Tag: Florida

Long-term impact of hurricanes on forest markets and carbon storage

by Virginia McDaniel, Science Writer  • 
Hurricanes have long-term impacts on forest markets and the welfare of landowners in areas hit the hardest. They also disrupt carbon storage processes in forests. USDA Forest Service scientist Jesse Henderson recently published a study in Forest Policy and Economics that showed replanting trees after disasters like Hurricane Michael is the best way to foster…  More 

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 

Prescribed fire history affects pollinator diversity in southern forests

by Virginia McDaniel, Science Writer  • 
Landscapes with diverse fire histories – or pyrodiverse landscapes – have higher diversity of pollinators, as a recent study by USDA Forest Service scientist Michael Ulyshen shows. The study was published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Tall Timbers Research Station, the study location, is nestled in the Red Hills Ecoregion of the Coastal…  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 

Reptile and Amphibian Response to Prescribed Burns in Florida

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
USDA Forest Service and University of Florida scientists partnered to monitor reptiles and amphibians before and after growing season (spring and summer) and dormant season (winter) prescribed burns in longleaf pine sandhills in a study on the Ocala National Forest in Florida. The research team recorded the number of animals captured, the number of species…  More 

Hurricane Michael Recovery Focus of State Line Meeting

by Teresa Jackson, SRS Public Affairs, and Stephanie Laseter, SRS-R8 Liaison  • 
In May, state foresters from Florida and Georgia, along with their staffs, personnel from the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station, the Apalachicola National Forest, and Tall Timbers gathered at the Wakulla Environmental Institute in Crawfordville, Florida for a State Line meeting. Participants discussed Hurricane Michael impacts, recovery, and challenges that the agencies are facing…  More 

Predicting Fire Behavior with New 3D Fuel Models

by Diane Banegas, USDA Forest Service, Knowledge Management and Communications  • 
Land managers have a new tool in their firefighting arsenals that models forest fuels in three dimensions. These 3D fuel models developed by the USDA Forest Service have the potential to make firefighting and the management of controlled burns safer and less costly while helping to protect valuable natural resources. The 3D fuels modeling technique…  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 

Carbon Storage in Longleaf Pine Roots

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
“Longleaf roots are pretty legendary,” says USDA Forest Service scientist Peter Anderson. “It’s common to hear that you can dig up a really old stump and use it as a quick, reliable kindling.” Pines contain oleoresins, a sticky liquid mix of oil and resin (or rosin). “There are companies today that buy and dig old…  More 

Saving the Torreya

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
A century ago, about half a million torreya trees grew in the wild. Today, there are fewer than 1,000. Is extinction imminent, or can the species be saved? “I’m more optimistic now, after the Torreya Tree of Life Workshop,” says USDA Forest Service geneticist Dana Nelson. “The workshop brought a large group of enthusiastic people…  More