Tag: Alabama

Improving hurricane assessments with FIA data

by Mei Geller, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
In October of 2018, Hurricane Michael made landfall and left a trail of damage of over six million acres of forest and ten billion cubic feet of timber across Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.   Timber is a critical part of the economy in all three states, so measuring damage to forested land was vital for the…  More 

New Sapwood Challenges “Perfect Storm” of Pine Fungal Infection

by Stephanie Siegel, USDA Forest Service Contract Science Writer  • 
Loblolly pine trees may tolerate some fungal infection if they can form new sapwood. USDA Forest Service plant physiologist Mary Anne Sword Sayer, on a team with Ph.D. candidate John K. Mensah of Auburn University’s Forest Health Cooperative, conducted two studies in Alabama, one of young trees and one of mature trees. Loblolly pine (Pinus…  More 

Site Prep Tractors and Their Potential for Prescribed Fire

by Mathew Smidt and Dana Mitchell, SRS research engineers  • 
Site preparation (site prep) tractors are large-wheeled machines with mulcher head attachments. These machines can turn shrubs and small trees into wood chips and chunks. They are often used to control vegetation before a prescribed fire, improve wildlife habitat, or as a replacement for fire where the risk is too high. If site prep tractors…  More 

Water Supply from Southern State and Private Forest Lands

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Forests provide the most stable and highest quality water supplies among all land uses. A report by the Southern Research Station of the USDA Forest Service quantifies the role of state and private forest lands (SPF) in providing drinking water supply across the southern United States. About half of the South’s land area is forested,…  More 

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 

Two New Species of Crayfish Discovered in Alabama and Mississippi

by Sydney Marie Jones, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
In 2011, a group of researchers traveled to southern Alabama and Mississippi in search of the Rusty Gravedigger crayfish (Lacunicambarus miltus). They wanted to refine the species’ range and hoped to find a new population west of Mobile Bay. Instead, they found a potentially undescribed species of crayfish. Years later, a team led by Mael…  More 

Southern Timber Hit Hard by Hurricane

by Patty Matteson, SRS Public Affairs  • 
Hurricane Michael roared through Florida, Alabama, and Georgia on October 10 and delivered a hard hit to timberland owners and timber markets. John Alter and Elizabeth Alter manage more than 1,000 acres in Malone, Florida, including 18 Tree Farm stands. The Alters were honored as Florida’s Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year in 2015. “This is a true…  More 

Innovations in Forest Operations Technology

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Cut and haul costs. Elemental time study. Machine production hour. Ask USDA Forest Service scientist Dana Mitchell about any of these forest engineering terms, and you’re in for a treat. As a research forest engineer, Mitchell’s work focuses on improving the technology and business of forest operations – with a broader goal of improving forest…  More 

Post-Fire Mortality for Southern Hardwoods

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Drive down Highway 7 in northern Arkansas, winding through the Ozark National Forest, and you may glimpse evidence of recent fire: scorched grass, darkened tree bark, maybe even a lingering wisp of smoke. Traces of prescribed burning can be seen throughout the South. Prescribed fire is a critical tool for forest restoration. A new study…  More 

Climate Influences Male-Female Balance in Longleaf Pines

by Stephanie Worley Firley, Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center  • 
For many reptile and fish species, temperature during egg incubation determines whether hatchlings are male or female. In the northern part of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, scientists have discovered that 99 percent of immature green turtles hatched in warming sands are female, raising concerns about successful reproduction in the future. U.S. Forest Service scientists have…  More