All Articles Page 102

Can the Kudzu Bug Stop the Vine That Ate the South?

by Sharon Dowdy, University of Georgia  • 
Southern Research Station (SRS) entomologist Jim Hanula may be the only person in the South who actually wants to keep kudzu alive. He needs healthy plots of the famous weed to monitor the effect the bean plataspid—a pest that entered Georgia some two years ago and has become known as the kudzu bug—is having on…  More 

Supporting Forest Inventory Further South

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
  Peruvian and Colombian stakeholder study tour in Knoxville, TN A group of nine forest inventory stakeholders from Peru and Colombia visited the Southern Research Station Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) research unit (SRS FIA) in Knoxville, TN, from May 14 to 17.  Accompanying them were personnel from the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station…  More 

Combatting Illegal Logging in Peru

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
In Peru, the USDA Forest Service is currently collaborating with the Government and counterparts to enhance forest sector governance and promote legal trade in timber products.The work is vital in helping the country to comply with the obligations detailed in the Environment Chapter and Annex on Forest Sector Governance  (the Annex) of the US-Peru Trade…  More 

Saving the Genetic Treasures of Southern Forests

by Sarah Farmer, Science Delivery Group  • 
People have saved seeds since the dawn of agriculture, but scientists at the Southern Research Station (SRS) are doing something new–combining modern genetics and the silvicultural strategy of seed orchards to preserve the genetic heritage of the South’s most at risk- and most ecologically important trees. Trees across the Southeast face exotic pests, shrinking ranges and…  More 

Trees in Transition

by Stephanie Worley Firley, EFETAC  • 
In forests as in life, the only constant is change. Forest species are ever adjusting to changing conditions resulting from seasonal fluctuations in temperature and precipitation, disturbances such as storms and wildfire, and interactions with other species. But typical temperature and precipitation patterns are now also changing; in some areas, climatic changes are occurring rather rapidly,…  More 

North Carolina: A Bioenergy Case Study

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
State and Federal policies on renewable energy will, to a great extent, drive demand for wood-to-energy biomass feedstocks. Across the United States, 29 states and the District of Columbia have adopted renewable portfolio standards (RPS) mandating that a certain percent of the states energy come from renewable sources by a certain date. In the South,…  More 

Unwelcome Pests Often Hitch a Ride

by Perdita Spriggs, EFETAC  • 
EFETAC and Canadian Researchers Investigate the Firewood Connection Firewood has ignited a national debate, especially in campgrounds, because it can carry unwanted forest insect pests across state borders and potentially even between the United States and Canada. Many of these nonnative pests are well-known—hemlock woolly adelgid, emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle—for causing significant ecological and…  More 

From One Forest to Another

by Bryan Mudder, SRS Restoring and Managing Longleaf Pine Ecosystems unit  • 
    Some of the most intense ecosystem management in the United States happens behind the secure gates of our military bases.  Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base in North Carolina may not evoke thoughts of scenic streams and woodlands, but managers there are, in many ways, leading the charge for restoring diverse native ecosystems. They’re undertaking…  More 

Southern Pine Beetle Impacts on Forests

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Shortleaf pine-hardwood ecosystem restoration following insect outbreak Research by Southern Research Station (SRS) scientists shows that the impacts of recent outbreaks of southern pine beetle further degraded shortleaf pine-hardwood forest ecosystems in the southern Appalachian region. The authors suggest that cutting and burning these sites reduces heavy fuel loads, improves soil nutrient status, and opens…  More 

Creepy Crawlies a Hit at the Kent House Bug Day

by Patty Matteson, Science Delivery Group  • 
There were “good” bugs, “bad” bugs and close to 1,000 people at the 5th Annual Kent House Bug Day sponsored by the Southern Research Station (SRS). The annual event was the idea of former Forest Service student employee Jessica Norris, now a local teacher, and Stacy Blomquist, biological technician with SRS Insects, Diseases, and Invasive Plants unit in Pineville,…  More