Category: Bottomland Hardwoods

Pondberry needs light to thrive

by Virginia McDaniel, Science Writer  • 
  Pondberry (Lindera melissifolia) can tolerate deep shade and flooded soil – conditions that would kill many plants. However, the endangered shrub prefers more light and less flooding, as a team of USDA Forest Service researchers led by Ted Leininger shows. Leininger and colleagues have conducted several pondberry studies at the Flooding Research Facility on…  More 

Bat foraging in winter vs summer

by Stephanie Siegel, USDA Forest Service Contract Science Writer  • 
Unlike bats in cold northern regions, bats in the South can be active year-round. However, most studies of bat habitat use have been conducted during the summer, Little is known about winter bat habitat. In summer and winter 2018 and 2019, USDA Forest Service scientist Susan Loeb, Clemson University graduate student Kyle Shute, and his…  More 

Handbook for 30-year-old bottomland oak stands

by Stephanie Siegel, USDA Forest Service Contract Science Writer  • 
Southern floodplain forest landowners can benefit from a new USDA Forest Service handbook of silvicultural practices for oaks planted on former croplands. The practical volume outlines the methods – and supporting science – for managing stands to produce high-quality oak sawtimber, improve wildlife habitat through acorn production, or an integrated approach for both timber and…  More 

100 Years of Forest Service Research in the South

by Sarah Farmer and Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
In 2021, the Southern Research Station and all of USDA Forest Service celebrates the centennial of Forest Service research in the South. On July 1, 1921, the Forest Service established two new experiment stations. They were modest operations. The Southern Forest Experiment Station, headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, had only five employees. The Appalachian Forest…  More 

Top Ten of 2020

by Jennifer Moore Myers and Sarah Farmer  • 
As 2020 comes to an end, it is a good time to gather our most-read CompassLive stories from the past year. Each one highlights the work of USDA Forest Service scientists at the Southern Research Station. We hope you enjoy reading this collection, which includes the most popular of 2020 plus a few more that…  More 

Dams & Crayfish Genetics

by Casey Conrad, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
In Alabama, crayfishes are being separated and genetically changed, which increases the risk of local extinction. This work is not done by a mad scientist, but by dams with their reservoirs and unnatural pools of water. A novel study published in the journal Freshwater Biology by USDA Forest Service scientists Zanethia Barnett and Susan Adams,…  More 

Pondberry Responds to Light Availability and Soil Flooding

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Pondberry is endangered, but it can persist through environmental stress. It prefers partial sun but can linger in deep shade for years. It can survive long periods of soil flooding, and even flowers while it’s flooded. “All indications are that this species would benefit from active management,” says Emile Gardiner, a USDA Forest Service research…  More 

Ying Ouyang Receives Soil Science Society of America’s Highest Honor

by Teresa Jackson, SRS Public Affairs  • 
Research hydrologist Ying Ouyang was recently named a 2019 Fellow by the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), the highest recognition bestowed by the organization. The SSSA is an international scientific society whose members are dedicated to advancing the field of soil science to sustain global soils. Each year, members nominate colleagues based on their professional…  More 

Susan Adams Receives National Rise to the Future Award

by Teresa Jackson, SRS Public Affairs  • 
USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station aquatic ecologist Susan Adams received the 2019 Rise to the Future Jim Sedell Research Achievement Award. The award was presented during the Forest Service’s Rise to the Future (RTTF) awards reception in Washington, DC. The RTTF awards recognize outstanding individual and group achievements by natural resource professionals in the…  More 

Bachman’s Warbler

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
From 1975 to 1979, Paul Hamel and colleagues spent 7,000 hours walking through the Francis Marion National Forest and adjacent lands in South Carolina, playing the song of the Bachman’s Warbler and listening for the response that never came. “Eventually, my adviser said ‘this is a biology department, not a history department!’ So I expanded…  More