All Articles Page 92

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 

From the Hexacopter: A Bird’s Eye View on Fire

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
What would you find out if you could hover a hundred feet above a prescribed fire? As you might have noticed, smoke from burning trees rises quickly, especially if there’s wind. Getting measurements of smoke once it gets above the canopy is very difficult, and up to now, very expensive. Scientists from the U.S. Forest…  More 

Forest Operations Unit Hosts SALHI Workshop

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
On Tuesday, March 26, the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) Forest Operations Research unit in Auburn, Alabama, hosted attendees of the 2013 Sale Area Layout and Harvesting Institute (SALHI) for an introduction to harvesting and forest operations research. While visiting the G.W. Andrews Forestry Sciences Lab, SALHI attendees heard presentations from  Dana Mitchell, acting…  More 

Water Management : A Balancing Act

by Stephanie Worley Firley, Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center  • 
It may come as little surprise that human activities and climate influence the volume of water in rivers, but U.S. Forest Service research is now revealing just how much. Scientists with the Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center are examining the individual and combined effects of changing land cover, human water use, and climate through…  More 

Forest Service Associate Chief Mary Wagner Tours Key Research Projects

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
U.S Forest Service Associate Chief Mary Wagner  recently toured several Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) experimental forests and collaborative projects in North Carolina.  While in Asheville, North Carolina, Associate Chief Wagner visited the Bent Creek Experimental Forest, headquarters for the SRS Upland Hardwood Ecology and Management unit.  The tour highlighted collaborative studies with the…  More 

How to Grow American Chestnut

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
American chestnut thrived in eastern North American forests for thousands of years, but in the 20th century, an exotic fungus almost eliminated the species. To date, chestnut restoration has mostly meant breeding blight-resistant trees. Now, thanks to a collaboration between the U.S. Forest Service, The American Chestnut Foundation, and institutions like the University of Tennessee…  More 

Community Forest Monitoring in Ghana

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
We celebrate the FAO International Day of Forests with a story from Ghana. U.S. Forest Service scientists are playing a role in restoring and conserving African tropical forest land in Africa by training local communities to monitor their own forests. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), deforestation in Africa occurs at roughly twice…  More 

Moving Harper’s Beauty Off Road

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
The first week of March found a team of plant biologists down on their knees in a highway right-of-way in the Florida Panhandle, searching for Harper’s beauty, one of Florida’s rarest native plants. A perennial lily with a solitary yellow flower and iris-like leaves, Harper’s beauty (Harperocallis flava) is listed as federally endangered and found…  More 

Wood Industry Trends in the South Made Easy

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
An online tool developed the by U.S. Forest Service quickly reveals the economic impacts of wood-related industries in the states of the South. The South is often referred to as the “wood basket of the Nation,” and wood-related industries contribute to the economies of all 13 southern states to varying degrees. For analysis purposes, these…  More