Amounts and spatial distribution of downed woody debris, snags, windthrow, and forest floor mass within streamside management zones occurring in shortleaf pine stands five years after harvesting

Treesearch

Hal Liechty

2007-01-01

Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) is a dominant tree species in pine and pine-hardwood forest communities located on ridges and upper- to mid-slope positions in the Ouachita Mountains. The stream reaches located in these stands flow infrequently and are classified as ephemeral or intermittent, have low stream orders, and have relatively narrow...

Quantifying the coarse-root biomass of intensively managed loblolly pine plantations

Treesearch

Ashley T. Miller; H. Lee Allen; Chris A. Maier

2006-01-01

Most of the carbon accumulation during a forest rotation is in plant biomass and the forest floor. Most of the belowground biomass in older loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) forests is in coarse roots, and coarse roots persist longer after harvest than aboveground biomass and fine roots. The main objective was to assess the carbon accumulation in coarse...

Quantifying the coarse-root biomass of intensively managed loblolly pine plantations

Treesearch

Ashley T. Miller; H. Lee Allen; Chris A. Maier

2006-01-01

Most of the carbon accumulation during a forest rotation is in plant biomass and the forest floor. Most of the belowground biomass in older loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) forests is in coarse roots, and coarse roots ersist longer after harvest than aboveground biomass and fine oots. The main objective was to assess the carbon accumulation in coarse...

Pinus sylvestris as a missing source of nitrous oxide and methane in boreal forest.

PubMed

Machacova, Katerina; Bäck, Jaana; Vanhatalo, Anni; Halmeenmäki, Elisa; Kolari, Pasi; Mammarella, Ivan; Pumpanen, Jukka; Acosta, Manuel; Urban, Otmar; Pihlatie, Mari

2016-03-21

Boreal forests comprise 73% of the world's coniferous forests. Based on forest floor measurements, they have been considered a significant natural sink of methane (CH4) and a natural source of nitrous oxide (N2O), both of which are important greenhouse gases. However, the role of trees, especially conifers, in ecosystem N2O and CH4 exchange is only poorly understood. We show for the first time that mature Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) trees consistently emit N2O and CH4 from both stems and shoots. The shoot fluxes of N2O and CH4 exceeded the stem flux rates by 16 and 41 times, respectively. Moreover, higher stem N2O and CH4 fluxes were observed from wet than from dry areas of the forest. The N2O release from boreal pine forests may thus be underestimated and the uptake of CH4 may be overestimated when ecosystem flux calculations are based solely on forest floor measurements. The contribution of pine trees to the N2O and CH4 exchange of the boreal pine forest seems to increase considerably under high soil water content, thus highlighting the urgent need to include tree-emissions in greenhouse gas emission inventories.

Reduction of forest floor respiration by fertilization on both carbon dioxide-enriched and reference 17-year-old loblolly pine stands

Treesearch

John R. Butnor; Kurt H. Johnsen; Ram Oren; Gabriel G. Katul

2003-01-01

Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2e) increases soil respiration rates in forest, grassland, agricultural and wetland systems as a result of increased growth, root biomass and enhanced biological activity of soil microorganisms. Less is known about how forest floor fluxes respond to the combined effects of elevated CO...

Fuel loadings in southwestern ecosystems of the United States

Treesearch

Stephen S. Sackett; Sally M Haase

1996-01-01

Natural forest fuel loadings cause extreme fire behavior during dry, windy weather experienced during most fire seasons in the Southwest. Fire severity is also exacerbated from burning heavy fuels, including heavy humus layers on the forest floor. Ponderosa pine and mixed conifer stands possess more than 21.7 and 44.1 tons per acre of total forest floor fuel,...

Growth of eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) related to forest floor consumption by prescribed fire in the Southern Appalachians

Treesearch

Katherine J. Elliott; James M. Vose; Barton D. Clinton

2002-01-01

Chainsaw felling, burning, and planting of eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) have been prescribed on degraded pine/hardwood stands in the Southern Appalachians to improve overstory composition and productivity. The desired future condition of the overstory is a productive pine/hardwood mixture, with white pine, which is resistant to southern pine...

Rates of forest floor decomposition and nutrient turnover in aspen, pine, and spruce stands on two soils.

Treesearch

D. A. Perala; D.H. Alban

1982-01-01

Compares rates of forest floor decomposition and nutrient turnover in aspen and conifers. These rates were generally most rapid under aspen, slowest under spruce, and more rapid on a loamy fine sand than on a very fine sandy loam. Compares results with literature values.

Forest Floor CO2 Flux From Two Contrasting Ecosystems in the Southern Appalachians

Treesearch

James M. Vose; Barton D. Clinton; Verl Emrick

1995-01-01

We measured forest floor CO2 flux in two contrasting ecosystems (white pine plantation and northern hardwood ecosystems at low and high elevations, respectively) in May and September 1993 to quantify differences and determine factors regulating CO2 fluxes. An automated IRGA based, flow through system was used with chambers...

Impact of prescribed fire on understory and forest floor nutrients

Treesearch

Walter A. Hough

1981-01-01

The impact of low-intensity prescribed fires on slash pine/saw-palmetto/gallberry understory and forest floor nutrients was estimated from measurements before and after burning. Highly significant correlations existed between weight loss of these fuel components and the weight loss of several elements. Energy loss was also highly correlated with forestfloor and...

Forest floor leachate fluxes under six different tree species on a metal contaminated site.

PubMed

Van Nevel, Lotte; Mertens, Jan; De Schrijver, An; Baeten, Lander; De Neve, Stefaan; Tack, Filip M G; Meers, Erik; Verheyen, Kris

2013-03-01

Trees play an important role in the biogeochemical cycling of metals, although the influence of different tree species on the mobilization of metals is not yet clear. This study examined effects of six tree species on fluxes of Cd, Zn, DOC, H(+) and base cations in forest floor leachates on a metal polluted site in Belgium. Forest floor leachates were sampled with zero-tension lysimeters in a 12-year-old post-agricultural forest on a sandy soil. The tree species included were silver birch (Betula pendula), oak (Quercus robur and Q. petraea), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), aspen (Populus tremula), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). We show that total Cd fluxes in forest floor leachate under aspen were slightly higher than those in the other species' leachates, yet the relative differences between the species were considerably smaller when looking at dissolved Cd fluxes. The latter was probably caused by extremely low H(+) amounts leaching from aspen's forest floor. No tree species effect was found for Zn leachate fluxes. We expected higher metal leachate fluxes under aspen as its leaf litter was significantly contaminated with Cd and Zn. We propose that the low amounts of Cd and Zn leaching under aspen's forest floor were possibly caused by high activity of soil biota, for example burrowing earthworms. Furthermore, our results reveal that Scots pine and oak were characterized by high H(+) and DOC fluxes as well as low base cation fluxes in their forest floor leachates, implying that those species might enhance metal mobilization in the soil profile and thus bear a potential risk for belowground metal dispersion. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Lessons learned from fire use for restoring southwestern ponderosa pine ecosystems

Treesearch

Stephen S. Sackett; Sally M. Haase; Michael G. Harrington

1996-01-01

Since European settlement, the southwestern ponderosa pine ecosystem has experienced large scale alterations brought about by heavy grazing and timbering and a policy of attempted fire exclusion. These alterations are most evident as large increases in tree numbers and in forest floor organic matter. These changes have resulted in forest health problems, such...

6. FRONT PORCH AND GABLE SHOWING PINE TREE SILHOUETTE, TIMBER ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

6. FRONT PORCH AND GABLE SHOWING PINE TREE SILHOUETTE, TIMBER SUPPORTS, AND STONE PORCH FLOOR, TO NORTHWEST - U.S. Forest Service Chelan Ranger Station, Main Office, 428 West Woodin Avenue, Chelan, Chelan County, WA

Effects of prescribed fire on conditions inside a Cuban parrot (Amazona Leucocephala) surrogate nesting cavity on Great Abaco, Bahamas

Treesearch

Joseph O' Brien; Caroline Stahala; Gina P. Mori; Mac Callaham; Chris M. Bergh

2006-01-01

Cuban Parrots (Amazona leucocephala) on the island of Great Abaco in the Bahamas forage and nest in native pine forests. The population is unique in that the birds nest in limestone solution holes on the forest floor. Bahamian pine forests are fire-dependent with a frequent surface fire regime. The effects of fire on the parrots, especially while nesting, are not well...

Specific gravity relationships in plantation-grown red pine

Treesearch

Gregory Baker; James E. Shottafer

1968-01-01

Norway or red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) has been popular in Maine for forest planting because it will rapidly convert grass and weed cover to a forest floor and because it is relatively free from attack by insects and diseases. Since the first commercial thinnings consist of small-sized trees, the most logical market outlet is for pulpwood. Yield of...

Influence on soil properties of prescribed burning under mature red pine.

Treesearch

1977-01-01

Prescribed fires in mature red pine stands reduced shrub competition and the organic layer thickness. The fires reduced nutrient in the forest floor, increased them in the mineral soil, but had no effect on overstory growth.

The response of ecosystem carbon pools to management approaches in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vogel, J. G.; Bacon, A. R.; Bracho, R. G.; Gonzalez-Benecke, C. A.; Fox, T. D.; Laviner, M. A.; Kane, M.; Burkhart, H.; Martin, T.; Will, R.; Ross, C. W.; Grunwald, S.; Jokela, E. J.; Meek, C.

2016-12-01

Extending from Virginia to east Texas in the southeastern United States, managed pine plantations are an important component of the region's carbon cycle. An objective of the Pine Integrated Network: Education, Mitigation, and Adaptation project (PINEMAP) is to improve estimates of how ecosystem carbon pools respond to the management strategies used to increase the growth of loblolly pine plantations. Experimental studies (108 total) that have been used to understand plantation productivity and stand dynamics by university-forest industry cooperatives were measured for the carbon stored in the trees, roots, coarse-wood, detritus in soil, forest floor, understory and soils to 1-meter. The age of the studied plantations ranged from 4-26 years at the time of sampling, with 26 years very near the period when these plantations are commonly harvested. Across all study sites, 455 experimental plots were measured. The average C storage across all pools, sites, and treatments was 192 Mg C ha-1, with the average percentage of the total coming from soil (44%), tree biomass (40%), forest floor (8%), root (5%), soil detritus (2%), understory biomass (1%), and coarse-wood (<1%) pools. Plots had as a treatment either fertilization, competition control, and stand density control (thinning), and every possible combination of treatments including `no treatment'. A paired plot analysis was used where two plots at a site were examined for relative differences caused by a single treatment and these differences averaged across the region. Thinning as a stand-alone treatment significantly reduced forest floor mass by 60%, and the forest floor in the thinned plus either competition control or fertilization was 18.9% and 19.2% less, respectively, than unthinned stands combined with the same treatments. Competition control increased C storage in tree biomass by 12% and thinning decreased tree biomass by 32%. Thinning combined with fertilization had lower soil carbon (0-1 m) than unthinned-fertilized plots (22%), although the replication for this combination was relatively low (n=6). Overall these results suggest that maintaining higher tree densities increases ecosystem carbon storage across multiple pools of C in loblolly pine plantations.

Forest Floor, Soil, andVegetation Responses to Sludge Fertilization in Red and White Pine Plantations

Treesearch

D.G. Brockway

1983-01-01

An undigested, nutrient-enriched papermill sludge applied to a 40-year-old red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) plantation at rates of 4, 8, 16, and 32 Mg/ha resulted in nitrogen application rates of 282, 565, 1130, and 2260 kg/ha.An anaerobically digested municipal sludge applied to a 36-year-old red pine and white pine (Pinus strobus L....

Changes in soil fertility following prescribed burning on Coastal Plain pine sites

Treesearch

William H. McKee

1982-01-01

Soil and forest floor samples were collected from four prescribed burning studies in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains. The surface textures of soils ranged from sands to silt loams and the drainage classes from well to poorly drained. Burning treatments had been in force from 8 to 65 years. Reduction of the forest floor and its chemical constituents was related to...

Fire Ecology of Seeds from Rubus Spp.: A Competitor During Natural Pine Regeneration

Treesearch

Michael D. Cain; Michael G. Shelton

1999-01-01

Air-dried blackbeny (Rubus spp.) fruits were placed at three depths in a reconstructed forest floor and subjected to a simulated prescribed summer bum. Within the forest floor, fruits were placed on the L layer, at the upper-F/lower-F interface, and at the lower-F/mineral-soil interface. Wind for a headfire was generated by electric boxfans....

Acute physiological stress and mortality following fire in a long-unburned longleaf pine ecosystem

Treesearch

J.J. O’Brien; J.K. Hiers; R.J. Mitchell; J.M. Varner; K. Mordecai

2010-01-01

One important legacy of fire exclusion in ecosystems dependent upon frequent fire is the development of organic soil horizons (forest floor) that can be colonized by fine roots. When fire is re-introduced, the forest floor is often consumed by fire and heavy overstory mortality, often delayed by months, results. We hypothesized that the delayed post-fire tree mortality...

Wildfire effects on a ponderosa pine ecosystem: An Arizona case study

Treesearch

R. E. Campbell; Jr. Baker; P. F. Ffolliott; F. R. Larson; C. C. Avery

1977-01-01

A wildfire of variable severity swept through 717 acres (290 ha) of ponderosa pine forest in north-central Arizona in May 1972. Where the fire was intense it killed 90% of the small trees and 50% of the sawtimber, burned 2.6 in (6.5 cm) of forest floor to the mineral soil, and induced a water-repellent layer in the sandier soils. The reduced infiltration rates, which...

Patterns of biomass and carbon distribution across a chronosequence of Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) forests.

PubMed

Zhao, Jinlong; Kang, Fengfeng; Wang, Luoxin; Yu, Xiaowen; Zhao, Weihong; Song, Xiaoshuai; Zhang, Yanlei; Chen, Feng; Sun, Yu; He, Tengfei; Han, Hairong

2014-01-01

Patterns of biomass and carbon (C) storage distribution across Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) natural secondary forests are poorly documented. The objectives of this study were to examine the biomass and C pools of the major ecosystem components in a replicated age sequence of P. tabulaeformis secondary forest stands in Northern China. Within each stand, biomass of above- and belowground tree, understory (shrub and herb), and forest floor were determined from plot-level investigation and destructive sampling. Allometric equations using the diameter at breast height (DBH) were developed to quantify plant biomass. C stocks in the tree and understory biomass, forest floor, and mineral soil (0-100 cm) were estimated by analyzing the C concentration of each component. The results showed that the tree biomass of P. tabulaeformis stands was ranged from 123.8 Mg·ha-1 for the young stand to 344.8 Mg·ha-1 for the mature stand. The understory biomass ranged from 1.8 Mg·ha-1 in the middle-aged stand to 3.5 Mg·ha-1 in the young stand. Forest floor biomass increased steady with stand age, ranging from 14.9 to 23.0 Mg·ha-1. The highest mean C concentration across the chronosequence was found in tree branch while the lowest mean C concentration was found in forest floor. The observed C stock of the aboveground tree, shrub, forest floor, and mineral soil increased with increasing stand age, whereas the herb C stock showed a decreasing trend with a sigmoid pattern. The C stock of forest ecosystem in young, middle-aged, immature, and mature stands were 178.1, 236.3, 297.7, and 359.8 Mg C ha-1, respectively, greater than those under similar aged P. tabulaeformis forests in China. These results are likely to be integrated into further forest management plans and generalized in other contexts to evaluate C stocks at the regional scale.

Patterns of Biomass and Carbon Distribution across a Chronosequence of Chinese Pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) Forests

PubMed Central

Wang, Luoxin; Yu, Xiaowen; Zhao, Weihong; Song, Xiaoshuai; Zhang, Yanlei; Chen, Feng; Sun, Yu; He, Tengfei; Han, Hairong

2014-01-01

Patterns of biomass and carbon (C) storage distribution across Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) natural secondary forests are poorly documented. The objectives of this study were to examine the biomass and C pools of the major ecosystem components in a replicated age sequence of P. tabulaeformis secondary forest stands in Northern China. Within each stand, biomass of above- and belowground tree, understory (shrub and herb), and forest floor were determined from plot-level investigation and destructive sampling. Allometric equations using the diameter at breast height (DBH) were developed to quantify plant biomass. C stocks in the tree and understory biomass, forest floor, and mineral soil (0–100 cm) were estimated by analyzing the C concentration of each component. The results showed that the tree biomass of P. tabulaeformis stands was ranged from 123.8 Mg·ha–1 for the young stand to 344.8 Mg·ha–1 for the mature stand. The understory biomass ranged from 1.8 Mg·ha–1 in the middle-aged stand to 3.5 Mg·ha–1 in the young stand. Forest floor biomass increased steady with stand age, ranging from 14.9 to 23.0 Mg·ha–1. The highest mean C concentration across the chronosequence was found in tree branch while the lowest mean C concentration was found in forest floor. The observed C stock of the aboveground tree, shrub, forest floor, and mineral soil increased with increasing stand age, whereas the herb C stock showed a decreasing trend with a sigmoid pattern. The C stock of forest ecosystem in young, middle-aged, immature, and mature stands were 178.1, 236.3, 297.7, and 359.8 Mg C ha–1, respectively, greater than those under similar aged P. tabulaeformis forests in China. These results are likely to be integrated into further forest management plans and generalized in other contexts to evaluate C stocks at the regional scale. PMID:24736660

Long-Term Prescribed Burning Regime Has Little Effect on Springtails in Pine Stands of Southern Arkansas

Treesearch

Michele L. Renschin; Lynne C. Thompson; Michael G. Shelton

2004-01-01

Concerns regarding the impacts of prescribed fires on faunal communities in pine stands have led to numerous studies. One soil/litter insect that may be influenced by fire is springtails, an important member of the forest floor community. A study was conducted in burned and unburned loblolly/shortleaf pine stands in southeastern Arkansas to examine whether springtail...

Site preparation burning to improve southern Appalachian pine-hardwood stands: aboveground biomass, forest floor mass, and nitrogen and carbon pools

Treesearch

J.M. Vose; W.T. Swank

1993-01-01

Prescribed fire is currently used as a site preparation treat-ment in mixed pine-hardwood ecosystems of the southern Appalachians.Stands receiving this treatment typically consist of mixtures of pitch pine (Pinus rigidu Mill.), scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea Muenchh.), chestnut oak (Quercus prinus L.), red maple (Acer rubrum L.), and dense under-stories dominated by...

Recent advances in understanding duff consumption and post-fire longleaf pine mortality

Treesearch

J. Morgan Varner; Jesse K. Kreye; Joseph O' Brien

2016-01-01

Many longleaf pine stands across the range have suffered decades of fire exclusion, leading to declines in plant and animal biodiversity and complicating restoration and management efforts. Recent research on this topic has focused on the physiological response of overstory longleaf pines and the fuel characteristics of the surrounding forest floor. In small-scale and...

Soil compaction and organic matter affect conifer seedling nonmycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal root tip abundance and diversity. Forest Service research paper

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

Amaranthus, M.P.; Page-Dumroese, D.; Harvey, A.

1996-05-01

Three levels of organic matter removal (bole only; bole and crowns; and bole, crowns, and forest floor) and three levels of mechanical soil compaction (no compaction, moderate compaction, and severe soil compaction) were studied as they influence Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco) and western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl. ex D. Don) seedlings following outplanting. Moderate and severe soil compaction significantly reduced nonmycorrhizal root tip abundance on both Douglas-fir and western white pine seedlings (p less than or equal to 0.05). Ectomycorrhizal root tip abundance was significantly reduced on Douglas-fir seedlings in severely compacted areas with bole andmore » crowns and bole, crowns, and forest floor removed. Ectomycorrhizal diversity also was significantly reduced on Douglas-fir seedlings in all severely compacted areas.« less

Using prescribed fire to regenerate Table Mountain pine in the Southern Appalachian Mountains

Treesearch

Patrick H. Brose; Thomas A. Waldrop

2000-01-01

Stand-replacing prescribed fires are recommended to regenerate stands of Table Mountain pine (Pinus pungens) in the southern Appalachian Mountains because the species has serotinous cones and its seedlings require abundant sunlight and a thin forest floor. A 350-hectare prescribed fire in northeastern Georgia provided an opportunity to observe...

Effect of Harvest Residue Management on Tree Productivity and Carbon Pools during Early Stand Development in a Loblolly Pine Plantation

Treesearch

Chris A. Maier; Kurt H. Johnsen; Phillip Dougherty; Daniel McInnis; Pete Anderson; Steve Patterson

2012-01-01

Soil incorporation of postharvest forest floor or logging residues during site preparation increased mineral soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) concentration and had a differential effect on early stand growth in a clonal loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation. Incorporating 25 Mg ha

Fire effects on ponderosa pine soils and their management implications

Treesearch

W.W. Covington; S.S. Sackett

1990-01-01

Fire in southwestern ponderosa pine induces changes in soil properties including decreasing the amount of nutrients stored in fuels (forest floor, woody litter, and understory vegetation) increasing the amount of nutrients on the soil surface (the "ashbed effect"), and increasing the inorganic nitrogen and moisture content in the mineral soil. Soil...

Soil variation and sampling intensity under red pine and aspen in Minnesota.

Treesearch

David H. Alban

1974-01-01

In red pine or aspen stands only two soil samples were needed to estimate (+/- 10%, 95% confidence) pH, bulk density, or sand, but 25 to 60 samples were required to estimate N, P, K, Ca, Mg, available water, or silt + clay. To estimate most forest floor properties required 30 to 50 samples in red pine stands, but only about half as many in aspen stands.

Vertical distribution of soil extractable organic C and N contents and total C and N stocks in 78-year-old tree plantations in subtropical Australia.

PubMed

Zhou, Xiaoqi; Dong, Haibo; Lan, Zhongming; Bacon, Gary; Hao, Yanbin; Chen, Chengrong

2017-10-01

Few studies have focused on the effects of long-term forest plantations on the soil profile of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks. In this study, we selected 78-year-old tree plantations that included three coniferous tree species (i.e., slash pine, hoop pine and kauri pine) and a Eucalyptus species in subtropical Australia. We measured soil extractable organic C (EOC) and N (EON) contents and total C and N stocks under different tree species on the forest floor and along a soil profile to 100 cm depth. The results showed that Eucalyptus had significantly higher soil EOC contents (3.3 Mg ha -1 ) than the other tree species (EOC of 1.9-2.3 Mg ha -1 ) and had significantly higher EON (156 kg ha -1 ) contents than slash pine (107 kg ha -1 ). Eucalyptus had significantly higher soil C (58.9 Mg ha -1 ) and N (2.03 Mg ha -1 ) stocks than the other tree species (22.3-27.6 Mg C ha -1 and 0.71-1.23 Mg N ha -1 ) at 0-100 cm depth. There were no differences in soil C stocks at the 0-100 cm depth among the coniferous tree species. Forest floor C stocks had stronger effects on mineral soil total N stocks than fine root biomass, whereas fine root biomass exerted stronger effects on soil total C stocks at the 0-100 cm depth than forest floor C and N stocks. Our results addressed large differences in soil C and N stocks under different tree species, which can provide useful information for local forest management practices in this region.

Eastern white pine: production, markets, and marketing of primary manufacturers

Treesearch

Delton Alderman; Paul Duvall; Robert Smith; Scott Bowe

2007-01-01

Eastern white pine (EWP) production and manufacturing have been a staple of the forest products industry since the arrival of the first settlers in the United States. Current EWP market segments range from cabinets to flooring to log cabins to moulding to toys. Today's EWP producers and manufacturers are faced with unprecedented challenges from substitute products...

Soil CO2 evolution and root respiration in 11 year-old Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) Plantations as Affected by Moisture and Nutrient Availability

Treesearch

Chris A. Maier; L.W. Kress

2000-01-01

We measured soil CO2 evolution rates with (Sff) and without (Sms) the forest floor litter and root respiration monthly in 11-year-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations during the fourth year of fertilization and irrigation treatments. Values of Sff...

Soil carbon storage in plantation forests and pastures: land-use change implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scott, Neal A.; Tate, Kevin R.; Ford-Robertson, Justin; Giltrap, David J.; Tattersall Smith, C.

1999-04-01

Afforestation may lead to an accumulation of carbon (C) in vegetation, but little is known about changes in soil C storage with establishment of plantation forests. Plantation forest carbon budget models often omit mineral soil C changes from stand-level C budget calculations, while including forest floor C accumulation, or predict continuous soil C increases over several rotations. We used national soil C databases to quantify differences in soil C content between pasture and exotic pine forest plantations dominated by P. radiata (D. Don), and paired site studies to quantify changes in soil C with conversion of pasture to plantation forest in New Zealand. Overall, mineral soil C to 0.10 m was 20 40% lower under pine for all soil types (p<0.01) except soils with high clay activity (HCA), where there was no difference. Similar trends were observed in the 0.1 0.3 m layer. Moreover, mineral soil C to 0.1 m was 17 40% lower under pine than pasture in side-by-side comparisons. The only non-significant difference occurred at a site located on a HCA soil (p=0.08). When averaged across the site studies and the national databases, the difference in soil C between pasture and pine was about 16 t C ha1on non-HCA soils. This is similar to forest floor C averaged across our individual sites (about 20 t C ha1). The decrease in mineral soil C could result in about a 15% reduction in the average C sequestration potential (112 t C ha1) when pasture is converted to exotic plantation forest on non-HCA soils. The relative importance of this change in mineral soil C will likely vary depending on the productivity potential of a site and harvest impacts on the forest floor C pool. Our results emphasize that changes in soil C should be included in any calculations of C sequestration attributed to plantation forestry.

The response of ecosystem carbon pools to management approaches that increase the growth of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vogel, J. G.; Bacon, A. R.; Bracho, R. G.; Grunwald, S.; Gonzalez-Benecke, C. A.; Jokela, E. J.; Markewitz, D.; Cucinella, J.; Akers, K.; Ross, C. W.; Peter, G. F.; Fox, T. D.; Martin, T.; Kane, M.

2015-12-01

Extending from Virginia to east Texas in the southeastern United States, managed pine forests are an important component of the region's carbon cycle. One objective of the Pine Integrated Network: Education, Mitigation, and Adaptation project (PINEMAP) is to improve estimates of how ecosystem carbon pools respond to the management strategies used to increase the growth of loblolly pine forests. Experimental studies (108 total) that had historically been used to understand forest productivity and stand dynamics by university-forest industry cooperatives have now been measured for the carbon stored in the trees, coarse-wood, forest floor, understory and soils to 1-meter (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-50 cm, and 50-100 cm). The age of the studied forests ranged from 4-26 years at the time of sampling, with 26 years very near the period when these forests are commonly harvested. The study sites encapsulated a wide regional range in precipitation (1080 mm -1780 mm) and potential evapotranspiration (716 mm - 1200 mm). The most prevalent three soil orders measured were Ultisols (62%), Alfisols (19%), and Spodosols (10%) with Entisols, Inceptisols and 1 Histosol making up the remainder (9%). Across all study sites, 455 experimental plots were measured. The plots had as a treatment either fertilization, competition control, and stand density control (thinning), including every possible combination of treatments and also 'no treatment'. The most common treatment regime, at 36% of the total number of plots, was the combination of competition control, fertilization, and thinning. The distribution of treatments relative to soils and climate prevented a simple analysis of single treatment effects and instead necessitated an examination how the carbon accumulation rate in wood, which is commonly measured and modeled in these forests, corresponded to the response of other C pools (e.g. forest floor and soil).

Effect of O horizon and Forest Harvest Residue Manipulations on Soil Organic Matter Content and Composition of a Loblolly Pine Plantation in the Southeastern United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hatten, J.; Mack, J.; Dewey, J.; Sucre, E.; Leggett, Z.

2012-04-01

Forest harvest residues and forest floor materials are significant sources of mineral soil organic matter and nutrients for regenerating and establishing forests. Harvest residues in particular are occasionally removed, piled, or burned following harvesting. While the forest floor is never purposely removed during operational harvesting and site preparation, they could become in high demand as bioenergy markets develop. Weyerhaeuser Company established an experimental study to evaluate the effect of forest-floor manipulation on site productivity and soil carbon. This study was installed in a loblolly pine plantation near Millport, Alabama, USA on the Upper Gulf Coastal Plain to test both extremes from complete removal of harvest residues and forest floor to doubling of these materials. This study has been continuously monitored since its establishment in 1994. We have examined the effects of varying forest floor levels on the biomass, soil carbon content, and soil carbon composition in the context of these management activities. Above- and below-ground productivity, soil moisture, soil temperature, and nutrient dynamics have been related to soil organic carbon in mineral soil size/density fractionation and lignin and cutin biomarkers from the cupric oxide (CuO) oxidation technique. We have found that while removing litter and harvest residues has little effect on biomass production and soil carbon, importing litter and harvest residues increases forest productivity and soil carbon content. Interestingly, increased carbon was observed in all depths assessed (O horizon, 0-20, 20-40, and 40-60cm) suggesting that this practice may sequester organic carbon in deep soil horizons. Our biomarker analysis indicated that importing litter and harvest residues increased relative contributions from above ground sources at the 20-40cm depth and increased relative contributions from belowground sources at the 40-60cm depth. These results suggest that organic matter manipulations in managed forests can have significant effects on deep soil carbon that may be resistant to mineralization or the effects of other perturbations such as climate change.

Soil organic carbon and nitrogen accumulation on coal mine spoils reclaimed with maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton) in Agacli-Istanbul.

PubMed

Sever, Hakan; Makineci, Ender

2009-08-01

Mining operations on open coal mines in Agacli-Istanbul have resulted in the destruction of vast amounts of land. To rehabilitate these degraded lands, plantations on this area began in 1988. Twelve tree species were planted, however, the most planted tree species was maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton). This study performed on 14 sample plots randomly selected in maritime pine plantations on coal mine soil/spoils in 2005. Soil samples were taken from eight different soil layers (0-1, 1-3, 3-5, 5-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40 and 40-50 cm) into the soil profile. On soil samples; fine soil fraction (<2 mm), soil acidity (pH), organic carbon (C(org)) and total nitrogen (N(t)) contents were investigated, and results were compared statistically among soil layers. As a result, 17 years after plantations, total forest floor accumulation determined as 17,973.20 kg ha(-1). Total nitrogen and organic matter amounts of forest floor were 113.90 and 14,640.92 kg ha(-1) respectively. Among soil layers, the highest levels of organic carbon (1.77%) and total nitrogen (0.096%) and the lowest pH value (pH 5.38) were found in 0-1 cm soil layer, and the variation differs significantly among soil layers. Both organic carbon and total nitrogen content decreased, pH values increased from 0-1 to 5-10 cm layer. In conclusion, according to results obtained maritime pine plantations on coal mine spoils; slow accumulation and decomposition of forest floor undergo simultaneously. Depending on these changes organic carbon and total nitrogen contents increased in upper layer of soil/spoil.

Vertical variability and effect of stability on turbulence characteristics down to the floor of a pine forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Launiainen, Samuli; Vesala, Timo; Mölder, Meelis; Mammarella, Ivan; Smolander, Sampo; Rannik, Üllar; Kolari, Pasi; Hari, Pertti; Lindroth, Anders; Katul, Gabriel G.

2007-11-01

Among the fundamental problems in canopy turbulence, particularly near the forest floor, remain the local diabatic effects and linkages between turbulent length scales and the canopy morphology. To progress on these problems, mean and higher order turbulence statistics are collected in a uniform pine forest across a wide range of atmospheric stability conditions using five 3-D anemometers in the subcanopy. The main novelties from this experiment are: (1) the agreement between second-order closure model results and measurements suggest that diabatic states in the layer above the canopy explain much of the modulations of the key velocity statistics inside the canopy except in the immediate vicinity of the trunk space and for very stable conditions. (2) The dimensionless turbulent kinetic energy in the trunk space is large due to a large longitudinal velocity variance but it is inactive and contributes little to momentum fluxes. (3) Near the floor layer, a logarithmic mean velocity profile is formed and vertical eddies are strongly suppressed modifying all power spectra. (4) A spectral peak in the vertical velocity near the ground commensurate with the trunk diameter emerged at a moderate element Reynolds number consistent with Strouhal instabilities describing wake production.

Release of nitrogen and phosphorus from loblolly pine forest floor in a post-harvest microclimate

Treesearch

L. Chris Kiser; Thomas R. Fox

2012-01-01

Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations grown on nutrient deficient soils in the southeastern U.S. require nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilization to increase growth (Albaugh et al., 2007; Fox et al., 2007). Fertilization increases growth by increasing foliar nutrients and leaf area (Albaugh et al., 1998) which also results in higher...

Relationship of seed microsite to germination and survival of lodgepole pine on high-elevation clearcuts in northeastern Utah

Treesearch

Deborah S. Page-Dumroese; R. Kasten Dumroese; Connie M. Carpenter; David L. Wenny

2002-01-01

On two high-elevation sites (~3,000 m) in northeastern Utah, lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) seeds germinated best (53 percent) on large mineral microsites (5 x 5 m), and percentage survival of germinating seeds was best on microsites covered with forest floor material. Seed predation was severe at both study sites;...

Deep Soil Carbon Influenced Following Forest Organic Matter Manipulation In A Loblolly Pine Plantation In The Southeastern United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hatten, J. A.; Mack, J.; Sucre, E.; Leggett, Z.; Roberts, S.; Dewey, J.

2013-12-01

Forest harvest residues and forest floor materials are significant sources of mineral soil organic matter and nutrients for regenerating and establishing forests. Harvest residues in particular are occasionally removed, piled, or burned following harvesting. Weyerhaeuser Company established an experimental study to evaluate the effect of the removal and addition of harvest residual and forest-floor on site productivity and soil carbon. This study was installed in a loblolly pine plantation near Millport, Alabama, USA on the Upper Gulf Coastal Plain to test both extremes from complete removal of harvest residues and forest floor to doubling of these materials. This study has been continuously monitored since its establishment in 1994. We have examined the effects of varying forest floor levels on the biomass, soil carbon content, and soil carbon composition in the context of these management activities. Above- and below-ground productivity, soil moisture, soil temperature, and nutrient dynamics have been related to soil organic carbon in mineral soil, size/density fractionation, and lignin and cutin biomarkers from the cupric oxide (CuO)-oxidation technique. We have found that while removing litter and harvest residues has little effect on biomass production and soil carbon, importing litter and harvest residues increases forest productivity and soil carbon content. Interestingly, increased carbon was observed in all depths assessed (O horizon, 0-20, 20-40, and 40-60cm) suggesting that this practice may sequester organic carbon in deep soil horizons. Our biomarker analysis indicated that importing litter and harvest residues increased relative contributions from above ground sources at the 20-40cm depth and increased relative contributions from belowground sources at the 40-60cm depth. These results suggest that organic matter manipulations in managed forests can have significant effects on deep soil carbon that may be resistant to mineralization or the effects of other perturbations such as climate change.

Prescribed fire and timber harvesting effects on soil carbon and nitrogen in a pine forest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Thinning and prescribed fire are common management tools used to eliminate thick fuel loads that could otherwise facilitate and encourage a more severe catastrophic wildfire. The objective of this study was to quantify the lasting effects of prescribed fire on forest floor and soil nutrients approxi...

Restoring fire to mixed conifer forests in the Northern Cascades

Treesearch

T. J. Leuschen

1996-01-01

Many of the ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) mixed conifer stands in the Methow Valley of north-central Washington have developed understories of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga rnenziesii) as a result of fire exclusion. Most of the forest floor has not yet become cluttered with dead woody fuel. Instead, the live biomass has increased and...

Nitrogen retention in contrasting temperate forests exposed to high nitrogen deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Staelens, J.; Adriaenssens, S.; Wuyts, K.; Verheyen, K.; Boeckx, P. F.

2011-12-01

A better understanding of factors affecting nitrogen (N) retention is needed to assess the impact of changing anthropogenic N emissions and climatic conditions on N cycling and N loss by terrestrial ecosystems. Retention of N has been demonstrated for a wide range of forests, including ecosystems exposed to chronically enhanced N deposition, but it is still unclear which factors determine this N retention capacity. Therefore, we examined the possible effects of forest type on N retention using stable N isotopes. The study was carried out in adjacent equal-aged deciduous (pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.)) and coniferous (Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)) stands with a similar stand history and growing on a well-drained sandy soil in a region with enhanced N deposition (Belgium). The N input-output budgets and gross soil N transformation rates differed significantly between the two stands. The forest floor was exposed to a high inorganic N input from atmospheric deposition, which was nearly twice as high in the pine stand (33 ± 2 kg N ha-1 yr-1; mean ± standard error) as in the oak stand (18 ± 1 kg N ha-1 yr-1). The N input was reflected in the soil solution under the rooting zone, but the mean nitrate concentration was eight times higher under pine (19 ± 5 mg N L-1) than under oak (2.3 ± 0.9 mg N L-1). Gross N dynamics in the mineral topsoil were determined by in situ 15N labelling of undisturbed soil cores combined with numerical data analysis. Gross N mineralization was two times faster in the oak soil while nitrate production was two times faster in the pine soil, indicating a dominant effect of vegetation cover on soil N cycling. The higher gross nitrification, particularly due to oxidation of organic N, in the pine soil compared to the oak soil, combined with negligible nitrate immobilization, was in line with the higher nitrate leaching under the pine forest. On a larger spatial and temporal scale, the fate of dissolved inorganic N within these forests was studied by spraying three pulses of 15N onto the forest floor during the growing season, either as ammonium or as nitrate. Four months and one year after the first application, 15N recovery was determined in the organic and mineral soil layers, fine tree roots, soil water percolate, ferns, and tree foliage. As hypothesized, N retention in the forest floor and mineral soil horizons was lower in the pine stand compared to oak, while N retention was lower for nitrate than for ammonium in both stands. The differences in 15N retention confirm that tree species affect the N balance of ecosystems under high anthropogenic N inputs and agree with the findings on gross soil N dynamics and N input-output budgets. Overall, the research underlines the importance of considering the interaction between tree species and carbon and N turnover when assessing the response of forest ecosystems to global change scenarios.

Factors Affecting Salamander Density and Distribution within Four Forest Types in Southern Appalachian Mountains

Treesearch

Craig A. Harper; David C. Guynn

1999-01-01

We used a terrestrial vacuum to sample known area plots in order to obtain density estimates of salamanders and their primary prey, invertebrates of the forest floor. We sampled leaf litter and measured various vegetative and topographic parameters within four forest types (oak-pine, oak-hickory, mixed mesophytic and northern hardwoods) and three age classes (0-12,13-...

Distribution of Slash and Litter After Wet- and Dry-Site Harvesting of Loblolly Pine Plantations

Treesearch

Mark H. Eisenbies; James A. Burger; Yi-Jun Xu; Steve Patterson

2002-01-01

Displacement of logging slash and forest floor litter in the process of harvesting can interfere with forest nutrient cycling and can modify soil climate in ways that could affect regeneration success and forest productivity. The objective of this study was to assess a visual method for estimating organic matter and slash biomass residues following a typical feller-...

Estimating soil seed bank characteristics in ponderosa pine forests using vegetation and forest-floor data

Treesearch

Scott R. Abella; Judith D. Springer

2008-01-01

Soil seed banks are important for vegetation management because they contain propagules of species that may be considered desirable or undesirable for site colonization after management and disturbance events. Knowledge of seed bank size and composition before planning management activities facilitates proactive management by providing early alerts of exotic species...

Formation and loss of humic substances during decomposition in a pine forest floor

USGS Publications Warehouse

Qualls, R.G.; Takiyama, A.; Wershaw, R. L.

2003-01-01

Since twice as much C is sequestered in soils as is contained in the atmosphere, the factors controlling the decomposition rate of soil C are important to the assessment of the effects of climatic change. The formation of chemically resistant humic substances might be an important process controlling recycling of CO2 to the atmosphere. Our objectives were to measure the rate of formation and loss of humic substances during 13 yr of litter decomposition. We placed nets on the floor of a white pine (Pinus strobus) forest to separate each annual layer of litter for 13 yr and measured humic substance concentration using NaOH extraction followed by chromatographic fractionation. The humic acid fraction increased from 2.1% of the C in litterfall to 15.7% after 1 yr. On a grams per square meter (g m-2) basis the humic substance fraction increased during the first year and then declined, with a half decay time (t1/2) of 5.1 yr, which was significantly slower than the bulk litter (t1/2 = 3.9 yr). The carboxylic C concentration estimated from 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) increased in the litter over time, though total mass of carboxylic acid C in the forest floor also declined over the 13-yr period (t1/2 = 4.6 yr). While humic substances in the forest floor decomposed at a somewhat slower rate than bulk litter during Years 1 to 13, they decomposed much faster than has been calculated from 14C dating of the refractory fraction of organic matter in the mineral soil.

Impact of Conifer Forest Litter on Microwave Emission at L-Band

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurum, Mehmet; O'Neill, Peggy E.; Lang, Roger H.; Cosh, Michael H.; Joseph, Alicia T.; Jackson, Thomas J.

2011-01-01

This study reports on the utilization of microwave modeling, together with ground truth, and L-band (1.4-GHz) brightness temperatures to investigate the passive microwave characteristics of a conifer forest floor. The microwave data were acquired over a natural Virginia Pine forest in Maryland by a ground-based microwave active/passive instrument system in 2008/2009. Ground measurements of the tree biophysical parameters and forest floor characteristics were obtained during the field campaign. The test site consisted of medium-sized evergreen conifers with an average height of 12 m and average diameters at breast height of 12.6 cm. The site is a typical pine forest site in that there is a surface layer of loose debris/needles and an organic transition layer above the mineral soil. In an effort to characterize and model the impact of the surface litter layer, an experiment was conducted on a day with wet soil conditions, which involved removal of the surface litter layer from one half of the test site while keeping the other half undisturbed. The observations showed detectable decrease in emissivity for both polarizations after the surface litter layer was removed. A first-order radiative transfer model of the forest stands including the multilayer nature of the forest floor in conjunction with the ground truth data are used to compute forest emission. The model calculations reproduced the major features of the experimental data over the entire duration, which included the effects of surface litter and ground moisture content on overall emission. Both theory and experimental results confirm that the litter layer increases the observed canopy brightness temperature and obscure the soil emission.

Effects of prescribed fire intervals on carbon and nitrogen in forest soils of the Mogollon Rim, Arizona

Treesearch

Daniel G. Neary; Steven T. Overby; Sally M. Haase

2003-01-01

The pre-European settlement ponderosa pine forests of the Mogollon Rim consisted of open stands of uneven-aged trees with a significant grass-forb understory. Light surface-fires occurred on an average interval of 2 to 12 years in Arizona and New Mexico (Dietrich 1980). These fires consumed forest floor material, burned most of the young regeneration, and promoted...

Not all basal area is created equal: the influence of species and stand development on canopy cover of four common southern pines

Treesearch

David G. Ray

2013-01-01

Restoring natural fire regimes and diverse ground cover to planted or old-field origin southern pine stands typically requires a substantial reduction in overstory density. While maintaining full canopy cover (CC) is consistent with maximizing fiber production, this approach does not allow sufficient light to reach the forest floor to accomplish a broader set of...

Using stand replacement fires to restore southern Appalachian pine-hardwood ecosystems: effects on mass, carbon, and nutrient pools

Treesearch

James M. Vose; Wayne T. Swank; Barton D. Clinton; Jennifer D. Knoepp; Lloyd W. Swift

1999-01-01

Pine-hardwood ecosystems in the Southern Appalachians are in serious decline due to fire exclusion and insect infestations. Fire has been advanced as a tool to restore these ecosystems, yet there are few studies evaluating overall ecosystem effects. The authors’ objectives were to evaluate the effects of stand restoration burning on forest floor nitrogen (N) and carbon...

Seed release in serotinous lodgepole pine forests after mountain pine beetle outbreak.

PubMed

Teste, François P; Lieffers, Victor J; Landhausser, Simon M

2011-01-01

There are concerns that large-scale stand mortality due to mountain pine beetle (MPB) could greatly reduce natural regeneration of serotinous Rocky Mountain (RM) lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) because the closed cones are held in place without the fire cue for cone opening. We selected 20 stands (five stands each of live [control], 3 years since MPB [3-yr-MPB], 6 years since MPB [6-yr-MPB], and 9 years since MPB [9-yr-MPB] mortality) in north central British Columbia, Canada. The goal was to determine partial loss of serotiny due to fall of crown-stored cones via breakage of branches and in situ opening of canopy cones throughout the 2008 and 2009 growing seasons. We also quantified seed release by the opening of forest-floor cones, loss of seed from rodent predation, and cone burial. Trees killed by MPB three years earlier dropped approximately 3.5 times more cones via branch breakage compared to live stands. After six years, MPB-killed stands had released 45% of their canopy seed bank through cone opening, cone fall due to breakage, and squirrel predation. Further losses of canopy seed banks are expected with time since we found 9-yr-MPB stands had 38% more open canopy cones. This was countered by the development of a modest forest-floor seed bank (6% of the original canopy seed bank) from burial of cones; this seed bank may be ecologically important if a fire or anthropogenic disturbance reexposes these cones. If adequate levels of regeneration are to occur, disturbances to create seedbeds must occur shortly after tree mortality, before the seed banks are lost. Our findings also suggest that the sustained seed rain (over at least nine years) after MPB outbreak may be beneficial for population growth of ground-foraging vertebrates. Our study adds insight to the seed ecology of serotinous pines under a potentially continental-wide insect outbreak, threatening vast forests adapted to regeneration after fire. Key words: biotic disturbance; cone burial; cone opening; Dendroctonus ponderosae; ground-foraging vertebrates; mountain pine beetle; natural regeneration; Pinus contorta var. latifolia; Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine; seed banks; serotiny (canopy seed storage); Tamiasciurus hudsonicus.

Carbon stocks across a chronosequence of thinned and unmanaged red pine (Pinus resinosa) stands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Powers, Matthew D.; Kolka, Randall K.; Bradford, John B.; Palik, Brian J.; Fraver, Shawn; Jurgensen, Martin F.

2012-01-01

Forests function as a major global C sink, and forest management strategies that maximize C stocks offer one possible means of mitigating the impacts of increasing anthropogenic CO2 emissions. We studied the effects of thinning, a common management technique in many forest types, on age-related trends in C stocks using a chronosequence of thinned and unmanaged red pine (Pinus resinosa) stands ranging from 9 to 306 years old. Live tree C stocks increased with age to a maximum near the middle of the chronosequence in unmanaged stands, and increased across the entire chronosequence in thinned stands. C in live understory vegetation and C in the mineral soil each declined rapidly with age in young stands but changed relatively little in middle-aged to older stands regardless of management. Forest floor C stocks increased with age in unmanaged stands, but forest floor C decreased with age after the onset of thinning around age 40 in thinned stands. Deadwood C was highly variable, but decreased with age in thinned stands. Total ecosystem C increased with stand age until approaching an asymptote around age 150. The increase in total ecosystem C was paralleled by an age-related increase in total aboveground C, but relatively little change in total belowground C. Thinning had surprisingly little impact on total ecosystem C stocks, but it did modestly alter age-related trends in total ecosystem C allocation between aboveground and belowground pools. In addition to characterizing the subtle differences in C dynamics between thinned and unmanaged stands, these results suggest that C accrual in red pine stands continues well beyond the 60–100 year management rotations typical for this system. Management plans that incorporate longer rotations and thinning in some stands could play an important role in maximizing C stocks in red pine forests while meeting other objectives including timber extraction, biodiversity conservation, restoration, and fuel reduction goals.

Changes in soil chemistry six months after prescribed fire in a longleaf pine plantation in Mississippi

Treesearch

John R. Butnor; Kurt H. Johnsen; C. Dana Nelson

2016-01-01

Prescribed fire is used to reduce hardwood competition, enhance herbaceous biodiversity, and improve forage quality in longleaf pine stands. These are primarily low intensity, dormant season burns, during which a portion of the biomass in shrub, herb, and the forest floor layers are combusted. Burning releases elemental nutrients bound in biomass, and there are several...

Long-term (13 Years) decomposition rates of forest floor organic matter on paired coniferous and deciduous watersheds with contrasting temperature regimes

Treesearch

Robert G. Qualls

2016-01-01

Two sets of paired watersheds on north and South facing slopes were utilized to simulate the effects of temperature differences that are on the scale of those expected with near-term climatic warming on decomposition. Two watersheds were pine plantations (Pinus strobus L.) and two were mature deciduous forests established at similar elevation...

Short-term effects of prescribed fire in grand fir-white pine-western hemlock slash fuels

Treesearch

Elizabeth D. Reinhardt; Russell T. Graham; Theresa B. Jain; Dennis G. Simmerman

1994-01-01

Experimental burns were conducted on 36 plots in mixed conifer logging slash in northern Idaho, under varying fuel loadings and moisture conditions. This paper reports the immediate effects of these burns on the forest floor, the woody fuel complex, and the plant community, and includes recommendations to managers for using prescribed fire in this forest type. Much of...

Soil moisture sensitivity of autotrophic and heterotrophic forest floor respiration in boreal xeric pine and mesic spruce forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ťupek, Boris; Launiainen, Samuli; Peltoniemi, Mikko; Heikkinen, Jukka; Lehtonen, Aleksi

2016-04-01

Litter decomposition rates of the most process based soil carbon models affected by environmental conditions are linked with soil heterotrophic CO2 emissions and serve for estimating soil carbon sequestration; thus due to the mass balance equation the variation in measured litter inputs and measured heterotrophic soil CO2 effluxes should indicate soil carbon stock changes, needed by soil carbon management for mitigation of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, if sensitivity functions of the applied model suit to the environmental conditions e.g. soil temperature and moisture. We evaluated the response forms of autotrophic and heterotrophic forest floor respiration to soil temperature and moisture in four boreal forest sites of the International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests) by a soil trenching experiment during year 2015 in southern Finland. As expected both autotrophic and heterotrophic forest floor respiration components were primarily controlled by soil temperature and exponential regression models generally explained more than 90% of the variance. Soil moisture regression models on average explained less than 10% of the variance and the response forms varied between Gaussian for the autotrophic forest floor respiration component and linear for the heterotrophic forest floor respiration component. Although the percentage of explained variance of soil heterotrophic respiration by the soil moisture was small, the observed reduction of CO2 emissions with higher moisture levels suggested that soil moisture response of soil carbon models not accounting for the reduction due to excessive moisture should be re-evaluated in order to estimate right levels of soil carbon stock changes. Our further study will include evaluation of process based soil carbon models by the annual heterotrophic respiration and soil carbon stocks.

Production, Stocks and Characteristics of Wildfire Charcoal in Canadian Boreal Forests; a Preliminary Synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Preston, C. M.; Simard, M.

2016-12-01

Crowning wildfires are a major driver of carbon stocks and ecosystem development in Canadian boreal forests, but there is insufficient information to incorporate pyrogenic carbon (PyC) into models and management strategies. Data comparison is challenging because of varied experimental design, and studies are often limited to forest floor; nonetheless we have attempted a synthesis limited to visually determined PyC, hereafter designated "charcoal". Sources include our study of amounts, depth distribution (forest floor plus variable amounts of upper mineral soil) and chemical properties of charcoal (>2 mm) from a fire chronosequence in the Abitibi region of Quebec (51 jack pine (Pinus banksiana) and black spruce (Picea mariana) sites, 24 to 2355 years since fire). Complete charcoal production of 7900 kg/ha (forest floor, down wood, standing stems) was determined from an experimental crownfire in jack pine near Fort Providence (NWT) in 2012. Published data were assembled mainly from boreal conifer studies, but using more disparate sources for production, plus laboratory charring studies. Typical findings include high spatial variability, with depth distributions often showing a maximum around the organic-mineral interface. Stocks varied widely (up to ca. 5500 kg/ha), with little initial discernable trend with time, but were much lower in the few older sites (>700y). Total C and N were widely scattered for younger samples, but older samples were mainly 500-600 g C/kg with C/N values around 100. Similarly, carbon-13 NMR spectra show wider variation in young samples, with the oldest samples being highly aromatic. These initial variations are consistent with field reports of highly variable temperatures and duration of charring and many laboratory studies. As a starting point, it may be possibly suggested that a boreal crowning wildfire might produce some 5000-10000 kg/ha of charred material of 550-650 g C/kg, with half to two-thirds on forest floor and down wood and most of the rest on standing stems. Our synthesis mainly highlights future research needs, including more measurements on stems and down wood and chemical analysis of the black carbon component of charcoal.

Impact of forest seral stage on use of ant communities for rapid assessment of terrestrial ecosystem health.

PubMed

Wike, Lynn D; Martin, F Douglas; Paller, Michael H; Nelson, Eric A

2010-01-01

Bioassessment evaluates ecosystem health by using the responses of a community of organisms that integrate all aspects of the ecosystem. A variety of bioassessment methods have been applied to aquatic ecosystems; however, terrestrial methods are less advanced. The objective of this study was to examine baseline differences in ant communities at different seral stages from clear cut to mature pine plantation as a precursor to developing a broader terrestrial bioassessment protocol. Comparative sampling was conducted at nine sites having four seral stages: clearcut, 5 year recovery, 15 year recovery, and mature stands. Soil and vegetation data were also collected at each site. Ants were identified to genus. Analysis of the ant data indicated that ants respond strongly to habitat changes that accompany ecological succession in managed pine forests, and both individual genera and ant community structure can be used as indicators of successional change. Ants exhibited relatively high diversity in both early and mature seral stages. High ant diversity in mature seral stages was likely related to conditions on the forest floor favoring litter dwelling and cold climate specialists. While ants may be very useful in identifying environmental stress in managed pine forests, adjustments must be made for seral stage when comparing impacted and unimpacted forests.

Effect of coarse woody debris manipulation on soricid and herpetofaunal communities in upland pine stands of the southeastern coastal plain.

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

Davis, Justin, Charles

2009-04-01

Abstract -The majority of studies investigating the importance of coarse woody debris (CWD) to forest- floor vertebrates have taken place in the Pacific Northwest and southern Appalachian Mountains, while comparative studies in the southeastern Coastal Plain are lacking. My study was a continuation of a long-term project investigating the importance of CWD as a habitat component for shrew and herpetofaunal communities within managed pine stands in the southeastern Coastal Plain. Results suggest that addition of CWD can increase abundance of southeastern and southern short-tailed shrews. However, downed wood does not appear to be a critical habitat component for amphibians andmore » reptiles. Rising petroleum costs and advances in wood utilization technology have resulted in an emerging biofuels market with potential to decrease CWD volumes left in forests following timber harvests. Therefore, forest managers must understand the value of CWD as an ecosystem component to maintain economically productive forests while conserving biological diversity.« less

Spatial distribution of ammonium and calcium in optimally fertilized pine plantation soils

Treesearch

Ivan Edwards; Andrew Gillespie; Jennifer Chen; Kurt Johnsen; Ronald Turco

2005-01-01

Commercial timber production is increasingly reliant on long-term fertilization to maximize stand productivity, yet we do not understand the extent to which this practice homogenizes soil properties. The effects of 16 yr of optimal fertilization and optimal fertilization with irrigation (fertigation) on forest floor depth, pH, total organic carbon (TOC) and total...

Surface Fire Influence on Carbon Balance Components in Scots Pine Forest of Siberia, Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kukavskaya, E.; Ivanova, G. A.; Conard, S. G.; Soja, A. J.

2008-12-01

Wildfire is one of the most important disturbances in boreal forests, and it can have a profound effect on forest-atmosphere carbon exchange. Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) stands of Siberia are strongly impacted by fires of low to high severity. Biomass distribution in mature lichen/feathermoss Scots pine stands indicates that they are carbon sinks before fire. Fires contribute significantly to the carbon budget resulting in a considerable carbon efflux, initially through direct consumption of forest fuels and later as a result of tree mortality and decomposition of dead material accumulated on the forest floor. In initial postfire years these processes dominate over photosynthetic carbon assimilation, and the ecosystems become a carbon source. Over several postfire years, above-ground carbon in dead biomass tends to increase, with the increase depending significantly on fire severity. High-severity fire enhances dead biomass carbon, while moderate- and low-severity fires have minimal effect on above-ground carbon distribution in Scots pine ecosystems. Dead stand biomass carbon increases, primarily during the first two years following fires, due to tree mortality. This increase can account for up to 12.4% of the total stand biomass after low- and moderate- intensity fires. We found tree dieback following a high-intensity fire is an order of magnitude higher, and thus the dead biomass increases up to 88.1% of total above-ground biomass. Photosynthetic CO2 uptake decreases with increasing tree mortality, and needle foliage and bark are incorporated into the upper layer of the forest floor in the course of years. Ground vegetation and duff carbon were >90, 71-83, and 82% of prefire levels after fires of low, moderate, and high severity, respectively for the first 4 to 5 years after fire. Fires of low and moderate severity caused down woody fuel carbon to increase by 2.1 and 3.6 t ha-1 respectively by four years after burning as compared to the pre-fire values. Climate change and increasing drought length observed in recent decades have increased the probability of high-intensity fire occurrence. Areas burned have increased in extent and severity across Siberia, resulting in increased carbon emissions to the atmosphere from fuel combustion and post fire decomposition.

Effect of radiocesium transfer on ambient dose rate in forest environments affected by the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kato, H.

2015-12-01

We investigated the transfer of canopy-intercepted radiocesium to the forest floor during 3 years following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. The cesium-137 (Cs-137) contents in throughfall, stemflow, and litterfall were monitored in two coniferous stands (plantation of Japanese cedar) and a deciduous broad-leaved forest stand (Japanese oak with red pine). We also measured the ambient dose rate (ADR) at different heights in the forest using a survey meter and a portable Ge gamma-ray detector. Total Cs-137 deposition flux from the canopy to forest floor for the mature cedar, young cedar, and the mixed broad-leaved stands were 166 kBq/m2, 174 kBq/m2, and 60 kBq/m2, respectively. These values correspond to 38%, 40% and 13% of total atmospheric input after the accident. The ambient dose rate in forest exhibited height dependency and its vertical distribution varied with forest type and stand age. The ambient dose rate showed an exponential decrease with time for all the forest sites, however the decreasing trend differed depending on the height of dose measurement and forest type. The ambient dose rate at the canopy (approx. 10 m-height) decreased faster than that expected from physical decay of the two radiocesium isotopes, whereas those at the forest floor varied between the three forest stands. The radiocesium deposition via throughfall seemed to increase ambient dose rate during the first 200 days after the accident, however there was no clear relationship between litterfall and ambient dose rate since 400 days after the accident. These data suggested that the ambient dose rate in forest environment varied both spatially and temporally reflecting the transfer of radiocesium from canopy to forest floor. However, further monitoring investigation and analysis are required to determine the effect of litterfall on long-term trend of ambient dose rate in forest environments.

Distribution of black carbon in ponderosa pine forest floor and soils following the High Park wildfire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boot, C. M.; Haddix, M.; Paustian, K.; Cotrufo, M. F.

2015-05-01

Biomass burning produces black carbon (BC), effectively transferring a fraction of the biomass C from an actively cycling pool to a passive C pool, which may be stored in the soil. Yet the timescales and mechanisms for incorporation of BC into the soil profile are not well understood. The High Park fire (HPF), which occurred in northwestern Colorado in the summer of 2012, provided an opportunity to study the effects of both fire severity and geomorphology on properties of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and BC in the Cache La Poudre River drainage. We sampled montane ponderosa pine forest floor (litter plus O-horizon) and soils at 0-5 and 5-15 cm depth 4 months post-fire in order to examine the effects of slope and burn severity on %C, C stocks, %N and BC. We used the benzene polycarboxylic acid (BPCA) method for quantifying BC. With regard to slope, we found that steeper slopes had higher C : N than shallow slopes but that there was no difference in BPCA-C content or stocks. BC content was greatest in the forest floor at burned sites (19 g BPCA-C kg-1 C), while BC stocks were greatest in the 5-15 cm subsurface soils (23 g BPCA-C m-2). At the time of sampling, unburned and burned soils had equivalent BC content, indicating none of the BC deposited on the land surface post-fire had been incorporated into either the 0-5 or 5-15 cm soil layers. The ratio of B6CA : total BPCAs, an index of the degree of aromatic C condensation, suggested that BC in the 5-15 cm soil layer may have been formed at higher temperatures or experienced selective degradation relative to the forest floor and 0-5 cm soils. Total BC soil stocks were relatively low compared to other fire-prone grassland and boreal forest systems, indicating most of the BC produced in this system is likely lost, either through erosion events, degradation or translocation to deeper soils. Future work examining mechanisms for BC losses from forest soils will be required for understanding the role BC plays in the global carbon cycle.

Effects of the removal of overstory hemlock on redback salamanders and other forest-floor fauna

Treesearch

Robert T. Brooks

2000-01-01

Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) is the second most abundant conifer species in the northeastern United States. It occurs both in almost pure stands and in stands where it is mixed with hardwoods and white pine (Pinus strobus L.). Recently, hemlock in the middle-Atlantic and southern New England states has become...

Forest floor depth mediates understory vigor in xeric Pinus palustris ecosystems

Treesearch

J. Kevin Hiers; Joseph J. O' Brien; Rodney E. Will; Robert J. Mitchell

2007-01-01

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) woodlands and savannas are among the most frequently burned ecosystems in the world with fire return intervals of 1–10 years. This fire regime has maintained high levels of biodiversity in terms of both species richness and endemism. Land use changes have reduced the area of this ecosystem by .95%, and inadequate fire...

BOREAS TE-9 In Situ Understory Spectral Reflectance Within the NSA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Curd, Shelaine (Editor); Supronowicz, Jan; Edwards, Geoffrey; Viau, Alain; Thomson, Keith

2000-01-01

The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmospheric Study (BOREAS) TE-9 (Terrestrial Ecology) team collected several data sets related to chemical and photosynthetic properties of leaves in boreal forest tree species. Spectral reflection coefficients of the forest understory at the ground level, in three boreal forest sites of Northern Manitoba (56 N latitude and 98 W longitude), were obtained and analyzed in 1994. In particular, angular variation of the reflection coefficients in the old jack pine and young jack pine forests, as well as nadir reflection coefficient in the young aspen forest, were investigated. The complexity of understory composition and the light patterns limited quantitative conclusions; however, a number of interesting trends in the behavior of the measured values can be inferred. In particular, the unique spectral profiles of lichens show very strongly in the old jack pine understory, yet are definitely less conspicuous for young jack pine, and virtually absent in the aspen forest. The angular variation of the reflection coefficient by the young pine understory seems to be significantly toned down by fine-structured branches and their shadows. Our study also indicates how difficult the ground reflection coefficient problem in a forest is, compared to certain previously investigated areas that have a more uniform appearance, such as prairie grassland, bare soil, or agricultural crops. This is due to several factors, generally typical of a forest environment, that may influence the overall understory reflection coefficient, including: (1) a strong diversity of the forest floor due to the presence of dead tree trunks, holes in the ground, patches of different types of vegetation or litter, etc.; (2) pronounced 3-D structures at the ground level, such as shrubs, bushes, and young trees; and (3) an irregular shadow mosaic, which not only varies with the time of the day, causing intensity variations, but likely also effectively modifies the spectrum of the illuminating light and hence the reflection coefficient signal as well The data are stored in tabular ASCII files. The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884), or from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC).

Ecosystem carbon density and allocation across a chronosequence of longleaf pine forests.

PubMed

Samuelson, Lisa J; Stokes, Thomas A; Butnor, John R; Johnsen, Kurt H; Gonzalez-Benecke, Carlos A; Martin, Timothy A; Cropper, Wendell P; Anderson, Pete H; Ramirez, Michael R; Lewis, John C

2017-01-01

Forests can partially offset greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to climate change mitigation, mainly through increases in live biomass. We quantified carbon (C) density in 20 managed longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests ranging in age from 5 to 118 years located across the southeastern United States and estimated above- and belowground C trajectories. Ecosystem C stock (all pools including soil C) and aboveground live tree C increased nonlinearly with stand age and the modeled asymptotic maxima were 168 Mg C/ha and 80 Mg C/ha, respectively. Accumulation of ecosystem C with stand age was driven mainly by increases in aboveground live tree C, which ranged from <1 Mg C/ha to 74 Mg C/ha and comprised <1% to 39% of ecosystem C. Live root C (sum of below-stump C, ground penetrating radar measurement of lateral root C, and live fine root C) increased with stand age and represented 4-22% of ecosystem C. Soil C was related to site index, but not to stand age, and made up 39-92% of ecosystem C. Live understory C, forest floor C, downed dead wood C, and standing dead wood C were small fractions of ecosystem C in these frequently burned stands. Stand age and site index accounted for 76% of the variation in ecosystem C among stands. The mean root-to-shoot ratio calculated as the average across all stands (excluding the grass-stage stand) was 0.54 (standard deviation of 0.19) and higher than reports for other conifers. Long-term accumulation of live tree C, combined with the larger role of belowground accumulation of lateral root C than in other forest types, indicates a role of longleaf pine forests in providing disturbance-resistant C storage that can balance the more rapid C accumulation and C removal associated with more intensively managed forests. Although other managed southern pine systems sequester more C over the short-term, we suggest that longleaf pine forests can play a meaningful role in regional forest C management. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

Pine Forest Harvest Leads to Decade-Scale Alterations in Soil Fungal Communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boutton, T. W.; Mushinski, R. M.; Gentry, T. J.

2016-12-01

Forestlands provide a multitude of ecosystem services, and sustainable management is crucial to maintaining the benefits of these ecosystems. Intensive organic matter removal (OMR) of logging residues and forest litter during forest harvest may result in long-term alterations to soil properties and processes. Because fungal activity regulates essential biogeochemical processes in forestlands, changes in soil fungal community structure following OMR may translate into altered soil function. Using a replicated field experiment in southern pine forest in eastern Texas, USA, we sampled soil to a depth of 1 m to assess the impact of intensive OMR on soil fungal communities. Soils were collected from replicated (n = 3 ) loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) stands subjected to 3 different harvest intensities (i.e., unharvested old growth stands, bole-only harvest stands, and whole-tree harvest + forest floor removal stands) in 1997. Nearly two decades after trees were harvested and replanted, next generation sequencing of the fungal internal transcribed spacer showed the diversity and community structure of the entire fungal community was altered relative to the unharvested stands. The relative abundance of Ascomycetes increased as OMR intensity increased and was positively correlated to concurrent changes in soil pH. The community composition of fungal functional groups (e.g., ecto- and arbuscular mycorrhizal, saprophytic fungi) was also altered by OMR. The most abundant taxa, Russula exhibited significant reductions in response to increasing intensity of OMR. Results of this study illustrate a linkage between anthropogenically-induced aboveground perturbation, edaphic factors, and belowground soil fungal communities of southern pine forests. Also, these results indicate that tree harvesting effects on soil fungal communities can persist for decades post-harvest, with potential implications for soil functional characteristics.

Upland Trees Contribute to Exchange of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) in Forest Ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, H.; Thompson, R.; Canadell, J.; Winiwarter, W.; Machacova, K.; Maier, M.; Halmeenmäki, E.; Svobodova, K.; Lang, F.; Pihlatie, M.; Urban, O.

2017-12-01

The increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) concentration contributes to the acceleration of the greenhouse effect. However, the role of trees in the N2O exchange of forest ecosystems is still an open question. While the soils of temperate and boreal forests were shown to be a natural source of N2O, trees have been so far overlooked in the forest N2O inventories. We determined N2O fluxes in common tree species of boreal and temperate forests: Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), Norway spruce (Picea abies), downy and silver birch (Betula pubescens, B. pendula), and European beech (Fagus sylvatica). We investigated (1) whether these tree species exchange N2O with the atmosphere under natural field conditions, (2) how the tree N2O fluxes contribute to the forest N2O balance, and (3) whether these fluxes show seasonal dynamics. The studies were performed in a boreal forest (SMEAR II station, Finland; June 2014 - May 2015) and two temperate mountain forests (White Carpathians, Czech Republic; Black Forest, Germany; June and July 2015). Fluxes of N2O in mature tree stems and forest floor were measured using static chamber systems followed by chromatographic and photo-acoustic analyses of N2O concentration changes. Pine, spruce and birch trees were identified as net annual N2O sources. Spruce was found the strongest emitter (0.27 mg ha-1 h-1) amounting thus up to 2.5% of forest floor N2O emissions. All tree species showed a substantial seasonality in stem N2O flux that was related to their physiological activity and climatic variables. In contrast, stems of beech trees growing at soils consuming N2O may act as a substantial sink of N2O from the atmosphere. Consistent N2O consumption by tree stems ranging between -12.1 and -35.2 mg ha-1 h-1 and contributing by up to 3.4% to the forest floor N2O uptake is a novel finding in contrast to current studies presenting trees as N2O emitters. To understand these fluxes, N2O exchange of photoautotrophic organisms associated with beech bark (lichens, mosses and algae) was quantified. All the organisms were net N2O sinks at full rehydration with consumption rates comparable to stem consumption rates. All tree species studied contribute to N2O exchange in forest ecosystems and these fluxes have to be included in the forest N2O emission inventories.

Litter decomposition in southern Appalachian black locust and pine-hardwood stands: litter quality and nitrogen dynamics

Treesearch

David L. White; Bruce L. Haines

1988-01-01

The chemical quality of litter, through its interaction with macroclimate and the litter biota, largely regulates the rate of organic matter (OM) and nitrogen (N) turnover in the forest floor (Cromack 1973; Fogel and Cromack 1977; Meentemeyer 1978; Aber and Melillo 1982; Melillo et al. 1982). Litter quality is thought to be related to the N require-ment and...

Stereo photo series for quantifying natural fuels Volume X: sagebrush with grass and ponderosa pine-juniper types in central Montana.

Treesearch

Roger D. Ottmar; Robert E. Vihnanek; Clinton S. Wright

2007-01-01

Two series of single and stereo photographs display a range of natural conditions and fuel loadings in sagebrush with grass and ponderosa pinejuniper types in central Montana. Each group of photos includes inventory information summarizing vegetation composition, structure, and loading; woody material loading and density by size class; forest floor depth and loading;...

Artificial recharge of groundwater through sprinkling infiltration: impacts on forest soil and the nutrient status and growth of Scots pine.

PubMed

Nöjd, Pekka; Lindroos, Antti-Jussi; Smolander, Aino; Derome, John; Lumme, Ilari; Helmisaari, Heljä-Sisko

2009-05-01

We studied the chemical changes in forest soil and the effects on Scots pine trees caused by continuous sprinkling infiltration over a period of two years, followed by a recovery period of two years. Infiltration increased the water input onto the forest soil by a factor of approximately 1000. After one year of infiltration, the pH of the organic layer had risen from about 4.0 to 6.7. The NH(4)-N concentration in the organic layer increased, most probably due to the NH(4) ions in the infiltration water, as the net N mineralization rate did not increase. Sprinkling infiltration initiated nitrification in the mineral soil. Macronutrient concentrations generally increased in the organic layer and mineral soil. An exception, however, was the concentration of extractable phosphorus, which decreased strongly during the infiltration period and did not show a recovery within two years. The NO(3)-N and K concentrations had reverted back to their initial level during the two-year recovery period, while the concentrations of Ca, Mg and NH(4)-N were still elevated. Nutrient concentrations in the pine needles increased on the infiltrated plots. However, the needle P concentration increased, despite the decrease in plant-available P in the soil. Despite the increase in the nutrient status, there were some visible signs of chlorosis in the current-year needles after two years of infiltration. The radial growth of the pines more than doubled on the infiltrated plots, which suggests that the very large increase in the water input onto the forest floor had no adverse effect on the functioning of the trees. However, a monitoring period of four years is not sufficient for detecting potential long term detrimental effects on forest trees.

Ammonia oxidizing archaea are the predominant nitrifiers in disturbed and undisturbed southern US pine forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mushinski, R. M.; Boutton, T. W.; Gentry, T. J.; Dorosky, R. J.

2016-12-01

The rate-limiting step in nitrification, ammonia oxidation, is performed by both ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA); however, reports on the relative contribution of each of these groups to forest soil nitrification has varied. We coupled qPCR and next generation sequencing of the amoA gene to a whole-soil assay that stimulates nitrification and allows for the discrimination of AOA- from AOB-activity using 1-octyne, which inhibits the activity of the bacterial ammonia monooxygenase. Soils, to a depth of 1 meter, were collected from replicated (n = 3) loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) stands subjected to three different intensities of timber harvest (i.e., unharvested old growth stands, bole-only harvest stands, and whole-tree harvest + forest floor removal stands). The abundance of both bacterial and archaeal amoA were influenced by harvest method and soil depth; furthermore, archaeal amoA was 13x more abundant than bacterial amoA, across all soil depths. Sequencing and subsequent annotation of the ammonia oxidizing community revealed that the AOA were dominated by Crenarchaeota and AOB were dominated by Nitrosospira. Surface mineral soils (0-10 cm) amended with 1-octyne revealed that approximately 67-86% of total nitrification can be attributable to AOA activity. The highest rates of nitrification (total and 1-octyne resistant) occurred in the soils taken from the unharvested reference stands which were significantly greater than harvested stands. We can conclude that in this pine forest system, AOA dominates AOB in regards to amoA copy number and ammonia oxidizing activity. Not only is this study one of the first to investigate the ammonia-oxidizing population in southern pine forests, but also illustrates that timber harvest can lead to long-term alterations in nitrogen cycle processes.

Exploring the Relationship Between Reflectance Red Edge and Chlorophyll Content in Slash Pine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curran, Paul J.; Dungan, Jennifer L.; Gholz, Henry L.

1990-01-01

Chlorophyll is a key indicator of the physiological status of a forest canopy. However, its distribution may vary greatly in time and space, so that the estimation of chlorophyll content of canopies or branches by extrapolation from leaf values obtained by destructive sampling is labor intensive and potentially inaccurate. Chlorophy11 content is related positively to the point of maximum slope in vegetation reflectance spectra which occurs at wavelengths between 690-740 nm and is known as the "red edge." The red edge of needles on individual slash pine (Piniis elliottii Engelm.) branches and in whole forest canopies was measured with a spectroradiometer. Branches were measured on the ground against a spectrally flat reflectance target and canopies were measured from observation towers against a spectrally variable understory and forest floor. There was a linear relationship between red edge and chlorophyll content of branches (R(exp 2) = 0.91). Measurements of the red edge and this relationship were used to estimate the chlorophyll content of other branches with an error that was lower than that associated with the colorimetric (laboratory) method. There was no relationship between the red edge and the chlorophyll content of whole canopies. This can be explained by the overriding influence of the understory and forest floor, an influence that was illustrated by spectral mixture modeling. The results suggest that the red edge could be used to estimate the chlorophyll content in branches but it is unlikely to be of value for the estimation of chlorophyll content in canopies unless the canopy cover is high.

Forest floor methane flux modelled by soil water content and ground vegetation - comparison to above canopy flux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halmeenmäki, Elisa; Peltola, Olli; Haikarainen, Iikka; Ryhti, Kira; Rannik, Üllar; Pihlatie, Mari

2017-04-01

Methane (CH4) is an important and strong greenhouse gas of which atmospheric concentration is rising. While boreal forests are considered as an important sink of CH4 due to soil CH4 oxidation, the soils have also a capacity to emit CH4. Moreover, vegetation is shown to contribute to the ecosystem-atmosphere CH4 flux, and it has been estimated to be the least well known natural sources of CH4. In addition to well-known CH4 emissions from wetland plants, even boreal trees have been discovered to emit CH4. At the SMEAR (Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations) II station in Hyytiälä, southern Finland (61° 51' N, 24°17' E; 181 m asl), we have detected small CH4 emissions from above the canopy of a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) dominated forest. To assess the origin of the observed emissions, we conducted forest floor CH4 flux measurements with 54 soil chambers at the footprint area of the above canopy flux measurements during two growing seasons. In addition, we measured the soil volumetric water content (VWC) every time next to the forest floor chamber measurements, and estimated vegetation coverages inside the chambers. In order to model the forest floor CH4 flux at the whole footprint area, we combined lidar (light detection and ranging) data with the field measurements. To predict the soil water content and thus the potential CH4 flux, we used local elevation, slope, and ground return intensity (GRI), calculated from the lidar data (National Land Survey of Finland). We categorized the soil chambers into four classes based on the VWC so that the class with the highest VWC values includes all the soil chambers with a potential to emit CH4. Based on a statistically significant correlation between the VWC and the forest floor CH4 flux (r = 0.30, p < 0.001), we modelled the potential forest floor CH4 flux of the whole area. The results of the soil chamber measurements show a few areas of the forest floor with significant CH4 emissions. The modelled map of the potential CH4 flux is consistent with the measurements of the flux and the VWC, indicating that the wetter areas have potential for CH4 emissions, while the drier areas have potential for CH4 uptake. Preliminary results of the vegetation coverage show a positive correlation between the first year forest floor CH4 flux and the coverage of Sphagnum spp. mosses (r = 0.55, p < 0.001). Furthermore, we will include the vegetation coverage to the analysis, and compare the modelled forest floor CH4 flux with the measured above canopy flux. This ongoing research will give valuable information about the CH4 sources and dynamics in boreal forests.

Negligible effects of severe organic matter removal and soil compaction on loblolly pine growth over 10 years

Treesearch

Felipe G. Sanchez; D. Andrew Scott; Kim H. Ludovici

2006-01-01

The long-term soil productivity (LTSP) study was initiated to examine the effect of soil porosity and organic matter (OM) levels on net primary productivity (NPP). The study design calls for three levels of OM removal (bole, whole tree and whole tree plus forest floor) and three levels of compaction (none, moderate and severe) being imposed on harvested sites prior to...

Forestry Tire Tractive Performance: New, Worn, and with Chains

Treesearch

C.R. Vechinski; C.R. Johnson; R.L. Raper; T.P. McDonald

1999-01-01

The tractive perfomance of a new tire, a worn tire, and a worn tire with forestry tire chains was measured in four soil types. Two of the soil types simulated forest-floor conditions with one soil type having a sulfate cover of pine straw and the other having a surface cover of sod. The two remaining soil types were bare. The worn tire with and without chains had...

Ground-fire effects on the composition of dissolved and total organic matter in forest floor and soil solutions from Scots pine forests in Germany: new insights from solid state 13C NMR analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Näthe, Kerstin; Michalzik, Beate; Levia, Delphis; Steffens, Markus

2016-04-01

Fires represent an ecosystem disturbance and are recognized to seriously pertubate the nutrient budgets of forested ecosystems. While the effects of fires on chemical, biological, and physical soil properties have been intensively studied, especially in Mediterranean areas and North America, few investigations examined the effects of fire-induced alterations in the water-bound fluxes and the chemical composition of dissolved and particulate organic carbon and nitrogen (DOC, POC, DN, PN). The exclusion of the particulate organic matter fraction (0.45 μm < POM < 500 μm) potentially results in misleading inferences and budgeting gaps when studying the effects of fires on nutrient and energy fluxes. To our best knowledge, this is the first known study to present fire-induced changes on the composition of dissolved and total organic matter (DOM, TOM) in forest floor (FF) and soil solutions (A, B horizon) from Scots pine forests in Germany. In relation to control sites, we test the effects of low-severity fires on: (1) the composition of DOM and TOM in forest floor and soil solutions; and (2) the translocated amount of particulate in relation to DOC and DN into the subsoil. The project aims to uncover the mechanisms of water-bound organic matter transport along an ecosystem profile and its compositional changes following a fire disturbance. Forest floor and soil solutions were fortnightly sampled from March to December 2014 on fire-manipulated and control plots in a Scots pine forest in Central Germany. Shortly after the experimental duff fire in April 2014 pooled solutions samples were taken for solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy to characterize DOM (filtered solution < 0.8μm pore size) and TOM in unfiltered solutions. Independent from fire manipulation, the composition of TOM was generally less aromatic (aromaticity index [%] according to Hatcher et al., 1981) with values between 18 (FF) - 25% (B horizon) than the DOM fraction with 23 (FF) - 27% (B horizon). For DOM in FF solution, fire manipulation caused an increase in aromaticity from 23 to 27% compared to the control, due to an increase of the aryl-C and a decrease of the O-alkyl-C and alkyl-C signal. Fire effects were leveled out in the mineral soil. For TOM, fire effects became notable only in the A horizon, exhibiting a decrease in aromaticity from 22 to 18% compared to the control, due to increased O-alkyl-C and diminished aryl-C proportions. Compared to the control, fire only caused minor DOC release rates (< 10%) in the FF and mineral soil, while DN in the FF was significantly mobilized (+ 40%) by fire exhibiting annual values of 33 at the control sites compared to 46 kg DN ha-1 at the fire treated sites. Compared to the control, fire events did not significantly enhance the proportion of POC and PN in the total C and N amounts exhibiting values between 10 and 20%. To fully understand the quality and amount of translocated organic C and N compounds within soils under both ambient as well as fire environments, dissolved and particulate size fractions need to be considered.

The Effects of Tree Species on Soil Organic Carbon Content and Distribution in South Korea.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, N. H.; Cha, J. Y.; Cha, Y. K.

2016-12-01

Soil organic carbon (SOC) content of forests is controlled by the dynamic balance between photosynthesis and respiration. Changes of tree species can affect the SOC content both directly by alteration in quantity and quality of newly photosynthesized inputs, and indirectly by changes in soil conditions such as root distribution and soil microbial communities. Although many studies have been conducted on the effects of tree species on SOC, the results are mixed possibly due to the locality and the scales of the studies. This can be overcome by systematic analysis on extensively collected samples of forest floors and soils. We investigated the impacts of tree species, dominantly pines (Pinus) and oaks (Quercus), on SOC stock and distribution in South Korea by conducting ANOVA and GLM analyses using the Korean National Forest Inventory data collected from 640 plots during 2007-2010. The trees used in the data were relatively young with 67% of them being less than 40 years old because of a nation-wide reforestation program started in the 1970s. The results demonstrated a clear contrast between Pinus and Quercus, depending on soil horizons. Forest floor SOC under Pinus was 6.98 ton C/ha, significantly higher than 5.30 ton C/ha under Quercus. In contrast, SOC in mineral soils was 51.31 ton C/ha under Pinus, significantly lower than 64.76 ton C/ha under Quercus. The total SOC content including both forest floor and mineral soils was significantly higher under Quercus than Pinus, suggesting that Quercus has a potential to sequester more atmospheric CO2 in the forests in Korea.

Infrasonic wind noise under a deciduous tree canopy.

PubMed

Webster, Jeremy; Raspet, Richard

2015-05-01

In a recent paper, the infrasonic wind noise measured at the floor of a pine forest was predicted from the measured wind velocity spectrum and profile within and above the trees [Raspet and Webster, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 137, 651-659 (2015)]. This research studies the measured and predicted wind noise under a deciduous forest with and without leaves. A calculation of the turbulence-shear interaction pressures above the canopy predicts the low frequency peak in the wind noise spectrum. The calculated turbulence-turbulence interaction pressure due to the turbulence field near the ground predicts the measured wind noise spectrum in the higher frequency region. The low frequency peak displays little dependence on whether the trees have leaves or not. The high frequency contribution with leaves is approximately an order of magnitude smaller than the contribution without leaves. Wind noise levels with leaves are very similar to the wind noise levels in the pine forest. The calculated turbulence-shear contribution from the wind within the canopy is shown to be negligible in comparison to the turbulence-turbulence contribution in both cases. In addition, the effect of taller forests and smaller roughness lengths than those of the test forest on the turbulence-shear interaction is simulated based on measured meteorological parameters.

Nitrogen Cycling Responses to Mountain Pine Beetle Disturbance in a High Elevation Whitebark Pine Ecosystem

PubMed Central

Keville, Megan P.; Reed, Sasha C.; Cleveland, Cory C.

2013-01-01

Ecological disturbances can significantly affect biogeochemical cycles in terrestrial ecosystems, but the biogeochemical consequences of the extensive mountain pine beetle outbreak in high elevation whitebark pine (WbP) (Pinus albicaulis) ecosystems of western North America have not been previously investigated. Mountain pine beetle attack has driven widespread WbP mortality, which could drive shifts in both the pools and fluxes of nitrogen (N) within these ecosystems. Because N availability can limit forest regrowth, understanding how beetle-induced mortality affects N cycling in WbP stands may be critical to understanding the trajectory of ecosystem recovery. Thus, we measured above- and belowground N pools and fluxes for trees representing three different times since beetle attack, including unattacked trees. Litterfall N inputs were more than ten times higher under recently attacked trees compared to unattacked trees. Soil inorganic N concentrations also increased following beetle attack, potentially driven by a more than two-fold increase in ammonium (NH4 +) concentrations in the surface soil organic horizon. However, there were no significant differences in mineral soil inorganic N or soil microbial biomass N concentrations between attacked and unattacked trees, implying that short-term changes in N cycling in response to the initial stages of WbP attack were restricted to the organic horizon. Our results suggest that while mountain pine beetle attack drives a pulse of N from the canopy to the forest floor, changes in litterfall quality and quantity do not have profound effects on soil biogeochemical cycling, at least in the short-term. However, continuous observation of these important ecosystems will be crucial to determining the long-term biogeochemical effects of mountain pine beetle outbreaks. PMID:23755166

Nitrogen cycling responses to mountain pine beetle disturbance in a high elevation whitebark pine ecosystem.

PubMed

Keville, Megan P; Reed, Sasha C; Cleveland, Cory C

2013-01-01

Ecological disturbances can significantly affect biogeochemical cycles in terrestrial ecosystems, but the biogeochemical consequences of the extensive mountain pine beetle outbreak in high elevation whitebark pine (WbP) (Pinus albicaulis) ecosystems of western North America have not been previously investigated. Mountain pine beetle attack has driven widespread WbP mortality, which could drive shifts in both the pools and fluxes of nitrogen (N) within these ecosystems. Because N availability can limit forest regrowth, understanding how beetle-induced mortality affects N cycling in WbP stands may be critical to understanding the trajectory of ecosystem recovery. Thus, we measured above- and belowground N pools and fluxes for trees representing three different times since beetle attack, including unattacked trees. Litterfall N inputs were more than ten times higher under recently attacked trees compared to unattacked trees. Soil inorganic N concentrations also increased following beetle attack, potentially driven by a more than two-fold increase in ammonium (NH₄⁺) concentrations in the surface soil organic horizon. However, there were no significant differences in mineral soil inorganic N or soil microbial biomass N concentrations between attacked and unattacked trees, implying that short-term changes in N cycling in response to the initial stages of WbP attack were restricted to the organic horizon. Our results suggest that while mountain pine beetle attack drives a pulse of N from the canopy to the forest floor, changes in litterfall quality and quantity do not have profound effects on soil biogeochemical cycling, at least in the short-term. However, continuous observation of these important ecosystems will be crucial to determining the long-term biogeochemical effects of mountain pine beetle outbreaks.

Nitrogen cycling responses to mountain pine beetle disturbance in a high elevation whitebark pine ecosystem

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keville, Megan P.; Reed, Sasha C.; Cleveland, Cory C.

2013-01-01

Ecological disturbances can significantly affect biogeochemical cycles in terrestrial ecosystems, but the biogeochemical consequences of the extensive mountain pine beetle outbreak in high elevation whitebark pine (WbP) (Pinus albicaulis) ecosystems of western North America have not been previously investigated. Mountain pine beetle attack has driven widespread WbP mortality, which could drive shifts in both the pools and fluxes of nitrogen (N) within these ecosystems. Because N availability can limit forest regrowth, understanding how beetle-induced mortality affects N cycling in WbP stands may be critical to understanding the trajectory of ecosystem recovery. Thus, we measured above- and belowground N pools and fluxes for trees representing three different times since beetle attack, including unattacked trees. Litterfall N inputs were more than ten times higher under recently attacked trees compared to unattacked trees. Soil inorganic N concentrations also increased following beetle attack, potentially driven by a more than two-fold increase in ammonium (NH4+) concentrations in the surface soil organic horizon. However, there were no significant differences in mineral soil inorganic N or soil microbial biomass N concentrations between attacked and unattacked trees, implying that short-term changes in N cycling in response to the initial stages of WbP attack were restricted to the organic horizon. Our results suggest that while mountain pine beetle attack drives a pulse of N from the canopy to the forest floor, changes in litterfall quality and quantity do not have profound effects on soil biogeochemical cycling, at least in the short-term. However, continuous observation of these important ecosystems will be crucial to determining the long-term biogeochemical effects of mountain pine beetle outbreaks.

N-15 tracing helps explaining N leaching losses from contrasting forest ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Staelens, J.; Rütting, T.; Huygens, D.; Müller, C.; Verheyen, K.; Boeckx, P.

2009-04-01

Despite chronically enhanced nitrogen (N) deposition to forest ecosystems in Europe and NE America, considerable N retention by forests has been observed, reducing N leaching losses. Organic and mineral soil layers typically immobilize more N than the aboveground biomass, but it is unclear which factors determine N retention in forest ecoystems. However, this knowledge is crucial to assess the impact of changing anthropogenic N emissions on future N cycling and N loss of forests. For coniferous and deciduous forest stands at comparable sites, it is known that both N deposition onto the forest floor as well as N loss by leaching below the rooting zone are significantly higher in coniferous stands. In addition, the N loss in coniferous stands is often more enhanced than can be explained by the higher N input only. This suggests lower N retention by coniferous stands, and may be related to differences in litter and soil characteristics, microbial activity, and N uptake by plant roots. To test this hypothesis, we studied the effect of forest type on N retention using 15N tracing techniques: a field tracer experiment and a combination of in situ isotope pool dilution and a tracing model. The N dynamics were examined for two adjacent forest stands (pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)) on a well-drained sandy soil and with a similar stand history, located in a region with high N deposition (Belgium). Input-output N budgets were established by quantifying atmospheric deposition and leaching below the rooting zone, and confirmed the above finding of higher N deposition and disproportionately higher N loss for the pine stand compared to the oak stand. First, the fate of inorganic N within the ecosystems was studied by spraying three pulses of dissolved 15N, either as ammonium or as nitrate, onto the forest floor in 12 plots of 25 m2. The organic and mineral soil layers, tree roots, soil water percolate, ferns, and tree foliage were sampled and analyzed for total N and 15N four times in the year after 15N application. Here we present results of the 15N recovery four months after the first application, and compare the recovery between the two forest stands and the two N treatments. Second, gross N transformation rates in the undisturbed mineral forest soils were determined via 15N pool dilution and advanced trace modelling. Using five spatial replicates per stand, three 15N treatments were applied in the field to 'virtual' soil cores (0-10 cm) that were disturbed only at sampling. Each treatment solution contained ammonium, nitrate, and nitrite, with one of the N forms labelled with 15N at 99% at. excess. Intact soil cores were sampled at six time intervals over a 12-day period, and analyzed for N and 15N content in different mineral and organic pools. The parameters of different simultaneously occurring process rates were optimized using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm. In both stands, heterotrophic nitrification of the organic soil pool was more important than autotrophic nitrification of ammonium. Significantly different process rates between the two forest stands were found for mineralization, heterotrophic and autotrophic nitrification, and ammonium and nitrate immobilization. Gross mineralization and ammonium immobilization rates were higher in the oak soil than in the pine soil. Gross nitrate production, in contrast, was faster in the pine soil, while nitrate immobilization was slower. These different soil nitrate dynamics likely contribute to the observed higher nitrate leaching loss in the pine than oak stand. In addition to the faster nitrate immobilization in the oak soil, our results strongly suggested the occurrence of a second N-conserving process under oak, i.e. dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA). This is unexpected for a temperate forest soil under enhanced N deposition, as this process has mainly been described for unpolluted soils.

Effects of Litter Manipulation on Litter Decomposition in a Successional Gradients of Tropical Forests in Southern China

PubMed Central

Chen, Hao; Gurmesa, Geshere A.; Liu, Lei; Zhang, Tao; Fu, Shenglei; Liu, Zhanfeng; Dong, Shaofeng; Ma, Chuan; Mo, Jiangming

2014-01-01

Global changes such as increasing CO2, rising temperature, and land-use change are likely to drive shifts in litter inputs to forest floors, but the effects of such changes on litter decomposition remain largely unknown. We initiated a litter manipulation experiment to test the response of litter decomposition to litter removal/addition in three successional forests in southern China, namely masson pine forest (MPF), mixed coniferous and broadleaved forest (MF) and monsoon evergreen broadleaved forest (MEBF). Results showed that litter removal decreased litter decomposition rates by 27%, 10% and 8% and litter addition increased litter decomposition rates by 55%, 36% and 14% in MEBF, MF and MPF, respectively. The magnitudes of changes in litter decomposition were more significant in MEBF forest and less significant in MF, but not significant in MPF. Our results suggest that change in litter quantity can affect litter decomposition, and this impact may become stronger with forest succession in tropical forest ecosystem. PMID:24901698

Environmental Impact Analysis Process. Environmental Impact Statement for the Closure of Pease Air Force Base. Volume 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-05-01

initially known as Portsmouth AFB. In 1957, it was rededicated as Pease AFB in honor of Captain Harl Pease, Jr., a native of Plymouth , Now Hampshire. During... barren soil, up-gradient from storm drains, or in close proximity of floor drains. Corrective action currently being taken is the prompt disposal of...Plant communities on base are indicative of the pine / northern hardwood ecosystem.. The forest resources of. Pease AFB are substantial. More than one

H2O and CO2 fluxes at the floor of a boreal pine forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kulmala, Liisa; Launiainen, Samuli; Pumpanen, Jukka; Lankreijer, Harry; Lindroth, Anders; Hari, Pertti; Vesala, Timo

2008-04-01

We measured H2O and CO2 fluxes at a boreal forest floor using eddy covariance (EC) and chamber methods. Maximum evapotranspiration measured with EC ranged from 1.5 to 2.0mmol m-2 s-1 while chamber estimates depended substantially on the location and the vegetation inside the chamber. The daytime net CO2 exchange measured with EC (0-2μmol m-2 s-1) was of the same order as measured with the chambers. The nocturnal net CO2 exchange measured with the chambers ranged from 4 to 7μmol m-2 s-1 and with EC from ~4 to ~5μmol m-2 s-1 when turbulent mixing below the canopy was sufficient and the measurements were reliable. We studied gross photosynthesis by measuring the light response curves of the most common forest floor species and found the saturated rates of photosynthesis (Pmax) to range from 0.008 (mosses) to 0.184μmol g-1 s-1 (blueberry). The estimated gross photosynthesis at the study site based on average leaf masses and the light response curves of individual plant species was 2-3μmol m-2 s-1. At the same time, we measured a whole community with another chamber and found maximum gross photosynthesis rates from 4 to 7μmol m-2 s-1.

The effects of raking on sugar pine mortality following prescribed fire in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, California, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nesmith, Jonathan C. B.; O'Hara, Kevin L.; van Mantgem, Phillip J.; de Valpine, Perry

2010-01-01

Prescribed fire is an important tool for fuel reduction, the control of competing vegetation, and forest restoration. The accumulated fuels associated with historical fire exclusion can cause undesirably high tree mortality rates following prescribed fires and wildfires. This is especially true for sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana Douglas), which is already negatively affected by the introduced pathogen white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch. ex Rabenh). We tested the efficacy of raking away fuels around the base of sugar pine to reduce mortality following prescribed fire in Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, California, USA. This study was conducted in three prescribed fires and included 457 trees, half of which had the fuels around their bases raked away to mineral soil to 0.5 m away from the stem. Fire effects were assessed and tree mortality was recorded for three years after prescribed fires. Overall, raking had no detectable effect on mortality: raked trees averaged 30% mortality compared to 36% for unraked trees. There was a significant effect, however, between the interaction of raking and average pre-treatment forest floor fuel depth: the predicted probability of survival of a 50 cm dbh tree was 0.94 vs. 0.96 when average pre-treatment fuel depth was 0 cm for a raked and unraked tree, respectively. When average pre-treatment forest floor fuel depth was 30 cm, the predicted probability of survival for a raked 50 cm dbh tree was 0.60 compared to only 0.07 for an unraked tree. Raking did not affect mortality when fire intensity, measured as percent crown volume scorched, was very low (0% scorch) or very high (>80% scorch), but the raking treatment significantly increased the proportion of trees that survived by 9.6% for trees that burned under moderate fire intensity (1% to 80% scorch). Raking significantly reduced the likelihood of bole charring and bark beetle activity three years post fire. Fuel depth and anticipated fire intensity need to be accounted for to maximize the effectiveness of the treatments. Raking is an important management option to reduce tree mortality from prescribed fire, but is most effective under specific fuel and burning conditions.

Evaporation and transpiration from forests in Central Europe - relevance of patch-level studies for spatial scaling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Köstner, B.

Spatial scaling from patch to the landscape level requires knowledge on the effects of vegetation structure on maximum surface conductances and evaporation rates. The following paper summarizes results on atmospheric, edaphic, and structural controls on forest evaporation and transpiration observed in stands of Norway spruce (Picea abies), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica). Forest canopy transpiration (Ec) was determined by tree sapflow measurements scaled to the stand level. Estimates of understory transpiration and forest floor evaporation were derived from lysimeter and chamber measurements. Strong reduction of Ec due to soil drought was only observed at a Scots pine stand when soil water content dropped below 16% v/v. Although relative responses of Ec on atmospheric conditions were similar, daily maximum rates of could differ more than 100% between forest patches of different structure (1.5-3.0mmd-1 and 2.6-6.4mmd-1 for spruce and beech, respectively). A significant decrease of Ecmax per leaf area index with increasing stand age was found for monocultures of Norway spruce, whereas no pronounced changes in were observed for beech stands. It is concluded that structural effects on Ecmax can be specified and must be considered for spatial scaling from forest stands to landscapes. Hereby, in conjunction with LAI, age-related structural parameters are important for Norway spruce stands. Although compensating effects of tree canopy layers and understory on total evaporation of forests were observed, more information is needed to quantify structure-function relationships in forests of heterogenous structure.

Soil responses to management, increased precipitation, and added nitrogen in ponderosa pine forests.

PubMed

Hungate, Bruce A; Hart, Stephen C; Selmants, Paul C; Boyle, Sarah I; Gehring, Catherine A

2007-07-01

Forest management, climatic change, and atmospheric N deposition can affect soil biogeochemistry, but their combined effects are not well understood. We examined the effects of water and N amendments and forest thinning and burning on soil N pools and fluxes in ponderosa pine forests near Flagstaff, Arizona (USA). Using a 15N-depleted fertilizer, we also documented the distribution of added N into soil N pools. Because thinning and burning can increase soil water content and N availability, we hypothesized that these changes would alleviate water and N limitation of soil processes, causing smaller responses to added N and water in the restored stand. We found little support for this hypothesis. Responses of fine root biomass, potential net N mineralization, and the soil microbial N to water and N amendments were mostly unaffected by stand management. Most of the soil processes we examined were limited by N and water, and the increased N and soil water availability caused by forest restoration was insufficient to alleviate these limitations. For example, N addition caused a larger increase in potential net nitrification in the restored stand, and at a given level of soil N availability, N addition had a larger effect on soil microbial N in the restored stand. Possibly, forest restoration increased the availability of some other limiting resource, amplifying responses to added N and water. Tracer N recoveries in roots and in the forest floor were lower in the restored stand. Natural abundance delta15N of labile soil N pools were higher in the restored stand, consistent with a more open N cycle. We conclude that thinning and burning open up the N cycle, at least in the short-term, and that these changes are amplified by enhanced precipitation and N additions. Our results suggest that thinning and burning in ponderosa pine forests will not increase their resistance to changes in soil N dynamics resulting from increased atmospheric N deposition or increased precipitation due to climatic change. Restoration plans should consider the potential impact on long-term forest productivity of greater N losses from a more open N cycle, especially during the period immediately after thinning and burning.

Soil charcoal from the plains to tundra in the Colorado Front Range

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanford, R. L.; Licata, C.

2010-12-01

Throughout the forests of the central Rockies, soil charcoal from Holocene wildfires has been produced in response to wildland natural fire regimes. The extent and spatial distribution of soil charcoal production is poorly documented in this region, especially with regard to forests and shrublands at different elevations. Soil charcoal is a super-passive C pool derived from woody biomass that can be sequestered for millennia in forest soils. Recent research indicates that soil charcoal may promote enhanced soil fertility. Additionally, soil charcoal is an often overlooked component of soil C mass and flux. We hypothesize that differences in forest and shrubland fire regimes over the millennia have resulted in different soil charcoal amounts. Geospatial data were used to locate random sample plots in foothills shrublands (Cercocarpus montanus), and four forest types; ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and spruce-fir (Picea engelmannii - Abies lasiocarpa). Sample plots were stratified to occur with the mid 200 m elevation band of each vegetation type with east aspect, and 10-30% slope. Soils were sampled widely at 0-10 cm depth and analyzed for total soil C and soil charcoal C via chemical digestion and dry combustion techniques. Overall, soil charcoal is four times more abundant in spruce-fir forests than in foothills shrublands (1.9 +/- 0.92 Mg C/ha versus 0.54 +/- 0.44 Mg C/ha). Soil charcoal is also abundant in lodgepole pine and ponderosa pine soils (1.4 +/- 1.02 Mg C/ha and 1.4 +/- 0.54 Mg C/ha respectively) but is less plentiful in Douglas-fir soils (1.0 +/- 0.67). Spruce-fir forests have the most above ground biomass, slower decomposition rates and a less frequent mean fire return interval than the other four forests, hence it makes sense that high per-fire rates of charcoal production would occur in the spruce-fir zone, given large amounts of surface fuels at the time of fire. In contrast, low amounts of coarse woody debris in ponderosa, lodgepole, and shrub communities would cause less charcoal to form, despite higher fire frequencies. The Douglas-fir soil charcoal seems anomalously low, but it may reflect a combination of low forest floor woody debris and low fire frequency. Foothills shrublands have the least biomass, comparatively rapid decomposition rates and a more frequent mean fire return interval. We propose that high biomass and slow turnover rates in the spruce-fir forests creates conditions for relatively higher net soil charcoal accumulation.

Natural range of variation for yellow pine and mixed-conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada, southern Cascades, and Modoc and Inyo National Forests, California, USA

Treesearch

Hugh D. Safford; Jens T. Stevens

2017-01-01

Yellow pine and mixed-conifer (YPMC) forests are the predominant montane forest type in the Sierra Nevada, southern Cascade Range, and neighboring forested areas on the Modoc and Inyo National Forests (the "assessment area"). YPMC forests occur above the oak woodland belt and below red fir forests, and are dominated by the yellow pines (ponderosa pine [

Low tortoise abundances in pine forest plantations in forest-shrubland transition areas

PubMed Central

Rodríguez-Caro, Roberto C.; Oedekoven, Cornelia S.; Graciá, Eva; Anadón, José D.; Buckland, Stephen T.; Esteve-Selma, Miguel A.; Martinez, Julia; Giménez, Andrés

2017-01-01

In the transition between Mediterranean forest and the arid subtropical shrublands of the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, humans have transformed habitat since ancient times. Understanding the role of the original mosaic landscapes in wildlife species and the effects of the current changes as pine forest plantations, performed even outside the forest ecological boundaries, are important conservation issues. We studied variation in the density of the endangered spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca) in three areas that include the four most common land types within the species’ range (pine forests, natural shrubs, dryland crop fields, and abandoned crop fields). Tortoise densities were estimated using a two-stage modeling approach with line transect distance sampling. Densities in dryland crop fields, abandoned crop fields and natural shrubs were higher (>6 individuals/ha) than in pine forests (1.25 individuals/ha). We also found large variation in density in the pine forests. Recent pine plantations showed higher densities than mature pine forests where shrub and herbaceous cover was taller and thicker. We hypothesize that mature pine forest might constrain tortoise activity by acting as partial barriers to movements. This issue is relevant for management purposes given that large areas in the tortoise’s range have recently been converted to pine plantations. PMID:28273135

Low tortoise abundances in pine forest plantations in forest-shrubland transition areas.

PubMed

Rodríguez-Caro, Roberto C; Oedekoven, Cornelia S; Graciá, Eva; Anadón, José D; Buckland, Stephen T; Esteve-Selma, Miguel A; Martinez, Julia; Giménez, Andrés

2017-01-01

In the transition between Mediterranean forest and the arid subtropical shrublands of the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, humans have transformed habitat since ancient times. Understanding the role of the original mosaic landscapes in wildlife species and the effects of the current changes as pine forest plantations, performed even outside the forest ecological boundaries, are important conservation issues. We studied variation in the density of the endangered spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca) in three areas that include the four most common land types within the species' range (pine forests, natural shrubs, dryland crop fields, and abandoned crop fields). Tortoise densities were estimated using a two-stage modeling approach with line transect distance sampling. Densities in dryland crop fields, abandoned crop fields and natural shrubs were higher (>6 individuals/ha) than in pine forests (1.25 individuals/ha). We also found large variation in density in the pine forests. Recent pine plantations showed higher densities than mature pine forests where shrub and herbaceous cover was taller and thicker. We hypothesize that mature pine forest might constrain tortoise activity by acting as partial barriers to movements. This issue is relevant for management purposes given that large areas in the tortoise's range have recently been converted to pine plantations.

The importance of shortleaf pine for wildlife and diversity in mixed oak-pine forests and in pine-grassland woodlands

Treesearch

Ronald E. Masters

2007-01-01

Shortleaf pine, by virtue of its wide distribution and occurrence in many forest types in eastern North America, is an important species that provides high habitat value for many wildlife species. Shortleaf pine functions as a structural habitat element in both mixed oak-pine forests and in pine-grassland woodlands. It also adds diversity throughout all stages of plant...

A Common-Pool Resource Approach to Forest Health: The Case of the Southern Pine Beetle

Treesearch

John Schelhas; Joseph Molnar

2012-01-01

The southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis, is a major threat to pine forest health in the South, and is expected to play an increasingly important role in the future of the South’s pine forests (Ward and Mistretta 2002). Once a forest stand is infected with southern pine beetle (SPB), elimination and isolation of the infested and immediately...

75 FR 23666 - Huron-Manistee National Forests, White Pines Wind Farm Project, Mason County, MI

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-04

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Huron-Manistee National Forests, White Pines Wind Farm... environmental impact statement for the White Pines Wind Farm Project on National Forest System (NFS) lands... terminates the environmental analysis process for the White Pines Wind Farm Project. DATES: The Notice of...

Ecology of southwestern ponderosa pine forests

Treesearch

William H. Moir; Brian W. Geils; Mary Ann Benoit; Dan Scurlock

1997-01-01

Ponderosa pine forests are important because of their wide distribution, commercial value, and because they provide habitat for many plants and animals. Ponderosa pine forests are noted for their variety of passerine birds resulting from variation in forest composition and structure modified by past and present human use. Subsequent chapters discuss how ponderosa pine...

Southern pine beetles in central hardwood forests: frequency, spatial extent, and changes to forest structure

Treesearch

John Nowak; Kier Klepzig; D R Coyle; William Carothers; Kamal J K Gandhi

2015-01-01

EXCERPT FROM: Natural Disturbances and Historic Range Variation 2015. The southern pine beetle (SPB) is a major disturbance in pine forests throughout the range of southern yellow pines, and is a significant influence on forests throughout several Central Hardwood Region (CHR) ecoregions...

Red Pine in the Northern Lake States

Treesearch

Thomas L. Schmidt

2003-01-01

Red pine is an important tree species for the Northern Lake States. About 4 percent of the total area of timberland is dominated by red pine but most other forest types also have red pine as a component. The red pine forest type in the region has dramatically increased in area since the 1930s. Stand-size class distribution of the red pine forest type has changed over...

Native ectomycorrhizal fungi of limber and whitebark pine: Necessary for forest sustainability?

Treesearch

Cathy L. Cripps; Robert K. Antibus

2011-01-01

Ectomycorrhizal fungi are an important component of northern coniferous forests, including those of Pinus flexilis (limber pine) and P. albicaulis (whitebark pine) which are being decimated by white pine blister rust and mountain pine beetles. Ectomycorrhizal fungi are known to promote seedling establishment, tree health, and may play a role in forest sustainability....

An Old-Growth Definition for Wet Pine Forests, Woodlands, and Savannas

Treesearch

William R. Harms

1996-01-01

The ecological, site, and vegetation characteristics of pine wetland forests of the flatwoods region of the Southeastern United States are described. Provisional working definitions of old-growth characteristics are provided for longleaf pine, slash pine, and pond pine forests. These definitions can be used to identify and evaluate stands for retention in old-growth...

Do the energy fluxes and surface conductance of boreal coniferous forests in Europe scale with leaf area?

PubMed

Launiainen, Samuli; Katul, Gabriel G; Kolari, Pasi; Lindroth, Anders; Lohila, Annalea; Aurela, Mika; Varlagin, Andrej; Grelle, Achim; Vesala, Timo

2016-12-01

Earth observing systems are now routinely used to infer leaf area index (LAI) given its significance in spatial aggregation of land surface fluxes. Whether LAI is an appropriate scaling parameter for daytime growing season energy budget, surface conductance (G s ), water- and light-use efficiency and surface-atmosphere coupling of European boreal coniferous forests was explored using eddy-covariance (EC) energy and CO 2 fluxes. The observed scaling relations were then explained using a biophysical multilayer soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer model as well as by a bulk G s representation. The LAI variations significantly alter radiation regime, within-canopy microclimate, sink/source distributions of CO 2 , H 2 O and heat, and forest floor fluxes. The contribution of forest floor to ecosystem-scale energy exchange is shown to decrease asymptotically with increased LAI, as expected. Compared with other energy budget components, dry-canopy evapotranspiration (ET) was reasonably 'conservative' over the studied LAI range 0.5-7.0 m 2 m -2 . Both ET and G s experienced a minimum in the LAI range 1-2 m 2 m -2 caused by opposing nonproportional response of stomatally controlled transpiration and 'free' forest floor evaporation to changes in canopy density. The young forests had strongest coupling with the atmosphere while stomatal control of energy partitioning was strongest in relatively sparse (LAI ~2 m 2 m -2 ) pine stands growing on mineral soils. The data analysis and model results suggest that LAI may be an effective scaling parameter for net radiation and its partitioning but only in sparse stands (LAI <3 m 2 m -2 ). This finding emphasizes the significance of stand-replacing disturbances on the controls of surface energy exchange. In denser forests, any LAI dependency varies with physiological traits such as light-saturated water-use efficiency. The results suggest that incorporating species traits and site conditions are necessary when LAI is used in upscaling energy exchanges of boreal coniferous forests. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Resilience of ponderosa and lodgepole pine forests to mountain pine beetle disturbance and limited regeneration

USGS Publications Warehouse

Briggs, Jenny S.; Hawbaker, Todd J.; Vandendriesche, Don

2015-01-01

After causing widespread mortality in lodgepole pine forests in North America, the mountain pine beetle (MPB) has recently also affected ponderosa pine, an alternate host species that may have different levels of resilience to this disturbance. We collected field data in ponderosa pine- and lodgepole pine-dominated forests attacked by MPB in Colorado and then simulated stand growth over 200 years using the Forest Vegetation Simulator. We compared scenarios of no disturbance with scenarios of MPB-caused mortality, both with and without regeneration. Results indicated that basal area and tree density recovered to predisturbance levels relatively rapidly (within 1‐8 decades) in both forest types. However, convergence of the disturbed conditions with simulated undisturbed conditions took longer (12‐20+ decades) and was delayed by the absence of regeneration. In MPB-affected ponderosa pine forests without regeneration, basal area did not converge with undisturbed conditions within 200 years, implying lower resilience in this ecosystem. Surface fuels accumulated rapidly in both forest types after MPB-induced mortality, remaining high for 3‐6 decades in simulations. Our results suggest that future patterns of succession, regeneration, fuel loading, climate, and disturbance interactions over long time periods should be considered in management strategies addressing MPB effects in either forest type, but particularly in ponderosa pine.

The role of forest floor and trees to the ecosystem scale methane budget of boreal forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pihlatie, Mari; Halmeenmäki, Elisa; Peltola, Olli; Haikarainen, Iikka; Heinonsalo, Jussi; Santalahti, Minna; Putkinen, Anuliina; Fritze, Hannu; Urban, Otmar; Machacova, Katerina

2016-04-01

Boreal forests are considered as a sink of atmospheric methane (CH4) due to the activity of CH4 oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs) in the soil. This soil CH4 sink is especially strong for upland forest soils, whereas forests growing on organic soils may act as small sources due to the domination of CH4 production by methanogens in the anaerobic parts of the soil. The role of trees to the ecosystem-scale CH4 fluxes has until recently been neglected due to the perception that trees do not contribute to the CH4 exchange, and also due to difficulties in measuring the CH4 exchange from trees. Findings of aerobic CH4 formation in plants and emissions from tree-stems in temperate and tropical forests during the past decade demonstrate that our understanding of CH4 cycling in forest ecosystems is not complete. Especially the role of forest canopies still remain unresolved, and very little is known of CH4 fluxes from trees in boreal region. We measured the CH4 exchange of tree-stems and tree-canopies from pine (Pinus sylvestris), spruce (Picea abies) and birch (Betula pubescens, Betula pendula) trees growing in Southern Finland (SMEAR II station) on varying soil conditions, from upland mineral soils to paludified soil. We compared the CH4 fluxes from trees to forest-floor CH4 exchange, both measured by static chambers, and to CH4 fluxes measured above the forest canopy by a flux gradient technique. We link the CH4 fluxes from trees and forest floor to physiological activity of the trees, such as transpiration, sap-flow, CO2 net ecosystem exchange (NEE), soil properties such as temperature and moisture, and to the presence of CH4 producing methanogens and CH4 oxidizing methanotrophs in trees or soil. The above canopy CH4 flux measurements show that the whole forest ecosystem was a small source of CH4 over extended periods in the spring and summer 2012, 2014 and 2015. Throughout the 2013-2014 measurements, the forest floor was in total a net sink of CH4, with variation between high CH4 uptake in the dominating dry upland areas and high emissions from the few wet spots of the forest. All the studied tree species emitted small amounts of CH4 from the stems and shoots, with emission rates depending on the season, tree species and soil conditions. Especially, CH4 emissions from birch canopies were high and can therefore contribute significantly to the ecosystem-scale CH4 fluxes. Processes behind the canopy and stem CH4emission remain unresolved, however, ongoing analysis of the methanogens and methanotrophs within the plant-soil systems will reveal whether CH4 production or consumption is of microbial origin. Also, comparison of the CH4 fluxes from trees and forest floor to sap-flow, transpiration, and NEE as well as soil parameters will help to explain the seasonality and mechanisms involved in the CH4 emissions.

Effects of multiple interacting disturbances and salvage logging on forest carbon stocks

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bradford, J.B.; Fraver, S.; Milo, A.M.; D'Amato, A.W.; Palik, B.; Shinneman, D.J.

2012-01-01

Climate change is anticipated to increase the frequency of disturbances, potentially impacting carbon stocks in terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about the implications of either multiple disturbances or post-disturbance forest management activities on ecosystem carbon stocks. This study quantified how forest carbon stocks responded to stand-replacing blowdown and wildfire, both individually and in combination with and without post-disturbance salvage operations, in a sub-boreal jack pine ecosystem. Individually, blowdown or fire caused similar decreases in live carbon and total ecosystem carbon. However, whereas blowdown increased carbon in down woody material and forest floor, fire increased carbon in standing snags, a difference that may have consequences for long-term carbon cycling patterns. Fire after the blowdown caused substantial additional reduction in ecosystem carbon stocks, suggesting that potential increases in multiple disturbance events may represent a challenge for sustaining ecosystem carbon stocks. Salvage logging, as examined here, decreased carbon stored in snags and down woody material but had no significant effect on total ecosystem carbon stocks.

Ecological Impacts of Southern Pine Beetle

Treesearch

Maria D. Tchakerian; Robert N. Coulson

2011-01-01

The southern pine beetle (SPB) is the most important biotic disturbance in southern pine forests and causes extensive changes to the forest environment. In this chapter we provide an overview of the ecological impacts of the SPB on forest conditions (the state of the forest) and on forest resources (uses and values associated with the forest). We define ecological...

Guide to the Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest - A sustained yield experiment in ponderosa pine in northeastern California

Treesearch

E.I. Kotok

1938-01-01

Experimental forests, watersheds, and ranges are the field laboratories in the research structure of the Forest Service. The California Forest and Range Experiment Station maintains four experimental forests representing the more important timber types in the Pine Region.The Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest represents the ponderosa pine...

Southern pine beetle infestations in relation to forest stand conditions, previous thinning, and prescribed burning: evaluation of the Southern Pine Beetle Prevention Program

Treesearch

John T. Nowak; James R. Meeker; David R. Coyle; Chris A. Steiner; Cavell Brownie

2015-01-01

Since 2003, the Southern Pine Beetle Prevention Program (SPBPP) (a joint effort of the USDA Forest Service and Southern Group of State Foresters) has encouraged and provided cost-share assistance for silvicultural treatments to reduce stand/forest susceptibility to the southern pine beetle (SPB)(Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann) in the southeastern United States....

Are Scots pine forest edges particularly prone to drought-stress?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buras, Allan; Schunk, Christian; Taeger, Steffen; Lemme, Hannes; Gößwein, Sebastian; Menzel, Annette

2017-04-01

In 2016, Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forests experienced a pronounced dieback in several regions across Germany. Being an economically important tree species, a thorough identification of the reasons for this dieback is of high interest. The dieback is likely to be associated with a record drought event which occurred in summer 2015. However, visual observations indicate that forest edges were particularly affected. This observation is supported by a study from Sweden which showed that Scots pine trees growing at a north-facing forest edge expressed a higher water use if compared to trees from the interior (Cienciala et al., 2002). We therefore hypothesize that Scots pine trees are more prone to drought-stress induced dieback when growing at the forest edge. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the growth performance of Scots pine across three affected stands in Franconia, southern Germany. The stands were selected to represent differing conditions along a gradient of forest fragmentation, ranging from the forest interior, over a forest edge situation, to a small forest island. By means of dendroclimatology and UAV-borne remote sensing, Scots pine growth performance and vitality was compared among the three stands. Our results revealed differing Scots pine growth reactions between the forest interior and forest edge as indicated by the identification of different responder groups (Buras et al., 2016). The forest edge and the forest island expressed significantly higher correlations with the drought-index SPEI (Vicente-Serrano et al., 2009) if compared to the forest interior. Moreover, NDVI of Scots Pine canopies significantly decreased towards the forest edge, this indicating lower vitality of corresponding trees. In conclusion, our results highlight Scots pine to be more prone to drought-stress when growing at the forest edge. This finding has important implications for forest management activities in the context of climate change adaptation, since foresters may need to revise concepts of Scots pine management at forest edges and in forest islands under an increasingly warmer and drier climate. 1. Cienciala, E. et al. The effect of a north-facing forest edge on tree water use in a boreal Scots pine stand. Can. J. For. Res. 32, 693-702 (2002). 2. Buras, A. et al. Tuning the Voices of a Choir: Detecting Ecological Gradients in Time-Series Populations. PLOS ONE 11, e0158346 (2016). 3. Vicente-Serrano, S. M., Beguería, S. & López-Moreno, J. I. A Multiscalar Drought Index Sensitive to Global Warming: The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index. J. Climate 23, 1696-1718 (2009).

Forest rodents provide directed dispersal of Jeffrey pine seeds

USGS Publications Warehouse

Briggs, J.S.; Wall, S.B.V.; Jenkins, S.H.

2009-01-01

Some species of animals provide directed dispersal of plant seeds by transporting them nonrandomly to microsites where their chances of producing healthy seedlings are enhanced. We investigated whether this mutualistic interaction occurs between granivorous rodents and Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) in the eastern Sierra Nevada by comparing the effectiveness of random abiotic seed dispersal with the dispersal performed by four species of rodents: deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), yellow-pine and long-eared chipmunks (Tamias amoenus and T. quadrimaculatus), and golden-mantled ground squirrels (Spermophilus lateralis). We conducted two caching studies using radio-labeled seeds, the first with individual animals in field enclosures and the second with a community of rodents in open forest. We used artificial caches to compare the fates of seeds placed at the range of microsites and depths used by animals with the fates of seeds dispersed abiotically. Finally, we examined the distribution and survival of naturally establishing seedlings over an eight-year period.Several lines of evidence suggested that this community of rodents provided directed dispersal. Animals preferred to cache seeds in microsites that were favorable for emergence or survival of seedlings and avoided caching in microsites in which seedlings fared worst. Seeds buried at depths typical of animal caches (5–25 mm) produced at least five times more seedlings than did seeds on the forest floor. The four species of rodents differed in the quality of dispersal they provided. Small, shallow caches made by deer mice most resembled seeds dispersed by abiotic processes, whereas many of the large caches made by ground squirrels were buried too deeply for successful emergence of seedlings. Chipmunks made the greatest number of caches within the range of depths and microsites favorable for establishment of pine seedlings. Directed dispersal is an important element of the population dynamics of Jeffrey pine, a dominant tree species in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Quantifying the occurrence and dynamics of directed dispersal in this and other cases will contribute to better understanding of mutualistic coevolution of plants and animals and to more effective management of ecosystems in which directed dispersal is a keystone process.

Many ways to manage lodgepole pine forests

Treesearch

Lucia Solorzano

1997-01-01

Research underway at the Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest near White Sulphur Springs will provide insights on how to sustain lodgepole pine forests and water flow patterns over large areas. Lodgepole pine dominates a high percentage of forests in the northern Rocky Mountains. including the Bitterroot National Forest. About half the stands at Tenderfoot are two-aged...

Evaluating potential fire behavior in lodgepole pine-dominated forests after a mountain pine beetle epidemic in north-central Colorado

Treesearch

Jennifer G. Klutsch; Mike A. Battaglia; Daniel R. West; Sheryl L. Costello; Jose F. Negron

2011-01-01

A mountain pine beetle outbreak in Colorado lodgepole pine forests has altered stand and fuel characteristics that affect potential fire behavior. Using the Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator, potential fire behavior was modeled for uninfested and mountain pine beetle-affected plots 7 years after outbreak initiation and 10 and 80% projected...

Effects of dwarf mistletoe on stand structure of lodgepole pine forests 21-28 years post-mountain pine beetle epidemic in central Oregon

Treesearch

Michelle C. Agne; David C. Shaw; Travis J. Woolley; Mónica E. Queijeiro-Bolaños; Mai-He. Li

2014-01-01

Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests are widely distributed throughout North America and are subject to mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) epidemics, which have caused mortality over millions of hectares of mature trees in recent decades. Mountain pine beetle is known to influence stand structure, and has the ability to impact many forest processes....

Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis James), a Flexible Generalist of Forest Communities in the Intermountain West.

PubMed

Windmuller-Campione, Marcella A; Long, James N

2016-01-01

As forest communities continue to experience interactions between climate change and shifting disturbance regimes, there is an increased need to link ecological understanding to applied management. Limber pine (Pinus flexilis James.), an understudied species of western North America, has been documented to dominate harsh environments and thought to be competitively excluded from mesic environments. An observational study was conducted using the Forest Inventory and Analysis Database (FIAD) to test the competitive exclusion hypothesis across a broad elevational and geographic area within the Intermountain West, USA. We anticipated that competitive exclusion would result in limber pine's absence from mid-elevation forest communities, creating a bi-modal distribution. Using the FIAD database, limber pine was observed to occur with 22 different overstory species, which represents a surprising number of the woody, overstory species commonly observed in the Intermountain West. There were no biologically significant relationships between measures of annual precipitation, annual temperature, or climatic indices (i.e. Ombrothermic Index) and limber pine dominance. Limber pine was observed to be a consistent component of forest communities across elevation classes. Of the plots that contained limber pine regeneration, nearly half did not have a live or dead limber pine in the overstory. However, limber pine regeneration was greater in plots with higher limber pine basal area and higher average annual precipitation. Our results suggest limber pine is an important habitat generalist, playing more than one functional role in forest communities. Generalists, like limber pine, may be increasingly important, as managers are challenged to build resistance and resilience to future conditions in western forests. Additional research is needed to understand how different silvicultural systems can be used to maintain multi-species forest communities.

Evaporation components of a boreal forest: variations during the growing season

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grelle, A.; Lundberg, A.; Lindroth, A.; Morén, A.-S.; Cienciala, E.

1997-10-01

To improve the understanding of interactions between the boreal forest and the climate system as a key issue for global climate change, the water budget of a mixed pine and spruce forest in central Sweden was estimated by measurements of the water flux components and the total evaporation flux during the period 16 May-31 October 1995. Total evaporation was measured using eddy correlation and the components were obtained using measurements of precipitation, throughfall, tree transpiration, and forest floor evaporation. On a daily basis, tree transpiration was the dominant evaporation component during the vegetation period. However, it could be efficiently blocked by a wet canopy associated with large interception evaporation. The accumulated total evaporation was 399 mm, transpiration was 243 mm, forest floor evaporation was 56 mm and interception evaporation was 74 mm. The accumulated sum of interception, transpiration, and floor evaporation was 51 mm larger than the actual measured total evaporation. This difference was mainly attributed to the fact that transpiration was measured in a rather dense 50-year-old stand while total evaporation represented the average conditions of older, roughly 100-year-old stands. To compare eddy-correlation measurements with small-scale measurements of evaporation components, a source area analysis was made to select the flux data that give the best representation of the investigated stand. Especially under stable atmospheric conditions the requirements for surface homogeneity were very high and extreme care had to be taken to be aware of the flux source areas. Canopy water storage was determined by two methods: by the water balance of the canopy, which gave a result of 3.3 mm; and by the so-called minimum method based on plots of throughfall versus precipitation, which gave a much lower value of 1.5 mm. Seasonal interception evaporation constituted 30% of the precipitation.

Analysis of the prescribed burning practice in the pine forest of northwestern Portugal.

PubMed

Fernandes, P; Botelho, H

2004-01-01

The ignition of low-intensity fires in the dormant season in the pine stands of north-western Portugal seeks to reduce the existing fuel hazard without compromising site quality. The purpose of this study is to characterise this practice and assess its effectiveness, based on information resulting from the normal monitoring process at the management level, and using operational guidelines, fire behaviour models and a newly developed method to classify prescribed fire severity. Although the region's humid climate strongly constrains the activity of prescribed fire, 87% of the fires analysed were undertaken under acceptable meteorological and fuel moisture conditions. In fact, most operations achieved satisfactory results. On average, prescribed fire reduces by 96% the potential intensity of a wildfire occurring under extreme weather conditions, but 36% of the treated sites would still require heavy fire fighting resources to suppress such fire, and 17% would still carry it in the tree canopy. Only 10% of the prescribed burns have an excessive impact on trees or the forest floor, while 89% (normal fire weather) or 59% (extreme fire weather) comply with both ecological integrity maintenance and wildfire protection needs. Improved planning and monitoring procedures are recommended in order to overcome the current deficiencies.

Successional trends of six mature shortleaf pine forests in Missouri

Treesearch

Michael C. Stambaugh; Rose-Marie Muzika

2007-01-01

Many of Missouri's mature oak-shortleaf pine (Quercus-Pinus echinata) forests are in a mid-transition stage characterized by partial pine overstory, limited pine recruitment, and minimal pine regeneration. Restoration of shortleaf pine communities at a large scale necessitates the understanding and management of natural regeneration. To...

Restoring fire in lodgepole pine forests of the Intermountain west

Treesearch

Colin C. Hardy; Ward W. McCaughey

1997-01-01

We are developing new management treatments for regenerating and sustaining lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests through emulation of natural disturbance processes. Lodgepole pine is the principal forest cover on over 26 million hectares in western North America. While infrequent, stand replacing fires following mountain pine beetle outbreaks are common to the...

Latent resilience in ponderosa pine forest: effects of resumed frequent fire.

PubMed

Larson, Andrew J; Belote, R Travis; Cansler, C Alina; Parks, Sean A; Dietz, Matthew S

2013-09-01

Ecological systems often exhibit resilient states that are maintained through negative feedbacks. In ponderosa pine forests, fire historically represented the negative feedback mechanism that maintained ecosystem resilience; fire exclusion reduced that resilience, predisposing the transition to an alternative ecosystem state upon reintroduction of fire. We evaluated the effects of reintroduced frequent wildfire in unlogged, fire-excluded, ponderosa pine forest in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, Montana, USA. Initial reintroduction of fire in 2003 reduced tree density and consumed surface fuels, but also stimulated establishment of a dense cohort of lodgepole pine, maintaining a trajectory toward an alternative state. Resumption of a frequent fire regime by a second fire in 2011 restored a low-density forest dominated by large-diameter ponderosa pine by eliminating many regenerating lodgepole pines and by continuing to remove surface fuels and small-diameter lodgepole pine and Douglas-fir that established during the fire suppression era. Our data demonstrate that some unlogged, fire-excluded, ponderosa pine forests possess latent resilience to reintroduced fire. A passive model of simply allowing lightning-ignited fires to burn appears to be a viable approach to restoration of such forests.

The history of mercury pollution near the Spolana chlor-alkali plant (Neratovice, Czech Republic) as recorded by Scots pine tree rings and other bioindicators

USGS Publications Warehouse

Navrátil, Tomáš; Šimeček, Martin; Shanley, James B.; Rohovec, Jan; Hojdová, Maria; Houška, Jakub

2017-01-01

We assessed > 100 years of mercury (Hg) pollution recorded in the tree rings of Scots Pine near a Czech chlor-alkali plant operating since 1941. Hg concentrations in tree rings increased with the launching of plant operations and decreased when Hg emissions decreased in 1975 due to an upgrade in production technology. Similar to traditional bioindicators of pollution such as pine needles, bark and forest floor humus, Hg concentrations in Scots Pine boles decreased with distance from the plant. Mean Hg in pine bole in the 1940s ranged from 32.5 μg/kg Hg at a distance of 0.5 km from the plant to 5.4 μg/kg at a distance of > 4.7 km, where tree ring Hg was the same as at a reference site, and other bioindicators also suggest that the effect of the plant was no longer discernible. Tree ring Hg concentrations decreased by 8–29 μg/kg since the 1940s at all study sites including the reference site. The lack of exact correspondence between changes at the plant and tree ring Hg indicated some smearing of the signal due to lateral translocation of Hg from sapwood to heartwood. Bole Hg concentrations reflected local and regional atmospheric Hg concentrations, and not Hg wet deposition.

Forest inventory and management-based visual preference models of southern pine stands

Treesearch

Victor A. Rudis; James H. Gramann; Edward J. Ruddell; Joanne M. Westphal

1988-01-01

Statistical models explaining students' ratings of photographs of within stand forest scenes were constructed for 99 forest inventory plots in east Texas pine and oak-pine forest types. Models with parameters that are sensitive to visual preference yet compatible with forest management and timber inventories are presented. The models suggest that the density of...

Fate of residual canopy trees following harvesting to underplant longleaf pine seedlings in loblolly pine stands in Georgia

Treesearch

Benjamin O. Knapp; G. Geoff Wang; Joan L. Walker; Robert N. Addington

2016-01-01

Over the past few decades, reports of forest health problems have concerned scientists and forest managers in loblolly pine forests of the southeastern United States. Several interacting factors likely contribute to observed reductions in loblolly pine health, including low resource availability on many upland sites that were once dominated by longleaf pine. Currently...

Does tree diversity increase wood production in pine forests?

PubMed

Vilà, Montserrat; Vayreda, Jordi; Gracia, Carles; Ibáñez, Joan Josep

2003-04-01

Recent experimental advances on the positive effect of species richness on ecosystem productivity highlight the need to explore this relationship in communities other than grasslands and using non-synthetic experiments. We investigated whether wood production in forests dominated by Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) and Pyrenean Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) differed between monospecific and mixed forests (2-5 species) using the Ecological and Forest Inventory of Catalonia (IEFC) database which contains biotic and environmental characteristics for 10,644 field plots distributed within a 31,944 km(2) area in Catalonia (NE Spain). We found that in Pyrenean Scots pine forests wood production was not significantly different between monospecific and mixed plots. In contrast, in Aleppo pine forests wood production was greater in mixed plots than in monospecific plots. However, when climate, bedrock types, radiation and successional stage per plot were included in the analysis, species richness was no longer a significant factor. Aleppo pine forests had the highest productivity in plots located in humid climates and on marls and sandstone bedrocks. Climate did not influence wood production in Pyrenean Scots pine forests, but it was highest on sandstone and consolidated alluvial materials. For both pine forests wood production was negatively correlated with successional stage. Radiation did not influence wood production. Our analysis emphasizes the influence of macroenvironmental factors and temporal variation on tree productivity at the regional scale. Well-conducted forest surveys are an excellent source of data to test for the association between diversity and productivity driven by large-scale environmental factors.

Potential effects of forest management on surface albedo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Otto, J.; Bréon, F.-M.; Schelhaas, M.-J.; Pinty, B.; Luyssaert, S.

2012-04-01

Currently 70% of the world's forests are managed and this figure is likely to rise due to population growth and increasing demand for wood based products. Forest management has been put forward by the Kyoto-Protocol as one of the key instruments in mitigating climate change. For temperate and boreal forests, the effects of forest management on the stand-level carbon balance are reasonably well understood, but the biophysical effects, for example through changes in the albedo, remain elusive. Following a modeling approach, we aim to quantify the variability in albedo that can be attributed to forest management through changes in canopy structure and density. The modelling approach chains three separate models: (1) a forest gap model to describe stand dynamics, (2) a Monte-Carlo model to estimate the probability density function of the optical path length of photons through the canopy and (3) a physically-based canopy transfer model to estimate the interaction between photons and leaves. The forest gap model provides, on a monthly time step the position, height, diameter, crown size and leaf area index of individual trees. The Monte-Carlo model computes from this the probability density function of the distance a photon travels through crown volumes to determine the direct light reaching the forest floor. This information is needed by the canopy transfer model to calculate the effective leaf area index - a quantity that allows it to correctly represent a 3D process with a 1D model. Outgoing radiation is calculated as the result of multiple processes involving the scattering due to the canopy layer and the forest floor. Finally, surface albedo is computed as the ratio between incident solar radiation and calculated outgoing radiation. The study used two time series representing thinning from below of a beech and a Scots pine forest. The results show a strong temporal evolution in albedo during stand establishment followed by a relatively stable albedo once the canopy is closed. During this period, albedo is affected for a short time by forest operations. The modelling approach allowed us to estimate the importance of ground vegetation in the stand albedo. Given that ground vegetation depends on the light reaching the forest floor, ground vegetation could act as a natural buffer to dampen changes in albedo, allowing the stand to maintain optimal leaf temperature. Consequently, accounting for only the carbon balance component of forest management ignores albedo impacts and is thus likely to yield biased estimates of the climate benefits of forest ecosystems.

Forecasts of forest conditions

Treesearch

Robert Huggett; David N. Wear; Ruhong Li; John Coulston; Shan Liu

2013-01-01

Key FindingsAmong the five forest management types, only planted pine is expected to increase in area. In 2010 planted pine comprised 19 percent of southern forests. By 2060, planted pine is forecasted to comprise somewhere between 24 and 36 percent of forest area.Although predicted rates of change vary, all forecasts reveal...

Longleaf Pine Forests...in the Mountains?

Treesearch

Morgan Varner

1999-01-01

While most people familiar with Alabama's forests associate longleaf pine with the gently rolling hills of lower Alabama, longleaf pine forests extend up into the hills, ridges and mountains of north Alabama. These forests, termed "montane" or "mountain longleaf," still thrive in several spots, but are becoming increasingly rare. These rare...

Forest floor temperature and relative humidity following timber harvesting in southern New England, USA

Treesearch

Robert T. Brooks; Thomas D. Kyker-Snowman

2008-01-01

Forest amphibians, especially salamanders, prefer forests with shaded, cool, and moist forest floors. Timber harvesting opens the forest canopy and exposes the forest floor to direct sunlight, which can increase forest floor temperatures and reduce soil moisture. These microclimatic changes can potentially degrade the harvested stand for amphibian habitat or affect...

Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis James), a Flexible Generalist of Forest Communities in the Intermountain West

PubMed Central

Windmuller-Campione, Marcella A.; Long, James N.

2016-01-01

As forest communities continue to experience interactions between climate change and shifting disturbance regimes, there is an increased need to link ecological understanding to applied management. Limber pine (Pinus flexilis James.), an understudied species of western North America, has been documented to dominate harsh environments and thought to be competitively excluded from mesic environments. An observational study was conducted using the Forest Inventory and Analysis Database (FIAD) to test the competitive exclusion hypothesis across a broad elevational and geographic area within the Intermountain West, USA. We anticipated that competitive exclusion would result in limber pine’s absence from mid-elevation forest communities, creating a bi-modal distribution. Using the FIAD database, limber pine was observed to occur with 22 different overstory species, which represents a surprising number of the woody, overstory species commonly observed in the Intermountain West. There were no biologically significant relationships between measures of annual precipitation, annual temperature, or climatic indices (i.e. Ombrothermic Index) and limber pine dominance. Limber pine was observed to be a consistent component of forest communities across elevation classes. Of the plots that contained limber pine regeneration, nearly half did not have a live or dead limber pine in the overstory. However, limber pine regeneration was greater in plots with higher limber pine basal area and higher average annual precipitation. Our results suggest limber pine is an important habitat generalist, playing more than one functional role in forest communities. Generalists, like limber pine, may be increasingly important, as managers are challenged to build resistance and resilience to future conditions in western forests. Additional research is needed to understand how different silvicultural systems can be used to maintain multi-species forest communities. PMID:27575596

White pine in the American West: A vanishing species - can we save it?

Treesearch

Leon F. Neuenschwander; James W. Byler; Alan E. Harvey; Geral I. McDonald; Denise S. Ortiz; Harold L. Osborne; Gerry C. Snyder; Arthur Zack

1999-01-01

Forest scientists ask that everyone, from the home gardener to the forest manager, help revive western white pine by planting it everywhere, even in nonforest environments such as our neighborhood streets, parks, and backyards. White pine, long ago considered the "King Pine," once dominated the moist inland forests of the Northwest, eventually spawning whole...

Simulating the effects of the southern pine beetle on regional dynamics 60 years into the future

Treesearch

Jennifer K. Costanza; Jiri Hulcr; Frank H. Koch; Todd Earnhardt; Alexa J. McKerrow; Rob R. Dunn; Jaime A. Collazo

2012-01-01

We developed a spatially explicit model that simulated future southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis, SPB) dynamics and pine forest management for a real landscape over 60 years to inform regional forest management. The SPB has a considerable effect on forest dynamics in the Southeastern United States, especially in loblolly pine (...

The effect of spatially variable overstory on the understory light environment of an open-canopied longleaf pine forest

Treesearch

Michael A. Battaglia; Pu Mou; Brian Palik; Robert J. Mitchell

2002-01-01

Spatial aggregation of forest structure strongly regulates understory light and its spatial variation in longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forest ecosystems. Previous studies have demonstrated that light availability strongly influences longleaf pine seedling growth. In this study, the relationship between spatial structure of a longleaf pine...

Historic forests and endemic mountain pine beetle and dwarf mistletoe

Treesearch

Jose Negron

2012-01-01

Mountain pine beetle has always been a significant disturbance agent in ponderosa and lodgepole pine forests in Colorado. Most studies have examined the impacts to forest structure associated with epidemic populations of a single disturbance agent. In this paper we address the role of endemic populations of mountain pine and their interactions with dwarf mistletoe...

Vertical distribution and persistence of soil organic carbon in fire-adapted longleaf pine forests

Treesearch

John R. Butnor; Lisa J. Samuelson; Kurt H. Johnsen; Peter H. Anderson; Carlos A. Gonzalez Benecke; Claudia M. Boot; M. Francesca Cotrufo; Katherine A. Heckman; Jason A. Jackson; Thomas A. Stokes; Stanley J. Zarnoch

2017-01-01

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Miller) forests in the southern United States are being restored and actively managed for a variety of goals including: forest products, biodiversity, C sequestration and forest resilience in the face of repeated isturbances from hurricanes and climate change. Managed southern pine forests can be sinks for atmospheric...

Ground water differences on pine and hardwood forests of the Udell Experimental Forest in Michigan.

Treesearch

Dean H. Urie

1977-01-01

Ground water recharge under hardwood and pine forests was measured from 1962 to 1971 on the Udell Experimental Forest in Michigan. Hardwood forests produced more net ground water than pine forests by an average of 50 and 100 mm/year, using two methods of analysis. Shallow water-table lands yield 80 to 100 mm/year less water than deep, well-drained sands. Water yield...

Description of Vegetation in Several Periodically Burned Longleaf Pine Forests on the Kisatchie National Forest

Treesearch

James D. Haywood; Finis L. Harris

1999-01-01

Abstract - In January 1993, the Kisatchie National Forest and Southern Research Station began a cooperative project on two Ranger Districts to monitor how prescribed burning affects tree, shrub, and herbaceous vegetation in upland longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests in Louisiana. Longleaf pine is the dominant species on...

Contributions of silvicultural studies at Fort Valley to watershed management of Arizona's ponderosa pine forests (P-53)

Treesearch

Gerald J. Gottfried; Peter F. Ffolliott; Daniel G. Neary

2008-01-01

Watershed management and water yield augmentation have been important objectives for chaparral, ponderosa pine, and mixed conifer management in Arizona and New Mexico. The ponderosa pine forests and other vegetation types generally occur in relatively high precipitation zones where the potential for increased water yields is great. The ponderosa pine forests have been...

Photosynthetically active radiation measurements in pure pine and mixed pine forests in Poland

Treesearch

Jaroslaw Smialkowski

1998-01-01

Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) has been measured in pure pine and mixed pine forests on 15 sites in two transects in Poland: the "climatic" (from the western to the eastern border), and the "Silesian" (from the most to the less polluted part of the country). PAR was measured by using the standard procedure developed by the USDA Forest...

Contributions of silvicultural studies at Fort Valley to watershed management of Arizona's ponderosa pine forests

Treesearch

Gerald J. Gottfried; Peter F. Ffolliott; Daniel G. Neary

2008-01-01

Watershed management and water yield augmentation have been important objectives for chaparral, ponderosa pine, and mixed conifer management in Arizona and New Mexico. The ponderosa pine forests and other vegetation types generally occur in relatively high precipitation zones where the potential for increased water yields is great. The ponderosa pine forests have been...

Blister rust control in the management of western white pine

Treesearch

Kenneth P. Davis; Virgil D. Moss

1940-01-01

The forest industry of the western white pine region depends on the production of white pine as a major species on about 2,670,000 acres of commercial forest land. Continued production of this species and maintenance of the forest industry at anything approaching its present level is impossible unless the white pine blister rust is controlled. Existing merchantable...

Protecting and restoring longleaf pine forests on the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana

Treesearch

James D. Haywood; Michael Elliot-Smith; Finis Harris; Alton Martin

2000-01-01

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests once constituted a major ecosystem in the Southern United States stretching from southeastern Virginia south to central Florida and west into East Texas. These forests covered a wide range of site conditions, from wet pine flatwoods to dry mountain slopes. Intensive exploitation reduced the extent of old-...

Role of fire in restoration of a ponderosa pine forest, Washington

Treesearch

Richy J. Harrod; Richard W. Fonda; Mara K. McGrath

2007-01-01

Ponderosa pine forests in the Eastern Cascades of Washington support dense, overstocked stands in which crown fires are probable, owing to postsettlement sheep grazing, logging, and fire exclusion. In 1991, the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests began to apply long-term management techniques to reverse postsettlement changes in ponderosa pine forests. For 9 years, the...

Understanding ponderosa pine forest-grassland vegetation dynamics at Fort Valley Experimental Forest using phytolith analysis

Treesearch

Becky K. Kerns; Margaret M. Moore; Stephen C. Hart

2008-01-01

In the last century, ponderosa pine forests in the Southwest have changed from more open park-like stands of older trees to denser stands of younger, small-diameter trees. Considerable information exists regarding ponderosa pine forest fire history and recent shifts in stand structure and composition, yet quantitative studies investigating understory reference...

The Effects of Disturbance and Climate on Carbon Storage and the Exchanges of CO 2 Water Vapor and Energy Exchange of Evergreen Coniferous Forests in the Pacific Northwest: Integration of Eddy Flux, Plant and Soil Measurements at a Cluster of Supersites. Final report

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

Beverly E. Law; Thomas, Christoph K.

This is the final technical report containing a summary of all findings with regard to the following objectives of the project: (1) To quantify and understand the effects of wildfire on carbon storage and the exchanges of energy, CO2, and water vapor in a chronosequence of ponderosa pine (disturbance gradient); (2) To investigate the effects of seasonal and interannual variation in climate on carbon storage and the exchanges of energy, CO2, and water vapor in mature conifer forests in two climate zones: mesic 40-yr old Douglas-fir and semi-arid 60-yr old ponderosa pine (climate gradient); (3) To reduce uncertainty in estimatesmore » of CO2 feedbacks to the atmosphere by providing an improved model formulation for existing biosphere-atmosphere models; and (4) To provide high quality data for AmeriFlux and the NACP on micrometeorology, meteorology, and biology of these systems. Objective (1): A study integrating satellite remote sensing, AmeriFlux data, and field surveys in a simulation modeling framework estimated that the pyrogenic carbon emissions, tree mortality, and net carbon exchange associated with four large wildfires that burned ~50,000 hectares in 2002-2003 were equivalent to 2.4% of Oregon statewide anthropogenic carbon emissions over the same two-year period. Most emissions were from the combustion of the forest floor and understory vegetation, and only about 1% of live tree mass was combusted on average. Objective (2): A study of multi-year flux records across a chronosequence of ponderosa pine forests yielded that the net carbon uptake is over three times greater at a mature pine forest compared with young pine. The larger leaf area and wetter and cooler soils of the mature forest mainly caused this effect. A study analyzing seven years of carbon and water dynamics showed that interannual and seasonal variability of net carbon exchange was primarily related to variability in growing season length, which was a linear function of plant-available soil moisture in spring and early summer. A multi-year drought (2001-2003) led to a significant reduction of net ecosystem exchange due to carry-over effects in soil moisture and carbohydrate reserves in plant-tissue. In the same forest, the interannual variability in the rate carbon is lost from the soil and forest floor is considerable and related to the variability in tree growth as much as it is to variability in soil climatic conditions. Objective (3): Flux data from the mature ponderosa pine site support a physical basis for filtering nighttime data with friction velocity above the canopy. An analysis of wind fields and heat transport in the subcanopy at the mesic 40-year old Douglas site yielded that the non-linear structure and behavior of spatial temperature gradients and the flow field require enhanced sensor networks to estimate advective fluxes in the subcanopy of forest to close the surface energy balance in forests. Reliable estimates for flux uncertainties are needed to improve model validation and data assimilation in process-based carbon models, inverse modeling studies and model-data synthesis, where the uncertainties may be as important as the fluxes themselves. An analysis of the time scale dependence of the random and flux sampling error yielded that the additional flux obtained by increasing the perturbation timescale beyond about 10 minutes is dominated by random sampling error, and therefore little confidence can be placed in its value. Artificial correlation between gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) and ecosystem respiration (Re) is a consequence of flux partitioning of eddy covariance flux data when GEP is computed as the difference between NEE and computed daytime Re (e.g. using nighttime Re extrapolated into daytime using soil or air temperatures). Tower-data must be adequately spatially averaged before comparison to gridded model output as the time variability of both is inherently different. The eddy-covariance data collected at the mature ponderosa pine site and the mesic Douglas fir site were used to develop and evaluate a new method to extract the signal of ecosystem respiration directly from daytime net ecosystem exchange. This approach may help reducing uncertainty in carbon budgets by providing direct measurements of ecosystem respiration during daylight conditions by replacing modeled estimates. Objective (4): We submitted our flux and biological and ancillary data to the AmeriFlux web site and to Fluxnet. This includes atmospheric carbon, water, and heat fluxes, soil fluxes, NPP, carbon stocks, LAI, and disturbance history. Fluxnet is updating the original La Thuile files and will include the more recent years of data. They will be using a new approach to compute GPP, following discussions within the network about the need to improve GPP methodology« less

Grazing Potential of Louisiana Pine Forest-Ranges

Treesearch

Herbert S. Sternitzke

1975-01-01

Louisiana's 5 million acres of pine forest-range have an estimated forage potential for 135,776 yearlong cow-calf units. Two-thirds of the units can be sustained on loblolly-shortleaf pine ranges; the rest, on longleaf-slash pine ranges.

Limber pine forests on the leading edge of white pine blister rust distribution in Northern Colorado

Treesearch

Jennifer G. Klutsch; Betsy A. Goodrich; Anna W. Schoettle

2011-01-01

The combined threats of the current mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae, MPB) epidemic with the imminent invasion of white pine blister rust (caused by the non-native fungus Cronartium ribicola, WPBR) in limber pine (Pinus flexilis) forests in northern Colorado threatens the limber pine's regeneration cycle and ecosystem function. Over one million...

Plant and bird diversity in natural forests and in native and exotic plantations in NW Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Proença, Vânia M.; Pereira, Henrique M.; Guilherme, João; Vicente, Luís

2010-03-01

Forest ecosystems have been subjected to continuous dynamics between deforestation and forestation. Assessing the effects of these processes on biodiversity could be essential for conservation planning. We analyzed patterns of species richness, diversity and evenness of plants and birds in patches of natural forest of Quercus spp. and in stands of native Pinus pinaster and exotic Eucalyptus globulus in NW Portugal. We analyzed data of forest and non-forest species separately, at the intra-patch, patch and inter-patch scales. Forest plant richness, diversity and evenness were higher in oak forest than in pine and eucalypt plantations. In total, 52 species of forest plants were observed in oak forest, 33 in pine plantation and 28 in eucalypt plantation. Some forest species, such as Euphorbia dulcis, Omphalodes nitida and Eryngium juresianum, were exclusively or mostly observed in oak forest. Forest bird richness and diversity were higher in both oak and pine forests than in eucalypt forest; evenness did not differ among forests. In total, 16 species of forest birds were observed in oak forest, 18 in pine forest and 11 in eucalypt forest. Species such as Certhia brachydactyla, Sitta europaea and Dendrocopos major were common in oak and/or pine patches but were absent from eucalypt stands. Species-area relationships of forest plants and forest birds in oak patches had consistently a higher slope, at both the intra and inter-patch scales, than species-area relationships of forest species in plantations and non-forest species in oak forest. These findings demonstrate the importance of oak forest for the conservation of forest species diversity, pointing the need to conserve large areas of oak forest due to the apparent vulnerability of forest species to area loss. Additionally, diversity patterns in pine forest were intermediate between oak forest and eucalypt forest, suggesting that forest species patterns may be affected by forest naturalness.

A presettlement fire history in an oak-pine forest near Basin Lake, Algonquin Park, Ontario

Treesearch

Richard P. Guyette; Daniel C. Dey

1995-01-01

Fire scars from natural remnants of red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) in an oak-pine forest near Basin Lake, Algonquin Park, Ontario, were dated using dendrochronological methods. A fire scar chronology was constructed from 28 dated fire scars on 26 pine remnants found in a 1 km2 area of this forest. From pith and outside ring...

Has Virginia pine declined? The use of Forest Health Monitoring and other information in the determination

Treesearch

William G. Burkman; William A. Bechtold

2000-01-01

This paper examines the current status of Virginia pine, focusing on Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) results and using Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) information to determine if Virginia pine is showing a decline. An examination of crown condition data from live trees in the FHM program from 1991 through 1997 showed that Virginia pine had significantly...

Has Virginia pine declined? The use of forest health monitoring and other information in the determination

Treesearch

William G. Burkman; William A. Bechtold

2000-01-01

This paper examines the current status of Virginia pine, focusing on Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) results and using Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) information to determine if Virginia pine is showing a decline. An examination of crown condition data from live trees in the FHM program from 1991 through 1997 showed that Virginia pine had significantly poorer crown...

Trace-metal accumulation, distribution, and fluxes in forests of the northeastern United States

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

Friedland, A.J.

1985-01-01

Forest floor was sampled at 78 sites in nine northeastern states in the USA and analyzed for Cu, Zn, Ni, and Cd. Higher levels of trace metals occurred in the southern half of the study region. Earlier work identified that Pb accumulated in the forest floor of the high-elevation regions of New England. The distribution of Pb, Cu, Zn, Ni, and Cd within the forest floor was studied at three different forested states in New England. The greatest concentration of Pb, Cu, Zn, Ni, and Cd occurred in the Oe horizon of the forest floor in all three forests. Thismore » is the zone of greatest biological activity in the forest floor. Because it receives relatively high rates of atmospheric deposition, Camels Hump in northern Vermont was studied in greater detail. Lead concentration and amount in the forest floor increased between 550 and 1160 m elevation. Comparisons with 1966 and 1977 samples from the same stands showed that Pb, Cu, and Zn concentrations increased by as much as 148% in the intervening 14 years. Estimated deposition rates of Pb, Cu, and Zn based on accumulation rates agreed with regional deposition rates reported in the literature. Lead concentrations were an order of magnitude lower in mineral soil and vegetation than in forest floor. Thus the most likely source of forest floor Pb is the atmosphere. Lead was strongly retained by the forest floor and approximately 3% of the current Pb content of the forest floor is added each year by atmospheric deposition. At the current accumulation rates, the amount of Pb in the forest floor will double in three to four decades.« less

Health of whitebark pine forests after mountain pine beetle outbreaks

Treesearch

Sandra Kegley; John Schwandt; Ken Gibson; Dana Perkins

2011-01-01

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), a keystone high-elevation species, is currently at risk due to a combination of white pine blister rust (WPBR) (Cronartium ribicola), forest succession, and outbreaks of mountain pine beetle (MPB) (Dendroctonus ponderosae). While recent mortality is often quantified by aerial detection surveys (ADS) or ground surveys, little...

Southern Pine Beetle Information System (SPBIS)

Treesearch

Valli Peacher

2011-01-01

The southern pine beetle (SPB) is the most destructive forest insect in the South. The SPB attacks all species of southern pine, but loblolly and shortleaf are most susceptible. The Southern Pine Beetle Information System (SPBIS) is the computerized database used by the national forests in the Southern Region for tracking individual southern pine beetle infestations....

Shifts in Geochemical Parameters and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes following Insect-Induced Tree Mortality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brouillard, B.; Mikkelson, K. M.; Berryman, E.; Sharp, J.; Leonard, L.; Vega, M.

2016-12-01

Extensive insect infestations and resultant expansive tree mortality are occurring globally due in part to warmer temperatures and persistent drought. These forest disturbances are expected to cause shifts in the biogeochemical cycle due to the cessation of below ground root outputs, changes in soil microbial communities, hydrologic perturbations, and altered woody material deposits to the forest floor. To better understand biogeochemical alterations and resolve potentially conflicting findings, we studied a lodgepole pine forest recently impacted by mountain pine beetles to determine the response of subsurface geochemical parameters and gaseous flux to the effects of surrounding tree mortality. While many parameters were found to be significantly different under recently killed trees compared to their healthy counterparts (pH, soil moisture, C/N-species), notable biogeochemically relevant parameters displayed shifts that tracked with the level of surrounding tree mortality. For instance, aromatic carbon (TSUVA) and CO2 respiration were found to have an increasing linear response under grey trees as the surrounding tree mortality within an 8m radius also increased. Rather than a linear increase, ammonium and nitrogen associated bacterial communities displayed a threshold effect, not increasing until a certain level of tree mortality of approximately 40% was surpassed. Gas flux was also correlated to measured parameters in three near surface soil horizons to determine drivers of CO2 and N2O release and their interactions with biogeochemical cycles. Collectively, these results aid in elucidating the extent of forest mortality required to overcome compensatory terrestrial biogeochemical processes. A heightened understanding of these shifts will aid the scientific and resource management community through enhanced predictive understanding of greenhouse gas release or potential water quality impacts following forest disturbance.

Resistance to wildfire and early regeneration in natural broadleaved forest and pine plantation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Proença, Vânia; Pereira, Henrique M.; Vicente, Luís

2010-11-01

The response of an ecosystem to disturbance reflects its stability, which is determined by two components: resistance and resilience. We addressed both components in a study of early post-fire response of natural broadleaved forest ( Quercus robur, Ilex aquifolium) and pine plantation ( Pinus pinaster, Pinus sylvestris) to a wildfire that burned over 6000 ha in NW Portugal. Fire resistance was assessed from fire severity, tree mortality and sapling persistence. Understory fire resistance was similar between forests: fire severity at the surface level was moderate to low, and sapling persistence was low. At the canopy level, fire severity was generally low in broadleaved forest but heterogeneous in pine forest, and mean tree mortality was significantly higher in pine forest. Forest resilience was assessed by the comparison of the understory composition, species diversity and seedling abundance in unburned and burned plots in each forest type. Unburned broadleaved communities were dominated by perennial herbs (e.g., Arrhenatherum elatius) and woody species (e.g., Hedera hibernica, Erica arborea), all able to regenerate vegetatively. Unburned pine communities presented a higher abundance of shrubs, and most dominant species relied on post-fire seeding, with some species also being able to regenerate vegetatively (e.g., Ulex minor, Daboecia cantabrica). There were no differences in diversity measures in broadleaved forest, but burned communities in pine forest shared less species and were less rich and diverse than unburned communities. Seedling abundance was similar in burned and unburned plots in both forests. The slower reestablishment of understory pine communities is probably explained by the slower recovery rate of dominant species. These findings are ecologically relevant: the higher resistance and resilience of native broadleaved forest implies a higher stability in the maintenance of forest processes and the delivery of ecosystem services.

Longleaf pine forests and woodlands: old growth under fire!

Treesearch

Joan L. Walker

1999-01-01

The author discusses a once widespread forest type of the Southeast – longleaf pine dominated forests and woodlands. This system depends on fire – more or less frequent, and often of low intensity. Because human-mediated landscape fragmentation has drastically changed the behavior of fire on longleaf pine dominated landscapes, these forests and woodlands will never be...

Forest changes since Euro-American settlement and ecosystem restoration in the Lake Tahoe Basin, USA

Treesearch

Alan H. Taylor

2007-01-01

Pre Euro-American settlement forest structure and fire regimes for Jeffrey pine-white fir, red fir-western white pine, and lodgepole pine forests were quantified using stumps from trees cut in the 19th century to establish a baseline reference for ecosystem management in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Contemporary forests varied in different ways compared...

Deriving biomass models for small-diameter loblolly pine on the Crossett Experimental Forest

Treesearch

K.M. McElligott; D.C. Bragg

2013-01-01

Foresters and landowners have a growing interest in carbon sequestration and cellulosic biofuels in southern pine forests, and hence need to be able to accurately predict them. To this end, we derived a set of aboveground biomass models using data from 62 small-diameter loblolly pines (Pinus taeda) sampled on the Crossett Experimental Forest in...

Understanding ponderosa pine forest-grassland vegetation dynamics at Fort Valley Experimental Forest using phytolith analysis (P-53)

Treesearch

Becky K. Kerns; Margaret M. Moore; Stephen C. Hart

2008-01-01

In the last century, ponderosa pine forests in the Southwest have changed from more open park-like stands of older trees to denser stands of younger, smalldiameter trees. Considerable information exists regarding ponderosa pine forest fire history and recent shifts in stand structure and composition, yet quantitative studies investigating understory reference...

Restoring fire-adapted forested ecosystems—research in longleaf pine on the Kisatchie National Forest.

Treesearch

James D. Haywood

2007-01-01

Prescribed burning research on the Kisatchie National Forest, Louisiana spanned the last five decades and led to a greater understanding of fire behavior and the importance of burning in longleaf pine (Pinus palustris P. Mill.) forests. Early research found that biennial burning in May favored the growth of longleaf pine seedlings. However, burning...

Impact Assessment of Pine Wilt Disease Using the Species Distribution Model and the CLIMEX Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

KIM, J. U.; Jung, H.

2016-12-01

The plant disease triangle consists of the host plant, pathogen and environment, but their interaction has not been considered in climate change adaptation policy. Our objectives are to predict the changes of a coniferous forest, pine wood nematodes (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) and pine sawyer beetles (Monochamus spp.), which is a cause of pine wilt disease in the Republic of Korea. We analyzed the impact of pine wilt disease on climate change by using the species distribution model (SDM) and the CLIMEX model. Area of coniferous forest will decline and move to northern and high-altitude area. But pine wood nematodes and pine sawyer beetles are going to spread because they are going to be in a more favorable environment in the future. Coniferous forests are expected to have high vulnerability because of the decrease in area and the increase in the risk of pine wilt disease. Such changes to forest ecosystems will greatly affect climate change in the future. If effective and appropriate prevention and control policies are not implemented, coniferous forests will be severely damaged. An adaptation policy should be created in order to protect coniferous forests from the viewpoint of biodiversity. Thus we need to consider the impact assessment of climate change for establishing an effective adaptation policy. The impact assessment of pine wilt disease using a plant disease triangle drew suitable results to support climate change adaptation policy.

Final Environmental Assessment, Construct Guard House at Cape Cod Air Force Station, Massachusetts

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-01-01

Pine - Scrub Oak Forest Northern Pine Barren with Oak Forest... barren vegetation communities were identified on Cape Cod AFS, pitch pine – scrub oak barren and northern pine barren with oak trees. The majority of...area on the east side of the access road just north of the installation is northern pine barren with oak trees. Pitch pine and scarlet oak

Treatments that enhance the decomposition of forest fuels for use in partially harvested stands in the moist forests of the northern Rocky Mountains (Priest River Experimental Forest)

Treesearch

Russell T. Graham; Theresa B. Jain

2007-01-01

The moist forests of the Rocky Mountains typically support late seral western hemlock, moist grand fir, or western redcedar forests. In addition to these species, Douglas-fir, western white pine, western larch, ponderosa pine, and lodgepole pine can occur creating a multitude of species compositions, structures, and successional stages that can be arrayed in a variety...

A Comparison of the Ecological Effects of Herbicide and Prescribed Fire in a Mature Longleaf Pine Forest: Response of Juvenile and Overstory Pine

Treesearch

Jennifer L. Gagnon; Steven B. Jack

2004-01-01

Prescribed fire may be removed as a forest management tool by regulatory agencies concerned about air quality issues. Herbicides have been proposed as substitutes for prescribed fires in southern pine forests, but we are aware of no studies that examine the effects of herbicide application in mature, fire maintained longleaf pine (Pinus palustris...

Climate Change and Ecosystem Services Output Efficiency in Southern Loblolly Pine Forests.

PubMed

Susaeta, Andres; Adams, Damian C; Carter, Douglas R; Dwivedi, Puneet

2016-09-01

Forests provide myriad ecosystem services that are vital to humanity. With climate change, we expect to see significant changes to forests that will alter the supply of these critical services and affect human well-being. To better understand the impacts of climate change on forest-based ecosystem services, we applied a data envelopment analysis method to assess plot-level efficiency in the provision of ecosystem services in Florida natural loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) forests. Using field data for n = 16 loblolly pine forest plots, including inputs such as site index, tree density, age, precipitation, and temperatures for each forest plot, we assessed the relative plot-level production of three ecosystem services: timber, carbon sequestered, and species richness. The results suggested that loblolly pine forests in Florida were largely inefficient in the provision of these ecosystem services under current climatic conditions. Climate change had a small negative impact on the loblolly pine forests efficiency in the provision of ecosystem services. In this context, we discussed the reduction of tree density that may not improve ecosystem services production.

Climate Change and Ecosystem Services Output Efficiency in Southern Loblolly Pine Forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Susaeta, Andres; Adams, Damian C.; Carter, Douglas R.; Dwivedi, Puneet

2016-09-01

Forests provide myriad ecosystem services that are vital to humanity. With climate change, we expect to see significant changes to forests that will alter the supply of these critical services and affect human well-being. To better understand the impacts of climate change on forest-based ecosystem services, we applied a data envelopment analysis method to assess plot-level efficiency in the provision of ecosystem services in Florida natural loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.) forests. Using field data for n = 16 loblolly pine forest plots, including inputs such as site index, tree density, age, precipitation, and temperatures for each forest plot, we assessed the relative plot-level production of three ecosystem services: timber, carbon sequestered, and species richness. The results suggested that loblolly pine forests in Florida were largely inefficient in the provision of these ecosystem services under current climatic conditions. Climate change had a small negative impact on the loblolly pine forests efficiency in the provision of ecosystem services. In this context, we discussed the reduction of tree density that may not improve ecosystem services production.

Algological and Mycological Characterization of Soils under Pine and Birch Forests in the Pasvik Reserve

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korneikova, M. V.; Redkina, V. V.; Shalygina, R. R.

2018-02-01

The structure of algological and mycological complexes in Al-Fe-humus podzols (Albic Podzols) under pine and birch forests of the Pasvik Reserve is characterized. The number of micromycetes is higher in more acid soils of the pine forest, while the species diversity is greater under the birch forest. The genus Penicillium includes the largest number of species. The greatest abundance and occurrence frequency are typical for Penicillium spinulosum, P. glabrum, and Trichoderma viride in pine forest and for Umbelopsis isabellina, Mucor sp., Mortierella alpina, P. glabrum, Aspergillus ustus, Trichoderma viride, and T. koningii in birch forest. Cyanobacteria-algal cenoses of the investigated soils are predominated by green algae. Soils under birch forest are distinguished by a greater diversity of algal groups due to the presence of diatoms and xanthophytes. Species of frequent occurrence are represented by Pseudococcomyxa simplex and Parietochloris alveolaris in soils of the pine forest and by Tetracystis cf. aplanospora, Halochlorella rubescens, Pseudococcomyxa simplex, Fottea stichococcoides, Klebsormidium flaccidum, Hantzschia amphioxys, Microcoleus vaginatus, and Aphanocapsa sp. in soils under birch forest

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

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...

Managing Gambel oak in southwestern ponderosa pine forests: the status of our knowledge

Treesearch

Scott R. Abella

2008-01-01

Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) is a key deciduous species in southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests and is important for wildlife habitat, soil processes, and human values. This report (1) summarizes Gambel oak's biological characteristics and importance in ponderosa pine forests, (2) synthesizes literature on...

Biotic and abiotic factors regulating forest floor CO2 flux across a range of forest age classes in the southern Appalachians

Treesearch

James M. Vose; Paul V. Bolstad

2007-01-01

We measured forest floor CO2 flux in three age classes of forest in the southern Appalachians: 20-year-old, 85-year-old, and old-growth. Our objectives were to quantify differences in forest floor CO2 flux among age classes, and determine the relative importance of abiotic and biotic driving variables. Forest floor CO

Forest development and carbon dynamics after mountain pine beetle outbreaks

Treesearch

E. Matthew Hansen

2014-01-01

Mountain pine beetles periodically infest pine forests in western North America, killing many or most overstory pine stems. The surviving secondary stand structure, along with recruited seedlings, will form the future canopy. Thus, even-aged pine stands become multiaged and multistoried. The species composition of affected stands will depend on the presence of nonpines...

Mathematical model of forest succession and land use for the North Carolina Piedmont

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

Johnson, W.C.

1977-01-01

A linear, constant-coefficient compartment model was constructed to simulate temporal changes in the areal extent of major forest types in the North Carolina Piedmont. Model structure and transfer coefficients were derived from published ecological literature and available USDA Forest Service statistical summaries. The results show the importance of old-field abandonment to the perpetuation of extensive loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) forests in the Piedmont. Should abandonment cease, post-harvest treatment and planting of loblolly pine would have to be increased considerably over current levels to maintain an extensive loblolly pine forest type. Extrapolation of current rates of change forward 250 years wouldmore » result in a sizeable increase in the area of loblolly pine and loblolly pine-oak types, a slight increase in oak-hickory, a sizeable decline in shortleaf and Virginia pine (Pinus echinata, Pinus virginiana, resp.) types and a slight decline for other mixed pine-hardwood and lowland and dry upland hardwood categories compared to current conditions. The technique can be a useful tool either to assess some long-term effects of present management and use trends or to suggest strategies necessary to obtain a desired regional mixture of forest types.« less

Snow interception, accumulation, accumulation, and melt in lodgepole pine forests in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon.

Treesearch

Norman H. Miner; James M. Trappe

1957-01-01

Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon occupy important water-producing lands. These forests generally occur at middle to high elevations on north slopes, where a substantial portion of the precipitation is snow. To learn more about the influence of lodgepole pine forests on accumulation of mow and rate of...

Proceedings of the ninth Lake States Forest Tree Improvement Conference, August 22-23, 1969.

Treesearch

USDA

1970-01-01

Presents nine papers concerning recent research in forest genetics, physiology, and allied fields. Species discussed include Scotch pine, red pine, jack pine, white pine, larch, white spruce, black spruce, balsam fir, yellow birch, sugar maple, red oak, American elm, and aspen.

Availability of yellow pine sawtimber in Alabama

Treesearch

William H. McWilliams

1991-01-01

Alabama's timberland supports 76.2 billion board feet of sawtimber (International 1/4-inch Rule), of which 55 percent is contributed by yellow pine species. Currently, yellow pine sawtimber volume totals 41.8 billion board feet. The recent inventory conducted by the USDA-Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis Unit (SO-...

Highlights of the Forest Health Protection Whitebark Pine Restoration Program

Treesearch

John Schwandt

2011-01-01

In 2005, Forest Health Protection (FHP) initiated a rangewide health assessment for whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis). This assessment summarized the forest health condition of whitebark pine throughout its range and also documented information needs, potential restoration strategies, and challenges to restoration that need to be addressed (Schwandt 2006). This led to...

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...

Predicting small-diameter loblolly pine aboveground biomass in naturally regenerated stands

Treesearch

Kristin M. McElligott; Don C. Bragg; Jamie L. Schuler

2015-01-01

There is growing interest in managing southern pine forests for both carbon sequestration and bioenergy. For instance, thinning otherwise unmerchantable trees in naturally regenerated pine-dominated forests should generate biomass without conflicting with more traditional forest products. However, we lack the tools to accurately quantify the biomass in these...

Associations among breeding birds and gambel oak in Southwestern ponderosa pine forests

Treesearch

Stephanie Jentsch; R. William Mannan; Brett G. Dickson; William M. Block

2008-01-01

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests with Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) are associated with higher bird abundance and diversity than are ponderosa pine forests lacking Gambel oak. Little is known, however, about specific structural characteristics of Gambel oak trees, clumps, and stands that may be important to birds in...

Financial results of ponderosa pine forest restoration in southwestern Colorado

Treesearch

Dennis L. Lynch

2001-01-01

From 1996 to 1998, the Ponderosa Pine Partnership conducted an experimental forest restoration project on 493 acres of small diameter ponderosa pine in the San Juan National Forest, Montezuma County, Colorado. The ecological basis and the financial analysis for this project are discussed. Specific financial results of the project including products sold, revenues...

Fire effects on Gambel oak in southwestern ponderosa pine-oak forests

Treesearch

Scott R. Abella; Peter Z. Fulé

2008-01-01

Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) is ecologically and aesthetically valuable in southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests. Fire effects on Gambel oak are important because fire may be used in pine-oak forests to manage oak directly or to accomplish other management objectives. We used published literature to: (1) ascertain...

Regenerating the Natural Longleaf Pine Forest

Treesearch

William D. Boyer

1979-01-01

Natural regeneration by the shldterwood system is a reliable, low-cost alternative for existing longleaf pine (Pine palustris Mill.) forests. The system is well suited to the nautral attributes and requirements of the species. It may be attractive to landownders wishing to retain a natural forest and aboid high costs of site preparation and...

Species composition influences management outcomes following mountain pine beetle in lodgepole pine-dominated forests

Treesearch

Kristen Pelz; C. C. Rhoades; R. M. Hubbard; M. A. Battaglia; F. W. Smith

2015-01-01

Mountain pine beetle outbreaks have killed lodgepole pine on more than one million hectares of Colorado and southern Wyoming forest during the last decade and have prompted harvest operations throughout the region. In northern Colorado, lodgepole pine commonly occurs in mixed stands with subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, and aspen. Variation in tree species composition...

Determining fire history from old white pine stumps in an oak-pine forest

Treesearch

Richard P. Guyette; Daniel C. Dey; Chris McDonell

1995-01-01

Fire scars on stumps of white pine (Pinus strobus L.) in a red oak (Quercus rubra L.) white pine forest near Bracebridge, Ontario, were dated using dendrochronological methods. A chronological record of fires that caused basal scarring is preserved in the remnant white pine stumps, which were estimated to be up to 135 years old...

Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) and hardwood regeneration after thinning natural shortleaf pine forests in southern United States

Treesearch

Anup KC; Thomas B. Lynch; James M. Guldin

2016-01-01

Understory pine and hardwood regeneration in the Ozark and Ouachita National Forests were measured in 1995 for the first time following thinning and hardwood control at plot establishment 1985-87. Red maple (Acer rubrum), shortleaf pine and flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) were the most frequently recorded species. Understory shortleaf pine stems have declined...

Recent trends in the afforestation and reforestation of nonindustrial private pine forests in Alabama

Treesearch

William H. McWilliams

1992-01-01

A shrinking of Alabama's nonindustrial private pine forest prompted an analysis of recent trends in afforestation and regeneration. There has been an 828,100-acre addition to the nonindustrial pine-site timberland base from nonforest land uses. Planting has replaced natural seeding as the major cause of afforestation to pine. The area of nonindustrial pine-site...

Effects of Dwarf Mistletoe on Stand Structure of Lodgepole Pine Forests 21-28 Years Post-Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic in Central Oregon

PubMed Central

Agne, Michelle C.; Shaw, David C.; Woolley, Travis J.; Queijeiro-Bolaños, Mónica E.

2014-01-01

Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests are widely distributed throughout North America and are subject to mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) epidemics, which have caused mortality over millions of hectares of mature trees in recent decades. Mountain pine beetle is known to influence stand structure, and has the ability to impact many forest processes. Dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium americanum) also influences stand structure and occurs frequently in post-mountain pine beetle epidemic lodgepole pine forests. Few studies have incorporated both disturbances simultaneously although they co-occur frequently on the landscape. The aim of this study is to investigate the stand structure of lodgepole pine forests 21–28 years after a mountain pine beetle epidemic with varying levels of dwarf mistletoe infection in the Deschutes National Forest in central Oregon. We compared stand density, stand basal area, canopy volume, proportion of the stand in dominant/codominant, intermediate, and suppressed cohorts, average height and average diameter of each cohort, across the range of dwarf mistletoe ratings to address differences in stand structure. We found strong evidence of a decrease in canopy volume, suppressed cohort height, and dominant/codominant cohort diameter with increasing stand-level dwarf mistletoe rating. There was strong evidence that as dwarf mistletoe rating increases, proportion of the stand in the dominant/codominant cohort decreases while proportion of the stand in the suppressed cohort increases. Structural differences associated with variable dwarf mistletoe severity create heterogeneity in this forest type and may have a significant influence on stand productivity and the resistance and resilience of these stands to future biotic and abiotic disturbances. Our findings show that it is imperative to incorporate dwarf mistletoe when studying stand productivity and ecosystem recovery processes in lodgepole pine forests because of its potential to influence stand structure. PMID:25221963

Thirty year change in lodgepole and lodgepole/mixed conifer forest structure following 1980s mountain pine beetle outbreak in western Colorado, USA

Treesearch

Kristen A. Pelz; Frederick W. Smith

2012-01-01

Current mortality in lodgepole pine caused by mountain pine beetle (MPB) throughout much of western North America has resulted in concern about future forest structure. To better understand the long-term effects of the current mortality, and how it might differ depending on forest species composition, we measured forest vegetation and woody fuel accumulations...

Mountain pine beetle infestations and Sudden Aspen Decline in Colorado: Can the Forest Inventory and Analysis annual inventory system address the issues?

Treesearch

Michael T. Thompson

2009-01-01

There are two events occurring in Colorado that are concerning forest managers in Colorado. There is severe and widespread mortality of lodgepole pine due to the mountain pine beetle and aspen forests in some areas of the state have experienced widespread, severe, and rapid crown deterioration leading to mortality. Implementation of the Forest Inventory and Analysis...

Urbanization effects on soil nitrogen transformations and microbial biomass in the subtropics

Treesearch

Heather A. Enloe; B. Graeme Lockaby; Wayne C. Zipperer; Greg L. Somers

2015-01-01

As urbanization can involve multiple alterations to the soil environment, it is uncertain how urbanization effects soil nitrogen cycling. We established 22–0.04 ha plots in six different land cover types—rural slash pine (Pinus elliottii) plantations (n=3), rural natural pine forests (n=3), rural natural oak forests (n=4), urban pine forests (n=3), urban oak forests (n...

A model of forest floor carbon mass for United States forest types

Treesearch

James E. Smith; Linda S. Heath

2002-01-01

Includes a large set of published values of forest floor mass and develop large-scale estimates of carbon mass according to region and forest type. Estimates of average forest floor carbon mass per hectare of forest applied to a 1997 summary forest inventory, sum to 4.5 Gt carbon stored in forests of the 48 contiguous United States.

An interdisciplinary, outcome-based approach to astmospheric CO2 mitigation with planted southern pine forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, T.; Fox, T.; Peter, G.; Monroe, M.

2012-12-01

The Pine Integrated Network: Education, Mitigation and Adaptation Project ("PINEMAP") was funded by National Institute of Food and Agriculture to produce outcomes of enhanced climate change mitigation and adaptation in planted southern pine ecosystems. The PINEMAP project leverages a strong group of existing networks to produce synergy and cooperation on applied forestry research in the region. Over the last 50 years, cooperative research on planted southern pine management among southeastern U.S. universities, government agencies, and corporate forest landowners has developed and facilitated the widespread implementation of improved genetic and silvicultural technology. The impact of these regional research cooperatives is difficult to overstate, with current members managing 55% of the privately owned planted pine forestland, and producing 95% of the pine seedlings planted each year. The PINEMAP team includes the eight major forestry cooperative research programs, scientists from eleven land grant institutions, the US Forest Service, and climate modeling and adaptation specialists associated with the multi-state SE Climate Consortium and state climate offices. Our goal is to create and disseminate the knowledge that enables landowners to: harness planted pine forest productivity to mitigate atmospheric CO2; more efficiently use nitrogen and other fertilizer inputs; and adapt their forest management to increase resilience in the face of changing climate. We integrate our team's infrastructure and expertise to: 1) develop breeding, genetic deployment and innovative management systems to increase C sequestration and resilience to changing climate of planted southern pine forests ; 2) understand interactive effects of policy, biology, and climate change on sustainable management; 3) transfer new management and genetic technologies to private industrial and non-industrial landowners; and 4) educate a diverse cross-section of the public about the relevance of forests, forest management, and climate change. These efforts will enable our stakeholders to enhance the productivity of southern pine forests, while maintaining social, economic, and ecological sustainability.

Driving factors of a vegetation shift from Scots pine to pubescent oak in dry Alpine forests.

PubMed

Rigling, Andreas; Bigler, Christof; Eilmann, Britta; Feldmeyer-Christe, Elisabeth; Gimmi, Urs; Ginzler, Christian; Graf, Ulrich; Mayer, Philipp; Vacchiano, Giorgio; Weber, Pascale; Wohlgemuth, Thomas; Zweifel, Roman; Dobbertin, Matthias

2013-01-01

An increasing number of studies have reported on forest declines and vegetation shifts triggered by drought. In the Swiss Rhone valley (Valais), one of the driest inner-Alpine regions, the species composition in low elevation forests is changing: The sub-boreal Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) dominating the dry forests is showing high mortality rates. Concurrently the sub-Mediterranean pubescent oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.) has locally increased in abundance. However, it remains unclear whether this local change in species composition is part of a larger-scale vegetation shift. To study variability in mortality and regeneration in these dry forests we analysed data from the Swiss national forest inventory (NFI) on a regular grid between 1983 and 2003, and combined it with annual mortality data from a monitoring site. Pine mortality was found to be highest at low elevation (below 1000 m a.s.l.). Annual variation in pine mortality was correlated with a drought index computed for the summer months prior to observed tree death. A generalized linear mixed-effects model indicated for the NFI data increased pine mortality on dryer sites with high stand competition, particularly for small-diameter trees. Pine regeneration was low in comparison to its occurrence in the overstorey, whereas oak regeneration was comparably abundant. Although both species regenerated well at dry sites, pine regeneration was favoured at cooler sites at higher altitude and oak regeneration was more frequent at warmer sites, indicating a higher adaptation potential of oaks under future warming. Our results thus suggest that an extended shift in species composition is actually occurring in the pine forests in the Valais. The main driving factors are found to be climatic variability, particularly drought, and variability in stand structure and topography. Thus, pine forests at low elevations are developing into oak forests with unknown consequences for these ecosystems and their goods and services. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

First report of the white pine blister rust fungus, Cronartium ribicola, infecting Pinus flexilis on Pine Mountain, Humboldt National Forest, Elko County, northeastern Nevada, U.S.A.

Treesearch

Detlev R. Vogler; Patricia E. Maloney; Tom Burt; Jacob W. Snelling

2017-01-01

In 2013, while surveying for five-needle white pine cone crops in northeastern Nevada, we observed white pine blister rust, caused by the rust pathogen Cronartium ribicola Fisch., infecting branches and stems of limber pines (Pinus flexilis James) on Pine Mountain (41.76975°N, 115.61622°W), Humboldt National Forest,...

USING ANT COMMUNITIES FOR RAPID ASSESSMENT OF TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM HEALTH

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

Wike, L; Doug Martin, D; Michael Paller, M

2007-01-12

Ecosystem health with its near infinite number of variables is difficult to measure, and there are many opinions as to which variables are most important, most easily measured, and most robust, Bioassessment avoids the controversy of choosing which physical and chemical parameters to measure because it uses responses of a community of organisms that integrate all aspects of the system in question. A variety of bioassessment methods have been successfully applied to aquatic ecosystems using fish and macroinvertebrate communities. Terrestrial biotic index methods are less developed than those for aquatic systems and we are seeking to address this problem here.more » This study had as its objective to examine the baseline differences in ant communities at different seral stages from clear cut back to mature pine plantation as a precursor to developing a bioassessment protocol. Comparative sampling was conducted at four seral stages; clearcut, 5 year, 15 year and mature pine plantation stands. Soil and vegetation data were collected at each site. All ants collected were preserved in 70% ethyl alcohol and identified to genus. Analysis of the ant data indicates that ants respond strongly to the habitat changes that accompany ecological succession in managed pine forests and that individual genera as well as ant community structure can be used as an indicator of successional change. Ants exhibited relatively high diversity in both early and mature seral stages. High ant diversity in the mature seral stages was likely related to conditions on the forest floor which favored litter dwelling and cool climate specialists.« less

Harvest Activity and Residual Pine Stocking on Prvate Timberland in Arkansas, 1978-88

Treesearch

William H. McWilliams

1989-01-01

Commercial harvesting, carried out on 39 percent of the privately owned timberland (5.3 million acres) in Arkansas from 1978-88, had a heavy impact on forest industry timberland. On a percentage basis, cutting was heaviest in pine forest types. Fifty-four percent of the heavily cut pine and mixed pine-hardwood stands were at least 60 percent stocked with pine following...

Identifying "redtops": Classification of satellite imagery for tracking mountain pine beetle progression through a pine forest

Treesearch

Richard Cutler; Leslie Brown; James Powell; Barbara Bentz; Adele Cutler

2003-01-01

Mountain pine beetles (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) are a pest indigenous to the pine forests of the western United States. Capable of exponential population growth, mountain pine beetles can destroy thousands of acres of trees in a short period of time. The research reported here is part of a larger project to demonstrate the application of, and evaluate,...

Interaction of an invasive bark beetle with a native forest pathogen: Potential effect of dwarf mistletoe on range expansion of mountain pine beetle in jack pine forests

Treesearch

Jennifer Klutsch; Nadir Erbilgin

2012-01-01

In recent decades, climate change has facilitated shifts in species ranges that have the potential to significantly affect ecosystem dynamics and resilience. Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) is expanding east from British Columbia, where it has killed millions of pine trees, primarily lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta...

Effects of fire season on vegetation in longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests

Treesearch

Bryan T. Mudder; G. Geoff Wang; Joan L. Walker; J. Drew Lanham; Ralph Costa

2010-01-01

Forest managers in the Southeastern United States are interested in the restoration of not only longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) trees, but also the characteristic forest structure and ground-layer vegetation of the longleaf pine ecosystem. Season of burn, fire intensity, and fire frequency are critical components of a fire regime that supports...

Needs and Opportunities for Longleaf Pine Ecosystem Restoration in Florida

Treesearch

Kenneth W. Outcalt

1997-01-01

Data from permanent plots measured periodically by Forest Inventory and Analyses of the Southern Research Station, USDA Forest Service shows a continuing decline in the longleaf pine (Pinus pulustris Mill,) ecosystem in Florida from 1987 to 1995. Conversion to some other forest type resulted in a net loss of 58,000 ha natural stands of longleaf pine...

White Pine Site Index for the Southern Forest Survey

Treesearch

Bernard R. Parresol; John S. Vissage

1998-01-01

Second-growth white pine age-height data a A base-ageinvariant polymorphic site index equation was used to model the white pine (Pinus strobus L.) site-quality data provided by Frothingham (1914). These data are the accepted standard used by the Southern Forest Inventory and Analysis unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. An all...

Guide to understory burning in ponderosa pine-larch-fir forests in the Intermountain West

Treesearch

Bruce M. Kilgore; George A. Curtis

1987-01-01

Summarizes the objectives, prescriptions, and techniques used in prescribed burning beneath the canopy of ponderosa pine stands, and stands of ponderosa pine mixed with western larch, Douglas-fir, and grand fir. Information was derived from 12 districts in two USDA Forest Service Regions and seven National Forests in Montana and Oregon.

Changes in Gambel oak densities in southwestern ponderosa pine forests since Euro-American settlement

Treesearch

Scott R. Abella; Peter Z. Fulé

2008-01-01

Densities of small-diameter ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) trees have increased in southwestern ponderosa pine forests during a period of fire exclusion since Euro-American settlement in the late 1800s. However, less well known are potential changes in Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) densities during this period in these forests....

A historical overview

Treesearch

Dan Scurlock; Deborah M. Finch

1997-01-01

This chapter reviews the historical: 1) occupancy, use of and impacts on ponderosa pine forests by early American Indians and European settlers; and 2) the human use of and impacts on birds in ponderosa pine forests. Contemporary ecology and human use of ponderosa pine forests are described in this publication by Moir et al. and Raish et al. Recent human impacts on...

Lessons learned from prescribed fire in ponderosa pine forests of the southern Sierra Nevada

Treesearch

Karen E. Bagne; Kathryn L. Purcell

2009-01-01

Prescribed fire is a commonly used management tool in fire-suppressed ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests, but effects of these fires on birds are largely unstudied. We investigated both direct and indirect impacts on breeding birds in ponderosa pine forests of the southern Sierra Nevada where fires were applied in the spring. Following...

Stand structure in eastside old-growth ponderosa pine forests of Oregon and northern California.

Treesearch

Andrew Youngblood; Timothy Max; Kent Coe

2004-01-01

Quantitative metrics of horizontal and vertical structural attributes in eastside old-growth ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa P. and C. Lawson var. ponderosa) forests were measured to guide the design of restoration prescriptions. The age, size structure, and the spatial patterns were investigated in old-growth ponderosa pine forests at three...

Assessing the impact of a mountain pine beetle infestation on stand structure of lodgepole pine forests in Colorado using the Forest Inventory and Analysis Annual forest inventory

Treesearch

Michael T. Thompson

2017-01-01

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) annual inventory system began in Colorado in 2002, which coincided with the onset of a major mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) epidemic. The mortality event, coupled with 11 years of annual inventory data, provided an opportunity to assess the usefulness of the FIA annual inventory system for quantifying the effects...

76 FR 70955 - Helena Nation Forest: Dalton Mountain Forest Restoration & Fuels Reduction Project

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-16

... allow reestablishment of controlled periodic fire; and capturing the value of removed trees in an... mixed-severity fire regime that is dominated by lodgepole pine. Tree mortality from a mountain pine... other tree species native to the area including aspen, whitebark pine, and ponderosa pine do not occur...

Sensitivity of pine flatwoods hydrology to climate change and forest management in Florida, USA

Treesearch

Jianbiao Lu; Ge Sun; Steven G. McNulty; Nicholas B. Comerford

2009-01-01

Pine flatwoods (a mixture of cypress wetlands and managed pine uplands) is an important ecosystem in the southeastern U.S. However, long-term hydrologic impacts of forest management and climate change on this heterogeneous landscape are not well understood. Therefore, this study examined the sensitivity of cypress-pine flatwoods...

Impacts of logging and prescribed burning in longleaf pine forests managed under uneven-aged silviculture

Treesearch

Ferhat Kara; Edward Francis Loewenstein

2015-01-01

The longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) ecosystem has historically been very important in the southeastern United States due to its extensive area and high biodiversity. Successful regeneration of longleaf pine forests requires an adequate number of well distributed seedlings. Thus, mortality of longleaf pine seedlings during logging operations...

Longleaf pine can catch up

Treesearch

William D. Boyer

1997-01-01

One of the principal southern pines, longleaf (Pinus palustris Mill.) is the key tree species in a fire-dependent ecosystem. In pm-settlement times, longleaf pine forests covered much of the southeastern United States.Once the most extensive forest ecosystem in North America dominated by a single species longleaf pine now occupies only about 3...

Development of understory tree vegetation after thinning naturally occurring shortleaf pine forests

Treesearch

K.C. Anup; Thomas B. Lynch; Douglas Stevenson; Duncan Wilson; James M. Guldin; Bob Heinemann; Randy Holeman; Dennis Wilson; Keith Anderson

2015-01-01

During the 25 years since establishment of more than 200 growth study plots in even-aged, naturally regenerated shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) forests, there has been considerable development of hardwood understory trees, shrubs, and some shortleaf pine regeneration. During the period from 1985-1987, even-aged shortleaf pine growth-study...

Radiographic Analysis of Shortleaf Pine Seeds From the Ouachita and Ozark National Forests

Treesearch

Alex C. Mangini; William W. Bruce; James L. Hanula

2004-01-01

Abstract - Shortleaf pine, Pinus echinata Mill., is indigenous to the Ouachita Mountains and the Magazine Mountain area of Arkansas. Natural regeneration of shortleaf pine is a priority on National Forest lands in this area. Insects infesting cones and seeds of shortleaf pine reduce the healthy seeds available for natural...

Disturbance from southern pine beetle, suppression, and wildfire affects vegetation composition in central Louisiana: a case study

Treesearch

T.W. Coleman; Alton Martin; J.R. Meeker

2010-01-01

We assessed plant composition and forest succession following tree mortality from infestation of southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis), associated suppression, and wildfire in two forest types, pine (Pinus spp.) with mixed hardwood and longleaf pine (P. palustris). In this case study, vegetation was...

Mountain pine beetle-killed lodgepole pine for the production of submicron lignocellulose fibrils

Treesearch

Ingrid Hoeger; Rolland Gleisner; Jose Negron; Orlando J. Rojas; J. Y. Zhu

2014-01-01

The elevated levels of tree mortality attributed to mountain pine beetle (MPB) (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) in western North American forests create forest management challenges. This investigation introduces the production of submicron or nanometer lignocellulose fibrils for value-added materials from the widely available resource represented by dead pines after...

Ponderosa pine ecosystems

Treesearch

Russell T. Graham; Theresa B. Jain

2005-01-01

Ponderosa pine is a wide-ranging conifer occurring throughout the United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico. Since the 1800s, ponderosa pine forests have fueled the economies of the West. In western North America, ponderosa pine grows predominantly in the moist and dry forests. In the Black Hills of South Dakota and the southern portion of its range, the...

Integrating management strategies for the mountain pine beetle with multiple-resource management of lodgepole pine forests

Treesearch

Mark D. McGregor; Dennis M. Cole

1985-01-01

Provides guidelines for integrating practices for managing mountain pine beetle populations with silvicultural practices for enhancing multiple resource values of lodgepole pine forests. Summarizes published and unpublished technical information and recent research on the ecology of pest and host and presents visual and classification criteria for recognizing...

A race against beetles: Conservation of limber pine

Treesearch

Anna Schoettle; Kelly Burns; Sheryl Costello; Jeff Witcosky; Brian Howell; Jeff Connor

2008-01-01

The Rocky Mountain Research Station, Forest Health Management, Rocky Mountain National Park, Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest, and the Medicine Bow NF are coordinating efforts to conserve limber pine along the Front Range of the southern Rockies. Mountain pine beetle (MPB) populations are increasing dramatically in the area and killing limber pines in their...

Altered species interactions and implications for natural regeneration in whitebark pine communities

Treesearch

Shawn T. McKinney; Diana F. Tomback; Carl E. Fiedler

2011-01-01

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) decline has altered trophic interactions and led to changes in community dynamics in many Rocky Mountain subalpine forests (McKinney and Tomback 2007). Here we discuss how altered species interactions, driven by disproportionate whitebark pine mortality, constrain the capability of whitebark pine forests to contribute genetic material...

Response of southern Appalachian table mountain pine (Pinus pungens) and pitch pine (P. rigida) stands to prescribed burning

Treesearch

N.T. Welch; Thomas A. Waldrop; E.R. Buckner

2000-01-01

Southern Appalachian table mountain pine (Pinus pungens) and pitch pine (P. rigida) forests require disturbance for regeneration. Lightning-ignited fires and cultural burning practices provided the disturbance that prehistorically and historically maintained these forests. Burning essentially ceased on public lands in the early...

Deception Creek Experimental Forest

Treesearch

Theresa B. Jain; Russell T. Graham

1996-01-01

Deception Creek Experimental Forest is in one of the most productive forests in the Rocky Mountains. When the forest was established in 1933, large, old-age western white pine (Pinus monticola) were important for producing lumber products. The forest, located in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains, is in the heart of the western white pine forest type. Therefore, research...

Long-term changes in forest floor processes in southern Appalachian forests

Treesearch

Jennifer D. Knoepp; Barbara C. Reynolds; D.A. Crossley; Wayne T. Swank

2005-01-01

Soil nutrient concentrations decreased in an aggrading southern Appalachian forest over a 20-year period. Construction of nutrient budgets showed significant nutrient sequestration aboveground including increased forest floor mass. We hypothesized that the changes in forest floor mass resulted from decreased litter decomposition rates because of decreased litter...

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

Zarnoch, Stanley J.; Blake, John I.; Parresol, Bernard R.

Snags are standing dead trees that are an important component in the nesting habitat of birds and other species. Although snag availability is believed to limit populations in managed and non-managed forests, little data are available to evaluate the relative effect of stand conditions and management on snag occurrence. We analyzed point sample data from an intensive forest inventory within an 80,000 ha landscape for four major forest types to support the hypotheses that routine low-intensity prescribed fire would increase, and thinning would decrease, snag occurrence. We employed path analysis to define a priori causal relationships to determine the directmore » and indirect effects of site quality, age, relative stand density index and fire for all forest types and thinning effects for loblolly pine and longleaf pine. Stand age was an important direct effect for loblolly pine, mixed pine-hardwoods and hardwoods, but not for longleaf pine. Snag occurrence in loblolly pine was increased by prescribed fire and decreased by thinning which confirmed our initial hypotheses. Although fire was not important in mixed pine-hardwoods, it was for hardwoods but the relationship depended on site quality. For longleaf pine the relative stand density index was the dominant variable affecting snag occurrence, which increased as the density index decreased. Site quality, age and thinning had significant indirect effects on snag occurrence in longleaf pine through their effects on the density index. Although age is an important condition affecting snag occurrence for most forest types, path analysis revealed that fire and density management practices within certain forest types can also have major beneficial effects, particularly in stands less than 60 years old.« less

Probability of infestation and extent of mortality models for mountain pine beetle in lodgepole pine forests in Colorado

Treesearch

Jose F. Negron; Jennifer G. Klutsch

2017-01-01

The mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, is a significant agent of tree mortality in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.) forests throughout western North America. A large outbreak of mountain pine beetle caused extensive tree mortality in north-central Colorado beginning in the late 1990s. We use data from a network of plots established in...

Growth performance of loblolly shortleaf, and pitch X loblolly pine hybrid growing along the western margin of commercial pine range

Treesearch

K.C. Dipesh; Rodney E. Will; Thomas C Hennessey; Thomas B. Lynch; Robert Heinemann; Randal Holeman

2015-01-01

Expansion of the commercial pine range is one of the opportunities to improve forest production and counterbalance the loss of forest land to other uses. The potential genotypes for the purpose are fast-growing loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.), the slower growing, but more drought tolerant shortleaf pine (P. echinata Mill.), and the more cold tolerant pitch x loblolly...

Ecology of whitebark pine populations in relation to white pine blister rust infection in subalpine forests of the Lake Tahoe Basin: Implications for restoration

Treesearch

Patricia E. Maloney; Detlev R. Vogler; Camille E. Jensen; Annette Delfino Mix

2012-01-01

For over a century, white pine blister rust (WPBR), caused by the introduced fungal pathogen, Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch., has affected white pine (Subgenus Strobus) individuals, populations, and associated forest communities in North America. We surveyed eight populations of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) across a range of environmental conditions in...

Habitat of birds in ponderosa pine and aspen/birch forest in the Black Hills, South Dakota

Treesearch

Todd R. Mills; Mark A. Rumble; Lester D. Flake

2000-01-01

Birds with both eastern and western distributions occur in the Black Hills of western South Dakota. This forest is mostly ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and is managed for timber. Logging alters forest characteristics and the bird community. We studied habitat relations of breeding songbirds at the stand- and site-level scales in ponderosa pine and...

Heterogeneous nonmarket benefits of managing white pine bluster rust in high-elevation pine forests

Treesearch

James R. Meldrum; Patricia A. Champ; Craig A. Bond

2013-01-01

This article describes a nonmarket valuation study about benefits of managing the invasive disease white pine blister rust in highelevation forests in the Western United States. Results demonstrate that, on average, households in the Western United States are willing to pay $154 to improve the resiliency of these forests. Factor analysis shows that long-run protection...

Patterns of conifer regeneration following high severity wildfire in ponderosa pine - dominated forests of the Colorado Front Range

Treesearch

Marin E. Chambers; Paula J. Fornwalt; Sparkle L. Malone; Michael Battaglia

2016-01-01

Many recent wildfires in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Lawson & C. Lawson) - dominated forests of the western United States have burned more severely than historical ones, generating concern about forest resilience. This concern stems from uncertainty about the ability of ponderosa pine and other co-occurring conifers to regenerate in areas where no...

Is the footprint of longleaf pine in the Southeastern United States still shrinking?

Treesearch

Christopher M. Oswalt; Christopher W. Woodall; Horace W. Brooks

2015-01-01

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) was once one of the most ecologically important tree species in the southern United States. Longleaf pine and the accompanying longleaf forest ecosystems covered vast swaths of the South. Longleaf forests covered an estimated 92 million acres at their peak distribution and represented one of the most extensive forest ecosystems in...

Breeding Birds of Late-Rotation Pine Hardwood Stands: Community Characteristics and Similarity to Other Regional Pine Forests

Treesearch

Daniel R. Petit; Lisa J. Petit; Thomas E. Martin; others

1994-01-01

The relative abundances of bird species and the ecological characteristics of the overall avian community were quantified within 20 late-rotation pine-hardwood sites in the Ouschitn and Ozark National Forests in Arkansas and Oklahoma during 1992 and 1993. In addition, similarities in species composition and guild representation were compared with those of forest...

Effects of bark beetle attack on canopy fuel flammability and crown fire potential in lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce forests

Treesearch

Wesley G. Page; Martin E. Alexander; Michael J. Jenkins

2015-01-01

Large wildland fires in conifer forests typically involve some degree of crowning, with their initiation and propagation dependent upon several characteristics of the canopy fuels. Recent outbreaks of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia E ngelm.) forests and spruce beetle (Dendroctonus...

Urbanization effects on leaf litter decomposition, foliar nutrient dynamics and aboveground net primary productivity in the subtropics

Treesearch

Heather A. Enloe; B. Graeme Lockaby; Wayne C. Zipperer; Greg L. Somers

2015-01-01

Urbanization can alter nutrient cycling. This research evaluated how urbanization affected nutrient dynamics in the subtropics. We established 17–0.04 ha plots in five different land cover types—slash pine (Pinus elliottii) plantations (n=3), rural natural pine forests (n= 3), rural natural oak forests (n=4), urban pine forests (n=3) and urban oak forests (n=4) in the...

[Effects of selective cutting on the carbon density and net primary productivity of a mixed broadleaved-Korean pine forest in Northeast China].

PubMed

Liu, Qi; Cai, Hui-Ying; Jin, Guang-Ze

2013-10-01

To accurately quantify forest carbon density and net primary productivity (NPP) is of great significance in estimating the role of forest ecosystems in global carbon cycle. By using the forest inventory and allometry approaches, this paper measured the carbon density and NPP of the virgin broadleaved-Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) forest and of the broadleaved-Korean pine forest after 34 years selective-cutting (the cutting intensity was 30%, and the cutting trees were in large diameter class). The total carbon density of the virgin and selective-cutting broadleaved-Korean pine forests was (397.95 +/- 93.82) and (355.61 +/- 59.37) t C x hm(-2), respectively. In the virgin forest, the carbon density of the vegetation, debris, and soil accounted for 31.0%, 3.1%, and 65.9% of the total carbon pool, respectively; in the selective-cutting forest, the corresponding values were 31.7%, 2.9%, and 65.4%, respectively. No significant differences were observed in the total carbon density and the carbon density of each component between the two forests. The total NPP of the virgin and selective-cutting forests was (36.27 +/- 0.36) and (6.35 +/- 0.70) t C x hm(-2) x a(-1), among which, the NPP of overstory, understory, and fine roots in virgin forest and selective-cutting forest accounted for 60.3%, 2.0%, and 37.7%, and 66.1%, 2.0%, and 31.2%, respectively. No significant differences were observed in the total NPP and the contribution rate of each component between the two forests. However, the ratios of the needle and broadleaf NPPs of the virgin and selective-cutting forests were 47.24:52.76 and 20.48:79.52, respectively, with a significant difference. The results indicated that the carbon density and NPP of the broadleaved-Korean pine forest after 34 years selective-cutting recovered to the levels of the virgin broadleaved-Korean pine forest.

Forest diversity and disturbance: changing influences and the future of Virginia's Forests

Treesearch

Christine J. Small; James L. Chamberlain

2015-01-01

The Virginia landscape supports a remarkable diversity of forests, from maritime dunes, swamp forests, and pine savannas of the Atlantic coastal plain, to post-agricultural pine-hardwood forests of the piedmont, to mixed oak, mixed-mesophytic, northern hardwood, and high elevation conifer forests in Appalachian mountain provinces. Virginia’s forests also have been...

Madrean pine-oak forest in Arizona: altered fire regimes, altered communities

Treesearch

Andrew M. Barton

2005-01-01

In Madrean pine-oak forests in the Chiricahua Mountains, surface fire favors pines, which exhibit high top-survival, but resprouting allows oaks to rebound during inter-fire periods. These patterns plus age structure and radial growth data suggest that frequent presettlement surface fire maintained open stands, promoted a high pine:oak ratio, and excluded less fire...

Restoring Upland Forests to Longleaf Pine: Initial Effects on Fuel Load, Fire Danger, Forest Vegetation, and Beetle Populations

Treesearch

James D. Haywood; Tessa A. Bauman; Richard A. Goyer; Finis L. Harris

2004-01-01

Without fire in the Southeastern United States, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) often becomes the overstory dominant on sites historically dominated by longleaf pine (P. palustris Mill.). Beneath the loblolly pine canopy a mature midstory and understory develops of woody vegetation supporting draped fuels. The resulting deep shade...

Natural regeneration in the western white pine type

Treesearch

Irvine T. Haig; Kenneth P. Davis; Robert H. Weidman

1941-01-01

The purpose of this bulletin is to bring together the available information on natural regeneration of the western white pine type, based on about 25 years of forest research and 30 years of national-forest timber-cutting experience. Western white pine (Pinus monticola) forms the key species of the valuable western white pine type of northern Idaho and contiguous...

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...

The South's forestland - on the hot seat to provide more

Treesearch

Raymond M. Sheffield; James G. Dickson

1998-01-01

Forests of the Southern United States range from tropical/subtropical forests on the southern extremities of the region, oak savanna forests on the western fringe, to central hardwood forests, and high elevation boreal forests in the north. Upland and bottomland hardwood, southern pine, and mixed pine-hardwood forests are found on the more moderate sites between these...

Lack of viable seeds in the forest floor after clearcutting

Treesearch

Robert M. Frank; Lawrence O. Safford

1970-01-01

The viability of seeds o[ northern conifers apparently does not persist in the forest floor for more than one year. A set of forest-floor samples collected two years alter a heavy seed crop and one year alter a seedcrop failure did not produce any conifer germinants, regardless of whether or not the surfaces of the samples were disturbed. A second set of forest-floor...

Proceedings of the Eighth Lake States Forest Tree Improvement conference, Sept. 12-13, 1967.

Treesearch

NCFES

1968-01-01

Presents 11 papers concerning recent research in forest genetics, physiology, and allied fields. Species discussed include red pine, jack pine, Scotch pine, black spruce, larch, yellow birch, sugar maple, silver maple, cottonwood, and walnut.

Sensitivity of the boreal forest-mire ecotone CO2, CH4, and N2O global warming potential to rainy and dry weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ťupek, Boris; Minkkinen, Kari; Vesala, Timo; Nikinmaa, Eero

2015-04-01

In a mosaic of well drained forests and poorly drained mires of boreal landscape the weather events such as drought and rainy control greenhouse gas dynamics and ecosystem global warming potential (GWP). In forest-mire ecotone especially in ecosystems where CO2 sink is nearly balanced with CO2 source, it's fairly unknown whether the net warming effect of emissions of gases with strong radiative forcing (CH4 and N2O) could offset the net cooling effect of CO2 sequestration. We compared the net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) estimated from the carbon sequestrations of forest stands and forest floor CO2 fluxes against CH4 and N2O fluxes of nine forest/mire site types along the soil moisture gradient in Finland. The ground water of nine sites changed between 10 m in upland forests and 0.1 m in mires, and weather during three years ranged between exceptionally wet and dry for the local climate. The NEE of upland forests was typically a sink of CO2, regardless the weather. Though, xeric pine forest was estimated to be a source of CO2 during wet and intermediate year and became a weak sink only in dry year. The NEE of forest-mire transitions ranged between a sink in dry year, while increased stand carbon sequestration could offset the reduced forest floor CO2 emission, and a source in wet year. The NEE of two sparsely forested mires strongly differed. The lawn type mire was balanced around zero and the hummock type mire was relatively strong NEE sink, regardless the weather. Generally, nearly zero N2O emission could not offset the cooling effect of net CH4 sink and net CO2 sink of upland forest and forest-mire transitions. However in sparsely forested mires, with N2O emission also nearly zero, the CH4 emission during wet and intermediate year played important role in turning the net cooling effect of NEE into a net warming. When evaluating GWP of boreal landscapes, undisturbed forest-mire transitions should be regarded as net cooling ecosystems instead of hotspots of net warming.

Impacts of prescribed fire on Pinus rigida Mill. in upland forests of the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

PubMed

Carlo, Nicholas J; Renninger, Heidi J; Clark, Kenneth L; Schäfer, Karina V R

2016-08-01

A comparative analysis of the impacts of prescribed fire on three upland forest stands in the Northeastern Atlantic Plain, NJ, USA, was conducted. Effects of prescribed fire on water use and gas exchange of overstory pines were estimated via sap-flux rates and photosynthetic measurements on Pinus rigida Mill. Each study site had two sap-flux plots, one experiencing prescribed fire and one control (unburned) plot for comparison before and after the fire. We found that photosynthetic capacity in terms of Rubisco-limited carboxylation rate and intrinsic water-use efficiency was unaffected, while light compensation point and dark respiration rate were significantly lower in the burned vs control plots post-fire. Furthermore, quantum yield in pines in the pine-dominated stands was less affected than pines in the mixed oak/pine stand, as there was an increase in quantum yield in the oak/pine stand post-fire compared with the control (unburned) plot. We attribute this to an effect of forest type but not fire per se. Average daily sap-flux rates of the pine trees increased compared with control (unburned) plots in pine-dominated stands and decreased in the oak/pine stand compared with control (unburned) plots, potentially due to differences in fuel consumption and pre-fire sap-flux rates. Finally, when reference canopy stomatal conductance was analyzed, pines in the pine-dominated stands were more sensitive to changes in vapor pressure deficit (VPD), while stomatal responses of pines in the oak/pine stand were less affected by VPD. Therefore, prescribed fire affects physiological functioning and water use of pines, but the effects may be modulated by forest stand type and fuel consumption pattern, which suggests that these factors may need to be taken into account for forest management in fire-dominated systems. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

[Early responses of soil fauna in three typical forests of south subtropical China to simulated N deposition addition].

PubMed

Xu, Guolian; Mo, Jiangming; Zhou, Guoyi

2005-07-01

In this paper, simulated N deposition addition (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg x hm(-2) x yr(-1)) by spreading water or NH4NO3 was conducted to study the early responses of soil fauna in three typical native forests (monsoon evergreen broadleaf forest, pine forest, and broadleaf-pine mixed forest) of subtropical China. The results showed that in monsoon evergreen broadleaf forest, N deposition addition had an obviously negative effect on the three indexes for soil fauna, but in pine forest, the positive effect was significant (P < 0. 05), and the soil fauna community could reach the level in mixed forest, even that in monsoon evergreen broadleaf forest at sometime. The responses in mixed forest were not obvious. In monsoon evergreen broadleaf forest, the negative effects were significant (P < 0.05) under medium N deposition, but not under low N deposition. In pine forest, the positive effect was significant (P < 0.05) under high N deposition, especially for the number of soil fauna groups. The results obtained might imply the N saturation-response mechanisms of forest ecosystems in subtropical China, and the conclusions from this study were also consisted with some related researches.

[Organic carbon and carbon mineralization characteristics in nature forestry soil].

PubMed

Yang, Tian; Dai, Wei; An, Xiao-Juan; Pang, Huan; Zou, Jian-Mei; Zhang, Rui

2014-03-01

Through field investigation and indoor analysis, the organic carbon content and organic carbon mineralization characteristics of six kinds of natural forest soil were studied, including the pine forests, evergreen broad-leaved forest, deciduous broad-leaved forest, mixed needle leaf and Korean pine and Chinese pine forest. The results showed that the organic carbon content in the forest soil showed trends of gradual decrease with the increase of soil depth; Double exponential equation fitted well with the organic carbon mineralization process in natural forest soil, accurately reflecting the mineralization reaction characteristics of the natural forest soil. Natural forest soil in each layer had the same mineralization reaction trend, but different intensity. Among them, the reaction intensity in the 0-10 cm soil of the Korean pine forest was the highest, and the intensities of mineralization reaction in its lower layers were also significantly higher than those in the same layers of other natural forest soil; comparison of soil mineralization characteristics of the deciduous broad-leaved forest and coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest found that the differences of litter species had a relatively strong impact on the active organic carbon content in soil, leading to different characteristics of mineralization reaction.

Effects of overstory retention, herbicides, and fertilization on sub-canopy vegetation structure and functional group composition in loblolly pine forests restored to longleaf pine

Treesearch

Benjamin O. Knapp; Joan L. Walker; G. Geoff Wang; Huifeng Hu; Robert N.  Addington

2014-01-01

The desirable structure of longleaf pine forests, which generally includes a relatively open canopy of pines, very few woody stems in the mid-story, and a well-developed, herbaceous ground layer, provides critical habitat for flora and fauna and contributes to ecosystem function. Current efforts to restore longleaf pine to upland sites dominated by second-growth...

Shortleaf pine in perspective: outlook for the national forests

Treesearch

James R. Crouch

1986-01-01

Shortleaf pine occupies more acreage on southern national forests than does any other softwood species but major concentrations on national forest lands occur only in Arkansas, Texas and Missouri. National forests in these states intend to continue to regenerate most shortleaf stands to shortleaf.

Long-term flow dynamics of three coastal experimental forested watersheds

Treesearch

Devendra M. Amatya; Artur Radecki-Pawlik

2005-01-01

Three 1st2nd, and 3rd order experimental forested watersheds located within Francis Marion National Forest in Coastal South Carolina were monitored for rainfall and stream outflows. These watersheds were WS80, a pine-hardwood forest (206 ha); WS79 a predominantly pine forest (500 ha); and WS78, a...

Deception Creek Experimental Forest (Idaho)

Treesearch

Russell T. Graham; Theresa B. Jain

2004-01-01

Deception Creek Experimental Forest is located in one of the most productive forests of the Rocky Mountains. When the forest was established in 1933, large, old western white pines were important for producing lumber products, matches, and toothpicks. Deception Creek is located in the heart of the western white pine forest type, allowing researchers to focus on the...

A review of precipitation and temperature control on seedling emergence and establishment for ponderosa and lodgepole pine forest regeneration

Treesearch

M. D. Petrie; A. M. Wildeman; J. B. Bradford; Robert Hubbard; W. K. Lauenroth

2016-01-01

The persistence of ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine forests in the 21st century depends to a large extent on how seedling emergence and establishment are influenced by driving climate and environmental variables, which largely govern forest regeneration. We surveyed the literature, and identified 96 publications that reported data on dependent variables of seedling...

Secondary forest succession following reproduction cutting on the Upper Coastal Plain of southeastern Arkansas, USA

Treesearch

Michael D. Cain; Michael G. Shelton

2001-01-01

To contribute to an understanding of forest management on secondary forest succession, we conducted vegetation surveys in a chronosequence of pine stands ranging in age from 1 to 59 years. Adjacent areas were compared at 1, 7, 12, and 17 years following two reproduction cutting methods (clearcuts or pine seed-tree cuts); a 59-year-old pine stand that...

Tree mortality in drought-stressed mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine forests, Arizona, USA

Treesearch

Joseph L. Ganey; Scott C. Vojta

2011-01-01

We monitored tree mortality in northern Arizona (USA) mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws) forests from 1997 to 2007, a period of severe drought in this area. Mortality was pervasive, occurring on 100 and 98% of 53 mixed-conifer and 60 ponderosa pine plots (1-ha each), respectively. Most mortality was attributable to a suite of forest...

The forest fire season at different elevations in Idaho

Treesearch

J. A. Larsen

1925-01-01

In any fire-ridden forest region, such as north Idaho, there is great need for a tangible basis by which to judge the length and the intensity of the fire season in different forest types and at different elevations. The major and natural forest types, such as the western yellow pine forests, the western white-pine forests, and the subalpine forests occur in...

Restoring forest structure and process stabilizes forest carbon in wildfire-prone southwestern ponderosa pine forests

Treesearch

Matthew D. Hurteau; Shuang Liang; Katherine L. Martin; Malcolm P. North; George W. Koch; Bruce A. Hungate

2016-01-01

Changing climate and a legacy of fire-exclusion have increased the probability of high-severity wildfire, leading to an increased risk of forest carbon loss in ponderosa pine forests in the southwestern USA. Efforts to reduce high-severity fire risk through forest thinning and prescribed burning require both the removal and emission of carbon from these forests, and...

Ecosystem-based management in the whitebark pine zone

Treesearch

Robert E. Keane; Stephen F. Arno; Catherine A. Stewart

2000-01-01

Declining whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) forests have necessitated development of innovative methods to restore these ecologically valuable, high elevation ecosystems. We have began an extensive restoration study using prescribed fire and silvicultural cuttings to return native ecological processes to degenerating whitebark pine forests....

Changes in transpiration and foliage growth in lodgepole pine trees following mountain pine beetle attack and mechanical girdling

Treesearch

Robert M. Hubbard; Charles C. Rhoades; Kelly Elder; Jose Negron

2013-01-01

The recent mountain pine beetle outbreak in North American lodgepole pine forests demonstrates the importance of insect related disturbances in changing forest structure and ecosystem processes. Phloem feeding by beetles disrupts transport of photosynthate from tree canopies and fungi introduced to the tree's vascular system by the bark beetles inhibit water...

The status of whitebark pine along the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail on the Umpqua National Forest.

Treesearch

Ellen Michaels Goheen; Donald J. Goheen; Katy Marshall; Robert S. Danchok; John A. Petrick; Diane E. White

2002-01-01

Because of concern over widespread population declines, the distribution, stand conditions, and health of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Englem.) were evaluated along the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail on the Umpqua National Forest. Whitebark pine occurred on 76 percent of the survey transects. In general, whitebark pine was found in stands...

AmeriFlux CA-SJ3 Saskatchewan - Western Boreal, Jack Pine forest harvested in 1975 (BOREAS Young Jack Pine)

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

Barr, Alan

This is the AmeriFlux version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-SJ3 Saskatchewan - Western Boreal, Jack Pine forest harvested in 1975 (BOREAS Young Jack Pine). Site Description - 53.87581° N, 104.64529° W, BOREAS 1994, 1996, BERMS climate and flux measurements to begin Spring 2003

The concept: Restoring ecological structure and process in ponderosa pine forests

Treesearch

Stephen F. Arno

1996-01-01

Elimination of the historic pattern of frequent low-intensity fires in ponderosa pine and pine-mixed conifer forests has resulted in major ecological disruptions. Prior to 1900, open stands of large, long-lived, fire-resistant ponderosa pine were typical. These were accompanied in some areas by other fire-dependent species such as western larch. Today, as a result of...

Soil properties in 35 y old pine and hardwood plantations after conversion from mixed pine-hardwood forest

Treesearch

D. Andrew Scott; Michael G. Messina

2009-01-01

Past management practices have changed much of the native mixed pine-hardwood forests on upland alluvial terraces of the western Gulf Coastal Plain to either pine monocultures or hardwood (angiosperm) stands. Changes in dominant tree species can alter soil chemical, biological, and physical properties and processes, thereby changing soil attributes, and ultimately,...

Strategies, tools, and challenges for sustaining and restoring high elevation five-needle white pine forests in western North America

Treesearch

Robert E. Keane; Anna W. Schoettle

2011-01-01

Many ecologically important, five-needle white pine forests that historically dominated the high elevation landscapes of western North America are now being heavily impacted by mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus spp.) outbreaks, the exotic disease white pine blister rust (WPBR), and altered high elevation fire regimes. Management intervention using specially designed...

Long-term efficacy of diameter-limit cutting to reduce mountain pine beetle-caused tree mortality in a lodgepole pine forest

Treesearch

J. C. Vandygriff; E. Hansen; Barbara Bentz; K. K. Allen; G. D. Amman; L. A. Rasmussen

2015-01-01

Mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, is the most significant mortality agent in pine forests of western North America. Silvicultural treatments that reduce the number of susceptible host trees, alter age and size class distributions, and diversify species composition are considered viable, long-term options for reducing stand susceptibility...

Regeneration of different plant functional types in a Masson pine forest following pine wilt disease.

PubMed

Hu, Guang; Xu, Xuehong; Wang, Yuling; Lu, Gao; Feeley, Kenneth J; Yu, Mingjian

2012-01-01

Pine wilt disease is a severe threat to the native pine forests in East Asia. Understanding the natural regeneration of the forests disturbed by pine wilt disease is thus critical for the conservation of biodiversity in this realm. We studied the dynamics of composition and structure within different plant functional types (PFTs) in Masson pine forests affected by pine wilt disease (PWD). Based on plant traits, all species were assigned to four PFTs: evergreen woody species (PFT1), deciduous woody species (PFT2), herbs (PFT3), and ferns (PFT4). We analyzed the changes in these PFTs during the initial disturbance period and during post-disturbance regeneration. The species richness, abundance and basal area, as well as life-stage structure of the PFTs changed differently after pine wilt disease. The direction of plant community regeneration depended on the differential response of the PFTs. PFT1, which has a higher tolerance to disturbances, became dominant during the post-disturbance regeneration, and a young evergreen-broad-leaved forest developed quickly after PWD. Results also indicated that the impacts of PWD were dampened by the feedbacks between PFTs and the microclimate, in which PFT4 played an important ecological role. In conclusion, we propose management at the functional type level instead of at the population level as a promising approach in ecological restoration and biodiversity conservation.

Are prescribed fire and thinning dominant processes affecting snag occurrence at a landscape scale?

DOE PAGES

Zarnoch, Stanley J.; Blake, John I.; Parresol, Bernard R.

2014-11-01

Snags are standing dead trees that are an important component in the nesting habitat of birds and other species. Although snag availability is believed to limit populations in managed and non-managed forests, little data are available to evaluate the relative effect of stand conditions and management on snag occurrence. We analyzed point sample data from an intensive forest inventory within an 80,000 ha landscape for four major forest types to support the hypotheses that routine low-intensity prescribed fire would increase, and thinning would decrease, snag occurrence. We employed path analysis to define a priori causal relationships to determine the directmore » and indirect effects of site quality, age, relative stand density index and fire for all forest types and thinning effects for loblolly pine and longleaf pine. Stand age was an important direct effect for loblolly pine, mixed pine-hardwoods and hardwoods, but not for longleaf pine. Snag occurrence in loblolly pine was increased by prescribed fire and decreased by thinning which confirmed our initial hypotheses. Although fire was not important in mixed pine-hardwoods, it was for hardwoods but the relationship depended on site quality. For longleaf pine the relative stand density index was the dominant variable affecting snag occurrence, which increased as the density index decreased. Site quality, age and thinning had significant indirect effects on snag occurrence in longleaf pine through their effects on the density index. Although age is an important condition affecting snag occurrence for most forest types, path analysis revealed that fire and density management practices within certain forest types can also have major beneficial effects, particularly in stands less than 60 years old.« less

Redistribution of soil nitrogen, carbon and organic matter by mechanical disturbance during whole-tree harvesting in northern hardwoods

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ryan, D.F.; Huntington, T.G.; Wayne, Martin C.

1992-01-01

To investigate whether mechanical mixing during harvesting could account for losses observed from forest floor, we measured surface disturbance on a 22 ha watershed that was whole-tree harvested. Surface soil on each 10 cm interval along 81, randomly placed transects was classified immediately after harvesting as mineral or organic, and as undisturbed, depressed, rutted, mounded, scarified, or scalped (forest floor scraped away). We quantitatively sampled these surface categories to collect soil in which preharvest forest floor might reside after harvest. Mechanically mixed mineral and organic soil horizons were readily identified. Buried forest floor under mixed mineral soil occurred in 57% of mounds with mineral surface soil. Harvesting disturbed 65% of the watershed surface and removed forest floor from 25% of the area. Mechanically mixed soil under ruts with organic or mineral surface soil, and mounds with mineral surface soil contained organic carbon and nitrogen pools significantly greater than undisturbed forest floor. Mechanical mixing into underlying mineral soil could account for the loss of forest floor observed between the preharvest condition and the second growing season after whole-tree harvesting. ?? 1992.

Longleaf pine

Treesearch

William D. Boyer; Donald W. Patterson

1983-01-01

Abstract:This report describes the longleaf pine forest type and the characteristics of both tree and forest that can affect management decisions.Longleaf pine is highly adaptable to a range of management goals and silvicultural systems.Management options and appropriate silvicultural methods for the regeneration and management of this species are...

Analysis of Landsat-4 Thematic Mapper data for classification of forest stands in Baldwin County, Alabama

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hill, C. L.

1984-01-01

A computer-implemented classification has been derived from Landsat-4 Thematic Mapper data acquired over Baldwin County, Alabama on January 15, 1983. One set of spectral signatures was developed from the data by utilizing a 3x3 pixel sliding window approach. An analysis of the classification produced from this technique identified forested areas. Additional information regarding only the forested areas. Additional information regarding only the forested areas was extracted by employing a pixel-by-pixel signature development program which derived spectral statistics only for pixels within the forested land covers. The spectral statistics from both approaches were integrated and the data classified. This classification was evaluated by comparing the spectral classes produced from the data against corresponding ground verification polygons. This iterative data analysis technique resulted in an overall classification accuracy of 88.4 percent correct for slash pine, young pine, loblolly pine, natural pine, and mixed hardwood-pine. An accuracy assessment matrix has been produced for the classification.

The weight of the past: land-use legacies and recolonization of pine plantations by oak trees.

PubMed

Navarro-González, Irene; Pérez-Luque, Antonio J; Bonet, Francisco J; Zamora, Regino

2013-09-01

Most of the world's plantations were established on previously disturbed sites with an intensive land-use history. Our general hypothesis was that native forest regeneration within forest plantations depends largely on in situ biological legacies as a source of propagules. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed native oak regeneration in 168 pine plantation plots in southern Spain in relation to land use in 1956, oak patch proximity, and pine tree density. Historical land-use patterns were determined from aerial photography from 1956, and these were compared with inventory data from 2004-2005 and additional orthophoto images. Our results indicate that oak forest regeneration in pine plantations depends largely on land-use legacies, although nearby, well-conserved areas can provide propagules for colonization from outside the plantation, and pine tree density also affected oak recruit density. More intense land uses in the past meant fewer biological legacies and, therefore, lower likelihood of regenerating native forest. That is, oak recruit density was lower when land use in 1956 was croplands (0.004 +/- 0.002 recruits/m2 [mean +/- SE]) or pasture (0.081 +/- 0.054 recruits/m2) instead of shrubland (0.098 +/- 0.031 recruits/m2) or oak formations (0.314 +/- 0.080 recruits/m2). Our study shows that land use in the past was more important than propagule source distance or pine tree density in explaining levels of native forest regeneration in plantations. Thus, strategies for restoring native oak forests in pine plantations may benefit from considering land-use legacies as well as distance to propagule sources and pine density.

Mountain pine beetle, a major disturbance agent in US Western coniferous forests: A synthesis of the state of knowledge [Research In Review

Treesearch

Jose F. Negron; Christopher J. Fettig

2014-01-01

In recent years, the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae, has impacted 8.9 million hectares of forests in the western United States. Historically a common occurrence in western forests, particularly in lodgepole and ponderosa pine, the magnitude and extent of recent outbreaks have exceeded past events since written records are available and have occurred in...

The effects of bark beetle outbreaks on forest development, fuel loads and potential fire behavior in salvage logged and untreated lodgepole pine forests

Treesearch

B. J. Collins; C. C. Rhoades; M. A. Battaglia; R. M. Hubbard

2012-01-01

Recent mountain pine beetle infestations have resulted in widespread tree mortality and the accumulation of dead woody fuels across the Rocky Mountain region, creating concerns over future forest stand conditions and fire behavior. We quantified how salvage logging influenced tree regeneration and fuel loads relative to nearby, uncut stands for 24 lodgepole pine...

Evaluating the role of cutting treatments, fire and soil seed banks in an experimental framework in ponderosa pine forests of the Black Hills, South Dakota

Treesearch

Cody L. Wienk; Carolyn Hull Sieg; Guy R. McPherson

2004-01-01

Pinus ponderosa Laws. (ponderosa pine) forests have changed considerably during the past century, partly because recurrent fires have been absent for a century or more. A number of studies have explored the influence of timber harvest or burning on understory production in ponderosa pine forests, but study designs incorporating cutting and prescribed...

Predicting the effects of tropospheric ozone on regional productivity of ponderosa pine and white fir.

Treesearch

D.A. Weinstein; J.A. Laurence; W.A. Retzlaff; J.S. Kern; E.H. Lee; W.E. Hogsett; J. Weber

2005-01-01

We simulated forest dynamics of the regional ponderosa pine-white fir conifer forest of the San Bernadino and Sierra Nevada mountains of California to determine the effects of high ozone concentrations over the next century and to compare the responses to our similar study for loblolly pine forests of the southeast. As in the earlier study, we linked two models, TREGRO...

A forest transect of pine mountain, Kentucky: changes since E. Lucy Braun and chestnut blight

Treesearch

Tracy S. Hawkins

2006-01-01

In 1997, forest composition and structure were determined for Hi Lewis Pine Barrens State Nature Preserve, a 68-ha tract on the south slope of Pine Mountain, Harlan County, Kentucky. Data collected from 28 0.04-ha plots were used to delineate forest types. Percent canopy compositions were compared with those reported by Dr. E. Lucy Braun prior to the peak of chestnut...

Patterns and determinants of plant biodiversity in non-commercial forests of eastern China

PubMed Central

Wu, Chuping; Vellend, Mark; Yuan, Weigao; Jiang, Bo; Liu, Jiajia; Shen, Aihua; Liu, Jinliang; Zhu, Jinru

2017-01-01

Non-commercial forests represent important habitats for the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem function in China, yet no studies have explored the patterns and determinants of plant biodiversity in these human dominated landscapes. Here we test the influence of (1) forest type (pine, mixed, and broad-leaved), (2) disturbance history, and (3) environmental factors, on tree species richness and composition in 600 study plots in eastern China. In total, we found 143 species in 53 families of woody plants, with a number of species rare and endemic in the study region. Species richness in mixed forest and broad-leaved forest was higher than that in pine forest, and was higher in forests with less disturbance. Species composition was influenced by environment factors in different ways in different forest types, with important variables including elevation, soil depth and aspect. Surprisingly, we found little effect of forest age after disturbance on species composition. Most non-commercial forests in this region are dominated by species poor pine forests and mixed young forests. As such, our results highlight the importance of broad-leaved forests for regional plant biodiversity conservation. To increase the representation of broad-leaved non-commercial forests, specific management practices such as thinning of pine trees could be undertaken. PMID:29161324

Patterns and determinants of plant biodiversity in non-commercial forests of eastern China.

PubMed

Wu, Chuping; Vellend, Mark; Yuan, Weigao; Jiang, Bo; Liu, Jiajia; Shen, Aihua; Liu, Jinliang; Zhu, Jinru; Yu, Mingjian

2017-01-01

Non-commercial forests represent important habitats for the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem function in China, yet no studies have explored the patterns and determinants of plant biodiversity in these human dominated landscapes. Here we test the influence of (1) forest type (pine, mixed, and broad-leaved), (2) disturbance history, and (3) environmental factors, on tree species richness and composition in 600 study plots in eastern China. In total, we found 143 species in 53 families of woody plants, with a number of species rare and endemic in the study region. Species richness in mixed forest and broad-leaved forest was higher than that in pine forest, and was higher in forests with less disturbance. Species composition was influenced by environment factors in different ways in different forest types, with important variables including elevation, soil depth and aspect. Surprisingly, we found little effect of forest age after disturbance on species composition. Most non-commercial forests in this region are dominated by species poor pine forests and mixed young forests. As such, our results highlight the importance of broad-leaved forests for regional plant biodiversity conservation. To increase the representation of broad-leaved non-commercial forests, specific management practices such as thinning of pine trees could be undertaken.

Historical land-use influences the long-term stream turbidity response to a wildfire.

PubMed

Harrison, Evan T; Dyer, Fiona; Wright, Daniel W; Levings, Chris

2014-02-01

Wildfires commonly result in an increase in stream turbidity. However, the influence of pre-fire land-use practices on post-fire stream turbidity is not well understood. The Lower Cotter Catchment (LCC) in south-eastern Australia is part of the main water supply catchment for Canberra with land in the catchment historically managed for a mix of conservation (native eucalypt forest) and pine (Pinus radiata) plantation. In January 2003, wildfires burned almost all of the native and pine forests in the LCC. A study was established in 2005 to determine stream post-fire turbidity recovery within the native and pine forest areas of the catchment. Turbidity data loggers were deployed in two creeks within burned native forest and burned pine forest areas to determine turbidity response to fire in these areas. As a part of the study, we also determined changes in bare soil in the native and pine forest areas since the fire. The results suggest that the time, it takes turbidity levels to decrease following wildfire, is dependent upon the preceding land-use. In the LCC, turbidity levels decreased more rapidly in areas previously with native vegetation compared to areas which were previously used for pine forestry. This is likely because of a higher percentage of bare soil areas for a longer period of time in the ex-pine forest estate and instream stores of fine sediment from catchment erosion during post-fire storm events. The results of our study show that the previous land-use may exert considerable control over on-going turbidity levels following a wildfire.

Effects of mountain pine beetle on fuels and expected fire behavior in lodgepole pine forests, Colorado, USA

Treesearch

Tania Schoennagel; Thomas T. Veblen; Jose F. Negron; Jeremy M. Smith

2012-01-01

In Colorado and southern Wyoming, mountain pine beetle (MPB) has affected over 1.6 million ha of predominantly lodgepole pine forests, raising concerns about effects of MPB-caused mortality on subsequent wildfire risk and behavior. Using empirical data we modeled potential fire behavior across a gradient of wind speeds and moisture scenarios in Green stands compared...

Silvicultural Considerations in Managing Southern Pine Stands in the Context of Southern Pine Beetle

Treesearch

James M. Guldin

2011-01-01

Roughly 30 percent of the 200 million acres of forest land in the South supports stands dominated by southern pines. These are among the most productive forests in the nation. Adapted to disturbance, southern pines are relatively easy to manage with even-aged methods such as clearcutting and planting, or the seed tree and shelterwood methods with natural regeneration....

Evolution of a research prototype expert system for endemic populations of mountain pine beetle in lodgepole pine forests

Treesearch

Dale L. Bartos; Kent B. Downing

1989-01-01

A knowledge acquisition program was written to aid in obtaining knowledge from the experts concerning endemic populations of mountain pine beetle in lodgepole pine forest. An application expert system is then automatically generated by the knowledge acquisition program that contains the codified base of expert knowledge. Data can then be entered into the expert system...

Longleaf pine stumpwood supply in four southeastern survey units

Treesearch

E.L. Demmon

1936-01-01

This release presents advanc3 ·information on the amount of longleaf pine stumpviOod in four Forest Survey Units. The wood referred to is that in the seasoned stumps resulting from the cutting of the longleaf pine of the original forest. These stumps, together with other highly rosinimpregnated wood in the tops and limbs of fallen old-growth longleaf pine, are used in...

Early survival and growth of planted shortleaf pine seedlings as a function of initial size and overstory stocking

Treesearch

John M. Kabrick; Daniel C. Dey; Stephen R. Shifley; Jason L. Villwock

2011-01-01

Shortleaf pine was once abundant throughout the Missouri Ozarks and there is renewed interest in its restoration. Past research suggested that the greatest survival and growth of shortleaf pine seedlings occurred where there was little competition for sunlight. This study, in the oak and oak-pine forests of the Sinkin Experimental Forest in southeastern Missouri,...

Slash disposal and site preparation in converting old-growth sugar pine-fir forests to regulated stands

Treesearch

Donald T. Gordon; Richard D. Cosens

1952-01-01

Records of permanent sample plots and extensive observations by forest management research workers indicate that tree selection methods of cutting in sugar pine-fir types have not favored the establishment of sugar pine reproduction. Since sugar pine is a highly prized lumber producing species in the California region, special measures to preserve or increase its place...

Severity of a mountain pine beetle outbreak across a range of stand conditions in Fraser Experimental Forest, Colorado, United States

Treesearch

Anthony G. Vorster; Paul H. Evangelista; Thomas J. Stohlgren; Sunil Kumar; Charles C. Rhoades; Robert M. Hubbard; Antony S. Cheng; Kelly Elder

2017-01-01

The recent mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) outbreaks had unprecedented effects on lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) in western North America. We used data from 165 forest inventory plots to analyze stand conditions that regulate lodgepole pine mortality across a wide range of stand structure and species composition at the Fraser...

Management guide to ecosystem restoration treatments: two-aged lodgepole pine forests of central Montana, USA

Treesearch

Sharon M. Hood; Helen Y. Smith; David K. Wright; Lance S. Glasgow

2012-01-01

Lodgepole pine is one of the most widely distributed conifers in North America, with a mixed-severity rather than stand-replacement fire regime throughout much of its range. These lodgepole pine forests are patchy and often two-aged. Fire exclusion can reduce two-aged lodgepole pine heterogeneity. This management guide summarizes the effects of thinning and prescribed...

The U.S. Forest Service's renewed focus on gene conservation of five-needle pine species

Treesearch

2011-01-01

The U.S. Forest Service (FS) has been actively working with five-needle pine species for decades. The main focus of this interest has been in restoration efforts involving disease-resistance screening activities in western white (Pinus monticola), sugar (Pinus lambertiana), and eastern white (Pinus strobus) pines in the face of white pine blister rust (WPBR), caused by...

The proactive strategy for sustaining five-needle pine populations: An example of its implementation in the southern Rocky Mountains

Treesearch

A. W. Schoettle; B. A. Goodrich; J. G. Klutsch; K. S. Burns; S. Costello; R. A. Sniezko

2011-01-01

The imminent invasion of the non-native fungus, Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch., that causes white pine blister rust (WPBR) and the current mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, MPB) epidemic in northern Colorado limber pine forests will severely affect the forest regeneration cycle necessary for functioning ecosystems. The slow growth and maturity of...

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...

Singular and combined effects of blowdown, salvage logging, and wildfire on forest floor and soil mercury pools.

PubMed

Mitchell, Carl P J; Kolka, Randall K; Fraver, Shawn

2012-08-07

A number of factors influence the amount of mercury (Hg) in forest floors and soils, including deposition, volatile emission, leaching, and disturbances such as fire. Currently the impact on soil Hg pools from other widespread forest disturbances such as blowdown and management practices like salvage logging are unknown. Moreover, ecological and biogeochemical responses to disturbances are generally investigated within a single-disturbance context, with little currently known about the impact of multiple disturbances occurring in rapid succession. In this study we capitalize on a combination of blowdown, salvage logging and fire events in the sub-boreal region of northern Minnesota to assess both the singular and combined effects of these disturbances on forest floor and soil total Hg concentrations and pools. Although none of the disturbance combinations affected Hg in mineral soil, we did observe significant effects on both Hg concentrations and pools in the forest floor. Blowdown increased the mean Hg pool in the forest floor by 0.76 mg Hg m(-2) (223%). Salvage logging following blowdown created conditions leading to a significantly more severe forest floor burn during wildfire, which significantly enhanced Hg emission. This sequence of combined events resulted in a mean loss of approximately 0.42 mg Hg m(-2) (68% of pool) from the forest floor, after conservatively accounting for potential losses via enhanced soil leaching and volatile emissions between the disturbance and sampling dates. Fire alone or blowdown followed by fire did not significantly affect the total Hg concentrations or pools in the forest floor. Overall, unexpected consequences for soil Hg accumulation and by extension, atmospheric Hg emission and risk to aquatic biota, may result when combined impacts are considered in addition to singular forest floor and soil disturbances.

[Characteristics of floor litter and soil arthropod community in different types ot subtropical forest in Ailao Mountain of Yunnan, Southwest China].

PubMed

Yang, Zhao; Yang, Xiao-Dong

2011-11-01

By using line transect method, an investigation was conducted on the floor litter and soil arthropod community in a mid mountain wet evergreen broad-leaved forest, a mossy dwarf forest, and a Populus bonatii forest in Ailao Mountain of Yunnan in April (dry and hot season), June (rainy season), and December (dry and cold season), 2005. In both dry and rainy seasons, the existing floor litter mass, C storage, and C/N ratio in the three forests all increased in the order of mossy dwarf forest > P. bonatii forest > evergreen broad-leaved forest, but the N storage had less difference. In the floor litter layer of the forests, Acari and Collembola were the dominant groups of soil arthropod community, while Diptera larvae, Coleoptera, ants, and Homoptera were the common groups. The Sorenson coefficients of soil arthropod community in the three forests were extremely great. No significant differences were observed in the soil arthropod density (ind x m(-2)) in the floor litter layer among the three forests, but the relative density (ind x g(-1)) of soil arthropods was higher in the evergreen broad-leaved forest and P. bonatii forest than in the mossy dwarf forest. In the three forests, the density of soil arthropods was significantly higher in dry season than in rainy season, but the Shannon diversity index had less difference. There were significant positive correlations between the existing floor litter mass and the individual density (ind x m(-2)) and dominant groups of soil arthropod communities in dry and hot season (April), but negative correlations between the existing floor litter mass and the relative density (ind x g(-1)) of soil arthropod communities and Acari in dry and cold season (December). The individual densities of Collembola and Coleoptera also had positive correlations with the N storage of the existing floor litter mass in the three forests. It was considered that the floor litter and the development of soil arthropod community in the litter layer of the subtropical forests in Ailao Mountain had a close relation with the vegetation structure of the forests, and the individual density and the diversity of the soil arthropod community were controlled by the floor litter, whereas the environmental factors such as temperature and moisture in the forests also had obvious effects on the seasonal dynamics of the individual density of the soil arthropods.

Modeling the Effects of Climate Change on Whitebark Pine Along the Pacific Crest Trail

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, R. S.; Nguyen, A.; Gill, N.; Kannan, S.; Patadia, N.; Meyer, M.; Schmidt, C.

2012-12-01

The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), one of eight National Scenic Trails, stretches 2,650 miles from Mexico to the Canadian border. At high elevations along this trail, within Inyo and Sierra National Forests, populations of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) have been diminishing due to infestation of the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) and are threatened due to a changing climate. Understanding the current and future condition of whitebark pine is a primary goal of forest managers due to its high ecological and economic importance, and it is currently a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Using satellite imagery, we analyzed the rate and spatial extent of whitebark pine tree mortality from 1984 to 2011 using the Landsat-based Detection of Trends in Disturbance and Recovery (LandTrendr) program. Climate data, soil properties, and biological features of the whitebark pine were incorporated in the Physiological Principles to Predict Growth (3-PG) model to predict future rates of growth and assess its applicability in modeling natural whitebark pine processes. Finally, the Random Forest algorithm was used with topographic data alongside recent and future climate data from the IPCC A2 and B1 climate scenarios for the years 2030, 2060, and 2090 to model the future distribution of whitebark pine. LandTrendr results indicate beetle related mortality covering 14,940 km2 of forest, 2,880 km2 of which are within whitebark pine forest. By 2090, our results show that under the A2 climate scenario, whitebark pine suitable habitat may be reduced by as much as 99.97% by the year 2090 within our study area. Under the B1 climate scenario, which has decreased CO2 emissions, 13.54% more habitat would be preserved in 2090.

Using hyperspectral imagery to estimate forest floor consumption from wildfire in boreal forests of Alaska, USA

Treesearch

Sarah A. Lewis; Andrew T. Hudak; Roger D. Ottmar; Peter R. Robichaud; Leigh B. Lentile; Sharon M. Hood; James B. Cronan; Penny Morgan

2011-01-01

Wildfire is a major forest disturbance in interior Alaska that can both directly and indirectly alter ecological processes. We used a combination of pre- and post-fire forest floor depths and post-fire ground cover assessments measured in the field, and high-resolution airborne hyperspectral imagery, to map forest floor conditions after the 2004 Taylor Complex in...

The distribution of mercury in a forest floor transect across the central United States

Treesearch

Charles H. (Hobie) Perry; Michael C. Amacher; William Cannon; Randall K. Kolka; Laurel Woodruff

2009-01-01

Mercury (Hg) stored in soil organic matter may be released when the forest floor is consumed by fire. Our objective is to document the spatial distribution of forest floor Hg for a transect crossing the central United States. Samples collected by the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Inventory and Analysis Soil Quality Indicator were tested...

Chapter 5. Dynamics of ponderosa and Jeffrey pine forests

Treesearch

Penelope Morgan

1994-01-01

Ponderosa (Pinus ponderosa) and Jeffrey pine (Pinus jefferyi) forests are ecologically diverse ecosystems. The communities and landscapes in which these trees dominate are variable and often complex. Because of the economic value of resources, people have used these forests extensively.

Capturing forest dependency in the central Himalayan region: Variations between Oak (Quercus spp.) and Pine (Pinus spp.) dominated forest landscapes.

PubMed

Chakraborty, Anusheema; Joshi, Pawan Kumar; Sachdeva, Kamna

2018-05-01

Our study explores the nexus between forests and local communities through participatory assessments and household surveys in the central Himalayan region. Forest dependency was compared among villages surrounded by oak-dominated forests (n = 8) and pine-dominated forests (n = 9). Both quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate variations in the degree of dependency based on proximity to nearest forest type. Households near oak-dominated forests were more dependent on forests (83.8%) compared to households near pine-dominated forests (69.1%). Forest dependency is mainly subsistence-oriented for meeting basic household requirements. Livestock population, cultivated land per household, and non-usage of alternative fuels are the major explanatory drivers of forest dependency. Our findings can help decision and policy makers to establish nested governance mechanisms encouraging prioritized site-specific conservation options among forest-adjacent households. Additionally, income diversification with respect to alternate livelihood sources, institutional reforms, and infrastructure facilities can reduce forest dependency, thereby, allowing sustainable forest management.

The Crossett Experimental Forest's contributions to southern pine improvement programs

Treesearch

Don C. Bragg; Jess Riddle; Joshua Adams; James M. Guldin

2016-01-01

Long renowned for its contributions to silvicultural practices in naturally regenerated loblolly (Pinus taeda) and shortleaf (Pinus echinata) pine, the Crossett Experimental Forest (CEF) has also played an important, if much less well known, role in southern pine tree improvement. A decades-long program centered at Crossett...

Proceedings of the 12th biennial southern silvicultural research conference

Treesearch

Kristina F. Connor; [Editor

2004-01-01

Ninety-two papers and thirty-six poster summaries address a range of issues affecting southern forests. Papers are grouped in 15 sessions that include wildlife ecology; fire ecology; natural pine management; forest health; growth and yield; upland hardwoods - natural regeneration; hardwood intermediate treatments; longleaf pine; pine plantation silviculture; site...

One seed source of Jeffrey pine shows resistance to dwarf mistletoe

Treesearch

Robert F. Scharpf; Bohun B. Kinloch; James L. Jenkinson

1992-01-01

Four seed sources of Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) were selected for testing through controlled inoculation for resistance to dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium campylopodum). The pines were 7 years old and part of a progeny test planting established by the USDA Forest Service's Institute of Forest Genetics, Placewille,...

Ecological consequences of mountain pine beetle outbreaks for wildlife in western North American forests

Treesearch

Victoria A. Saab; Quresh S. Latif; Mary M. Rowland; Tracey N. Johnson; Anna D. Chalfoun; Steven W. Buskirk; Joslin E. Heyward; Matthew A. Dresser

2014-01-01

Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) (MPB) outbreaks are increasingly prevalent in western North America, causing considerable ecological change in pine (Pinus spp.) forests with important implications for wildlife. We reviewed studies examining wildlife responses to MPB outbreaks and postoutbreak salvage logging to...

Proceedings of the IUFRO joint conference: Genetics of five-needle pines, rusts of forest trees, and Strobusphere; 2014 June 15–20; Fort Collins, CO

Treesearch

Anna W. Schoettle; Richard A. Sniezko; John T. Kliejunas

2018-01-01

Proceedings from the 2014 IUFRO Joint Conference: Genetics of five-needle pines, rusts of forest trees, and Strobusphere in Fort Collins, Colorado. The published proceedings include 91 papers pertaining to research conducted on the genetics and pathology of five-needle pines and rusts of forest trees. Topic areas are: ecology and climate change, common garden genetics...

Uptake and Distribution of Nitrogen from Acidic Fog within a Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws.)/Litter/Soil System

Treesearch

Mark E. Fenn; Theodor D. Leininger

1995-01-01

The magnitude and importance of wet deposition of N in forests of the South Coast (Los Angeles) Air Basin have not been well characterized. We exposed 3-yr-old ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderos Laws.) seedlings growing in native forest soil to acidic fog treatments (pH 3.1) simulating fog chemistry from a pine forest near Los Angeles, California. Fog solutions contained...

Indigenous vegetation in a Southern Arkansas pine-hardwood forest after a half century without catastrophic disturbances

Treesearch

Michael D. Cain; Michael G. Shelton

1994-01-01

In 1992 we analyzed the composition of a 32-ha pine-hardwood forest that originated from the partial cutting of the existing virgin forest around 1915. The area has been reserved from timber management since 1935. Pines >9 cm in diameter at a height of 1.37 m accounted for 61% of overstory and midstory basal area but only 21% of density. Of those trees that had...

Short-term ecological consequences of collaborative restoration treatments in ponderosa pine forests of Colorado

Treesearch

Jennifer S. Briggs; Paula J. Fornwalt; Jonas A. Feinstein

2017-01-01

Ecological restoration treatments are being implemented at an increasing rate in ponderosa pine and other dry conifer forests across the western United States, via the USDA Forest Service’s Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) program. In this program, collaborative stakeholder groups work with National Forests (NFs) to adaptively implement and monitor...

2004 report on the health of Colorado's forests: Special issue: Ponderosa pine forests

Treesearch

Paige Lewis; Merrill R. Kaufmann; Laurie S. Huckaby; Dave Leatherman

2005-01-01

The 2004 Report on the Health of Colorado's Forests begins with an overview of significant incidents and trends in forest insect and disease activity across the state. The remainder of the Report provides an in-depth examination of the ecology, condition and management of Colorado's ponderosa pine forests. Unlike previous editions, which highlighted a range...

Ecological, Physical, and Socioeconomic Relationships Within Southern National Forests- Proceedings of the Southern Evaluation Project Workshop

Treesearch

Henry A. Pearson; Fred E. Smeins; Ronald E. Thill

1987-01-01

The results of 43 projects, which evaluated the flora, fauna, watersheds, socioeconomics,and forest pests located on southern National Forests were presented and discussed in 4 major categories: Management Outlook and Evaluation, Loblolly-Shortleaf Pine Type, Longleaf-Slash Pine Type, and Watersheds, Socioeconomics,and Forest Pests.

Reintroducing fire into a ponderosa pine forest with and without cattle grazing: understory vegetation response

Treesearch

Becky K. Kerns; Michelle Buonopane; Walter G. Thies; Christine. Niwa

2011-01-01

Reestablishing historical fire regimes is a high priority for North American coniferous forests, particularly ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) ecosystems. These forests are also used extensively for cattle (Bos spp.) grazing. Prescribed fires are being applied on or planned for millions of hectares of these forests to reduce...

Ponderosa pine forest reconstruction: Comparisons with historical data

Treesearch

David W. Huffman; Margaret M. Moore; W. Wallace Covington; Joseph E. Crouse; Peter Z. Fule

2001-01-01

Dendroecological forest reconstruction techniques are used to estimate presettlement structure of northern Arizona ponderosa pine forests. To test the accuracy of these techniques, we remeasured 10 of the oldest forest plots in Arizona, a subset of 51 historical plots established throughout the region from 1909 to 1913, and compared reconstruction outputs to historical...

Cheesman Lake-a historical ponderosa pine landscape guiding restoration in the South Platte Watershed of the Colorado Front Range

Treesearch

Merrill R. Kaufmann; Paula J. Fornwalt; Laurie S. Huckaby; Jason M. Stoker

2001-01-01

An unlogged and ungrazed ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir landscape in the Colorado Front Range provides critical information for restoring forests in the South Platte watershed. A frame-based model was used to describe the relationship among the four primary patch conditions in the 35-km2 Cheesman Lake landscape: (1) openings, (2) ponderosa pine forest, (3) ponderosa pine/...

Mountain pine beetle infestation: GCxGCTOFMS and GC-MS of lodgepole pine (pinus contorta) acetone extractives

Treesearch

Roderquita K. Moore; Michael Leitch; Erick Arellano-ruiz; Jonathon Smaglick; Doreen Mann

2015-01-01

The Rocky Mountains and western U.S. forests are impacted by the infestation of mountain pine beetles (MPB). MPB outbreak is killing pine and spruce trees at an alarming rate. These trees present a fuel build-up in the forest, which can result in catastrophic wildland fires. MPB carry blue-stain fungi from the genus Ophiostoma and transmit infection by burrowing into...

Death of an ecosystem: perspectives on western white pine ecosystems of North America at the end of the twentieth century

Treesearch

Alan E. Harvey; James W. Byler; Geral I. McDonald; Leon F. Neuenschwander; Jonalea R. Tonn

2008-01-01

The effective loss of western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl.) in the white pine ecosystem has far-reaching effects on the sustainability of local forests and both regional and global forestry issues. Continuing trends in management of this forest type has the potential to put western white pine, as well as the ecosystem it once dominated, at very...

The status of our scientific understanding of lodgepole pine and mountain pine beetles - a focus on forest ecology and fire behavior

Treesearch

Merrill R. Kaufmann; Gregory H. Aplet; Michael G. Babler; William L. Baker; Barbara Bentz; Michael Harrington; Brad C. Hawkes; Laurie Stroh Huckaby; Michael J. Jenkins; Daniel M. Kashian; Robert E. Keane; Dominik Kulakowski; Ward McCaughey; Charles McHugh; Jose Negron; John Popp; William H. Romme; Wayne Shepperd; Frederick W. Smith; Elaine Kennedy Sutherland; Daniel Tinker; Thomas T. Veblen

2008-01-01

Mountain pine beetle populations have reached outbreak levels in lodgepole pine forests throughout North America. The geographic focus of this report centers on the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado and southern Wyoming. The epidemic extends much more widely, however, from the southern Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the United States to the northern Rocky Mountains...

Mismatch between herbivore behavior and demographics contributes to scale-dependence of host susceptibility in two pine species

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ylioja, T.; Slone, D.H.; Ayres, M.P.

2005-01-01

The impacts on forests of tree-killing bark beetles can depend on the species composition of potential host trees. Host susceptibility might be an intrinsic property of tree species, or it might depend on spatial patterning of alternative host species. We compared the susceptibility of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) and Virginia pine (P. virginiana) to southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis) at two hierarchical levels of geographic scale: within beetle infestations in heterospecific stands (extent ranging from 0.28 to 0.65 ha), and across a forest landscape (extent 72,500 ha) that was dominated by monospecific stands. In the former, beetles preferentially attacked Virginia pine (tree mortality = 65-100% in Virginia pine versus 0-66% in loblolly pine), but in the latter, loblolly stands were more susceptible than Virginia stands. This hierarchical transition in host susceptibility was predicted from knowledge of (1) a behavioral preference of beetles for attacking loblolly versus Virginia pine, (2) a negative correlation between preference and performance, and (3) a mismatch in the domain of scale between demographics and host selection by individuals. There is value for forest management in understanding the processes that can produce hierarchical transitions in ecological patterns. Copyright ?? 2005 by the Society of American Foresters.

Longevity of black cherry seed in the forest floor

Treesearch

G. W. Wendel

1972-01-01

Observations made on the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia indicate that some black cherry seeds remain viable in the forest floor over three winters. On the average fewer than 10 percent of the seeds stored in the forest floor germinated the first spring, about 50 percent germinated the second spring, and 25 percent germinated the third spring.

Soil Organic Matter Responses to Chronic Nitrogen Additions in a Temperate Forest (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frey, S. D.; Nadelhoffer, K.; Bowden, R.; Brzostek, E. R.; Caldwell, B. A.; Crow, S. E.; Finzi, A. C.; Goodale, C. L.; Grandy, S.; Lajtha, K.; Ollinger, S. V.; Plante, A. F.

2010-12-01

The Chronic Nitrogen Addition Experiment at Harvard Forest in central Massacusetts, USA was established in 1988 to investigate the effects of increasing anthropogenic atmospheric N deposition on forests in the eastern United States. Located in an old red pine plantation and a mixed hardwood forest, the treated plots have received 50 and 150 kg N/ha/yr, as ammonium sulfate, in six equal monthly applications during the growing season each year since the start of the experiment. Additionally, the control and low N treatments were given a single pulse label of 15N-nitrate or 15N-ammonium in 1991 and 1992. Regular measurements have been made over the past 20 years to assess woody biomass production and mortality, foliar chemistry, litter fall, and soil N dynamics. Less frequent measurements of soil C pools, soil respiration, fine root dynamics, and microbial biomass and community structure have been made. For the 20th anniversary, an intensive sampling campaign was carried out in fall 2008 with a focus on evaluating how the long-term N additions have impacted ecosystem C storage and N dynamics. Our primary objective was to assess the amount of C and N stored in wood, foliage, litter, roots, and soil (to a depth of ~50 cm). We also wanted to examine the fate of N by comparing patterns of 15N recovery to those observed previously. An additional objective was to further examine how chronic N additions impact microbial biomass, activity and community structure. Results indicate that chronic N additions over the past 20 years have increased forest floor mass and soil organic matter across the soil profile; decreased microbial biomass, especially the fungal component; and altered microbial community composition (i.e., significantly lower fungal:bacterial biomass ratios in the N amended plots). N15 tracer recoveries in soils and forest floors were much higher than in tree biomass, ranging from 49 to 101% of additions across forest types and N addition rates. Stoichiometric analyses of these recoveries suggest that N additions are contributing to soil C accumulation to a greater extent than to biomass accumulation in these forests.

The distribution of nitrogen and phosphorus in forest floor layers of oak-hickory forests of varying productivity

Treesearch

Karyn S. Rodkey; Donald J. Kaczmarek; Phillip E. Pope

1995-01-01

The forest floor plays a major role in the storage and recycling of nutrients which, in turn, are important in maintaining the growth and productivity of forest ecosystems. The development of forest floor organic layers as influenced by litter quality and site quality is unclear. Previous studies in this lab have shown that the size and distribution of available...

Fortifying the forest: thinning and burning increase resistance to a bark beetle outbreak and promote forest resilience.

PubMed

Hood, Sharon M; Baker, Stephen; Sala, Anna

2016-10-01

Fire frequency in low-elevation coniferous forests in western North America has greatly declined since the late 1800s. In many areas, this has increased tree density and the proportion of shade-tolerant species, reduced resource availability, and increased forest susceptibility to forest insect pests and high-severity wildfire. In response, treatments are often implemented with the goal of increasing ecosystem resilience by increasing resistance to disturbance. We capitalized on an existing replicated study of fire and stand density treatments in a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)-Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forest in western Montana, USA, that experienced a naturally occurring mountain pine beetle (MPB; Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreak 5 yr after implementation of fuels treatments. We explored whether treatment effects on tree-level defense and stand structure affected resistance to MPB. Mortality from MPB was highest in the denser, untreated control and burn-only treatments, with approximately 50% and 39%, respectively, of ponderosa pine killed during the outbreak, compared to almost no mortality in the thin-only and thin-burn treatments. Thinning treatments, with or without fire, dramatically increased tree growth and resin ducts relative to control and burn-only treatments. Prescribed burning did not increase resin ducts but did cause changes in resin chemistry that may have affected MPB communication and lowered attack success. While ponderosa pine remained dominant in the thin and thin-burn treatments after the outbreak, the high pine mortality in the control and burn-only treatment caused a shift in species dominance to Douglas-fir. The high Douglas-fir component in the control and burn-only treatments due to 20th century fire exclusion, coupled with high pine mortality from MPB, has likely reduced resilience of this forest beyond the ability to return to a ponderosa pine-dominated system in the absence of further fire or mechanical treatment. Our results show treatments designed to increase resistance to high-severity fire in ponderosa pine-dominated forests in the Northern Rockies can also increase resistance to MPB, even during an outbreak. This study suggests that fuel and restoration treatments in fire-dependent ponderosa pine forests that reduce tree density increase ecosystem resilience in the short term, while the reintroduction of fire is important for long-term resilience. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

Measurement and modelling of oxygenated organic compounds from smoldering combustion of biomass

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

McKenzie, L.M.; Richards, G.N.

Biomass fires emit a myriad of compounds, some of which are toxic and/or globally significant as photochemically reactive, tropospheric trace gases, greenhouse gases and precursors to stratospheric ozone-destroying radicals. 35 oxygenated organic compounds in condensed (-45{degrees}C) smoke from 29 bench scale fires of ponderosa pine sapwood, needles, bark, litter, duff, and humus have been identified and quantified. These fires ranged from flaming to low intensity smoldering. In addition, five low intensity fires of intact ponderosa pine forest floor (litter, duff, and humus) were carried out on a larger scale in a combustion chamber. The condensates were analyzed by gas chromatography/massmore » spectrometry and the gas phase was analyzed by gas chromatography/flame ionization detection. Acetic acid, vinyl acetate and acetol were major condensable emissions. The dependence of oxygenated organic emissions on fuel chemistry and combustion efficiency has been investigated, along with correlations between emissions. Molar emission ratios of individual compounds to CO have been calculated and used to estimate possible exposure levels for wildland firefighters.« less

Longer-term effects of selective thinning on microarthropod communities in a late-successional coniferous forest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Peck, R.W.; Niwa, C.G.

2005-01-01

Microarthropod densities within late-successional coniferous forests thinned 16-41 yr before sampling were compared with adjacent unthinned stands to identify longer term effects of thinning on this community. Soil and forest floor layers were sampled separately on eight paired sites. Within the forest floor oribatid, mesostigmatid, and to a marginal extent, prostigmatid mites, were reduced in thinned stands compared with unthinned stands. No differences were found for Collembola in the forest floor or for any mite suborder within the soil. Family level examination of mesostigmatid and prostigmatid mites revealed significant differences between stand types for both horizons. At the species level, thinning influenced numerous oribatid mites and Collembola. For oribatid mites, significant or marginally significant differences were found for seven of 15 common species in the forest floor and five of 16 common species in soil. Collembola were affected less, with differences found for one of 11 common species in the forest floor and three of 13 common species in soil. Multivariate analysis of variance and ordination indicated that forest thinning had little influence on the composition of oribatid mite and collembolan communities within either the forest floor or soil. Differences in microclimate or in the accumulation of organic matter on the forest floor were likely most responsible for the observed patterns of abundance. Considering the role that microarthropods play in nutrient cycling, determining the functional response of a wide range of taxa to thinning may be important to effective ecosystem management.

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...

Resiliency of an interior ponderosa pine forest to bark beetle infestations following fuel-reduction and forest-restoration treatments

Treesearch

Christopher J Fettig; Stephen R. McKelvey

2014-01-01

Mechanical thinning and the application of prescribed fire are commonly used to restore fire-adapted forest ecosystems in the western United States. During a 10-year period, we monitored the effects of fuel-reduction and forest-restoration treatments on levels of tree mortality in an interior ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws., forest...

Woodpecker abundance and habitat use in three forest types in eastern Texas

Treesearch

Clifford E. Shackelford; Richard N. Conner

1997-01-01

Woodpeckers were censused in 60 fixed-radius (300 m) circular plots (divided into eight 45B-arc pie-shaped sectors) in mature forests (60 to 80 years-old) of three forest types (20 plots per type) in eastern Texas: bottomland hardwood forest; longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) savanna; and mixed pine-hardwood forest. A total of 2,242 individual woodpeckers of eight...

A hierarchical approach to forest landscape pattern characterization.

PubMed

Wang, Jialing; Yang, Xiaojun

2012-01-01

Landscape spatial patterns have increasingly been considered to be essential for environmental planning and resources management. In this study, we proposed a hierarchical approach for landscape classification and evaluation by characterizing landscape spatial patterns across different hierarchical levels. The case study site is the Red Hills region of northern Florida and southwestern Georgia, well known for its biodiversity, historic resources, and scenic beauty. We used one Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper image to extract land-use/-cover information. Then, we employed principal-component analysis to help identify key class-level landscape metrics for forests at different hierarchical levels, namely, open pine, upland pine, and forest as a whole. We found that the key class-level landscape metrics varied across different hierarchical levels. Compared with forest as a whole, open pine forest is much more fragmented. The landscape metric, such as CONTIG_MN, which measures whether pine patches are contiguous or not, is more important to characterize the spatial pattern of pine forest than to forest as a whole. This suggests that different metric sets should be used to characterize landscape patterns at different hierarchical levels. We further used these key metrics, along with the total class area, to classify and evaluate subwatersheds through cluster analysis. This study demonstrates a promising approach that can be used to integrate spatial patterns and processes for hierarchical forest landscape planning and management.

Nitrogen cycling following mountain pine beetle disturbance in lodgepole pine forests of Greater Yellowstone

Treesearch

Jacob M. Griffin; Monica G. Turner; Martin Simard

2011-01-01

Widespread bark beetle outbreaks are currently affecting multiple conifer forest types throughout western North America, yet many ecosystem-level consequences of this disturbance are poorly understood. We quantified the effect of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreak on nitrogen (N) cycling through litter, soil, and vegetation in...

Shortleaf Pine Seed Production in the Piedmont

Treesearch

David L. Bramlett

1965-01-01

Shortleaf pine occupies millions of acres of commercial forest land in the Southeastern United States and is one of the preferred pine species throughout much of its range. Natural regeneration of this species after harvest, however, is a major problem for forest managers. Adequate seed production is the first requirement of successful natural regeneration, and annual...

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...

Pine pollen collections dates - annual and geographic variation

Treesearch

J. W. Duffield

1953-01-01

Activity in pine breeding has increased throughout the temperate forest regions of the world since the Institute of Forest Genetics issued its first summary of pollen collection dates in 1947. Cooperation between pine breeders has increased at the same time. The information most essential for conducting cooperative breeding operations are the dates of pollen collection...

Comparison of Monterey pine stress in urban and natural forests

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Joe R. McBride

1991-01-01

Monterey pine street trees within Carmel, California and its immediate vicinity, as well as forest-grown Monterey pine within adjacent natural stands, were sampled with regard to visual stress characteristics, and various environmental and biological variables. Two stress indices were computed, one hypothesized before data collection was based on relative foliage...

Madrean pine-oak forest in Arizona: past dynamics, present problems

Treesearch

Andrew M. Barton

2008-01-01

This paper synthesizes research on presettlement dynamics and modern disruption of Madrean pine-oak forests in Arizona. In response to surface fires characteristic of presettlement times, pines were fire resistant, exhibiting high top-survival, whereas oaks were fire resilient, exhibiting lower top-survival but pronounced resprouting. Thus, low-severity fire favors...

Landscape-scale genetic variation in a forest outbreak species, the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae)

Treesearch

K. E. Mock; B. J. Bentz; E. M. O' Neill; J. P. Chong; J. Orwin; M. E. Pfrender

2007-01-01

The mountain pine beetle Dendroctonus ponderosae is a native species currently experiencing large-scale outbreaks in western North American pine forests. We sought to describe the pattern of genetic variation across the range of this species, to determine whether there were detectable genetic differences between D. ponderosae...

Nature of resistance of pines to bark beetles

Treesearch

Robert Z. Callaham

1966-01-01

Patterns of susceptibility of pines to attack by certain species of Dendroctonus bark beetles suggest that a resistance mechanism exists. This situation was first called to my attention in 1949 by John M. Miller, entomologist at the Berkeley Forest Insect Laboratory. He was studying the resistance of pines to insects, at the Institute of Forest...

Western dwarf mistletoe infects understory Jeffrey pine seedlings on Cleveland National Forest, California

Treesearch

Robert F. Scharpf; Detlev Vogler

1986-01-01

Many young, understory Jeffrey pines (Pinus jeffreyi Grev. & Balf.) were found to be infected by western dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium campylopodum Engelm.) on Laguna Mountain, Cleveland National Forest, in southern California. Under heavily infected overstory, about three-fourths of the young pines (about 15 years old on the...

Uneven-aged management of longleaf pine forests: a scientist and manager dialogue

Treesearch

Dale G. Brockway; Kenneth W. Outcalt; James M. Guldin; William D. Boyer; Joan L. Walker; D. Craig Rudolph; Robert B. Rummer; James P. Barnett; Shibu Jose; Jarek Nowak

2005-01-01

Interest in appropriate management approaches for sustaining longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests has increased substantially during the recent decade. Although long-leaf pine can be managed using even-aged techniques, interest in uneven-aged methods has grown significantly as a result of concern for sustaining the wide range of ecological...

Relationships of red pine seed source, seed weight, seedling weight, and height growth in Kane test plantation

Treesearch

A. F. Hough

1952-01-01

In 1928 the Lake States Forest Experiment Station of the U. S. Forest Service began studies of various races or strains of red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.), to find out how well red pine is adapted to climatic regions distant from its natural seed sources.

Forest Statistics for Minnesota's Northern Pine Unit.

Treesearch

Pat Murray

1991-01-01

The fifth inventory of Minnesota's Northern Pine Unit reports 11.1 million acres of land, of which 6.3 million acres are forested. This bulletin presents statistical highlights and contains detailed tables of forest area, as well as timber volume, growth, removals, mortality, and ownership.

Flammulated Owls (Otus flammeolus) breeding in deciduous forests

Treesearch

Carl D. Marti

1997-01-01

The first studies of nesting Flammulated Owls (Otus flammeolus) established the idea that the species needs ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests for breeding. In northern Utah, Flammulated Owls nested in montane deciduous forests dominated by quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides). No pines were present but...

Proceedings of the Fifth Biennial Southern Silvicultural Research Conference

Treesearch

James H. Miller; [Compiler

1989-01-01

Forest Service, forest industry, and university representatives present 4 general session papers giving projections for the 2030 forest and an additional 93 papers dealing with 15 subject areas: atmospheric influences, ecophysiology, seedling production, site preparation, pine regeneration, pine management, hardwood regeneration, hardwood management, vegetation,...

Ecosystem carbon density and allocation across a chronosequence of longleaf pine forests

Treesearch

Lisa J. Samuelson; Thomas A. Stokes; John R. Butnor; Kurt H. Johnsen; Carlos A. Gonzalez-Benecke; Timothy A. Martin; Wendell P. Cropper; Pete H. Anderson; Michael R. Ramirez; John C. Lewis

2017-01-01

Forests can partially offset greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to climate change mitigation, mainly through increases in live biomass. We quantified carbon (C) density in 20 managed longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests ranging in age from 5...

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

Clark, Ken

This is the AmeriFlux version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Dix Fort Dix. Site Description - The Fort Dix site is located in the upland forests of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the largest continuous forested landscape on the Northeastern coastal plain. Upland forests occupy 62% of the 1.1 million acre Pine Barrens and can be divided into three dominant stand types, Oak/Pine (19.1%), Pine/Oak (13.1%), and Pitch Pine/Scrub oak (14.3%). The majority of mature upland forests are the product of regeneration following late 19th century logging and charcoaling activities. Gypsy moths first appeared in the Pinemore » Barrens of New Jersey in 1966. Since the time of arrival, the upland forest stands have undergone several episodes of defoliation, the most significant occurred in 1972, 1981, and 1990. In recent years, the overstory oaks and understory oaks and shrubs of the Fort Dix stand, underwent two periods of defoliation by Gypsy moth, in 2006 and 2007. During these two years, maximum leaf area reached only 70% of the 2005 summer maximum.« less

Sampling and modeling visual component dynamics of forested areas

Treesearch

Victor A. Rudis

1990-01-01

A scaling device and sample design have been employed to assess vegetative screening of forested stands as part of an extensive forest inventory.Referenced in a poster presentation are results from East Texas pine and oak-pine stands and Alabama forested areas.Refinements for optimizing measures to distinguish differences in scenic beauty, disturbances, and stand...

Water balance of pine forests: Synthesis of new and published results

Treesearch

Pantana Tor-ngern; Ram Oren; Sari Palmroth; Kimberly Novick; Andrew Oishi; Sune Linder; Mikaell Ottosson-Lofvenius; Torgny Nasholm

2018-01-01

The forest hydrologic cycle is expected to have important feedback responses to climate change, impacting processes ranging from local water supply and primary productivity to global water and energy cycles. Here, we analyzed water budgets of pine forests worldwide. We first estimated local water balance of forests dominated by two wide-ranging species: Pinus...

3-PG simulations of young ponderosa pine plantations under varied management intensity: why do they grow so differently?

Treesearch

Liang Wei; Marshall John; Jianwei Zhang; Hang Zhou; Robert Powers

2014-01-01

Models can be powerful tools for estimating forest productivity and guiding forest management, but their credibility and complexity are often an issue for forest managers. We parameterized a process-based forest growth model, 3-PG (Physiological Principles Predicting Growth), to simulate growth of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) plantations in...

The southern pine beetle prevention initiative: working for healthier forests

Treesearch

John Nowak; Christopher Asaro; Kier Klepzig; Ronald Billings

2008-01-01

The southern pine beetle (SPB) is the most destructive forest pest in the South. After a recent SPB outbreak, the US Forest Service (Forest Health Protection and Southern Research Station [SRS]) received SPB Initiative (SPBI) funding to focus more resources on proactive SPB prevention work. This funding is being used for on-the-ground accomplishments, landowner...

Forests in transition: Post-epidemic vegetation conditions [Chapter 4

Treesearch

Rob Hubbard; Michael Battaglia; Chuck Rhoades; Jim Thinnes; Tom Martin; Jeff Underhill; Mark Westfahl

2014-01-01

More than 23 million acres of lodgepole pine forests across the western U.S. have experienced overstory mortality following the recent mountain pine beetle (MPB) epidemic (USDA Forest Service 2013). Unknowns regarding the immediate and long-term consequences of the epidemic challenge the ability of managers to make informed decisions aimed at sustaining forest health...

Reference conditions for old-growth pine forests in the Upper West Gulf Coastal Plain

Treesearch

Don C. Bragg

2002-01-01

Ecosystem restoration has become an important component of forest management. especially on public lands. However, determination of manageable reference conditions has lagged behind the interest. This paper presents a case study from pine-dominated forests in the Upper West Gulf Coastal Plain (UWGCP), with special emphasis on southern Arkansas. Decades of forest...

Economic evaluation of restoring the shortleaf pine-bluestem grass ecosystem on the Ouachita National Forest

Treesearch

Michael M. Huebschmann; Daniel S. Tilley; Thomas B. Lynch; David K. Lewis; James M. Guldin

2002-01-01

The USDA Forest Service is restoring pre-European settlement forest conditions on about 10 percent (155,000 acres) of the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas. These conditions - characterized by large, scattered shortleaf pine and hardwoods maintained on 120-year rotations, with bluestem grass and associated herbaceous vegetation in the understory - are...

White pine blister rust at mountain home demonstration state forest: a case study of the epidemic and prospects for genetic control.

Treesearch

Bohun B. Kinloch; Dulitz Jr.

1990-01-01

The behavior of white pine blister rust at Mountain Home State Demonstration Forest and surrounding areas in the southern Sierra Nevada of California indicates that the epidemic has not yet stabilized and that the most likely prognosis is a pandemic on white pines in this region within the next few decades. The impact on sugar pines, from young regeneration to old...

Development of a Site Comparison Index: Southeast Upland Forests

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-05-01

was recorded to 0.1 cm, and only individual trees with a DBH =/> 5 cm were tallied. Pine snags and deciduous snags were also measured. Forty-three... tree species (plus Pine Snags and Deciduous Snags) represent- ing 7031 individuals were identified at the 40 sites, ranging from 1433 Loblolly Pines...of 40 sites. Based on basal areas of 24 tree species (N=6903), pine and deciduous snags. Table 1. Ten forest communities independently

Reproducing pine stands on the eastern shore of Maryland using a seed-tree cutting and preparing seedbeds with machinery and summer fires

Treesearch

S. Little; J. J. Mohr

1954-01-01

Pure pine stands are the most profitable forest crop on upland sites of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The stands have been common in the past, because loblolly pine and pond pine usually made up most of the first forest growth on abandoned farmland. And apparently nearly all upland sites have been tilled at one time or another.

Helicopter spraying with 2,4,5-T to release young white pines

Treesearch

Thomas W. McConkey

1958-01-01

When forest fires swept over southwestern Maine in 1947, some 130,000 acres of forest land were burned over. This was mostly white pine land--sites too poor to grow good hardwood stands. After the fire, white pine reproduction became established on 5,000 to 6,000 acres of this land. But by 1954 most of the young pine was suppressed or at least was in competition with...

Comparison of forest edge effects on throughfall deposition in different forest types.

PubMed

Wuyts, Karen; De Schrijver, An; Staelens, Jeroen; Gielis, Leen; Vandenbruwane, Jeroen; Verheyen, Kris

2008-12-01

This study examined the influence of distance to the forest edge, forest type, and time on Cl-, SO4(2-), NO3(-), and NH4+ throughfall deposition in forest edges. The forests were dominated by pedunculate oak, silver birch, or Corsican/Austrian pine, and were situated in two regions of Flanders (Belgium). Along transects, throughfall deposition was monitored at distances of 0-128 m from the forest edge. A repeated-measures analysis demonstrated that time, forest type, and distance to the forest edge significantly influenced throughfall deposition of the ions studied. The effect of distance to the forest edge depended significantly on forest type in the deposition of Cl-, SO4(2-), and NO3(-): the edge effect was significantly greater in pine stands than in deciduous birch and oak stands. This finding supports the possibility of converting pine plantations into oak or birch forests in order to mitigate the input of nitrogen and potentially acidifying deposition.

Invasive pathogen threatens bird-pine mutualism: implications for sustaining a high-elevation ecosystem.

PubMed

McKinney, Shawn T; Fiedler, Carl E; Tomback, Diana F

2009-04-01

Human-caused disruptions to seed-dispersal mutualisms increase the extinction risk for both plant and animal species. Large-seeded plants can be particularly vulnerable due to highly specialized dispersal systems and no compensatory regeneration mechanisms. Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), a keystone subalpine species, obligately depends upon the Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) for dispersal of its large, wingless seeds. Clark's Nutcracker, a facultative mutualist with whitebark pine, is sensitive to rates of energy gain, and emigrates from subalpine forests during periods of cone shortages. The invasive fungal pathogen Cronartium ribicola, which causes white pine blister rust, reduces whitebark pine cone production by killing cone-bearing branches and trees. Mortality from blister rust reaches 90% or higher in some whitebark pine forests in the Northern Rocky Mountains, USA, and the rust now occurs nearly rangewide in whitebark pine. Our objectives were to identify the minimum level of cone production necessary to elicit seed dispersal by nutcrackers and to determine how cone production is influenced by forest structure and health. We quantified forest conditions and ecological interactions between nutcrackers and whitebark pine in three Rocky Mountain ecosystems that differ in levels of rust infection and mortality. Both the frequency of nutcracker occurrence and probability of seed dispersal were strongly related to annual whitebark pine cone production, which had a positive linear association with live whitebark pine basal area, and negative linear association with whitebark pine tree mortality and rust infection. From our data, we estimated that a threshold level of approximately 1000 cones/ha is needed for a high likelihood of seed dispersal by nutcrackers (probability > or = 0.7), and that this level of cone production can be met by forests with live whitebark pine basal area > 5.0 m2/ha. The risk of mutualism disruption is greatest in northern most Montana (USA), where three-year mean cone production and live basal area fell below predicted threshold levels. There, nutcracker occurrence, seed dispersal, and whitebark pine regeneration were the lowest of the three ecosystems. Managers can use these threshold values to differentiate between restoration sites requiring planting of rust-resistant seedlings and sites where nutcracker seed dispersal can be expected.

Rapid Increases in Forest Understory Diversity and Productivity following a Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) Outbreak in Pine Forests

PubMed Central

Pec, Gregory J.; Karst, Justine; Sywenky, Alexandra N.; Cigan, Paul W.; Erbilgin, Nadir; Simard, Suzanne W.; Cahill, James F.

2015-01-01

The current unprecedented outbreak of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests of western Canada has resulted in a landscape consisting of a mosaic of forest stands at different stages of mortality. Within forest stands, understory communities are the reservoir of the majority of plant species diversity and influence the composition of future forests in response to disturbance. Although changes to stand composition following beetle outbreaks are well documented, information on immediate responses of forest understory plant communities is limited. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of D. ponderosae-induced tree mortality on initial changes in diversity and productivity of understory plant communities. We established a total of 110 1-m2 plots across eleven mature lodgepole pine forests to measure changes in understory diversity and productivity as a function of tree mortality and below ground resource availability across multiple years. Overall, understory community diversity and productivity increased across the gradient of increased tree mortality. Richness of herbaceous perennials increased with tree mortality as well as soil moisture and nutrient levels. In contrast, the diversity of woody perennials did not change across the gradient of tree mortality. Understory vegetation, namely herbaceous perennials, showed an immediate response to improved growing conditions caused by increases in tree mortality. How this increased pulse in understory richness and productivity affects future forest trajectories in a novel system is unknown. PMID:25859663

Rapid Increases in forest understory diversity and productivity following a mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreak in pine forests.

PubMed

Pec, Gregory J; Karst, Justine; Sywenky, Alexandra N; Cigan, Paul W; Erbilgin, Nadir; Simard, Suzanne W; Cahill, James F

2015-01-01

The current unprecedented outbreak of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests of western Canada has resulted in a landscape consisting of a mosaic of forest stands at different stages of mortality. Within forest stands, understory communities are the reservoir of the majority of plant species diversity and influence the composition of future forests in response to disturbance. Although changes to stand composition following beetle outbreaks are well documented, information on immediate responses of forest understory plant communities is limited. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of D. ponderosae-induced tree mortality on initial changes in diversity and productivity of understory plant communities. We established a total of 110 1-m2 plots across eleven mature lodgepole pine forests to measure changes in understory diversity and productivity as a function of tree mortality and below ground resource availability across multiple years. Overall, understory community diversity and productivity increased across the gradient of increased tree mortality. Richness of herbaceous perennials increased with tree mortality as well as soil moisture and nutrient levels. In contrast, the diversity of woody perennials did not change across the gradient of tree mortality. Understory vegetation, namely herbaceous perennials, showed an immediate response to improved growing conditions caused by increases in tree mortality. How this increased pulse in understory richness and productivity affects future forest trajectories in a novel system is unknown.

Climate change and ecosystem disruption: the health impacts of the North American Rocky Mountain pine beetle infestation.

PubMed

Embrey, Sally; Remais, Justin V; Hess, Jeremy

2012-05-01

In the United States and Canada, pine forest ecosystems are being dramatically affected by an unprecedented pine beetle infestation attributed to climate change. Both decreased frequency of extremely cold days and warmer winter temperature averages have led to an enphytotic devastating millions of acres of pine forest. The associated ecosystem disruption has the potential to cause significant health impacts from a range of exposures, including increased runoff and water turbidity, forest fires, and loss of ecosystem services. We review direct and indirect health impacts and possible prevention strategies. The pine beetle infestation highlights the need for public health to adopt an ecological, systems-oriented view to anticipate the full range of potential health impacts from climate change and facilitate effective planned adaptation.

Climate Change and Ecosystem Disruption: The Health Impacts of the North American Rocky Mountain Pine Beetle Infestation

PubMed Central

Remais, Justin V.; Hess, Jeremy

2012-01-01

In the United States and Canada, pine forest ecosystems are being dramatically affected by an unprecedented pine beetle infestation attributed to climate change. Both decreased frequency of extremely cold days and warmer winter temperature averages have led to an enphytotic devastating millions of acres of pine forest. The associated ecosystem disruption has the potential to cause significant health impacts from a range of exposures, including increased runoff and water turbidity, forest fires, and loss of ecosystem services. We review direct and indirect health impacts and possible prevention strategies. The pine beetle infestation highlights the need for public health to adopt an ecological, systems-oriented view to anticipate the full range of potential health impacts from climate change and facilitate effective planned adaptation. PMID:22420788

Common Herbaceous Plants of Southern Forest Range

Treesearch

Harold E. Grelen; Ralph H. Hughes

1984-01-01

Illustrations and descriptions are given for approximately 125 species of grasses, grasslikes (sedges and rushes), and forbs representative of the pine and pine-hardwood forests of the southeastern United States.

[Soil organic carbon pools and their turnover under two different types of forest in Xiao-xing'an Mountains, Northeast China].

PubMed

Gao, Fei; Jiang, Hang; Cui, Xiao-yang

2015-07-01

Soil samples collected from virgin Korean pine forest and broad-leaved secondary forest in Xiaoxing'an Mountains, Northeast China were incubated in laboratory at different temperatures (8, 18 and 28 °C) for 160 days, and the data from the incubation experiment were fitted to a three-compartment, first-order kinetic model which separated soil organic carbon (SOC) into active, slow, and resistant carbon pools. Results showed that the soil organic carbon mineralization rates and the cumulative amount of C mineralized (all based on per unit of dry soil mass) of the broad-leaved secondary forest were both higher than that of the virgin Korean pine forest, whereas the mineralized C accounted for a relatively smaller part of SOC in the broad-leaved secondary forest soil. Soil active and slow carbon pools decreased with soil depth, while their proportions in SOC increased. Soil resistant carbon pool and its contribution to SOC were both greater in the broad-leaved secondary forest soil than in the virgin Korean pine forest soil, suggesting that the broad-leaved secondary forest soil organic carbon was relatively more stable. The mean retention time (MRT) of soil active carbon pool ranged from 9 to 24 d, decreasing with soil depth; while the MRT of slow carbon pool varied between 7 and 24 a, increasing with soil depth. Soil active carbon pool and its proportion in SOC increased linearly with incubation temperature, and consequently, decreased the slow carbon pool. Virgin Korean pine forest soils exhibited a higher increasing rate of active carbon pool along temperature gradient than the broad-leaved secondary forest soils, indicating that the organic carbon pool of virgin Korean pine forest soil was relatively more sensitive to temperature change.

A participatory assessment of post-fire management alternatives in eastern Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Llovet, Joan

2015-04-01

Transformational socio-economic changes during the last decades of the 20th century led to the abandonment of mountainous areas in western Mediterranean countries (Puigdefábregas and Mendizábal, 1998). This process was accelerated in the Ayora Valley (inland Valencia province, E Spain) by a major forest fire in 1979. Restoration and management actions were implemented through the 1990's to promote the recovery of the area affected by this fire. In 2010 these past actions were assessed using an integrated and participatory evaluation protocol (IAPro). The selected actions were shrubland regenerated after the fire (no-action); pine plantation over the shrubland; pine forest regenerated after the fire (no-action); and thinning of densely regenerated pines. The assessment involved the identification and engagement of a comprehensive and representative set of local and regional stakeholders who provided a baseline assessment, identified and prioritized essential indicators, considered data collected against those indicators, and participated in re-assessment of actions after an outranking multi-criteria decision aiding integration (MCDA) conducted by the expert team (Roy and Bertier, 1973). This process facilitated a collaborative integration of biophysical indicators (i.e. carbon sequestration, water and soil conservation, soil quality, biodiversity, fire risk and forest health) and socio-economic indicators (i.e. productive, recreational and touristic, aesthetic, and cultural values, cost of the actions, and impact on family finances). It was completed with activities for exchanging experiences and sharing knowledge with the platform of stakeholders. Stakeholder platform suggested that fire risk was the most important indicator, followed by water conservation and soil conservation. Least important indicators were cost of actions, aesthetic value, and recreational and touristic value. Data collected on each action showed the thinned pine forest action with the lowest value on the fire risk criterion; shrubland had a fire risk three times higher, whereas pine plantation and dense pine forest showed a fire risk four times higher than thinned pine forest. Thinned pine forest showed the highest impact on family finances, as well as productive, cultural, recreational and touristic, and aesthetic values. The best value on forest health corresponded to shrubland, and the worst were the dense pine forest and thinned pine forest. Pine plantation showed the highest cost, whereas no-actions had not direct costs. The rest of indicators showed low or inexistent differences between actions. The indicator priorities combined with data collected through the MCDA integration showed that the thinning of densely regenerated pine forest action, outranked the other actions in most of the criteria. The second action was pine plantation, whereas shrubland and dense pine forest obtained the lowest assessment. As conclusion, the participatory methodology was fundamental in understanding the impact of perceptions and stakeholders' priorities in a usually very technical and non-participatory process. Similar methodologies could enhance knowledge exchange between scientists, managers and stakeholders, while improve society-science collaboration in land management and restoration research and practice. Acknowledgements Inhabitants and other people related to the Ayora Valley kindly collaborated with our work. Some collaborators helped us in both field work and meetings with stakeholders. This research has been supported by the projects PRACTICE (EU grant number 226818), RECARE (EU grant number 603498) and GRACCIE (Consolider program, Spanish Ministry of Education and Science grant number CSD2007-00067). The CEAM Foundation is supported by Generalitat Valenciana. References Puigdefábregas, J. and Mendizábal, T. 1998. Perspectives on desertification: Western Mediterranean. Journal of Arid Environments 39: 209-224. Roy, B. and Bertier, P. 1973. La méthode ELECTRE II - Une application au média-planning. In: M. Ross (editor) OR'72. North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, pp 291-302.

Spectral analysis of coniferous foliage and possible links to soil chemistry: are spectral chlorophyll indices related to forest floor dissolved organic C and N?

PubMed

Albrechtova, Jana; Seidl, Zdenek; Aitkenhead-Peterson, Jacqueline; Lhotáková, Zuzana; Rock, Barrett N; Alexander, Jess E; Malenovský, Zbynek; McDowell, William H

2008-10-15

Dissolved organic matter in soils can be predicted from forest floor C:N ratio, which in turn is related to foliar chemistry. Little is known about the linkages between foliar constituents such as chlorophylls, lignin, and cellulose and the concentrations of water-extractable forest floor dissolved organic carbon and dissolved organic nitrogen. Lignin and cellulose are not mobile in foliage and thus may be indicative of growing conditions during prior years, while chlorophylls respond more rapidly to the current physiological status of a tree and reflect nutrient availability. The aim of this study was to examine potential links among spectral foliar data, and the organic C and N of forest soils. Two coniferous species (red spruce and balsam fir) were studied in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA. Six trees of each species were sampled at 5 watersheds (2 in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, 3 in the Bartlett Experimental Forest). We hypothesized that in a coniferous forest, chemistry of old foliage would better predict the chemical composition of the forest floor litter layer than younger foliage, which is the more physiologically active and the most likely to be captured by remote sensing of the canopy. Contrary to our expectations, chlorophyll concentration of young needles proved to be most tightly linked to soil properties, in particular water-extractable dissolved organic carbon. Spectral indices related to the chlorophyll content of needles could be used to predict variation in forest floor dissolved organic carbon and dissolved organic nitrogen. Strong correlations were found between optical spectral indices based on chlorophyll absorption and forest floor dissolved organic carbon, with higher foliage chlorophyll content corresponding to lower forest floor dissolved organic carbon. The mechanisms behind these correlations are uncertain and need further investigation. However, the direction of the linkage from soil to tree via nutrient availability is hypothesized based on negative correlations found between foliar N and forest floor dissolved organic carbon.

Wildlife and shortleaf pine management

Treesearch

T. Bently Wigley

1986-01-01

Shortleaf pine forests (Pinus echinata) are used for multiple purposes. This paper discusses the effects that timber management, livestock grazing, and recreational uses of the shortleaf forest may have on its wildlife resources.

Timber, Browse, and Herbage on Selected Loblolly-Shortleaf Pine-Hardwood Forest Stands

Treesearch

Gale L. Wolters; Alton Martin; Warren P. Clary

1977-01-01

A thorough vegetation inventory was made on loblolly-shortleaf pine-hardwood stands scheduled by forest industry for clearcutting, site preparation, and planting to pine in north central Louisiana and southern Arkansas. Overstory timber, on the average, contained about equal proportions of softwood and hardwood basal area. Browse plants ranged from 5,500 to over 70,...

Vegetation response to stand structure and prescribed fire in an interior ponderosa pine ecosystem

Treesearch

Jianwei Zhang; Martin W. Ritchie; William W. Oliver

2008-01-01

A large-scale interior ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex P. & C. Laws.) study was conducted at the Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest in northeastern California. The primary purpose of the study was to determine the influence of structural diversity on the dynamics of interior pine forests at the landscape scale. High structural...

Remanat old-growth longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) savannas and forests of the southeastern USA: Status and threats

Treesearch

J. Moragan Varner; John S. Kush

2004-01-01

Old-growth savannas and forests dominated by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) are of great conservation and research interest. Comprehensive inventories of old-growth communities, however, are lacking for most of longleaf pine's natural range. We searched the literature, interviewed regional experts, queried email discussion lists and...

Some harvest options and their consequences for the aspen, birch, and associated forest types of the Lake States.

Treesearch

L.F Ohmann; H.O. Batzer; R.R. Buech; D.C. Lothner; D. A. Perala; A.L. Schipper; E.S. Verry

1978-01-01

Describes some harvest options and their consequences in terms of timber investment return, water yield and quality, wildlife, visual quality, and disease and insect impact for the aspen, white birch, red pine, white pine, jack pine, black spruce, spruce-fir, and white-cedar forest types of the Lake States.

Carbon sequestration in the New Jersey Pine Barrens under different scenarios of fire management

Treesearch

Robert M. Scheller; Steve Van Tuyl; Kenneth L. Clark; John Hom; Inga. La Puma

2011-01-01

The New Jersey Pine Barrens (NJPB) is the largest forested area along the northeastern coast of the United States. The NJPB are dominated by pine (Pinus spp.) and oak (Quercus spp.) stands that are fragmented and subject to frequent disturbance and forest management. Over long time periods (>50 years), the balance between oak...

Aerial Detection, Ground Evaluation, and Monitoring of the Southern Pine Beetle: State Perspectives

Treesearch

Ronald F. Billings

2011-01-01

The southern pine beetle (SPB), is recognized as the most serious insect pest of southern pine forests. Outbreaks occur almost every year somewhere within its wide range, requiring intensive suppression efforts to minimize resource losses to Federal, State, and private forests. Effective management involves annual monitoring of SPB populations and aerial detection and...

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....

Tradeoffs in overstory and understory aboveground net primary productivity in southwestern ponderosa pine stands

Treesearch

Kyla E. Sabo; Stephen C. Hart; Carolyn Hull Sieg; John Duff Bailey

2008-01-01

Previous studies in ponderosa pine forests have quantified the relationship between overstory stand characteristics and understory production using tree measurements such as basal area. We built on these past studies by evaluating the tradeoff between overstory and understory aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) in southwestern ponderosa pine forests at the...

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...

Interacting genes in the pine-fusiform rust forest pathosystem

Treesearch

H.V. Amerson; T.L. Kubisiak; S.A. Garcia; G.C. Kuhlman; C.D. Nelson; S.E. McKeand; T.J. Mullin; B. Li

2005-01-01

Fusiform rust (FR) disease of pines, caused by Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme (Cqf), is the most destructive disease in pine plantations of the southern U. S. The NCSU fusiform rust program, in conjunction with the USDA-Forest Service in Saucier, MS and Athens, GA, has research underway to elucidate some of the genetic interactions in this...

Bark beetles responses to stand structure and prescribed fire at Black Mountain Experimental Forest, California, USA: 5-year data

Treesearch

C.J. Fettig; S.R. McKelvey

2010-01-01

Highly effective fire suppression and selective harvesting of large-diameter, fire-tolerant tree species, such as ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa C. Lawson) and Jeffrey pine (P. jeffreyi Balf.), have resulted in substantial changes to the structure and composition of interior ponderosa pine forests. Mechanical thinning and the...

Ecosystem and understory water and energy exchange for a mature, naturally regenerated pine flatwoods forest in north Florida

Treesearch

Thomas L. Powell; Gregory Starr; Kenneth L. Clark; Timothy A. Martin; Henry L. Gholz

2005-01-01

Eddy covariance was used to measure energy fluxes from July 2000 - June 2002 above the tree canopy and above the understory in a mature, naturally regenerated slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii) - longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) flatwoods forest. Understory latent energy (eE) and sensible...

Regeneration of southern pine stands under ecosystem management in the Piedmont

Treesearch

James W. McMinn; Alexander Clark

1999-01-01

Ecosystem-oriented management is being used on southern National Forests to conserve biodiversity, improve the balance among forest values, and achieve sustainable conditions. This paper reports on the regeneration phase of a study to identify the implications of ecosystem management practices on loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) and shortleaf (I? echinata Mill) pine...

Estimating long-term carbon sequestration patterns in even- and uneven-aged southern pine stands

Treesearch

Don C. Bragg; James M. Guldin

2010-01-01

Carbon (C) sequestration has become an increasingly important consideration for forest management in North America, and has particular potential in pine-dominated forests of the southern United States. Using existing literature on plantations and long-term studies of naturally regenerated loblolly (Pinus taeda) and shortleaf (Pinus echinata) pine-dominated stands on...

Historical and contemporary lessons from ponderosa pine genetic studies at the Fort Valley Experimental Forest, Arizona

Treesearch

Laura E. DeWald; Mary Frances Mahalovich

2008-01-01

Forest management will protect genetic integrity of tree species only if their genetic diversity is understood and considered in decision-making. Genetic knowledge is particularly important for species such as ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) that are distributed across wide geographic distances and types of climates. A ponderosa pine...

Molecular and genetic basis for partial resistance of western white pine against Cronartium ribicola.

Treesearch

Jun-Jun Liu; Arezoo Zamany; Richard Sniezko

2012-01-01

Western white pine (Pinus monticola Douglas ex D. Don) is an important forest species in North America. Forest genetics programs have been breeding for durable genetic resistance against white pine blister rust (WPBR) caused by Cronartium ribicola in the past few decades. As various genetic resistance resources are screened and...

Growing stock levels in even-aged ponderosa pine

Treesearch

Clifford A. Myers

1967-01-01

Growth of the most widely distributed pine in North America is under joint study by the western Forest and Range Experiment Stations of the U. S. Forest Service. Young, even-aged ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws.) stands are being examined over a wide range of tree sizes, stand densities, and site index. The single plan that co-...

A multi-century analysis of disturbance dynamics in pine-oak forests of the Missouri Ozark Highlands

Treesearch

Chad King; Rose-Marie Muzika

2013-01-01

Using dendrochronology and growth release approaches, we analyzed the disturbance history of shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mich.) white oak (Quercus alba L.) forests in the Missouri Ozark Highlands. The objectives of this study were to (1) identify growth release events using living and remnant shortleaf pine and white oak, (2)...

Controlling the Southern Pine Beetle: Small Landowner Perceptions and Practices

Treesearch

Joseph J. Molnar; John Schelhas; Carrie Holeski

2003-01-01

The southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis (Zimmermann) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) is one of the most serious threats to pine forest health in the South (4,24,29,30). Once a forest stand is infested, there are few options for immediate elimination and isolation of infested trees. The most effective approach to preventing losses from the southern...

Genetic structure, diversity, and inbreeding of eastern white pine under different management conditions

Treesearch

Paula E. Marquardt; Craig S. Echt; Bryan K. Epperson; Dan M. Pubanz

2007-01-01

Resource sustainability requires a thorough understanding of the influence of forest management programs on the conservation of genetic diversity in tree populations. To observe how differences in forest structure affect the genetic structure of eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.), we evaluated six eastern white pine sites across the 234000 acre (1...

Western white pine growth relative to forest openings

Treesearch

Theresa B. Jain; Russell T. Graham; Penelope Morgan

2004-01-01

In northern Rocky Mountains moist forests, timber harvesting, fire exclusion, and an introduced stem disease have contributed to the decline in western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl. ex D. Don) abundance (from 90% to 10% of the area). Relations between canopy openings (0.1-15 ha) and western white pine growth within different physical settings are identified....

Simulating historical disturbance regimes and stand structures in old-forest ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir forests

Treesearch

Mike Hillis; Vick Applegate; Steve Slaughter; Michael G. Harrington; Helen Smith

2001-01-01

Forest Service land managers, with the collaborative assistance from research, applied a disturbance based restoration strategy to rehabilitate a greatly-altered, high risk Northern Rocky Mountain old-forest ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir stand. Age-class structure and fire history for the site have been documented in two research papers (Arno and others 1995, 1997)....

Mexican spotted owl home range and habitat use in pine-oak forest: Implications for forest management

Treesearch

Joseph L. Ganey; William M. Block; Jeffrey S. Jenness; Randolph A. Wilson

1998-01-01

To better understand the habitat relationships of the Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida), and how such relationships might influence forest management, we studied home-range and habitat use of radio-marked owls in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) forest. Annual home-range size (95% adaptive-kernel estimate) averaged 895 ha...

Fuel loadings 5 years after a bark beetle outbreak in south-western USA ponderosa pine forests

Treesearch

Chad M. Hoffman; Carolyn Hull Sieg; Joel D. McMillin; Peter Z. Fule

2012-01-01

Landscape-level bark beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) outbreaks occurred in Arizona ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Law.) forests from 2001 to 2003 in response to severe drought and suitable forest conditions.We quantified surface fuel loadings and depths, and calculated canopy fuels based on forest structure attributes in 60 plots established 5...

Eighty-eight years of change in a managed ponderosa pine forest

Treesearch

Helen Y. Smith; Stephen F. Arno

1999-01-01

This publication gives an overview of structural and other ecological changes associated with forest management and fire suppression since the early 1900's in a ponderosa pine forest, the most widespread forest type in the Western United States. Three sources of information are presented: (1) changes seen in a series of repeat photographs taken between 1909 and...

Genetic improvement of shortleaf pine on the Mark Twain, Ouachita, and Ozark National Forests

Treesearch

Charly Studyvin; David Gwaze

2007-01-01

A genetic conservation and breeding program for shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) was initiated in the 1960s by the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri. Superior trees were selected from natural stands throughout the Forest. Fifty of the top-ranked superior trees were grafted into a first generation seed orchard at the Ouachita National Forest...

A Prospectus on Restoring Late Successional Forest Structure to Eastside Pine Ecosystems Through Large-Scale, Interdisciplinary Research

Treesearch

Steve Zack; William F. Laudenslayer; Luke George; Carl Skinner; William Oliver

1999-01-01

At two different locations in northeast California, an interdisciplinary team of scientists is initiating long-term studies to quantify the effects of forest manipulations intended to accelerate andlor enhance late-successional structure of eastside pine forest ecosystems. One study, at Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest, uses a split-plot, factorial, randomized block...

Old-growth Montane Longleaf Pine Forest Age Structure: A Preliminary Assessment

Treesearch

J. Morgan Varner; John S. Kush; Ralph S. Meldahl

1998-01-01

Presettlement longleaf pine forests of the Southeast have been described as uneven-aged forests comprised of even-aged patches. Less than 4000 ha of old-growth longleaf forest remains. From these few sites remaining, a limited volume of age related literature has evolved, and these studies have been limited to the Lower Coastal Plain physiographic province. This study...

Status of the Longleaf Pine Forests of the West Gulf Coastal Plain

Treesearch

Kenneth W. Outcalt

1997-01-01

Datafrom the USDA Forest Service, forest inventory and analyses permanent field plot were used to track changes in longleaf pine (Pinuspalustris Mill.) communities in Texas and Louisiana between 1985 and 1995. The decline of longleaf forest has continued in Louisiana. Texas had much less longleaf type in 1985, but unlike Louisiana there has been a small increase in the...

Light intensity related to stand density in mature stands of the western white pine type

Treesearch

C. A. Wellner

1948-01-01

Where tolerance of forest trees or subordinate vegetation is a factor in management, the forester needs a simple field method of Estimating or forecasting light intensities in forest stands. The following article describes a method developed for estimating light intensity beneath the canopy in western white pine forests which may have application in other types.

A forest health inventory assessment of red fir (Abies magnifica) in upper montane California

Treesearch

Leif Mortenson; Andrew N. Gray; David C. Shaw

2015-01-01

We investigated the forest health of red fir (Abies magnifica) and how it compared with commonly-associated species Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and white fir (Abies concolor) in the upper montane forests of California. We evaluated tree mortality rates...

Louisiana’s Palustris Experimental Forest: 75 years of research that transformed the South

Treesearch

James P. Barnett; James D. Haywood; Henry A. Pearson

2011-01-01

The Palustris Experimental Forest, located on Kisatchie National Forest, has been in existence for 75 years. Research at Palustris has focused on southern pine reforestation technology, including seed production, bareroot nursery production, direct seeding, and planting container seedlings. After establishing pine plantations, researchers developed stand management...

Effects of site preparation for pine forest/switchgrass Intercropping on water quality

Treesearch

A. Muwamba; D. M. Amatya; H. Ssegane; G.M. Chescheir; T. Appelboom; E.W. Tollner; J. E. Nettles; M. A. Youssef; F. Birgand; R. W. Skaggs; S. Tian

2015-01-01

A study was initiated to investigate the sustainability effects of intercropping switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) in a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation. This forest-based biofuel system could possibly provide biomass from the perennial energy grass while maintaining the economics and environmental benefits of a forest...

Draft genome of the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, a major forest pest

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, is the most serious insect pest of western North American pine forests. A recent outbreak destroyed more than 15 million hectares of pine forests, with major environmental effects on forest health, and economic effects on the forest industry. The outbreak has in part been driven by climate change, and will contribute to increased carbon emissions through decaying forests. Results We developed a genome sequence resource for the mountain pine beetle to better understand the unique aspects of this insect's biology. A draft de novo genome sequence was assembled from paired-end, short-read sequences from an individual field-collected male pupa, and scaffolded using mate-paired, short-read genomic sequences from pooled field-collected pupae, paired-end short-insert whole-transcriptome shotgun sequencing reads of mRNA from adult beetle tissues, and paired-end Sanger EST sequences from various life stages. We describe the cytochrome P450, glutathione S-transferase, and plant cell wall-degrading enzyme gene families important to the survival of the mountain pine beetle in its harsh and nutrient-poor host environment, and examine genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism variation. A horizontally transferred bacterial sucrose-6-phosphate hydrolase was evident in the genome, and its tissue-specific transcription suggests a functional role for this beetle. Conclusions Despite Coleoptera being the largest insect order with over 400,000 described species, including many agricultural and forest pest species, this is only the second genome sequence reported in Coleoptera, and will provide an important resource for the Curculionoidea and other insects. PMID:23537049

[Effect of climate change on net primary productivity of Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) at different successional stages of broad-leaved Korean pine forest].

PubMed

Qiu, Yang; Gao, Lu-Shuang; Zhang, Xue; Guo, Jing; Ma, Zhi-Yuan

2014-07-01

Pinus koraiensis in broad-leaved Korean pine forests of Changbai Mountain at different successional stages (secondary poplar-birch forest, secondary coniferous and broad-leaved forest and the primitive Korean pine forest) were selected in this paper as the research objects. In this research, the annual growth of net primary productivity (NPP) (1921-2006) of P. koraiensis was obtained by combining the tree-ring chronology and relative growth formulae, the correlation between NPP of P. koraiensis and climatic factors was developed, and the annual growth of NPP of P. koraiensis at different successional stages in relation to climatic variation within different climate periods were analyzed. The results showed that, in the research period, the correlations between climatic factors and NPP of P. koraiensis at different successional stages were different. With increasing the temperature, the correlations between NPP of P. koraiensis in the secondary poplar-birch forest and the minimum temperatures of previous and current growing seasons changed from being significantly negative to being significantly positive. The positive correlation between NPP of P. koraiensis in the secondary coniferous and broad-leaved forest and the minimum temperature in current spring changed into significantly positive correlation between NPP of P. koraiensis and the temperatures in previous and current growing seasons. The climatic factors had a stronger hysteresis effect on NPP of P. koraiensis in the secondary coniferous and broad-leaved forest, but NPP of P. koraiensis in the primitive Korean pine forest had weaker correlation with temperature but stronger positive correlation with the precipitation of previous growing season. The increases of minimum and mean temperatures were obvious, but no significant variations of the maximum temperature and precipitation were observed at our site. The climatic variation facilitated the increase of the NPP of P. koraiensis in the secondary poplar-birch forest at the initial successional stage and in secondary coniferous and broad-leaved forest at the intermediate successional stage, and this effect was especially obvious for the secondary coniferous and broad-leaved forest, but very small for the primitive Korean pine forest which was at the climax phase.

Frankia and Alnus rubra canopy roots: an assessment of genetic diversity, propagule availability, and effects on soil nitrogen.

PubMed

Kennedy, Peter G; Schouboe, Jesse L; Rogers, Rachel H; Weber, Marjorie G; Nadkarni, Nalini M

2010-02-01

The ecological importance of microbial symbioses in terrestrial soils is widely recognized, but their role in soils that accumulate in forest canopies is almost entirely unknown. To address this gap, this study investigated the Frankia-Alnus rubra symbiosis in canopy and forest floor roots at Olympic National Park, WA, USA. Sixteen mature A. rubra trees were surveyed and Frankia genetic diversity in canopy and forest floor nodules was assessed with sequence-based nifH analyses. A seedling bioassay experiment was conducted to determine Frankia propagule availability in canopy and forest floor soils. Total soil nitrogen from both environments was also quantified. Nodules were present in the canopies of nine of the 16 trees sampled. Across the study area, Frankia canopy and forest floor assemblages were similar, with both habitats containing the same two genotypes. The composition of forest floor and canopy genotypes on the same tree was not always identical, however, suggesting that dispersal was not a strictly local phenomenon. Frankia seedling colonization was similar in canopy soils regardless of the presence of nodules as well as in forest floor soils, indicating that dispersal was not likely to be a major limiting factor. The total soil nitrogen of canopy soils was higher than that of forest floor soils, but the presence of Frankia nodules in canopy soils did not significantly alter soil nitrogen levels. Overall, this study indicates that the Frankia-A. rubra symbiosis is similar in canopy and forest floor environments. Because canopy roots are exposed to different environmental conditions within very small spatial areas and because those areas can be easily manipulated (e.g., fertilizer or watering treatments), they present microbial ecologists with a unique arena to examine root-microbe interactions.

Branchfall as a Demographic Filter for Epiphyte Communities: Lessons from Forest Floor-Based Sampling

PubMed Central

Sarmento Cabral, Juliano; Petter, Gunnar; Mendieta-Leiva, Glenda; Wagner, Katrin; Zotz, Gerhard; Kreft, Holger

2015-01-01

Local variation in the abundance and richness of vascular epiphytes is often attributed to environmental characteristics such as substrate and microclimate. Less is known, however, about the impacts of tree and branch turnover on epiphyte communities. To address this issue, we surveyed branches and epiphytes found on the forest floor in 96 transects in two forests (Atlantic rainforest in Brazil and Caribbean rainforest in Panama). In the Brazilian forest, we additionally distinguished between edge and core study sites. We quantified branch abundance, epiphyte abundance, richness and proportion of adults to investigate the trends of these variables over branch diameter. Branches <2 cm in diameter comprised >90% of all branches on the forest floor. Abundance and richness of fallen epiphytes per transect were highest in the Brazilian core transects and lowest in the Panamanian transects. The majority of epiphytes on the floor (c. 65%) were found attached to branches. At all three study sites, branch abundance and branch diameter were negatively correlated, whereas epiphyte abundance and richness per branch, as well as the proportion of adults were positively correlated with branch diameter. The relationship between branch diameter and absolute epiphyte abundance or richness differed between study sites, which might be explained by differences in forest structure and dynamics. In the Panamanian forest, epiphytes had been previously inventoried, allowing an evaluation of our surveying method by comparing canopy and forest floor samplings. Individuals found on the forest floor corresponded to 13% of all individuals on branches <10 cm in diameter (including crowns), with abundance, richness and composition trends on forest floor reflecting canopy trends. We argue that forest floor surveys provide useful floristic and, most notably, demographic information particularly on epiphytes occurring on the thinnest branches, which are least accessible. Here, branchfall acts as an important demographic filter structuring epiphyte communities. PMID:26083417

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....

Rapid changes in the range limits of Scots pine 4000 years ago

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

Gear, A.J.; Huntley, B.

Paleoecological data provide estimates of response rates to past climate changes. Fossil Pinus sylvestris stumps in far northern Scotland demonstrate former presence of pine trees where conventional pollen evidence of pine forests is lacking. Radiocarbon, dendrochronological, and fine temporal-resolution palynological data show that pine forest were present for about four centuries some 4,000 years ago; the forests expanded and then retreated rapidly some 70 to 80 kilometers. Despite the rapidity of this response to climate change, it occurred at rates slower by an order of magnitude than those necessary to maintain equilibrium with forecast climate changes attributed to the greenhousemore » effect.« less

Vegetation composition and structure of southern coastal plain pine forests: An ecological comparison

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hedman, C.W.; Grace, S.L.; King, S.E.

2000-01-01

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystems are characterized by a diverse community of native groundcover species. Critics of plantation forestry claim that loblolly (Pinus taeda) and slash pine (Pinus elliottii) forests are devoid of native groundcover due to associated management practices. As a result of these practices, some believe that ecosystem functions characteristic of longleaf pine are lost under loblolly and slash pine plantation management. Our objective was to quantify and compare vegetation composition and structure of longleaf, loblolly, and slash pine forests of differing ages, management strategies, and land-use histories. Information from this study will further our understanding and lead to inferences about functional differences among pine cover types. Vegetation and environmental data were collected in 49 overstory plots across Southlands Experiment Forest in Bainbridge, GA. Nested plots, i.e. midstory, understory, and herbaceous, were replicated four times within each overstory plot. Over 400 species were identified. Herbaceous species richness was variable for all three pine cover types. Herbaceous richness for longleaf, slash, and loblolly pine averaged 15, 13, and 12 species per m2, respectively. Longleaf pine plots had significantly more (p < 0.029) herbaceous species and greater herbaceous cover (p < 0.001) than loblolly or slash pine plots. Longleaf and slash pine plots were otherwise similar in species richness and stand structure, both having lower overstory density, midstory density, and midstory cover than loblolly pine plots. Multivariate analyses provided additional perspectives on vegetation patterns. Ordination and classification procedures consistently placed herbaceous plots into two groups which we refer to as longleaf pine benchmark (34 plots) and non-benchmark (15 plots). Benchmark plots typically contained numerous herbaceous species characteristic of relic longleaf pine/wiregrass communities found in the area. Conversely, non-benchmark plots contained fewer species characteristic of relic longleaf pine/wiregrass communities and more ruderal species common to highly disturbed sites. The benchmark group included 12 naturally regenerated longleaf plots and 22 loblolly, slash, and longleaf pine plantation plots encompassing a broad range of silvicultural disturbances. Non-benchmark plots included eight afforested old-field plantation plots and seven cutover plantation plots. Regardless of overstory species, all afforested old fields were low either in native species richness or in abundance. Varying degrees of this groundcover condition were also found in some cutover plantation plots that were classified as non-benchmark. Environmental variables strongly influencing vegetation patterns included agricultural history and fire frequency. Results suggest that land-use history, particularly related to agriculture, has a greater influence on groundcover composition and structure in southern pine forests than more recent forest management activities or pine cover type. Additional research is needed to identify the potential for afforested old fields to recover native herbaceous species. In the interim, high-yield plantation management should initially target old-field sites which already support reduced numbers of groundcover species. Sites which have not been farmed in the past 50-60 years should be considered for longleaf pine restoration and multiple-use objectives, since they have the greatest potential for supporting diverse native vegetation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.

Restoring a legacy: longleaf pine research at the Forest Service Escambia Experimental Forest

Treesearch

Kristina F. Connor; Dale G. Brockway; William D. Boyer

2014-01-01

Longleaf pine ecosystems are a distinct part of the forest landscape in the southeastern USA. These biologically diverse ecosystems, the native habitat of numerous federally listed species, once dominated more than 36.4 million ha but now occupy only 1.4 million ha of forested land in the region. The Escambia Experimental Forest was established in 1947 through a 99-...

AmeriFlux US-Vcp Valles Caldera Ponderosa Pine

DOE Data Explorer

Litvak, Marcy [University of New Mexico

2016-01-01

This is the AmeriFlux version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Vcp Valles Caldera Ponderosa Pine. Site Description - The Valles Caldera Ponderosa Pine site is located in the 1200km2 Jemez River basin of the Jemez Mountains in north-central New Mexico at the southern margin of the Rocky Mountain ecoregion. The Ponderosa Pine forest is the warmest and lowest (below 2700m) zone of the forests in the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Its vegetation is composed of a Ponderosa Pine (Pinus Ponderosa) overstory and a Gambel Oak (Quercus gambelii) understory.

Fire Impacts on Mixed Pine-oak Forests Assessed with High Spatial Resolution Imagery, Imaging Spectroscopy, and LiDAR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, R.; Wu, J.; Zhao, F. R.; Kathy, S. L.; Dennison, P. E.; Cook, B.; Hanavan, R. P.; Serbin, S.

2016-12-01

As a primary disturbance agent, fire significantly influences forest ecosystems, including the modification or resetting of vegetation composition and structure, which can then significantly impact landscape-scale plant function and carbon stocks. Most ecological processes associated with fire effects (e.g. tree damage, mortality, and vegetation recovery) display fine-scale, species specific responses but can also vary spatially within the boundary of the perturbation. For example, both oak and pine species are fire-adapted, but fire can still induce changes in composition, structure, and dominance in a mixed pine-oak forest, mainly because of their varying degrees of fire adaption. Evidence of post-fire shifts in dominance between oak and pine species has been documented in mixed pine-oak forests, but these processes have been poorly investigated in a spatially explicit manner. In addition, traditional field-based means of quantifying the response of partially damaged trees across space and time is logistically challenging. Here we show how combining high resolution satellite imagery (i.e. Worldview-2,WV-2) and airborne imaging spectroscopy and LiDAR (i.e. NASA Goddard's Lidar, Hyperspectral and Thermal airborne imager, G-LiHT) can be effectively used to remotely quantify spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation recovery following a top-killing fire that occurred in 2012 within mixed pine-oak forests in the Long Island Central Pine Barrens Region, New York. We explore the following questions: 1) what are the impacts of fire on species composition, dominance, plant health, and vertical structure; 2) what are the recovery trajectories of forest biomass, structure, and spectral properties for three years following the fire; and 3) to what extent can fire impacts be captured and characterized by multi-sensor remote sensing techniques from active and passive optical remote sensing.

Pyrene degradation in forest humus microcosms with or without pine and its mycorrhizal fungus.

PubMed

Koivula, Teija T; Salkinoja-Salonen, Mirja; Peltola, Rainer; Romantschuk, Martin

2004-01-01

The mineralization potential of forest humus and the self-cleaning potential of a boreal coniferous forest environment for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds was studied using a model ecosystem of acid forest humus (pH = 3.6) and pyrene as the model compound. The matrix was natural humus or humus mixed with oil-polluted soil in the presence and absence of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and its mycorrhizal fungus (Paxillus involutus). The rates of pyrene mineralization in the microcosms with humus implants (without pine) were initially insignificant but increased from Day 64 onward to 47 microg kg(-1) d(-1) and further to 144 microg kg(-1) d(-1) after Day 105. In the pine-planted humus microcosms the rate of mineralization also increased, reaching 28 microg kg(-1) d(-1) after Day 105. The 14CO2 emission was already considerable in nonplanted microcosms containing oily soil at Day 21 and the pyrene mineralization continued throughout the study. The pyrene was converted to CO2 at rates of 0.07 and 0.6 microg kg(-1) d(-1) in the oily-soil implanted microcosms with and without pine, respectively. When the probable assimilation of 14CO2 by the pine and ground vegetation was taken into account the most efficient microcosm mineralized 20% of the 91.2 mg kg(-1) pyrene in 180 d. The presence of pine and its mycorrhizal fungus had no statistically significant effect on mineralization yields. The rates of pyrene mineralization observed in this study for forest humus exceeded the total annual deposition rate of PAHs in southern Finland. This indicates that accumulation in forest soil is not to be expected.

Longleaf pine: A sustainable approach for increasing terrestrial carbon in the southern United States

Treesearch

John S. Kush; Ralph S. Meldahl; Charles K. McMahon; William D. Boyer

2004-01-01

Natural communities dominated by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) once covered an estimated two thirds of the forested area in the southeastern United States. Today, less than 1.2 million ha remain. However, over the past 10-15 years, public land managers have begun to restore many longleaf pine forests. More recently incentive programs have...

Cone and seed yields in white spruce seed production areas

Treesearch

John A. Pitcher

1966-01-01

The source of seed is an important consideration in the reforestation program on the National Forests in the North Central Region. Thirty-five seed production areas have been set up in the Region, along the lines proposed by the North Central Forest Experiment Station, to provide control of seed source. Red pine, white pine, shortleaf and loblolly pine, and white...

Forest statistics for southeast Georgia, 1988

Treesearch

Tony G. Johnson

1988-01-01

Since 1981, area of timberland in Southeast Georgia increased less than 1 percent and now totals 7.2 million acres. About 39 percent of the timberland is under forest industry control. Pine plantation acreage increased by 37 percent to 2.5 million acres. New pine stands were established annually on 155,000 acres, exceeding pine stands harvested by 4 percent. Number of...

Impacts of switchgrass intercropping in traditional pine forests on hydrology and water quality in the southeastern United States.

Treesearch

Devendra Amatya; G.M. Chescheir; J.E. Nettles

2016-01-01

Preliminary results indicate that switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), grown as a cellulosic biofuel between managed loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) beds on the Atlantic Coastal Plain forests has no significant effect on shallow ground water table and stream outflows. Although management operations (e.g. harvesting, shearing between pine rows, raking, and bedding)...

Utilization of the Southern Pines - Volume 1

Treesearch

Peter Koch

1972-01-01

The southern pines comprise the primary softwood timber species in the United States. Further, their relative importance is increasing. It is estimated that by the year 2000, 51 percent of the softwood used in this country will come from the South (USDA Forest Service 1965, p. 112). These pines occupy about 20 percent of the 509 million acres of commercial forest land...

History and current condition of longleaf pine in the Southern United States

Treesearch

Christopher M. Oswalt; Jason A. Cooper; Dale G. Brockway; Horace W. Brooks; Joan L. Walker; Kristina F. Connor; Sonja N. Oswalt; Roger C. Conner

2012-01-01

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) was once one of the most ecologically important tree species in the Southern United States. Longleaf pine and its accompanying forest ecosystems covered vast swaths of the Southern United States, spanning an estimated 92 million acres. Although once one of the most extensive forest ecosystems in North America, only a fraction of...

Research on stand management options for reducing fuels and restoring two-aged lodgepole pine communities on the Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest

Treesearch

Ward McCaughey

2003-01-01

Fire-dependent lodgepole pine stands comprise significant acreages of midand upper-elevation forests in the Northern Rockies, providing wood products, wildlife habitat, livestock forage, water, recreational opportunities, and expansive viewsheds. Many lodgepole pine stands are in late-successional stages and at risk to pests and catastrophic-scale fires. Tenderfoot...

Pine seed tree growth and yield on the Crossett Experimental Forest

Treesearch

Don C. Bragg

2010-01-01

In late 2002, three small tracts of loblolly (Pinus taeda) and shortleaf (Pinus echinata) pine on the Crossett Experimental Forest in Ashley County, AR, were cut using a seed tree method. Immediately after harvest, these cutting units averaged 7.7 stems and 13.8 square feet of pine basal area per acre. By 2006, live seed tree...

Fuel and stand characteristics in ponderosa pine infested with mountain pine beetle, Ips spp., and southwestern dwarf mistletoe in Colorado's northern Front Range

Treesearch

Jennifer Gene Klutsch

2008-01-01

The effect of forest disturbances, such as bark beetles and dwarf mistletoes, on fuel dynamics is important for understanding forest dynamics and heterogeneity. Fuel loads and other fuel parameters were assessed in areas of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws.) infested with southwestern dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium vaginatum...

Landowner and manager awareness and perceptions of pine health issues and southern pine management activities in the southeastern United States

Treesearch

David R. Coyle; Gary T. Green; Brittany F. Barnes; Kier Klepzig; John T. Nowak; J.K. Gandhi

2016-01-01

We assessed awareness and perceptions of forest landowners and managers in the southeastern United Statesregarding their stand health especially under the context of the southern pine decline (SPD) phenomenon. E-mailand paper surveys were sent to 4,670 forest landowners and managers in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolinawith an...

Growth reductions in naturally regenerated southern pine stands in Alabama and Georgia

Treesearch

G.A. Ruark; C.E. Thomas; W.A. Bechtold; D.M. May

1991-01-01

Data from Forest Inventory and analysis (FIA) units of the USDA Forest Service were used to compare average annual stand-level basal area accretion onto survivor pines in naturally regenerated pine stands throughout Alabama and Georgia. Growth rates measured between 1972-82 were compared to growth rates during the previous 10-year survey cycle in each state. Separate...

Influence of reproduction cutting methods on structure, growth and regeneration of longleaf pine forests in flatwoods and uplands

Treesearch

Dale G. Brockway; Kenneth W. Outcalt

2017-01-01

Though longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests have been primarily managed with even-aged methods, interest is increasing in uneven-aged systems, as a means of achieving a wider range of stewardship goals. Selection silviculture has been practiced on a limited scale in longleaf pine, but difficulty with using traditional approaches and...

Effects of salvage logging on fire risks after bark beetle outbreaks in Colorado lodgepole pine forests

Treesearch

Bryon J. Collins; Chuck C. Rhoades; Michael A. Battaglia; Robert M. Hubbard

2012-01-01

Most mature lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm. ex Wats.) forests in the central and southern Rocky Mountains originated after stand-replacing wildfires or logging (Brown 1975, Lotan and Perry 1983, Romme 1982). In recent years, mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) outbreaks have created a widespread, synchronous disturbance (i.e.,...

Impact of fire in two old-growth montane longleaf pine stands

Treesearch

John S. Kush; John C. Gilbert; Crystal Lupo; Na Zhou; Becky Barlow

2013-01-01

The structure of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests of the Southeastern United States Coastal Plains has been the focus of numerous studies. By comparison, the forests in the mountains of Alabama and Georgia are not well understood. Less than 1 percent of longleaf pine stands found in the montane portion of longleaf’s range are considered...

Thirty years of management on a small longleaf pine forest

Treesearch

William D. Boyer

1981-01-01

Results from 30 years of management of this demonstration farm forty should interest any landowner with a small tract of longleaf pine forest.In this case, the starting point for management was a poorly-stocked stand of second-growth longleaf pine on an average Coastal Plain site.Despite no capital outlays and relativcly small expenses, principally for prescribed...

An Old-Growth Definition for Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak-Pine Forests.

Treesearch

David L. White; F. Thomas Lloyd

1998-01-01

Dry and dry-mesic oak-pine forests are widely distributed from New Jersey to Texas, but representative old-growth stands are rare. Historical accounts of composition, along with information from existing old-growth stands, were used to characterize this type. Shortleaf pine and white oak were the most widely distributed trees across all old-growth stands. Shortleaf was...

Earthworms, arthropods and plant litter decomposition in aspen (Populus tremuloides) and lodgepole pine(Pinus contorta) forests in Colorado, USA

Treesearch

Grizelle Gonzalez; Timothy R. Seastedt; Zugeily Donato

2003-01-01

We compared the abundance and community composition of earthworms, soil macroarthropods, and litter microarthropods to test faunal effects on plant litter decomposition rates in two forests in the subalpine in Colorado, USA. Litterbags containing recently senesced litter of Populus tremuloides (aspen) and Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine) were placed in aspen and pine...

Conceptual framework for studying the effects of fuels treatments on avian communities in ponderosa pine forests of northern Arizona

Treesearch

Brett G. Dickson; William M. Block; Thomas D. Sisk

2004-01-01

Many ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests in the western US are dense and contain excessive accumulations of ground and ladder fuels, resulting in forests at high risk of catastrophic fire. Prescribed fire and thinning are two potential tools used in the reduction of forest fuels, although the ecological and economic consequences of applying...

Restoration of northern Rocky Mountain moist forests: Integrating fuel treatments from the site to the landscape

Treesearch

Theresa B. Jain; Russell T. Graham; Jonathan Sandquist; Matthew Butler; Karen Brockus; Daniel Frigard; David Cobb; Han Sup-Han; Jeff Halbrook; Robert Denner; Jeffrey S. Evans

2008-01-01

Restoration and fuel treatments in the moist forests of the northern Rocky Mountains are complex and far different from those applicable to the dry ponderosa pine forests. In the moist forests, clearcuts are the favored method to use for growing early-seral western white pine and western larch. Nevertheless, clearcuts and their associated roads often affect wildlife...

Arkansas, 2009 forest inventory and analysis factsheet

Treesearch

James F. Rosson

2011-01-01

The summary includes estimates of forest land area (table 1), ownership (table 2), forest-type groups (table 3), volume (tables 4 and 5), biomass (tables 6 and 7), and pine plantation area (table 8) along with maps of Arkansas’ survey units (fig. 1), percent forest by county (fig. 2), and distribution of pine plantations (fig. 3). The estimates are presented by survey...

Innovation and forest industry: domesticating the pine forests of the southern United States,1920–1999

Treesearch

John A. Stanturf; Robert C. Kellison; F.S. Broerman; Stephen B. Jones

2003-01-01

The history of forest management in the southern United States has been a process of intensification and the pine forests of the Coastal Plain can be regarded as in the early stage of crop domestication. Silviculture research into tree improvement and other aspects of plantation establishment and management has been critical to the domestication process, which began in...

A case study of nitrogen saturation in western U.S. forests.

PubMed

Fenn, M E; Poth, M A

2001-11-08

Virtually complete nitrification of the available ammonium in soil and nitrification activity in the forest floor are important factors predisposing forests in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California to nitrogen (N) saturation. As a result, inorganic N in the soil solution is dominated by nitrate. High nitrification rates also generate elevated nitric oxide (NO) emissions from soil. High-base cation saturation of these soils means that soil calcium depletion or effects associated with soil acidification are not an immediate risk for forest health as has been postulated for mesic forests in the eastern U.S. Physiological disturbance (e.g., altered carbon [C] cycling, reduced fine root biomass, premature needle abscission) of ozone-sensitive ponderosa pine trees exposed to high N deposition and high ozone levels appear to be the greater threat to forest sustainability. However, N deposition appears to offset the aboveground growth depression effects of ozone exposure. High nitrification activity reported for many western ecosystems suggests that with chronic N inputs these systems are prone to N saturation and hydrologic and gaseous losses of N. High runoff during the winter wet season in California forests under a Mediterranean climate may further predispose these watersheds to high nitrate leachate losses. After 4 years of N fertilization at a severely N saturated site in the San Bernardino Mountains, bole growth unexpectedly increased. Reduced C allocation below- ground at this site, presumably in response to ozone or N or both pollutants, may enhance the bole growth response to added N.

Constraining Night Time Ecosystem Respiration by Inverse Approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juang, J.; Stoy, P. C.; Siqueira, M. B.; Katul, G. G.

2004-12-01

Estimating nighttime ecosystem respiration remains a key challenge in quantifying ecosystem carbon budgets. Currently, nighttime eddy-covariance (EC) flux measurements are plagued by uncertainties often attributed to poor mixing within the canopy volume, non-turbulent transport of CO2 into and out of the canopy, and non-stationarity and intermittency. Here, we explore the use of second-order closure models to estimate nighttime ecosystem respiration by mathematically linking sources of CO2 to mean concentration profiles via the continuity and the CO2 flux budget equation modified to include thermal stratification. By forcing this model to match, in a root-mean squared sense, the nighttime measured mean CO2 concentration profiles within the canopy the above ground CO2 production and forest floor respiration can be estimated via multi-dimensional optimization techniques. We show that in a maturing pine and a mature hardwood forest, these optimized CO2 sources are (1) consistently larger than the eddy covariance flux measurements above the canopy, and (2) agree well with chamber-based measurements. We also show that by linking the optimized nighttime ecosystem respiration to temperature measurements, the estimated annual ecosystem respiration from this approach agrees well with biometric estimates, at least when compared to eddy-covariance methods conditioned on a friction velocity threshold. The difference between the annual ecosystem respiration obtained by this optimization method and the friction-velocity thresholded night-time EC fluxes can be as large as 700 g C m-2 (in 2003) for the maturing pine forest, which is about 40% of the ecosystem respiration. For 2001 and 2002, the annual ecosystem respiration differences between the EC-based and the proposed approach were on the order of 300 to 400 g C m-2.

Examining Historical and Current Mixed-Severity Fire Regimes in Ponderosa Pine and Mixed-Conifer Forests of Western North America

PubMed Central

Odion, Dennis C.; Hanson, Chad T.; Arsenault, André; Baker, William L.; DellaSala, Dominick A.; Hutto, Richard L.; Klenner, Walt; Moritz, Max A.; Sherriff, Rosemary L.; Veblen, Thomas T.; Williams, Mark A.

2014-01-01

There is widespread concern that fire exclusion has led to an unprecedented threat of uncharacteristically severe fires in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex. Laws) and mixed-conifer forests of western North America. These extensive montane forests are considered to be adapted to a low/moderate-severity fire regime that maintained stands of relatively old trees. However, there is increasing recognition from landscape-scale assessments that, prior to any significant effects of fire exclusion, fires and forest structure were more variable in these forests. Biota in these forests are also dependent on the resources made available by higher-severity fire. A better understanding of historical fire regimes in the ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests of western North America is therefore needed to define reference conditions and help maintain characteristic ecological diversity of these systems. We compiled landscape-scale evidence of historical fire severity patterns in the ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests from published literature sources and stand ages available from the Forest Inventory and Analysis program in the USA. The consensus from this evidence is that the traditional reference conditions of low-severity fire regimes are inaccurate for most forests of western North America. Instead, most forests appear to have been characterized by mixed-severity fire that included ecologically significant amounts of weather-driven, high-severity fire. Diverse forests in different stages of succession, with a high proportion in relatively young stages, occurred prior to fire exclusion. Over the past century, successional diversity created by fire decreased. Our findings suggest that ecological management goals that incorporate successional diversity created by fire may support characteristic biodiversity, whereas current attempts to “restore” forests to open, low-severity fire conditions may not align with historical reference conditions in most ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests of western North America. PMID:24498383

Examining historical and current mixed-severity fire regimes in ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests of western North America.

PubMed

Odion, Dennis C; Hanson, Chad T; Arsenault, André; Baker, William L; Dellasala, Dominick A; Hutto, Richard L; Klenner, Walt; Moritz, Max A; Sherriff, Rosemary L; Veblen, Thomas T; Williams, Mark A

2014-01-01

There is widespread concern that fire exclusion has led to an unprecedented threat of uncharacteristically severe fires in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex. Laws) and mixed-conifer forests of western North America. These extensive montane forests are considered to be adapted to a low/moderate-severity fire regime that maintained stands of relatively old trees. However, there is increasing recognition from landscape-scale assessments that, prior to any significant effects of fire exclusion, fires and forest structure were more variable in these forests. Biota in these forests are also dependent on the resources made available by higher-severity fire. A better understanding of historical fire regimes in the ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests of western North America is therefore needed to define reference conditions and help maintain characteristic ecological diversity of these systems. We compiled landscape-scale evidence of historical fire severity patterns in the ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests from published literature sources and stand ages available from the Forest Inventory and Analysis program in the USA. The consensus from this evidence is that the traditional reference conditions of low-severity fire regimes are inaccurate for most forests of western North America. Instead, most forests appear to have been characterized by mixed-severity fire that included ecologically significant amounts of weather-driven, high-severity fire. Diverse forests in different stages of succession, with a high proportion in relatively young stages, occurred prior to fire exclusion. Over the past century, successional diversity created by fire decreased. Our findings suggest that ecological management goals that incorporate successional diversity created by fire may support characteristic biodiversity, whereas current attempts to "restore" forests to open, low-severity fire conditions may not align with historical reference conditions in most ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests of western North America.

Thermomechanical pulping of loblolly pine juvenile wood

Treesearch

Gary C. Myers

2002-01-01

Intensive forest management, with a heavy emphasis on ecosystem management and restoring or maintaining forest health, will result in the removal of smaller diameter materials from the forest. This increases the probability of higher juvenile wood content in the harvested materials. The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of loblolly pine juvenile and...

Guide to fuel treatments in dry forests of the Western United States: assessing forest structure and fire hazard.

Treesearch

Morris C. Johnson; David L. Peterson; Crystal L. Raymond

2007-01-01

Guide to Fuel Treatments analyzes a range of fuel treatments for representative dry forest stands in the Western United States with overstories dominated by ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and pinyon pine (Pinus edulis). Six silvicultural options (no thinning; thinning...

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.

Natural regeneration following timber harvest in interior cedar-hemlock-white pine forests

Treesearch

Dennis E. Ferguson

1994-01-01

Natural regeneration of interior cedar-hemlock-white pine forests is usually prompt and abundant. These productive sites support up to 10 commercial timber species. Retrospective examination of cutover forest stands allowed determination of variables that are important predictors of regeneration. This report discusses variables such as habitat type, slope, aspect,...

Structure and regrowth of longleaf pine forests following uneven-aged silviculture and hurricane disturbance at the Escambia Experimental Forest

Treesearch

Kimberly Bohn; Christel Chancy; Dale Brockway

2015-01-01

In recent decades, considerable attention has been placed on restoring and managing longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) ecosystems across the southeastern United States. Although, historically, these forests have been successfully regenerated following even-aged shelterwood reproduction methods, uneven-aged silviculture has received increasing...

Tree canopy types constrain plant distributions in ponderosa pine-Gambel oak forests, northern Arizona

Treesearch

Scott R. Abella

2009-01-01

Trees in many forests affect the soils and plants below their canopies. In current high-density southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests, managers have opportunities to enhance multiple ecosystem values by manipulating tree density, distribution, and canopy cover through tree thinning. I performed a study in northern Arizona ponderosa...

Restoring longleaf pine forest ecosystems in the southern United States

Treesearch

Dale G. Brockway; Kenneth W. Outcalt; Donald J. Tomczak; E. E. Johnson

2002-01-01

Longleafpine (Pinus palustris) forests were historically one of the most extensive ecosystems in North America, covering 38 million ha along the coastal plain from Texas to Virginia and extending into central Florida and the Piedmont and mountains of Alabama and Georgia. Throughout its domain. longleaf pine occurred in forests, woodlands and savannas...

Interactions among the mountain pine beetle, fires, and fuels

Treesearch

Michael J. Jenkins; Justin B. Runyon; Christopher J. Fettig; Wesley G. Page; Barbara J. Bentz

2014-01-01

Bark beetle outbreaks and wildfires are principal drivers of change in western North American forests, and both have increased in severity and extent in recent years. These two agents of disturbance interact in complex ways to shape forest structure and composition. For example, mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, epidemics alter forest fuels with...

Joint proceedings of the 10th Lake States Forest Tree Improvement Conference & 7th Central States Forest Tree Improvement Conference, September 22-24, 1971.

Treesearch

USDA FS

1973-01-01

Presents 12 papers concerning recent research in forest genetics, physiology, and allied fields. Species discussed include cottonwood, white spruce, jack pine, white pine, aspen, and others. Emphasizes the role of tree improvement in increasing wood-fiber production.

A new hybrid Christmas tree

Treesearch

William B. Critchfield

1965-01-01

A hybrid pine developed in the course of forest-tree improvement research. by the U. S. Forest Service has caught the interest of Christmas tree growers. It is a hybrid between two races of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) produced at the Institute of Forest Genetics at Placerville, California, and has some desirable attributes for use as a Christmas...

[Effects of different forest restoration approaches on the soil quality in red soil region of Southern China].

PubMed

Wang, Yun; Ouyang, Zhi-Yun; Zheng, Hua; Zeng, Jing; Chen, Fa-Lin; Zhang, Kai

2013-05-01

In 2008-2009, an investigation was conducted on the effects of three typical forest restoration approaches, i. e., naturally restored secondary forest, artificially restored native species Pinus massoniana plantation (Masson pine plantation), and introduced species Pinus elliottii plantation (slash pine plantation), on the soil quality in red soil region of Southern China. The results showed that the soil moisture content, bulk density, particle composition, and the contents of total carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), total phosphorus (P), organic C, available N, available P, and available potassium (K) in natural secondary forest were all superior to those in artificial plantations. The soil physical, chemical, and microbial properties were integrated into a soil quality index, which was significantly higher (1.20 +/- 0.10) in natural secondary forest than in Masson pine plantation (0.59 +/- 0.03) and slash pine plantation (0.59 +/- 0.06). Our results suggested as compared with the restoration with native species P. massoniana and with introduced P. elliottii, natural restoration could be a better forest restoration approach to improve the soil quality in red soil region of Southern China.

Limited Growth Recovery after Drought-Induced Forest Dieback in Very Defoliated Trees of Two Pine Species

PubMed Central

Guada, Guillermo; Camarero, J. Julio; Sánchez-Salguero, Raúl; Cerrillo, Rafael M. Navarro

2016-01-01

Mediterranean pine forests display high resilience after extreme climatic events such as severe droughts. However, recent dry spells causing growth decline and triggering forest dieback challenge the capacity of some forests to recover following major disturbances. To describe how resilient the responses of forests to drought can be, we quantified growth dynamics in plantations of two pine species (Scots pine, black pine) located in south-eastern Spain and showing drought-triggered dieback. Radial growth was characterized at inter- (tree-ring width) and intra-annual (xylogenesis) scales in three defoliation levels. It was assumed that the higher defoliation the more negative the impact of drought on tree growth. Tree-ring width chronologies were built and xylogenesis was characterized 3 years after the last severe drought occurred. Annual growth data and the number of tracheids produced in different stages of xylem formation were related to climate data at several time scales. Drought negatively impacted growth of the most defoliated trees in both pine species. In Scots pine, xylem formation started earlier in the non-defoliated than in the most defoliated trees. Defoliated trees presented the shortest duration of the radial-enlargement phase in both species. On average the most defoliated trees formed 60% of the number of mature tracheids formed by the non-defoliated trees in both species. Since radial enlargement is the xylogenesis phase most tightly related to final growth, this explains why the most defoliated trees grew the least due to their altered xylogenesis phases. Our findings indicate a very limited resilience capacity of drought-defoliated Scots and black pines. Moreover, droughts produce legacy effects on xylogenesis of highly defoliated trees which could not recover previous growth rates and are thus more prone to die. PMID:27066053

Effects of sea-level rise and anthropogenic development on priority bird species habitats in coastal Georgia, USA.

PubMed

Brittain, Ross A; Craft, Christopher B

2012-02-01

We modeled changes in area of five habitats, tidal-freshwater forest, salt marsh, maritime shrub-scrub (shrub), maritime broadleaf forest (oak) and maritime narrowleaf (pine) forest, in coastal Georgia, USA, to evaluate how simultaneous habitat loss due to predicted changes in sea level rise (SLR) and urban development will affect priority bird species of the south Atlantic coastal plain by 2100. Development rates, based on regional growth plans, were modeled at 1% and 2.5% annual urban growth, while SLR rates, based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's A1B mean and maximum scenarios, were modeled at 52 cm and 82 cm, respectively. SLR most greatly affected the shrub habitat with predicted losses of 35-43%. Salt marsh and tidal forest also were predicted to lose considerable area to SLR (20-45 and 23-35%, respectively), whereas oak and pine forests had lesser impact from SLR, 18-22% and 11-15%, respectively. Urban development resulted in losses of considerable pine (48-49%) and oak (53-55%) habitat with lesser loss of shrub habitat (21-24%). Under maximum SLR and urban growth, shrub habitat may lose up to 59-64% compared to as much as 62-65% pine forest and 74-75% oak forest. Conservation efforts should focus on protection of shrub habitat because of its small area relative to other terrestrial habitats and use by Painted Buntings (Passerina ciris), a Partners In Flight (PIF) extremely high priority species. Tidal forests also deserve protection because they are a likely refuge for forest species, such as Northern Parula and Acadian Flycatcher, with the decline of oak and pine forests due to urban development.

Longevity of Black Cherry, Wild Grape, and Sassafras Seed in the Forest Floor

Treesearch

G.W. Wendel

1977-01-01

The results of this study show that (1) black cherry seed remains viable in the forest floor for 3 years, with a small amount of seed germinating after 4 or 5 years; (2) sassafras seed remains viable for 6 years in the forest floor, and (3) some wild grape seed retains its viability for at least 8 years. These results are important to the forest manager in setting up...

Associations between regional moisture gradient, tree species dominance, and downed wood abundance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, A. C.; Mills, J.

2007-12-01

Downed wood functions as a source of nurse logs, physical structure in streams, food, and carbon. Because downed wood is important in upland and aquatic habitats, an understanding of wood recruitment along a continuum from wet to dry landscapes is critical for both preservation of biodiversity and restoration of natural ecosystem structure and function. We assessed downed wood in public and private forests of Washington and Oregon by using a subset of the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) database including 15,842 sampled conditions. Multivariate regression trees, ANOVA, and t-tests were used to discern environmental conditions most closely associated with abundance of woody debris. Of the 16 parameters included in the analysis, rainfall, forest ownership, number of damaged standing trees, and forest elevation were most indicative of woody debris abundance. The Hemlock/spruce Group, including hemlock, spruce, cedar, and white pine, most associated with wetter soils, had significantly more downed wood than 12 other forest groups. The Ponderosa Pine Group, indicative of drier sites with higher fire frequencies, included ponderosa pine, sugar pine, and incense cedar, and had significantly less downed wood volume. Overall, the amount of woody debris in either the Spruce/hemlock Group or the Ponderosa Pine Group did not change significantly as tree age increased from 5 to 350 years. Plots within the Hemlock/spruce with greater standing tree volume also had significantly greater downed wood volume. In contrast, greater downed wood volume was not associated with greater standing tree volume in the Ponderosa Pine Group. Knowledge of linkages among environmental variables and stand characteristics are useful in development of regional forest models aimed at understanding the effects of climate change and disturbance on forest succession.

Reforesting severely degraded grassland in the Lesser Himalaya of Nepal: Effects on soil hydraulic conductivity and overland flow production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghimire, Chandra Prasad; Bonell, Mike; Bruijnzeel, L. Adrian; Coles, Neil A.; Lubczynski, Maciek W.

2013-12-01

degraded hillslopes in the Lesser Himalaya challenge local communities as a result of the frequent occurrence of overland flow and erosion during the rainy season and water shortages during the dry season. Reforestation is often perceived as an effective way of restoring predisturbance hydrological conditions but heavy usage of reforested land in the region has been shown to hamper full recovery of soil hydraulic properties. This paper investigates the effect of reforestation and forest usage on field-saturated soil hydraulic conductivities (Kfs) near Dhulikhel, Central Nepal, by comparing degraded pasture, a footpath within the pasture, a 25 year old pine reforestation, and little disturbed natural forest. The hillslope hydrological implications of changes in Kfs with land-cover change were assessed via comparisons with measured rainfall intensities over different durations. High surface and near-surface Kfs in natural forest (82-232 mm h-1) rule out overland flow occurrence and favor vertical percolation. Conversely, corresponding Kfs for degraded pasture (18-39 mm h-1) and footpath (12-26 mm h-1) were conducive to overland flow generation during medium- to high-intensity storms and thus to local flash flooding. Pertinently, surface and near-surface Kfs in the heavily used pine forest remained similar to those for degraded pasture. Estimated monsoonal overland flow totals for degraded pasture, pine forest, and natural forest were 21.3%, 15.5%, and 2.5% of incident rainfall, respectively, reflecting the relative ranking of surface Kfs. Along with high water use by the pines, this lack of recovery of soil hydraulic properties under pine reforestation is shown to be a critical factor in the regionally observed decline in base flows following large-scale planting of pines and has important implications for regional forest management.

Fauna using nest boxes in four timber types in eastern Texas

Treesearch

Richard N. Conner; Daniel Saenz; D. Craig Rudolph

1995-01-01

Occupancy of 240 nest boxes in pure pine, pine-hardwood, upland hardwood, and bottomland hardwood forests (60 boxes in each forest type) were monitored for six years on the Stephen F. Austin Experimental Forest, Nacogdoches County in eastern Texas. Three boxes were placed at twenty sites in each forest type. Initially, each site had a box with 3.2, 4.7, or 5.7 cm...

Slash disposal in western white pine forests in Idaho

Treesearch

J. A. Larsen; W. C. Lowdermilk

1924-01-01

If all sizes of material produced by a forest are salable, very little logging debris of slash remains to hinder the reproduction or to increase the fire hazard. In the white-pine type of northern Idaho, however, only the larger and most valuable forest products can at present be taken out at a profit. The virgin forests of this region yield from 15,000 to 40,000, and...

The effects of forest fires on the stand history of New Jersey's pine region

Treesearch

S. Little

1946-01-01

This paper summarizes the present knowledge on the effects of forest fires in the Pine Region of New Jersey. It is not the result of any one research project, but the combined result of research and observations. Its purpose is to acquaint foresters and others having some knowledge of forestry and conservation with the importance of forest fires and the part they have...

Stand density guides for predicting growth of forest tress of southwest Idaho

Treesearch

Douglas D. Basford; John Sloan; Joy Roberts

2010-01-01

This paper presents a method for estimating stand growth from stand density and average diameter in stands of pure and mixed species in Southwest Idaho. The methods are adapted from a model developed for Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, and lodgepole pine on the Salmon National Forest. Growth data were derived from ponderosa pine increment cores taken from sample plots on...

Ridgetop fire history of an oak-pine forest in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas

Treesearch

Bear L. Engbring; Eric Heitzman; Martin A. Spetich

2008-01-01

A total of 53 fire-scarred Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine) trees were examined to reconstruct a ridgetop fi re chronology of an oak-pine forest in the Ozark Mountains of north-central Arkansas. This process yielded 104 fire scars dating to 61 separate fire years. Fire frequency was greatest during the Euro-American Settlement Period (1820–1900), when...

Bending strength and stiffness of loblolly pine lumber from intensively managed stands located on the Georgia Lower Coastal Plain

Treesearch

Mark Alexander Butler; Joseph Dahlen; Richard F. Daniels; Thomas L. Eberhardt; Finto Antony

2016-01-01

Loblolly pine is increasingly grown on intensively managed plantation forests that yield excellent growth; however, lumber cut from these trees often contains a large percentage of juvenile wood which negatively impacts strength and stiffness. Because of changing forest management and mill practices the design values for visually graded southern pine were updated in...

First report of Fusarium proliferatum causing Fusarium root disease on sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) in a forest container nursery in California

Treesearch

J. E. Stewart; K. Otto; G. A. Cline; Kas Dumroese; Ned Klopfenstein; M. -S. Kim

2016-01-01

Fusarium species, specifically F. commune, F. proliferatum, and F. solani, can cause severe damping-off and root disease in container and bareroot forest nurseries throughout North America. Many conifer and hardwood species can be affected, but Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), western white pine (Pinus monticola), and ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa) are known to be...

Do mountain pine beetle outbreaks change the probability of active crown fire in lodgepole pine forests?

Treesearch

W. Matt Jolly; Russell Parsons; J. Morgan Varner; Bret W. Butler; Kevin C. Ryan; Corey L. Gucker

2012-01-01

An expansive mountain pine beetle (MPB) epidemic is currently impacting North American forests (Raffa et al. 2008). As beetle-attacked trees die, lose their needles, and eventually fall to the ground, there are substantial changes in stand structure. These fuel changes likely affect both surface and crown fire behavior, but there is not yet a consensus among experts...

Volume, Mass, And Nutrients Of Down Woody Debris Following Initial Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Grass Restoration Activities In The Ouachita Mountains Of Arkansas

Treesearch

Jessica C. Seifert; Hal O. Liechty; Martin A. Spetich; Daniel A. Marion

2004-01-01

Abstract - The Ouachita National Forest is restoring pine-mixed hardwood forests to a shortleaf pine-bluestem grass ecosystem through harvesting, midstory control, and the application of prescribed fire. Mean mass and volume of downed woody debris (DWD) in plots following initial harvesting and midstory-control were respectively 335 percent and 253...

An old-growth definition for upland longleaf and south Florida slash pine forests, woodlands, and savannas

Treesearch

J. Larry Landers; William D. Boyer

1999-01-01

Upland longleaf pine forests, woodlands, and savannas once occupied most of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains from southeastern Virginia south through the northern two-thirds of Florida and west to east Texas, with extensions into the Piedmont and mountains of Alabama and northwest Georgia. South Florida slash pine is native to the southern half of peninsular...

Stand level impacts of Ips and Dendroctonus bark beetles in pine forest types of northern Arizona

Treesearch

Joel McMillin; John Anhold; Jose Negron

2008-01-01

(Please note, this is an extended abstract only) Extensive tree mortality occurred in ponderosa pine forests and pinon-juniper woodlands of Arizona from 2001-2004. This mortality has been attributed to a combination of an extensive drought, overstocked stands of pine, and increased bark beetle populations. A complex of Ips and Dendroctonus species worked in concert to...

A case study showing potential supplies of red pine sawtimber in the Lake States.

Treesearch

Thomas C. Marcin; Darrell M. Frogness

1975-01-01

Red pine sawtimber mills will increase significantly in the Lake States in the next 50 years as young stands established since the 1930's mature. The long-range effects of this increase for the Chippewa National Forest in northern Minnesota are analyzed using Timber RAM. Red pine sawtimber cut may increase eightfold in the next 50 years for the Forest.

The longleaf pine forests of the southeast: requiem or renaissance?

Treesearch

J. Larry Landers; David H. van Lear; William D. Boyer

1995-01-01

Longleaf pine once may have occupied as much as 92 million acres throughout the southeastern United States, making it the most extensive forest ecosystem in North America dominated by a single species. Probably less than 3 million acres now remain, and the survival of this once vast ecosystem is in doubt.Longleaf pine has many favorable attributes that suit it to a...

Effect of restoration thinning on mycorrhizal fungal propagules in a northern Arizona ponderosa pine forest: Preliminary results

Treesearch

Julie E. Korb; Nancy C. Johnson; W. W. Covington

2001-01-01

The inoculum potential for arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi were investigated in thinned and uncut control stands in a northern Arizona ponderosa pine forest. A corn bioassay was used to determine the relative amount of infective propagules of AM fungi, and a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) bioassay was used to determine the relative amount...

Historical and contemporary lessons from ponderosa pine genetic studies at the Fort Valley Experimental Forest, Arizona (P-53)

Treesearch

Laura E. DeWald; Mary Frances Mahalovich

2008-01-01

Forest management will protect genetic integrity of tree species only if their genetic diversity is understood and considered in decision-making. Genetic knowledge is particularly important for species such as ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) that are distributed across wide geographic distances and types of climates. A ponderosa pine study initiated in...

Slash disposal burns in pine patch-cuttings...a dialogue

Treesearch

Dale O. Hall

1967-01-01

Since 1963, there have been 17 slash disposal burns carried out successfully in pine patch-cuttings on the Challenge Experimental Forest, Yuba County, California. The burned units ranged from 2 to 46 acres. Costs per acre ranged from $8.42 to $60.97. Answers to questions most asked by foresters about broadcast burning pine slash are given in the form of a dialogue....

Influence of selection systems and shelterwood methods on understory plant communities of longleaf pine forests in flatwoods and uplands

Treesearch

Dale G. Brockway; Kenneth W. Outcalt

2015-01-01

Although longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests have mostly been managed with even-aged methods, interest has been rising in uneven-aged systems, as a means of achieving a broader range of stewardship objectives. Selection silviculture has been practiced on a limited scale in longleaf pine, but difficulty of using traditional approaches and...

Overstory tree status following thinning and burning treatments in mixed pine-hardwood stands on the William B. Bankhead National Forest, Alabama

Treesearch

Callie Jo Schweitzer; Yong Wang

2013-01-01

Prescribed burning and thinning are intermediate stand treatments whose consequences when applied in mixed pine-hardwood stands are unknown. The William B. Bankhead National Forest in northcentral Alabama has undertaken these two options to move unmanaged, 20- to 50-year-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations towards upland hardwood-dominated...

[Effect of pine plantations on soil arthropods in a high Andean forest].

PubMed

León-Gamboa, Alba Lucía; Ramos, Carolina; García, Mary Ruth

2010-09-01

One of the most common problems in the Colombian mountains has been the replacement of native vegetation by pine plantations. Soil arthropods are a fundamental component of forest ecosystem, since they participate in the organic matter fragmentation, previous to decomposition. This role is more valuable in high altitude environments, where low temperatures limit the dynamics of biological processes, where the effects of pine plantations on soil arthropods are still not well-known. In a remnant of high-andean forest (Neusa - Colombia) and a pine plantation of about 50 years-old, it was evaluated the composition, richness and abundance of arthropods at surface (S), organic horizon (O) and mineral horizon (A) of soil, to establish the differences associated to the soil use transformation. It was used "Pitfall" sampling to register the movement of the epigeous fauna, and extraction by funnel Berlese for determining the fauna density from O and A horizons. The Shannon and Simpson indexes estimated the diversity at different places and horizons, and the trophic structure of the community was evaluated. Overall, there were collected 38 306 individuals from forest and 17 386 individuals from pine plantation, mainly distributed in Collembola (42.4%), Acari (27%), Diptera (17.6%) and Coleoptera (4.6%). The most important differences were given in the surface, where the mobilization in forest (86 individuals/day) almost triplicates the one in pine plantation (33 individuals/day). The differences in composition were given in Collembola, Araneae, Hemiptera, Homoptera and Hymenoptera. The dynamics of richness and abundance along the year had significant high values in the native forest than in the pine plantation. The general trophic structure was dominated by saprophagous (75%), followed by predators (14%) and phytophagous (9%), but in two layers of the pine plantation soil (S and O) this structural pattern was not given. Based on the results, it was concluded that pine plantations affect the diversity, composition, community dynamic and trophic structure of soil arthropods. Also, some estimators of soil stability give signals that these effects are reducing the ecosystem function in the region.

Compatible above-ground biomass equations and carbon stock estimation for small diameter Turkish pine (Pinus brutia Ten.).

PubMed

Sakici, Oytun Emre; Kucuk, Omer; Ashraf, Muhammad Irfan

2018-04-15

Small trees and saplings are important for forest management, carbon stock estimation, ecological modeling, and fire management planning. Turkish pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) is a common coniferous species and comprises 25.1% of total forest area of Turkey. Turkish pine is also important due to its flammable fuel characteristics. In this study, compatible above-ground biomass equations were developed to predict needle, branch, stem wood, and above-ground total biomass, and carbon stock assessment was also described for Turkish pine which is smaller than 8 cm diameter at breast height or shorter than breast height. Compatible biomass equations are useful for biomass prediction of small diameter individuals of Turkish pine. These equations will also be helpful in determining fire behavior characteristics and calculating their carbon stock. Overall, present study will be useful for developing ecological models, forest management plans, silvicultural plans, and fire management plans.

Temperate pine barrens and tropical rain forests are both rich in undescribed fungi.

PubMed

Luo, Jing; Walsh, Emily; Naik, Abhishek; Zhuang, Wenying; Zhang, Keqin; Cai, Lei; Zhang, Ning

2014-01-01

Most of fungal biodiversity on Earth remains unknown especially in the unexplored habitats. In this study, we compared fungi associated with grass (Poaceae) roots from two ecosystems: the temperate pine barrens in New Jersey, USA and tropical rain forests in Yunnan, China, using the same sampling, isolation and species identification methods. A total of 426 fungal isolates were obtained from 1600 root segments from 80 grass samples. Based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences and morphological characteristics, a total of 85 fungal species (OTUs) belonging in 45 genera, 23 families, 16 orders, and 6 classes were identified, among which the pine barrens had 38 and Yunnan had 56 species, with only 9 species in common. The finding that grass roots in the tropical forests harbor higher fungal species diversity supports that tropical forests are fungal biodiversity hotspots. Sordariomycetes was dominant in both places but more Leotiomycetes were found in the pine barrens than Yunnan, which may play a role in the acidic and oligotrophic pine barrens ecosystem. Equal number of undescribed fungal species were discovered from the two sampled ecosystems, although the tropical Yunnan had more known fungal species. Pine barrens is a unique, unexplored ecosystem. Our finding suggests that sampling plants in such unexplored habitats will uncover novel fungi and that grass roots in pine barrens are one of the major reservoirs of novel fungi with about 47% being undescribed species.

Naturally Occurring Compound Can Protect Pines from the Southern Pine Beetle

Treesearch

B.L. Strom; R.A. Goyer; J.L. Hayes

1995-01-01

The southern pine beetle (SPB), Dendroctonus frontalis, is the most destructive insect pest of southern pine forests. This tiny insect, smaller than a grain of rice, is responsible for killing pine timber worth millions of dollars on a periodic basis in Louisiana.

Southern Pine Beetle Handbook: Southern Pine Beetles Can Kill Your Ornamental Pine

Treesearch

Robert C. Thatcher; Jack E. Coster; Thomas L. Payne

1974-01-01

Southern pine beetles are compulsive eaters. Each year in the South from Texas to Virginia the voracious insects conduct a movable feast across thousands of acres of pine forests. Most trees die soon after the beetles sink their teeth into them.

Ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir: a comparison of species richness in native western North American forests and Patagonian plantations from Argentina.

PubMed

Barroetaveña, C; Cázares, E; Rajchenberg, M

2007-07-01

The putative ectomycorrhizal fungal species registered from sporocarps associated with ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir forests in their natural range distribution (i.e., western Canada, USA, and Mexico) and from plantations in south Argentina and other parts of the world are listed. One hundred and fifty seven taxa are reported for native ponderosa pine forests and 514 taxa for native Douglas-fir forests based on available literature and databases. A small group of genera comprises a high proportion of the species richness for native Douglas-fir (i.e., Cortinarius, Inocybe, and Russula), whereas in native ponderosa pine, the species richness is more evenly distributed among several genera. The comparison between ectomycorrhizal species richness associated with both trees in native forests and in Patagonia (Argentina) shows far fewer species in the latter, with 18 taxa for the ponderosa pine and 15 for the Douglas-fir. Epigeous species richness is clearly dominant in native Douglas-fir, whereas a more balanced relation epigeous/hypogeous richness is observed for native ponderosa pine; a similar trend was observed for Patagonian plantations. Most fungi in Patagonian Douglas-fir plantations have not been recorded in plantations elsewhere, except Suillus lakei and Thelephora terrestris, and only 56% of the fungal taxa recorded in Douglas-fir plantations around the world are known from native forests, the other taxa being new associations for this host, suggesting that new tree + ectomycorrhizal fungal taxa associations are favored in artificial situations as plantations.

The white pine - oak forests of the anthracite region

Treesearch

C. F. Burnham; M. J. Ferree; F. E. Cunningham

1947-01-01

The white pine - oak forests in the Anthracite Region occupy approximately one-fifth of the forested area. They occur chiefly in the central and southern counties of the region and are characteristic of the fairly fertile agricultural sections in the rolling foothills. Sixty-nine percent are located in these farming areas, another 23 percent are in less accessible...

Insect Pollinators of Three Rare Plants in a Florida Longleaf Pine Forest

Treesearch

Theresa Pitts-Singer; James L. Hanula; Joan L. Walker

2002-01-01

As a result of human activity, longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Miller) forests in the southern United States have been lost or drastically altered. Many of the plant species that historically occupied those forests now persist only as remnants and are classified as threatened or endangered. In order to safeguard such species, a better understanding of...

Productivity of planted shortleaf pine in artificially compacted Clarksville soil

Treesearch

Felix Jr. Ponder

2007-01-01

After 9 years, tree survival was 72, 65, and 70 percent for not compacted, medium compacted, and severely compacted treatments, respectively, for shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) planted in a forest clearcut on the Carr Creek State Forest in Shannon County, Missouri. The study is in one of the USDA Forest Service's Long-term Soil...

Returns from a white pine woodlot

Treesearch

Thomas W. McConkey

1954-01-01

Most of the forest land in the white pine region of the Northeast is owned in relatively small blocks or woodlots. The way these many small woodlots are managed can affect the forest economy of the entire region. Good forest management can increase the owner's income and provide more and better raw material for the wood processing industries.

Effects of Forest Management Practices on Terrestrial Coleopteran Assemblages in Sand Pine Scrub

Treesearch

Cathryn H. Greenberg; Michael C. Thomas

1995-01-01

Coleopteran assemblages were sampled monthly for one year using pitfall traps in replicated sites of three 5- to 7-year-old disturbance treatments and mature forested sand pine scrub in the Ocala National Forest, Marion County, Florida. Disturbance treatments were (1) burning at high-intensity and salvage-logging; (2) clearcutting, roller-chopping and broadcast...

Trends in snag populations in drought-stressed mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine forests (1997-2007)

Treesearch

Joseph L. Ganey; Scott C. Vojta

2012-01-01

Snags provide important biological legacies, resources for numerous species of native wildlife, and contribute to decay dynamics and ecological processes in forested ecosystems. We monitored trends in snag populations from 1997 to 2007 in drought-stressed mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws) forests, northern Arizona. Median snag density...