All Articles Page 4

Santee Experimental Forest Research Forum

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
On April 1, 2021, scientists and experts from the South and across the globe gathered virtually to talk about research on the Santee Experimental Forest. Santee EF is one of 84 sites in the USDA Forest Service Experimental Forest & Range Network. It was founded in 1937, one year after the Francis Marion National Forest…  More 

Chinese Privet, Arthropods, and Bees

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) is one of the worst invasive plants in the South. It dominates the shrub layer and often becomes the only shrub underneath trees, especially in streamside areas. But insects and spiders living in fallen leaves and leaf litter were not affected by a privet invasion in Georgia, as a recent study…  More 

Controlling the Spread of Callery Pear

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) can be found across most of the eastern U.S. and in a few western states as well. The nonnative tree was brought to the U.S. in 1917 by a USDA employee searching for a blight-resistant species that could be bred with European pear to increase fruit production. The most common Callery…  More 

New Resource on Invasive Species

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Eastern hemlock, American chestnut, sassafras, redbay, every member of the ash family, and many others are plagued by non-native invasive species. A new book synthesizes current science on species invading U.S. forests, grasslands, and waterways. The book was published by Springer, and the entire book is available to download. The book covers invasive species of…  More 

Managing Oak-Pine Stands

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
About half of southern forests are a mix of oaks and pines growing side by side. In the past, getting rid of either the oaks or the pines had been a common management goal. “Pine plantations – stands with no oaks – have become one of the most recognizable symbols of forest management,” says John…  More 

Wildfire During a Drought? It Can Still Benefit Forests

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
In the summer of 2011, lightning struck a ridge near High Peak Mountain, on the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas. The High Peak Wildfire began. “It’s a remote and rugged area, and we were in the middle of a severe drought,” says Virginia McDaniel, a USDA Forest Service forestry technician, who led a study on…  More 

Life as a Radio Operator in the Communications Unit

by Virginia McDaniel, Forestry Technician  • 
“Communications, Taskforce Leader Peterson,” blurts the radio. “Communications, go ahead Taskforce Leader Peterson,” I say. “I would like to report a vehicle rollover on Highway 73. Please clear the airway for emergency traffic only.” The Communications Unit bursts into action. Someone alerts critical members of Type 1 Incident Command Team that we have an Incident…  More 

Mechanical Fuel Reduction Costs

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Mitigating wildfire risk is a land management priority across the U.S. Reducing fuel loads through mechanical treatments can control understory and midstory vegetation and prevent fuel ladders that can spread fire from ground vegetation up into the canopy crown. A book chapter by USDA Forest Service scientists Dana Mitchell and Mathew Smidt summarizes costs, benefits,…  More 

Cross-Site Studies Take Root across the Southern Experimental Forest Network

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Most of the 19 southern experimental forests were founded in the 1930s or 1940s. Over the past five years, they have become something new: the SRS Experimental Forest Network. “Each experimental forest is a regional asset,” says Stephanie Laseter, a USDA Forest Service scientist and network co-lead. Johnny Boggs is also a co-lead. “When part…  More 

The Southern Experimental Forest Network

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
The Southern Research Station of the USDA Forest Service manages 19 experimental forests that function as living, transpiring laboratories. They are scattered across 10 states, separated by hundreds of miles, and many are approaching 80 years old. Most of them are located on national forests. Five years ago, SRS began linking the 19 experimental forests…  More