All Articles Page 91

Forest Service Research Stations Host Forest Soils Conference

by Jennifer Knoepp, Research Soil Scientist, SRS Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory  • 
The 12th North American Forest Soils Conference (NAFSC) hosted by USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain and Southern Research Stations (RMRS and SRS) was held in Whitefish, Montana, June 16 to 20, 2013. Jennifer Knoepp (SRS) and Deb Page-Dumroese (RMRS) co-chaired the meeting, with the theme “The Role of Forest Soils in Sustaining Ecosystem Services.”  Session…  More 

Tracking Those Other Forest Products

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Timber is certainly the best-known forest product, but since before the time of European settlement, people have harvested other plants from the forests for a wide range of purposes. The U.S. Forest Service National Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program has assessed timber product output (TPO) for more than 60 years by surveying the primary producers of industrial…  More 

Field Day Inspires Landowners in the Western Longleaf Pine Range

by Mary Anne Sayer, Longleaf Pine unit  • 
A field day and workshop held on May 23rd at the U.S. Forest Service Kisatchie National Forest Ranger District office near Natchitoches, Louisiana is among the first ventures to spark landowner interest in longleaf pine along the western edge of this species’ historic range. Longleaf pine technology transfer efforts in the West are led by…  More 

Where’s the Ginseng?

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Newly published research by the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) demonstrates that co-managing eastern hardwood forests for timber and non-timber forest products could boost local economies while helping conserve biodiversity. SRS scientist Jim Chamberlain worked with Michael McGufffin, president of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) and Virginia Tech associate professor Stephen Prisley…  More 

Hot Time in the City

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
In Georgia, U.S. Forest Service scientists and cooperators are mapping out climate change vulnerability at the county level. Their results suggest that people who live in metro Atlanta are at most risk of disruptions from the rising temperatures and extreme weather events of recent decades — and that this vulnerability could persist well into the future. Cassandra…  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 

Vietnam Agency Officials visit Forest Inventory and Analysis

by Tom Brandeis, SRS Forest Inventory and Analysis unit  • 
Ten officials from the Vietnam Administration of Forests (VNFOREST), Forest Protection Department, and Forest Inventory and Planning Institute (FIPI) visited the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) unit in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Forest Service offices in Washington, DC, during the week of April 29 to May 5. The group…  More 

Reviewing the Past to Gauge the Future

by Maureen Stuart, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
  Effects of climate variability on forest hydrology and carbon sequestration on the Santee Experimental Forest, a new general technical report published by the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS), describes an assessment of long-term weather and hydrology data collected on the experimental forest over a 63-year time span. The publication is the result…  More 

The Time My Dad Took My Class on a Hike in the Woods

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
On Friday, May 17, Forest Service research soil scientist Andy Scott took Ann Iott’s first grade class on a nature hike to talk about forestry, soil, and anything else the kids wanted to discuss along the newly created Bradford Creek Greenway behind Heritage Elementary School in Madison, AL. Scott’s seven-year-old son Noah told the following story…  More 

Climate Change and Wildfire

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Concerns continue to grow about the effects of climate change on fire. Wildfires are expected to increase 50 percent across the United States under a changing climate, over 100 percent in areas of the West by 2050 as projected by some studies. Of equal concern to scientists and policymakers alike are the atmospheric effects of…  More