Category: Experimental Forests

Flowers on the Forest Floor: Herbaceous Contributions to Ecosystem Processes

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery  • 
Plant diversity in eastern U.S. forests comes not only from trees, but from the ferns, wildflowers, and other herbaceous plants on the forest floor.  Some researchers have found that as much as 90 percent of plant diversity is due to these understory species. “Until recently, not much was known about the role these plants play…  More 

The Future of Streams: Using Air Temperature to Model Stream Warming

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery  • 
Stream temperatures affect the health of aquatic animals as well as many other biological and ecological processes. However, finding out whether – or how much – streams are warming has been difficult, as long-term temperature data does not exist for many waterways. A new U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) study shows that long-term historic…  More 

Student Scientists Present Research at Coweeta Laboratory

by Rod Truesdell, SRS Communications  • 
At the U.S. Forest Service Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory (Coweeta) in Otto, North Carolina, scientists investigate patterns of weather and climate and the impact that climate change is having on southeastern forests. Recently, 50 fifth graders from the nearby Macon County Mountain View Intermediate (MVI) School presented their own weather research projects at the laboratory, which…  More 

Civilian Conservation Corps’ Rocky Road in Louisiana

by Patty Matteson, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
The Work of the Civilian Conservation Corps: Pioneering Conservation in Louisiana by U.S Forest Service Southern Research Station emeritus scientist James P. Barnett and Louisiana State University library director Anna C. Burns provides a vivid account of the history, projects, and people involved in the New Deal program. While most states were benefitting from the passage of…  More 

Scull Shoals Experimental Forest

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
  The 4,500-acre Scull Shoals Experimental Forest (Scull Shoals) near Athens, Georgia, has served as the site of silvicultural research studies since the 1930s. In 1959, when the experimental forest was officially designated part of the Oconee National Forest, researchers started studies on the role of fire in silviculture, the development of wildlife habitat, and…  More 

SRS Funds Graduate Student’s Pollinator Study

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
Through its Partnership Enhancement Initiative, the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) provides funding to students – especially minority students – and professors interested in studying natural resource issues. One of the recent grant recipients was Hampton University, a historically black university in Virginia. “The grant funded Michael Mitchell – a Master of Science…  More 

Changes at Streamside in the Southern Appalachians

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
The loss of eastern hemlock could affect water yield and storm flow from forest watersheds in the southern Appalachians, according to a new study by U.S. Forest Service scientists at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory (Coweeta) located in Otto, North Carolina. The article was recently published online in the journal Ecohydrology. “Eastern hemlock trees have died throughout…  More 

The Olustee Experimental Forest

by Carol Whitlock  • 
The 3,135-acre Olustee Experimental Forest (Olustee), located in northeast Florida was established in 1931. Part of the Osceola National Forest, the experimental forest served as the primary study site for a number of U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) units for almost 60 years. In the beginning, research on the Olustee focused mostly on…  More 

The Delta Experimental Forest

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
Located in Washington County, Mississippi, the 2,600-acre Delta Experimental Forest (the Delta) was established in 1945 by the U.S. Forest Service and is owned and managed by Mississippi State University (MSU). The Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) Center for Bottomland Hardwoods Research conducts research on the forest under a long-term cooperative agreement. Until the 1970s,…  More 

Jennifer Knoepp Named Soil Science Society of America Fellow

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
U.S. Forest Service scientist Jennifer Knoepp was recently selected as a Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) Fellow for 2014.  Fellow is the highest recognition bestowed by SSSA, an international scientific society whose more than 6,000 members are dedicated to advancing the field of soil science and fostering the transfer of knowledge and practices to…  More