Cave Climates and White-Nose Syndrome

  White-nose syndrome, caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans, has decimated bat populations throughout eastern North America. Recent estimates show that 6 to7 million bats have succumbed to white-nose syndrome. This fungus thrives in the cool, moist conditions found in many caves and mines where bats may also hibernate. Roger W. Perry, a research wildlife…  More 

Electronic-Nose Article Wins 2013 Best Paper Award

  Dan Wilson, a U.S Forest Service research plant pathologist with the Southern Research Station Center for Bottomland Hardwoods Research, just received notice that his 2009 review article “Applications and Advances in Electronic-Nose Technologies” has been awarded first prize for the Sensors Best Paper Award in 2013 in the review article category, among all papers…  More 

Amazing Town Ants Arrive in Shreveport

The U.S. Forest Service recently installed a diorama called The Amazing Town Ant” at the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum (LSEM) in Shreveport, Louisiana. Researchers and staff from the Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) Insects, Diseases, and Invasive Plants unit in nearby Pineville worked together to build a mock town ant colony, a complicated structure which…  More 

There’s Nothing Simple about the Urban-Rural Interface

A new book edited by U.S. Forest Service researcher Wayne Zipperer, with co-editors David Laband and Graeme Lockaby, focuses on urban-rural interfaces—those places where city and suburban development touch on the countryside. Published by the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America, the articles in…  More 

New Books on Forest Landscape Restoration

Two new books link natural and social sciences U.S. Forest Service scientists made significant contributions to two related books recently published by Springer:  Forest Landscape Restoration: Integrating Natural and Social Sciences and A Goal-Oriented Approach to Forest landscape Restoration. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) scientist John Stanturf served as lead editor on both books,…  More 

How Did the Fish Get Across the Road?

Early in the morning, a crew is gearing up for another day. Dip nets, waders, buckets, snorkeling gear and measuring devices are loaded into the truck. Off they go on another assignment—another stream to survey, monitoring equipment to install, aquatic organisms to inventory, stream crossings to photograph.  After a long drive back to the office, the…  More 

SRS Scientist Appointed Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Forestry

   U.S. Forest Service scientist Don C. Bragg was recently named editor-in-chief of the Journal of Forestry, the most widely circulated scholarly forestry journal in the world and recipient of several national awards for excellence. Produced by the Society of American Foresters (SAF), the Journal of Forestry seeks to advance the profession of forestry by…  More 

New Tools for Urban Foresters

Across the southeastern United States, rapid urbanization is transforming previously rural areas and creating new environmental challenges. Desoto County, Mississippi, is emblematic of these changes: since 1970, its population has increased by 430 percent, from 36,000 people in 1970 to 159,000 in 2010. The Environmental Protection Agency lists Desoto County as an ozone non-attainment” area,…  More 

Warren Receives EPA Award

U.S. Forest Service fisheries research scientist Mel Warren recently received word that he and several co-authors received a 2011 Scientific and Technological Achievement Award Level III from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Warren, team leader for the Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) Center for Bottomland Hardwoods Research, co-authored one of the trio of…  More 

Emerald Ash Borers Invade Southeastern Forests

  The emerald ash borer is one of the most destructive forest pests introduced to North America in recent years. Adult beetles merely nibble on the leaves of native ash trees, but their larvae burrow through the inner bark of the tree, leaving a trail of snaky galleries that permanently scar the tree and make…  More