Month: July 2016

The Appalachian-Cumberland Highland: The Next 50 Years

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Knowing more about how the future might unfold can improve decisions that are sure to have long-term consequences. The Southern Forest Futures Project, a multi-agency effort led by the U.S. Forest Service, aimed to forecast and interpret changes in southern forests under multiple scenarios over the next several decades. The project also included a suite…  More 

The Chipola Experimental Forest

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Located in the sandhills of the Florida Panhandle, the Chipola Experimental Forest (Chipola) was established in 1952 on privately owned land under a 99-year lease to the Southern Forest Experiment Station (now the Southern Research Station), International Paper Company, and Hardaway Contracting Company. The two companies requested the cooperative arrangement with the Forest Service to…  More 

Watersheds of the Future Could Mirror a Variable Climate

by Stephanie Worley Firley  • 
With some exceptions, precipitation, water yield from forests, and forest growth and productivity generally increase from west to east across the United States. Shifts in temperature and precipitation associated with climate change may not necessarily alter these general west-to-east trends, but U.S. Forest Service and university researchers do anticipate great variability in how watersheds respond…  More 

The Guide to Prescribed Fire in Southern Ecosystems

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Prescribed burning is FIRE “applied in a skillful manner, under exacting weather conditions, in a definite place, to achieve specific results.” Printed on the inside cover of the Introduction to Prescribed Fire in Southern Ecosystems, the sentence sets the tone for the revised guide developed by U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) scientists Tom…  More 

Developing a Network of the South’s Experimental Forests

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
For decades, scientists on the 19 experimental forests of the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) have investigated research questions that are as diverse as the experimental forests themselves. Research topics include forest management and regeneration; restoration of wildlife and plant populations; watershed management; and the effects of pollution, climate change, and timber harvest.…  More 

Regenerating Shortleaf Pine in the Southern Appalachians

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
On June 14th, at the annual meeting of the Southern Group of State Foresters, Arkansas State Forester Joe Fox and U.S. Forest Service Southern Region Deputy Regional Forester Ken Arney announced the release of a long-awaited five-year plan developed by the Shortleaf Pine Initiative to stem the rapid decline of regional short­leaf pine forests. Shortleaf…  More 

Changes in Forest Conditions Have Contributed to Pollinator Decline

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Forests in North America have changed rapidly over the past century. Before European settlement, forests were a mosaic of open pine and hardwood forests, prairies, and woodland savannas. Recent studies have found that forests with sun-filled openings and those with open canopies —  where the branches from adjacent trees don’t touch or overlap — favor pollinators…  More 

Expanding the Reach of Forest Data and Research with Story Maps

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
The USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) unit is increasing the interactivity and reach of forest science by using FIA and other data to create storymaps on topics that range from southern forest products to white-nose syndrome. Developed on Esri’s ArcGIS Online platform, storymaps are stand-alone web-based resources that…  More 

When Privet’s Removed, Native Plants and Pollinators Return

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Forests infested with privet invoke a kind of despair in people attuned to the problem of invasive plants. Privet invades a forest quickly, sprawling across the understory and growing into thickets that crowd out native plants and change the very ecology of an area. Even if the woody shrub can be removed effectively, can a…  More 

For Managers: Guidelines for Regenerating Southern Pine Beetle Spots

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
  Guidelines for Regenerating Southern Pine Beetle Spots, a general technical report (GTR) by the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS), provides detailed guidance for regenerating pines in areas within forest stands where trees have been killed by the southern pine beetle. Authored by scientists from two units located in Pineville, Louisiana—the SRS Restoring…  More