Category: Invasive Plants

NSF Grant Funds New Understanding of Plant Invasions at Larger Scales

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Purdue University and U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) researchers recently received over $700,000 from the National Science Foundation to explore regional and continental patterns of non-native plant invasions. Chris Oswalt, research forester with the SRS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) unit, and Qinfeng Guo, ecologist with the Eastern Forest Threat Assessment Center, serve…  More 

Reflections on the Southern Forest Futures Project

by David Wear and John Greis, Editors, Southern Forest Futures Project Technical Report  • 
In 2008, we started the Southern Forest Futures Project with 15 public workshops held in each of the 13 States of our region. In Baton Rouge, Asheville, Stillwater, Charleston, and all the other locations, we discussed and compiled the concerns of more than 700 resource professionals and other interested  citizens regarding the great and vast…  More 

International Researchers Mobilize Against Risky Stowaway Pests

by Stephanie Worley Firley  • 
Sometimes there is more to global trade than meets the eye. While consumers and economies may benefit from expanding market opportunities and a seemingly endless array of readily available goods, harmful pests could be lurking as people and products are transported between countries. An international research network, including scientists from the U.S. Forest Service, recently met to…  More 

ForWarn Researchers Get EVEREST-Sized Look at Woodland Disturbances

by Stephanie Worley Firley, EFETAC, & Dawn Levy, ORNL  • 
An exploratory visualization facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has provided researchers with the Forest Service Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center and their partners a unique view of maps used for detecting and tracking unexpected forest change and disturbances. The researchers are part of a large team that developed the first near-real-time forest threat…  More 

Key Findings from the U.S. Forest Service National Climate Assessment

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
U.S. Forest Service Research and Development recently published a comprehensive synthesis of the effects of climate change on U.S. Forests . Led and edited by Forest Service scientists Jim Vose (Southern Research Station), Dave Peterson (Pacific Northwest Research Station), and Toral Patel-Weynand (Forest Service Research & Development), the report includes chapters written by experts from…  More 

Ecosystem Resilience in a Changing World

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
Native forests and grasslands across the world face a range of threats, including climate change, urbanization, and exotic species invasions. Ecosystem restoration is frequently offered as a partial solution to these threats, because less stressed ecosystems seem better equipped to resist invasion. “By aiming to restore ecosystem resilience, plant communities can endure in the face…  More 

Eucalyptus in the South

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Because it grows rapidly and can develop high wood density, there’s increasing interest in the South for growing Eucalyptus commercially as a bioenergy feedstock. For the South, this means finding and testing Eucalyptus species that will grow in temperate areas as well as genetically modified hybrids bred to be frost tolerant. Growing well under a…  More 

Futures Report Charts Changes for Southern Forests

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
  High elevation forest in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Photo by Zoe Hoyle. The Southern Forest Futures Project started in 2008 with a series of public meetings across the South to gather perceptions and input about the future of the regions forests. Project leaders then used expert analysis and models to forecast and interpret changes…  More 

Risk Analysis Journal Honors Eastern Threat Center Research

by Stephanie Worley Firley, Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center  • 
Two scientific papers co-authored by U.S. Forest Service Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center researchers and featured in the journal Risk Analysis are recognized for their contributions to the field of ecological risk assessment. In a special journal issue, Risk Analysis editor Wayne Landis selected 25 key papers published in the journal since its founding…  More 

Kudzu: The Guest That Just Won’t Leave

by Maureen Stuart, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
Spring is right around the corner, and in the South, “all eyes turn to kudzu as it awakes,” says James Miller, research ecologist (emeritus) for the U.S. Forest Service Insects, Diseases, and Invasive Plants unit. Introduced to United States at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, kudzu was touted as a quick-growing ornamental vine with…  More