. Beyond that, plant tolerance depends on duration...

Vegetation responses to helicopter and ground based logging in blackwater floodplain forests

Treesearch

R.H. Jones; S.L. Stokes; B.G. Lockaby; John.A. Stanturf

2000-01-01

Logging in floodplains of low order, blackwater streams may damage cxisting seedlings and rootstocks, and create soil conditions that inhibit establishment and growth of regeneration after harvest. Removal of logs via helicopters has been advocated to minimize soil damage and facilitate rapid revegetation. We tested impacts of helicopter versus conventional skidder...

Reducing logging damage

Treesearch

Richard D. Cosens

1952-01-01

Reducing logging damage to reproduction and residual stands is an important part of harvesting the old-growth forests of California. Much of the over mature timber: is on areas with an acceptable stocking of advance growth. When the old trees are harvested, the advance growth is scarred, deformed, broken, or killed outright. Insects and disease attack the broken and...

A novel overall approach for sediment-related disaster prevention in urban areas, South Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Dongyeob; Lee, Changwoo; Woo, Choongshik; Jeong, Seonhwan

2015-04-01

In South Korea, we had 140 landslides around Mt. Umyeon of Seoul city on July 27, 2011, which caused 16 deaths and more than 150 house damages. These landslides were triggered by a severe rainfall event with the total amount of 365 mm, equivalent to a 100-year-recurrence interval event. The landslide disaster in Mt. Umyeon is the first sediment-related disaster posing the significant serious damages to urban areas in South Korea which requires overall reconsideration about prevention, warning, countermeasure and rehabilitation to sediment-related disasters in urban areas. To meet such demands of society, the Korea Forest Research Institute (KFRI), competent to the sediment-related disasters research, is committed to conducting on a research project of development of a prevention system for sediment-related disasters in urban areas including non-structural countermeasures such as construction of landslide early warning system and structural ones such as development of urban-typed debris flow barriers. Of these countermeasures, a proto-type of landslide early warning system consisting of a variety of sensors such as soil moisture content sensor and tensiometer has been tested in-situ in a point view of system performance maintenance. We have also tried to find the threshold of the sensors by slope failure experiments. Meanwhile, two types of debris flow barriers for urban areas were developed and their functioning abilities have been tested by both of flume test and computational structure analysis. We hope these research results would mitigate potential damages efficiently by sediment-related disasters in urban areas.

The status of forest management research in the United States.

Treesearch

Donald G. Hodges; Pamela J. Jakes; Frederick W. Cubbage

1988-01-01

In 1985, the USDA Forest Service invested nearly $30 million in forest management research, forest industry invested $19 million, and universities invested at least $17 million. Investments in this research have been declining since then. Forest Service data indicate that the public sector is the largest beneficiary of forest management research.

Engineers in the mist: The solar in the jungle project

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thornton, J.P.; Thornton, S.

This article describes the design and installation of a photovoltaic power supply for a remote orangutan research station in the rain forest in Borneo. The unique needs of the station, including the problems created by noisy equipment and the transport of fuel offering potential for severe damage, are discussed, along with the design of the system, a community based system for the camp that would not only compensate for shadowing loss due to a chain link cage and meet the daily load, but would provide up to 20 days of energy if loads were managed properly.

Forests and Phenology: Designing the Early Warning System to Understand Forest Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pierce, T.; Phillips, M. B.; Hargrove, W. W.; Dobson, G.; Hicks, J.; Hutchins, M.; Lichtenstein, K.

2010-12-01

Vegetative phenology is the study of plant development and changes with the seasons, such as the greening-up and browning-down of forests, and how these events are influenced by variations in climate. A National Phenology Data Set, based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite images covering 2002 through 2009, is now available from work by NASA, the US Forest Service, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This new data set provides an easily interpretable product useful for detecting changes to the landscape due to long-term factors such as climate change, as well as finding areas affected by short-term forest threats such as insects or disease. The Early Warning System (EWS) is a toolset being developed by the US Forest Service and the University of North Carolina-Asheville to support distribution and use of the National Phenology Data Set. The Early Warning System will help research scientists, US Forest Service personnel, forest and natural resources managers, decision makers, and the public in the use of phenology data to better understand unexpected change within our nation’s forests. These changes could have multiple natural sources such as insects, disease, or storm damage, or may be due to human-induced events, like thinning, harvest, forest conversion to agriculture, or residential and commercial use. The primary goal of the Early Warning System is to provide a seamless integration between monitoring, detection, early warning and prediction of these forest disturbances as observed through phenological data. The system consists of PC and web-based components that are structured to support four user stages of increasing knowledge and data sophistication. Building Literacy: This stage of the Early Warning System educates potential users about the system, why the system should be used, and the fundamentals about the data the system uses. The channels for this education include a website, interactive tutorials, pamphlets, and other technology transfer methodologies. Achieving Context and Meaning: To provide deeper meaning and knowledge about the Early Warning System to users, this stage of the Early Warning System provides more information about specific examples of disturbances seen in the phenological data, as well the spatial and temporal context to these disturbances. The main components of this stage are specific case studies of forest disturbances. Accessing Data: This component of the Early Warning System includes products for research scientists, the aerial detection survey sketch mapper community, and others who will access and analyze the Early Warning System and phenological data. Products and data will be available through online GIS mashups and WMS and KML downloads. Utilizing Services: The final stage of the Early Warning System supports the analysis of phenological data and serves the results to those end users, including forest managers, the forest industry, and the public, who need to locate past, present, and potential forest disturbances. The main components of this stage include data-driven web tools, automated analysis processes, and end user training programs.

Development of computer software to analyze entire LANDSAT scenes and to summarize classification results of variable-size polygons

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, B. J. (Principal Investigator); Baumer, G. M.; Myers, W. L.; Sykes, S. G.

1981-01-01

The Forest Pest Management Division (FPMD) of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry has the responsibility for conducting annual surveys of the State's forest lands to accurately detect, map, and appraise forest insect infestations. A standardized, timely, and cost-effective method of accurately surveying forests and their condition should enhance the probability of suppressing infestations. The repetitive and synoptic coverage provided by LANDSAT (formerly ERTS) makes such satellite-derived data potentially attractive as a survey medium for monitoring forest insect damage over large areas. Forest Pest Management Division personnel have expressed keen interest in LANDSAT data and have informally cooperated with NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) since 1976 in the development of techniques to facilitate their use. The results of this work indicate that it may be feasible to use LANDSAT digital data to conduct annual surveys of insect defoliation of hardwood forests.

Climate-induced forest dieback: An escalating global phenomenon?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, Craig D.

2009-01-01

Forests, which today cover 30 percent of the world’s land surface (FAO, 2006), are being rapidly and directly transformed in many areas by the impacts of expanding human populations and economies. Less evident are the pervasive effects of ongoing climatic changes on the condition and status of forests around the world. Recent examples of drought and heat-related forest stress and dieback (defined here as tree mortality noticeably above usual mortality levels) are being documented from all forested continents, making it possible to begin to see global patterns. This article introduces these patterns and considers the possibility that many forests and woodlands today are at increasing risk of climate-induced dieback. A more comprehensive article (Allen et al., 2009) addresses this topic in considerably greater detail. While climate events can damage forests in many ways ranging from ice storms to tornadoes and hurricanes, the emphasis here is on climatic water stress, driven by drought and warm temperatures.

Strategy for the forest sector in sub Saharan Africa. World Bank technical paper; Strategie pour le secteur forestier en afrique subsaharienne

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sharma, N.P.; Rietbergen, S.; Heimo, C.R.

1995-12-31

Forest resources in Sub-Saharan Africa are disappearing at an alarming rate--the region witnessed a seven percent loss of its forest cover during the 1980s. The deforestation of tropical rain forests in West and Central Africa is occurring at a rate of two million hectares each year. The poor usually suffer the most in the short run--but it is the entire world community that suffers in the long run from the ensuing ecological damage. This strategy paper is one element of the World Bank`s process of addressing environmental issues and challenges. The paper adheres to the Bank`s forest policy adopted inmore » 1991, which reaffirms the Bank`s support for conservation and sustainable development of forest resources. The authors emphasize the importance of the symbiosis of forest resource management and socioeconomic development for the region.« less

The paradox of higher light tolerance during desiccation in rare old forest cyanolichens than in more widespread co-occurring chloro- and cephalolichens

PubMed Central

Gauslaa, Yngvar; Coxson, Darwyn S; Solhaug, Knut Asbjørn

2012-01-01

Desiccation tolerance was quantified in four cyanolichens (Lobaria hallii, Lobaria retigera, Lobaria scrobiculata, Pseudocyphellaria anomala), one cephalolichen (Lobaria pulmonaria) and one chlorolichen (Platismatia glauca) from xeric and mesic, open and closed North American boreal forests. These sympatric epiphytes were exposed to 0%, 33%, 55% and 75% relative humidity with or without medium light (200 μmol m−2 s−1) for 7 d. Permanent and temporary photoinhibitory damage was recorded as viability measures. All species tolerated well the drying in darkness, but L. hallii and L. retigera, associated with a very humid climate, showed minor damage at the hardest drying (silica gel). Simultaneous exposure to medium light severely aggravated the drying damage at all relative humidity levels. Combined drying–light exposure was particularly devastating for the widespread chloro- and cephalolichens, whereas cyanolichens, including rare old forest species, were fairly resistant. The ability to recover after combined drying–light stress (this study) correlated positively with increasing species-specific water holding capacities (from the literature). Cyanolichens, depending on liquid water and large internal water storage, probably require strong drying–light resistance to handle long periods between hydration events, whereas chlorolichens can regularly maintain their photosynthetic apparatus during frequent and rapid activation by humid air on clear mornings. PMID:22762452

Detection of spatio-temporal changes of Norway spruce forest stands in Ore Mountains using airborne hyperspectral imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Misurec, J.; Kopačková, V.; Lhotáková, Z.; Albrechtova, J.; Campbell, P. K. E.

2015-12-01

The Ore Mountains are an example of the region that suffered from severe environmental pollution caused by long-term coal mining and heavy industry leading to massive dieback of the local Norway spruce forests between the 1970's and 1990's. The situation became getting better at the end of 1990's after pollution loads significantly decreased. In 1998 and 2013, airborne hyperspectral data (with sensor ASAS and APEX, respectively) were used to study recovery of the originally damaged forest stands and compared them with those that have been less affected by environmental pollution. The field campaign (needle biochemical analysis, tree defoliation etc.) accompanied hyperspectral imagery acquisition. An analysis was conducted assessing a set of 16 vegetation indices providing complex information on foliage, biochemistry and canopy biophysics and structure. Five of them (NDVI, NDVI705, VOG1, MSR and TCARI/OSAVI) showing the best results were employed to study spatial gradients as well as temporal changes. The detected gradients are in accordance with ground truth data on representative trees. The obtained results indicate that the original significant differences between the damaged and undamaged stands have been generally levelled until 2013, although it is still possible to detect signs of the previous damages in several cases.

White-tailed deer impact on the vegetation dynamics of a northern hardwood forest

Treesearch

Stephen B. Horsley; Susan L. Stout; David S. deCalesta; David S. deCalesta

2003-01-01

Considerable controversy has arisen over the management of white-tailed deer in eastern landscapes where there is evidence of damage to forest vegetation, crops, and wildlife habitat attributable to deer. We examined the impact of 4, 8, 15, and 25 deer/km2 on herbaceous layer abundance and tree seedling density, height development, species composition, and diversity...

A severity rating system for evaluating stand-level balsam woolly adelgid (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) damage in two Abies species in western North America

Treesearch

Kathryn H. Hrinkevich; Robert A. Progar; David C. Shaw

2016-01-01

Severity rating systems are fundamental to understanding the impacts of disturbance agents in forest stands. The balsam woolly adelgid (BWA), Adelges piceae (Ratzeburg) (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), is an invasive forest pest in North America that infests and causes mortality in true fir, Abies spp. There is currently no single...

Review of literature on climate change and forest diseases of western North America

Treesearch

John T. Kliejunas; Brian W. Geils; Jessie Micales Glaeser; Ellen Michaels Goheen; Paul Hennon; Mee-Sook Kim; Harry Kope; Jeff Stone; Rona Sturrock; Susan J. Frankel

2009-01-01

A summary of the literature on relationships between climate and various types of tree diseases, and the potential effects of climate change on pathogens in western North American forests is provided. Climate change generally will lead to reductions in tree health and will improve conditions for some highly damaging pathogens. Sections on abiotic diseases, declines,...

Predicting the spread of all invasive forest pests in the United States

Treesearch

Emma J. Hudgins; Andrew M. Liebhold; Brian Leung; Regan Early

2017-01-01

We tested whether a general spread model could capture macroecological patterns across all damaging invasive forest pests in the United States. We showed that a common constant dispersal kernel model, simulated from the discovery date, explained 67.94% of the variation in range size across all pests, and had 68.00% locational accuracy between predicted and observed...

Natural canopy damage and the ecological restoration of fire-indicative groundcover vegetation in an oak-pine forest

Treesearch

J. Stephen Brewer

2016-01-01

An important goal of restoring fire to upland oak-dominated communities that have experienced fire exclusion is restoring groundcover plant species diversity and composition indicative of fire-maintained habitats. Several studies have shown that fire alone, however, may not be sufficient to accomplish this goal. Furthermore, treatment-driven declines in rare forest...

Pesticides Used in Forestry and Their Impacts on Water Quality

Treesearch

J.L. Michael

2001-01-01

Approximately 2.1 billion kg active ingredient (a.i.) of pesticides are used in the US annually. Of the 890 a.i.s registered, 20 account for more than 95% of the pesticide used in forest vegetation management. Forest vegetation management, in the broader context, includes such activities as plant protection from animal, insect, bacterial, and fimgal damage. It also...

Mapping host-species abundance of three major exotic forest pests

Treesearch

Randall S. Morin; Andrew M. Liebhold; Eugene R. Luzader; Andrew J. Lister; Kurt W. Gottschalk; Daniel B. Twardus

2005-01-01

Periodically over the last century, forests of the Eastern United States devastated by invasive pests. We used existing data to predict the geographical extent of future damage from beech bark disease (BBD), hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA), and gypsy moth. The distributions of host species of these alien pests were mapped in 1-km2 cells by interpolating host basal area/ha...

Deer damage in central hardwoods: a potential problem

Treesearch

Nancy G. Tilghman; David A. Marquis

1989-01-01

A major part of the diet of white-tailed deer consists of herbaceous plants, acorns, other tree fruits, and the twigs of trees and shrubs. Deer browsing on young tree seedlings can influence the success of regeneration in forest stands. Excessive deer browsing is not a major problem in the central hardwood forest type, except in parts of Pennsylvania and, to a lesser...

Seadust wildlife controllant and other techniques to protect forest plantations

Treesearch

Dan L. Campbell; Brooke K. Campbell; Clinton L. Campbell

2007-01-01

We briefly review some of the materials and methods used for reducing wildlife damage to forest crops. Many of these have also been used to protect Christmas trees, ornamentals, and other agricultural crops. Few chemicals have been effective as repellents, and few are exempted from registration by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Section 25(b) of the...

Effects of volcanic and hydrologic processes on forest vegetation: Chaitén Volcano, Chile

Treesearch

Frederick J. Swanson; Julia A. Jones; Charles M. Crisafulli; Antonio Lara

2013-01-01

The 2008-2009 eruption of Chaiten Volcano (Chile) involved a variety of volcanic and associated hydrologic processes that damaged nearby forests. These processes included coarse (gravel) and fine (silt to sand) tephra fall, a laterally directed blast, fluvial deposition of remobilized tephra, a variety of low-temperature mass-movement processes, and a pyroclastic flow...

Methods to reduce forest residue volume after timber harvesting and produce black carbon

Treesearch

Deborah S. Page-Dumroese; Matt D. Busse; James G. Archuleta; Darren McAvoy; Eric Roussel

2017-01-01

Forest restoration often includes thinning to reduce tree density and improve ecosystem processes and function while also reducing the risk of wildfire or insect and disease outbreaks. However, one drawback of these restoration treatments is that slash is often burned in piles that may damage the soil and require further restoration activities. Pile burning is...

1973 Mississippi River Flood's Impact on Natural Hardwood Forests and Plantations

Treesearch

H. E. Kennedy; R. M. Krinard

1974-01-01

Through October, the 1979 Mississippi River flood had not caused extensive damage to natural hardwood forests or plantations that were 1 year or older and had been flooded only during the first 2 months of the growing season. New plantings of cottonwood were virtually destroyed, however, and 1-year-old sweetgum, flooded about 9 months, was killed. All yellow-poplar...

Fuel treatment effectiveness in forests of the upper Atlantic Coastal Plain—an evaluation at two spatial scales

Treesearch

Roger D. Ottmar; Susan J. Prichard

2012-01-01

Fuel treatment effectiveness in Southern forests has been demonstrated using fire behavior modeling and observations of reduced wildfire area and tree damage. However, assessments of treatment effectiveness may be improved with a more rigorous accounting of the fuel characteristics. We present two case studies to introduce a relatively new approach to characterizing...

Changes in Patterns of Understory Leaf Phenology and Herbivory following Hurricane Damage.

Treesearch

Pilar Angulo-Sandoval; H. Fernandez-Marin; J. K. Zimmerman; T. M. Aide

2004-01-01

Hurricanes are important disturbance events in many forested ecosystems. They can have strong effects on both forest structure and animal populations, and yet few studies have considered the impacts on plant–animal interactions. Reduction of canopy cover by severe winds increases light availability to understory plants, providing an opportunity for increased growth. An...

Management adaptation to fires in the wildland-urban risk areas in Spain

Treesearch

Gema Herrero-Corral

2013-01-01

Forest fires not only cause damage to ecosystems but also result in major socio-economic losses and in the worst cases loss of human life. Specifically, the incidence of fires in the overlapping areas between building structures and forest vegetation (wildland-urban interface, WUI) generates highly-complex emergencies due to the presence of people and goods....

Early lessons from commercial thinning in a 30-year-old Sitka Spruce-Western Hemlock forest.

Treesearch

Sarah E. Greene; William H. Emmingham

1986-01-01

A commercial thinning study was undertaken in a 30-year-old stand, pre-commercially thinned at 15 years of age, at Cascade Head Experimental Forest on the Oregon coast. Measurements obtained after three different thinning treatments are presented and include stand volume, basal area, current growth rate, scar damage, crown ratio, and sapwood radius. Method of...

Increasing large scale windstorm damage in Western, Central and Northern European forests, 1951-2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gregow, H.; Laaksonen, A.; Alper, M. E.

2017-04-01

Using reports of forest losses caused directly by large scale windstorms (or primary damage, PD) from the European forest institute database (comprising 276 PD reports from 1951-2010), total growing stock (TGS) statistics of European forests and the daily North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, we identify a statistically significant change in storm intensity in Western, Central and Northern Europe (17 countries). Using the validated set of storms, we found that the year 1990 represents a change-point at which the average intensity of the most destructive storms indicated by PD/TGS > 0.08% increased by more than a factor of three. A likelihood ratio test provides strong evidence that the change-point represents a real shift in the statistical behaviour of the time series. All but one of the seven catastrophic storms (PD/TGS > 0.2%) occurred since 1990. Additionally, we detected a related decrease in September-November PD/TGS and an increase in December-February PD/TGS. Our analyses point to the possibility that the impact of climate change on the North Atlantic storms hitting Europe has started during the last two and half decades.

Increasing large scale windstorm damage in Western, Central and Northern European forests, 1951–2010

PubMed Central

Gregow, H.; Laaksonen, A.; Alper, M. E.

2017-01-01

Using reports of forest losses caused directly by large scale windstorms (or primary damage, PD) from the European forest institute database (comprising 276 PD reports from 1951–2010), total growing stock (TGS) statistics of European forests and the daily North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, we identify a statistically significant change in storm intensity in Western, Central and Northern Europe (17 countries). Using the validated set of storms, we found that the year 1990 represents a change-point at which the average intensity of the most destructive storms indicated by PD/TGS > 0.08% increased by more than a factor of three. A likelihood ratio test provides strong evidence that the change-point represents a real shift in the statistical behaviour of the time series. All but one of the seven catastrophic storms (PD/TGS > 0.2%) occurred since 1990. Additionally, we detected a related decrease in September–November PD/TGS and an increase in December–February PD/TGS. Our analyses point to the possibility that the impact of climate change on the North Atlantic storms hitting Europe has started during the last two and half decades. PMID:28401947

Vegetation cover and species richness after recurrent forest fires in the Eastern Mediterranean ecosystem of Mount Carmel, Israel.

PubMed

Tessler, Naama; Wittenberg, Lea; Greenbaum, Noam

2016-12-01

Fire is a common disturbance in Mediterranean ecosystems, and can have a destructive, influential, and even essential, effect on vegetation and wildlife. In recent decades there has been a general increase in the number of fires in the Mediterranean Basin, including in Mount Carmel, Israel. The effects of recurrent forest fires on vegetation cover and species richness were determined in the spring of 2009 and 2010 by field surveys. The results of this study showed that the vegetation cover changes after recurrent forest fires, and can serve as a good indicator of the influence of fire and the resulting ecosystem rehabilitation. The dominant cover in most fire-damaged areas was composed of shrubs and dwarf-shrubs, especially Cistus salviifolius and Calicotome villosa. Tree cover was severely damaged after recurrent fires, and in those areas there was a drastic decrease of the total plant cover. Species richness increased mainly in the first decade after the recurrent fires, and decreased when the forest canopy began to close. Fire recurrence with short intervals (4-6years) between fires may lower the rehabilitated processes of the ecosystem and change its equilibrium. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cross-country transferability of multi-variable damage models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagenaar, Dennis; Lüdtke, Stefan; Kreibich, Heidi; Bouwer, Laurens

2017-04-01

Flood damage assessment is often done with simple damage curves based only on flood water depth. Additionally, damage models are often transferred in space and time, e.g. from region to region or from one flood event to another. Validation has shown that depth-damage curve estimates are associated with high uncertainties, particularly when applied in regions outside the area where the data for curve development was collected. Recently, progress has been made with multi-variable damage models created with data-mining techniques, i.e. Bayesian Networks and random forest. However, it is still unknown to what extent and under which conditions model transfers are possible and reliable. Model validations in different countries will provide valuable insights into the transferability of multi-variable damage models. In this study we compare multi-variable models developed on basis of flood damage datasets from Germany as well as from The Netherlands. Data from several German floods was collected using computer aided telephone interviews. Data from the 1993 Meuse flood in the Netherlands is available, based on compensations paid by the government. The Bayesian network and random forest based models are applied and validated in both countries on basis of the individual datasets. A major challenge was the harmonization of the variables between both datasets due to factors like differences in variable definitions, and regional and temporal differences in flood hazard and exposure characteristics. Results of model validations and comparisons in both countries are discussed, particularly in respect to encountered challenges and possible solutions for an improvement of model transferability.

The Effect of Wind Exposure on the Web Characteristics of a Tetragnathid Orb Spider.

PubMed

Tew, Nicholas; Hesselberg, Thomas

2017-01-01

Studies on spiders in their natural habitats are necessary for determining the full range of plasticity in their web-building behaviour. Plasticity in web design is hypothesised to be important for spiders building in habitats where environmental conditions cause considerable web damage. Here we compared web characteristics of the orb spider Metellina mengei (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) in two different forest habitats differing in their wind exposure. We found a notable lack of differences in web geometry, orientation and inclination between webs built along an exposed forest edge and those built inside the forest, despite marked differences in wind speed. This suggests that M. mengei did not exhibit web-building plasticity in response to wind in the field, contrasting with the findings of laboratory studies on other species of orb spiders. Instead, differences in prey capture and wind damage trade-offs between habitats may provide an explanation for our results, indicating that different species employ different strategies to cope with environmental constraints.

Mice cause severe damage to Virginia pine reproduction

Treesearch

Thomas W., Jr. Church

1954-01-01

Heavy damage to a young Virginia pine stand was noticed recently on the Beltsville Experimental Forest in Maryland. The injury was confined to pine trees that had come in on an abandoned field. This reproduction ranged from 1 to 10 feet in height and had an average density of 19,000 per acre. Andropogon was the predominant ground vegetation.

Harvest operations for density management: planning requirements, production, costs, stand damage, and recommendations

Treesearch

Loren D. Kellogg; Stephen J. Pilkerton

2013-01-01

Since the early 1990s, several studies have been undertaken to determine the planning requirements, productivity, costs, and residual stand damage of harvest operations in thinning treatments designed to promote development of complex forest structure in order to enhance ecological functioning and biological diversity. Th ese studies include the Oregon State...

Estimating the probability of mountain pine beetle red-attack damage

Treesearch

Michael A Wulder; J. C. White; Barbara J Bentz; M. F. Alvarez; N. C. Coops

2006-01-01

Accurate spatial information on the location and extent of mountain pine beetle infestation is critical for the planning of mitigation and treatment activities. Areas of mixed forest and variable terrain present unique challenges for the detection and mapping of mountain pine beetle red-attack damage, as red-attack has a more heterogeneous distribution under these...

A Review of Techniques for Minimizing Beaver and White-Tailed Deer Damage in Southern Hardwoods

Treesearch

Edward P. Hill; Douglas N. Lasher; R. Blake Roper

1978-01-01

Methods of reducing beaver and deer damage to hardwood forest resources are reviewed. Beaver controls considered were poisons, chemosterilants, predators, and trapping. Population reduction through trapping with 330 conibear traps for two weeks during two successive years effectively eliminates beaver from small watersheds and shows greater promise for control than...

Irrigation and Fertilization Effects on Nantucket Pine Tip Moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) Damage Levels and Pupal Weight in an Intensively-Managed Pine Plantation

Treesearch

David R. Coyle; John T. Nowak; Christopher J. Fettig

2003-01-01

The widespread application of intensive forest management practices throughout the southeastern U.S. has increased loblolly pine, pinus taeda L., yields and shortened conventional rotation lengths. Fluctuations in Nantucket pine tip moth, Rhyacionia frustrana (Comstock), population density and subsequent damage levels have been...

Relative Impacts of Ice Storms on Loblolly Pine Plantations in Central Arkansas

Treesearch

Don C. Bragg; Michael G. Shelton; Eric Heitzman

2004-01-01

Catastrophic ice storms can inflict widespread damage to forests in the Southeastern United States. Two severe ice storms struck Arkansas in December 2000, resulting in heavy losses to loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations. We assessed the type and magnitude of damage in four loblolly pine plantation conditions: unthinned 11- to 12-year-old...

Airborne Detection of Southern Pine Beetle Damage Using Key Spectral Bands

Treesearch

Gregory A. Carter; Michael R. Seal; Tim Haley

1998-01-01

Damage by the southern pine beetle(SPB) (Dendroctonus frontalis Zimm.) occurs frequently in the southeastern United States and can result in tree death over large areas. A new technique for detection of SPB activity was tested for shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) in the Caney Creek Wilderness, Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas. Digital images...

Reconstructing patterns of temperature, phenology, and frost damage over 124 years: spring damage risk is increasing.

PubMed

Augspurger, Carol K

2013-01-01

Climate change, with both warmer spring temperatures and greater temperature fluctuations, has altered phenologies, possibly leading to greater risk of spring frost damage to temperate deciduous woody plants. Phenological observations of 20 woody species from 1993 to 2012 in Trelease Woods, Champaign County, Illinois, USA, were used to identify years with frost damage to vegetative and reproductive phases. Local temperature records were used in combination with the phenological observations to determine what combinations of the two were associated with damage. Finally, a long-term temperature record (1889-1992) was evaluated to determine if the frequency of frost damage has risen in recent decades. Frost < or = -1.7 degrees C occurred after bud-break in 14 of the 20 years of observation. Frost damage occurred in five years in the interior and in three additional years at only the forest edge. The degree of damage varied with species, life stage, tissue (vegetative or reproductive), and phenological phase. Common features associated with the occurrence of damage to interior plants were (1) a period of unusual warm temperatures in March, followed by (2) a frost event in April with a minimum temperature < or = -6.1 degrees C with (3) a period of 16-33 days between the extremes. In the long-term record, 10 of 124 years met these conditions, but the yearly probability of frost damage increased significantly, from 0.03 during 1889-1979 to 0.21 during 1980-2012. When the criteria were "softened" to < or = -1.7 degrees C in April and an interval of 16-37 days, 31 of 124 years met the conditions, and the yearly damage probability increased significantly to 0.19 for 1889-1979 and 0.42 for 1980-2012. In this forest, the combination of warming trends and temperature variability (extremes) associated with climate change is having ecologically important effects, making previously rare frost damage events more common.

The hydrological modeling in terms of determining the potential European beaver effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szostak, Marta; Jagodzińska, Jadwiga

2017-06-01

The objective of the paper was the hydrological analysis, in terms of categorizing main watercourses (based on coupled catchments) and marking areas covered by potential impact of the occurrence and activities of the European beaver Castor fiber. At the analysed area - the Forest District Głogów Małopolski there is a population of about 200 beavers in that Forest District. Damage inflicted by beavers was detected on 33.0 ha of the Forest District, while in the area of 13.9 ha the damage was small (below 10%). The monitoring of the beavers' behaviour and the analysis of their influence on hydrology of the area became an important element of using geoinformationtools in the management of forest areas. ArcHydro ArcGIS Esri module was applied, as an integrated set of tools for hydrographical analysis and modelling. Further steps of the procedure are hydrologic analyses such as: marking river networks on the DTM, filling holes, making maps of the flow direction, making the map of the accumulation flow, defining and segmentation of streams, marking elementary basins, marking coupled basins, making dams in the places, where beavers occur and localization of the area with a visible impact of damming. The result of the study includes maps prepared for the Forest District: the map of main rivers and their basins, categories of watercourses and compartments particularly threatened by beaver's foraging.

Assessing the Impacts of forest degradation on water, energy, and carbon budgets in Amazon forest using the Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, M.; Xu, Y.; Longo, M.; Keller, M.; Knox, R. G.; Koven, C.; Fisher, R.

2017-12-01

Tropical forest degradation from logging, fire, and fragmentation not only alters carbon stocks and carbon fluxes, but also impacts physical land-surface properties such as albedo and roughness length. Such impacts are poorly quantified to date due to difficulties in accessing and maintaining observational infrastructures, and the lack of proper modeling tools for capturing the interactions among biophysical properties, ecosystem demography, and biogeochemical cycling in tropical forests. As a first step to address these limitations, we implemented a selective logging module into the Functional Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator (FATES) and parameterized the model to reproduce the selective logging experiment at the Tapajos National Forest in Brazil. The model was spun up until it reached the steady state, and simulations with and without logging were compared with the eddy covariance flux towers located at the logged and intact sites. The sensitivity of simulated water, energy, and carbon fluxes to key plant functional traits (e.g. Vcmax and leaf longevity) were quantified by perturbing their values within their documented ranges. Our results suggest that the model can reproduce water and carbon fluxes in intact forests, although sensible heat fluxes were overestimated. The effects of logging intensity and techniques on fluxes were assessed by specifying different disturbance parameters in the models (e.g., size-dependent mortality rates associated with timber harvest, collateral damage, and mechanical damage for infrastructure construction). The model projections suggest that even though the degraded forests rapidly recover water and energy fluxes compared with old-growth forests, the recovery times for carbon stocks, forest structure and composition are much longer. In addition, the simulated recovery trajectories are highly dependent on choices of values for functional traits. Our study highlights the advantages of an Earth system modeling approach, constrained by observations, to quantify the complex interactions among forest degradation, ecosystem recovery, climate, and environmental factors. Our results also show the urgent need to improve the representations of key mechanisms and traits to better capture forest degradation dynamics in Earth System Models.

Effects of a windthrow disturbance on the carbon balance of a broadleaf deciduous forest in Hokkaido, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamanoi, K.; Mizoguchi, Y.; Utsugi, H.

2015-12-01

Forests play an important role in the terrestrial carbon balance, with most being in a carbon sequestration stage. The net carbon releases that occur result from forest disturbance, and windthrow is a typical disturbance event affecting the forest carbon balance in eastern Asia. The CO2 flux has been measured using the eddy covariance method in a deciduous broadleaf forest (Japanese white birch, Japanese oak, and castor aralia) in Hokkaido, where incidental damage by the strong Typhoon Songda in 2004 occurred. We also used the biometrical method to demonstrate the CO2 flux within the forest in detail. Damaged trees amounted to 40 % of all trees, and they remained on site where they were not extracted by forest management. Gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (Re), and net ecosystem production were 1350, 975, and 375 g C m-2 yr-1 before the disturbance and 1262, 1359, and -97 g C m-2 yr-1 2 years after the disturbance, respectively. Before the disturbance, the forest was an evident carbon sink, and it subsequently transformed into a net carbon source. Because of increased light intensity at the forest floor, the leaf area index and biomass of the undergrowth (Sasa kurilensis and S. senanensis) increased by factors of 2.4 and 1.7, respectively, in 3 years subsequent to the disturbance. The photosynthesis of Sasa increased rapidly and contributed to the total GPP after the disturbance. The annual GPP only decreased by 6 % just after the disturbance. On the other hand, the annual Re increased by 39 % mainly because of the decomposition of residual coarse-wood debris. The carbon balance after the disturbance was controlled by the new growth and the decomposition of residues. The forest management, which resulted in the dead trees remaining at the study site, strongly affected the carbon balance over the years. When comparing the carbon uptake efficiency at the study site with that at others, including those with various kinds of disturbances, we emphasized the importance of forest management as well as disturbance type in the carbon balance.

The use of Forest Service experimental forests and ranges for long-term research on invasive species

Treesearch

Ralph Holiday Crawford; Gary W. Miller

2010-01-01

The 81 experimental forests and ranges (EFRs) research sites make the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service unique among land management agencies. The EFRs were established for conducting applied research that serves as a basis for managing forests and rangelands. Most EFR research sites have long histories of experimentation and research that provide...

Ontogenetic and temporal variations in herbivory and defense of Handroanthus spongiosus (Bignoniaceae) in a Brazilian tropical dry forest.

PubMed

Oliveira, Karla N; Espírito-Santo, Mário M; Silva, Jhonathan O; Melo, Geraldo A

2012-06-01

We compared the richness and abundance of free-feeding herbivore insects (sap-sucking and leaf-chewing), leaf herbivory damage, leaf toughness and total phenolic content between two ontogenetic stages (juvenile and reproductive) of Handroanthus spongiosus (Rizzini) S. O. Grose (Bignoniaceae) throughout the rainy season in a Brazilian seasonally dry tropical forest. Twenty marked individuals of H. spongiosus were sampled per ontogenetic stage in each period of the rainy season (beginning, middle, and end). Herbivore richness and abundance did not differ between ontogenetic stages, but higher percentage of leaf damage, higher concentration of phenolic compounds, and lower leaf toughness were observed for juvenile individuals. The greatest morphospecies abundance was found at the beginning of the rainy season, but folivory increment was higher at the end, despite the fact that leaf toughness and total phenolic content increased in the same period. No significant relationships between leaf damage and both total phenolic content and leaf toughness were observed. These results suggest that insect richness and abundance do not track changes in foliage quality throughout plant ontogeny, but their decrease along rainy season confirms what was predicted for tropical dry forests. The general trends described in the current study corroborate those described in the literature about herbivores and plant ontogeny. However, the lack of relationship between herbivore damage and the two plant attributes considered here indicates that the analyses of multiple defensive traits (the defense syndrome) must be more enlightening to determine the mechanisms driving temporal and spatial patterns of herbivore attack.

Investigation of the detection and monitoring of forest insect infestation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, R. C. (Principal Investigator)

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Results of analysis of ERTS-1 color composites made by NASA from MSS bands 4, 5, and 7, frame #1055-18055 at a scale of 1:1,000,000 indicate that forests damaged by insects can be delineated and mapped from areas with no damage; and at this same scale other details detected include timbered and nontimbered areas, pasture and agricultural land, deserts, lakes, mountain meadows, riparian vegetation, rock domes, old burned areas, and major stream courses. Enlargements from the above to a scale of 1:80,000 have improved detectibility to the point that three degrees of timber mortality can be identified and mapped.

Comparison of in situ measurements of forest decline symptoms in Vermont (USA) and the Schwarzwald (FRG)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rock, B. N.; Hoshizaki, T.; Lichtenthaler, H.; Schmuck, G.

1986-01-01

Field analyses were conducted at spruce/fir sites in the U.S. and Germany undergoing forest decline. Data gathered from common branch samples included reflectance curves, fluorescence measurements, and pigment concentrations. Similar reflectance signatures are seen for specimens from all sites. Reflectance spectra from specimens collected from high damage sites in both countries show a characteristic reflectance drop in the near infrared and a shift (5 nm) of the red edge to shorter wavelengths. Fluorescence data suggest altered state of health of photosynthetic pigments only in specimens from German high damage sites, and pigment extraction and analysis indicate a reduction in total chlorophyll, a decrease in chlorophyll b when compared with chlorophyll a, and a relative increase in carotenoids.

Spaceborne Applications of P Band Imaging Radars for Measuring Forest Biomass

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rignot, Eric J.; Zimmermann, Reiner; vanZyl, Jakob J.

1995-01-01

In three sites of boreal and temperate forests, P band HH, HV, and VV polarization data combined estimate total aboveground dry woody biomass within 12 to 27% of the values derived from allometric equations, depending on forest complexity. Biomass estimates derived from HV-polarization data only are 2 to 14% less accurate. When the radar operates at circular polarization, the errors exceed 100% over flooded forests, wet or damaged trees and sparse open tall forests because double-bounce reflections of the radar signals yield radar signatures similar to that of tall and massive forests. Circular polarizations, which minimize the effect of Faraday rotation in spaceborne applications, are therefore of limited use for measuring forest biomass. In the tropical rain forest of Manu, in Peru, where forest biomass ranges from 4 kg/sq m in young forest succession up to 50 kg/sq m in old, undisturbed floodplain stands, the P band horizontal and vertical polarization data combined separate biomass classes in good agreement with forest inventory estimates. The worldwide need for large scale, updated, biomass estimates, achieved with a uniformly applied method, justifies a more in-depth exploration of multi-polarization long wavelength imaging radar applications for tropical forests inventories.

Northwest research experimental forests: A hundred years in the making

Treesearch

Theresa B. Jain

2015-01-01

Over the past 100 years, experimental forests and ranges (forests) have supported research that produced long-term knowledge about our forests and ranges, and their resources. These forests are living laboratories and are rare assets that serve as places to conduct forest research to meet society’s natural resource needs.

Ecotoxicological damage from zinc smelting at Palmerton, Pennsylvania

USGS Publications Warehouse

Beyer, W. Nelson; Storm, Gerald L.; Hoffman, David J.; Rattner, Barnett A.; Burton, G. Allen; Cairns, John

1995-01-01

The two zinc smelters at Palmerton, PA emitted huge amounts of contaminants ( 260,000 t of Zn, 3,300 t of Cd, 6,800 t of Pb) to the air and severely damaged the forest on Blue Mountain. The high Zn concentrations in soil killed tree seedlings by inhibiting root elongation. The result was a forest with too few young trees. When natural stresses such as fire challenged the forest, the forest failed to regenerate, and the exposed soil eroded down the steep slopes. Tree species that could sprout were favored over those that developed from seeds. As a result of high zinc concentrations, the lichen and moss communities were depauperate for at least 20 km along Blue Mountain. The denuded areas are in the process of being reclaimed with the addition of a mixture of fly ash and sewage sludge, which is seeded with grasses tolerant to the harsh conditions. In preliminary experiments, the fly ash and sewage sludge mixture was stable, despite the steepness of the slopes of the reclaimed sites on Blue Mountain. Zinc emissions reduced the decomposition rate of plant material on Blue Mountain. The partially decomposed litter, in particular, accumulated on the surface of the mineral soil. The populations of both microorganisms and arthropods were greatly reduced in soils near the smelters. Samples of litter collected from sites spanning 30 km were toxic to woodlice, and Zn was shown to be the toxic factor. A white-tailed deer examined had a very high renal Zn concentration and an articular lesion in one of its hind legs that closely resembled the lesions reported in Zn-poisoned horses. Zinc concentrations were regulated in wildlife tissues and were not reliable indicators of exposure, except in extreme cases. Two songbirds, a shrew, and several rabbits contained Pb concentrations that were suggested to be toxic. Shrews and ground-feeding songbirds accumulated relatively high concentrations of Pb. Exposure to Pb seemed to be related to the amount of soil that an animal ingests. Some white-tailed deer and cottontails had renal Cd concentrations near 600 ppm w.w., which is associated with renal damage in other mammals. The accumulation of Cd was greatest in wildlife that lived longest. The destruction of the habitat for wildlife on Blue Mountain decreased wildlife populations. Populations of insectivorous birds, however, were depressed well beyond the area of obvious damage to the forest. Forest-floor salamanders were completely absent from study sites spanning 18 km along Blue Mountain. Actual reductions in wildlife populations were much greater than would have been predicted from habitat suitability models alone.

Comparing models for growth and management of forest tracts

Treesearch

J.J. Colbert; Michael Schuckers; Desta Fekedulegn

2003-01-01

The Stand Damage Model (SDM) is a PC-based model that is easily installed, calibrated and initialized for use in exploring the future growth and management of forest stands or small wood lots. We compare the basic individual tree growth model incorporated in this model with alternative models that predict the basal area growth of trees. The SDM is a gap-type simulator...

Live plant imports: the major pathway for forest insect and pathogen invasions of the US

Treesearch

Andrew M. Liebhold; Eckehard G. Brockerhoff; Lynn J. Garrett; Jennifer L. Parke

2012-01-01

Trade in live plants has been recognized worldwide as an important invasion pathway for non-native plant pests. Such pests can have severe economic and ecological consequences. Nearly 70% of damaging forest insects and pathogens established in the US between 1860 and 2006 most likely entered on imported live plants. The current regulation of plant imports is outdated...

DNA-based identification of Armillaria isolates from peach orchards in Mexico state

Treesearch

Ruben Damian Elias Roman; Ned B. Klopfenstein; Dionicio Alvarado Rosales; Mee-Sook Kim; Anna E. Case; Sara M. Ashiglar; John W. Hanna; Amy L. Ross-Davis; Remigio A. Guzman Plazola

2012-01-01

A collaborative project between the Programa de Fitopatología, Colegio de Postgraduados, Texcoco, Estado de Mexico and the USDA Forest Service - RMRS, Moscow Forest Pathology Laboratory has begun this year (2011) to assess which species of Armillaria are causing widespread and severe damage to the peach orchards from México state, Mexico. We are employing a DNA-based...