All Articles Page 4

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 

Highlighting Heirs’ Property Ownership and Land Loss

by Teresa Jackson, SRS Public Affairs  • 
A USDA Forest Service publication on heirs’ property ownership across the southern U.S. highlights a kind of land ownership prevalent among lower wealth, African Americans in the Black Belt South, central Appalachian whites, and Hispanic Americans in U.S. southwest colonia communities. A meeting co-hosted by the Southern Research Station and the Federal Reserve Bank of…  More 

Temperature Drives Invasive Asian Earthworm’s Hatching Success

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Amynthas agrestis is an Asian earthworm that has become increasingly abundant in North American forests. The earthworms consume massive quantities of leaf litter, disrupt established food webs, and outcompete native species. Ideas for control have been limited by the lack of information on their life history traits, such as optimal hatching temperature. With UGA graduate…  More 

Groundwater Recharge in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley

by Ivan Garcia, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
The Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley is a floodplain that spans seven states. It is suffering from groundwater depletion – a long-term water level decline due to human use. Irrigation and overuse of water resources have led to a seven meter drop in groundwater levels from 1987 to 2014. Water from precipitation and other sources…  More 

Introducing Science Shorts

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
SRS is adding a new feature to CompassLive: Science Shorts. Science Shorts are 200-word summaries, similar to a news brief, that highlight one or two key findings from a new research paper. They were inspired by The Wildlife Professional’s Science in Short columns. SRS Science Shorts will not replace the longer CompassLive articles, but their…  More 

Modeling Study on Cattle Feed Crops & River Flow Depletion

by Casey Conrad, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
A new study uses a USDA Forest Service modeling tool – the Water Supply Stress Index, or WaSSI, ecosystem services model – to explore the relationship between water use, river flows, and fish populations across the conterminous U.S. Brian Richter from the University of Virginia led the study. SRS researcher Peter Caldwell’s expertise with WaSSI…  More 

Targeted Deer Removal Can Reduce Deer-Vehicle Collisions

by Ivan Garcia, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
Deer-vehicle collisions are common, dangerous, and costly examples of human-wildlife conflict in the U.S. Targeted removal (sharpshooting) of deer that linger on the side of the road has proven effective in reducing such conflict in urban areas. USDA Forest Service research wildlife biologist John Kilgo, along with collaborators, tested this strategy in a secure, wooded…  More 

Reptile and Amphibian Response to Prescribed Burns in Florida

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
USDA Forest Service and University of Florida scientists partnered to monitor reptiles and amphibians before and after growing season (spring and summer) and dormant season (winter) prescribed burns in longleaf pine sandhills in a study on the Ocala National Forest in Florida. The research team recorded the number of animals captured, the number of species…  More 

Past Partial-Cutting Techniques More Beneficial Than Past Clear-Cutting

by Casey Conrad, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
What is the most sustainable way to harvest a forest? A team led by USDA Forest Service scientists Katherine Elliott and Chelcy Miniat, along with Forest Service intern Andrea Medenblik, tries to answer this question. Data were analyzed from a long-term study looking at the biomass effects of partial-cutting versus clear-cutting in different watersheds in…  More 

After Fire, Red Oak Seedlings Resprout

by Ivan Garcia, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
Disturbance – from fire and subsistence living to widespread exploitative logging – enabled the growth of oak (Quercus) forests across the eastern U.S. These disturbances are not common today. Reduced disturbance, coupled with a long-term increase in moisture availability has been good for non-oak trees, which establish and grow under the older oak canopy –…  More