Tag: Georgia

Laurel Wilt Continues to Spread

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery  • 
The redbay laurels that once graced the coastal forests and residential landscapes of the Southeast have all but disappeared, taken down by laurel wilt, a deadly disease caused by a fungus (Raffaelea lauricola) carried in the jaws of the nonnative redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus). Both beetle and fungus apparently arrived from Asia through the…  More 

Faces of Innovation: Dexter Strother

by Teresa Jackson, SRS Partnerships & Strategic Initiatives  • 
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Dexter Strother is an ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station’s (SRS) Center for Forest Disturbance Science located in Athens, Georgia. Dexter is a young man on a mission who has accomplished a lot in his short career. He has worked for the Forest Service since 2007…  More 

Conserving the South’s Forests in a Rapidly Changing Future

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery  • 
Ensuring the sustainability of the world’s forest ecosystems in these times of rapid environmental, economic, social, and political change presents considerable challenges. In particular, rapid and unprecedented change portends a future where many of the principles and conditions that we’ve relied on to guide future management may never exist again, rendering traditional approaches to forest…  More 

Linking Water, Forests, & Communities in Atlanta: Part 3

by Josh McDaniel; Annie Hermansen- Báez, Interface South  • 
Proctor Creek snakes through downtown Atlanta and eventually works its way north to the Chattahoochee River. In 2013, Proctor Creek was named one of 11 new projects of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership, an innovative union of 13 federal agencies that focus on both natural resources and economic development. As a part of the partnership,…  More 

Linking Water, Forests, & Communities in Atlanta: Part 2

by Josh McDaniel ; Annie Hermansen- Báez, InterfaceSouth  • 
Projects led by Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) researchers support a wide partnership effort to clean up an urban Atlanta river and revitalize the communities in its watershed. Proctor Creek snakes through downtown Atlanta and eventually works its way north to the Chattahoochee River. Along the way it passes through both middle and lower…  More 

Linking Water, Forests, & People in Atlanta: Part 1, Urban Forest Assessment

by Josh McDaniel; Annie Hermansen- Báez, InterfaceSouth  • 
Projects led by Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) researchers support a wide partnership to clean up an urban Atlanta river and revitalize the communities in its watershed. Proctor Creek snakes through downtown Atlanta and eventually works its way north to the Chattahoochee River. Along the way it passes through both middle and lower income…  More 

SRS Sponsors Awards for Future Scientists

by Patty Matteson, SRS Science Delivery  • 
Potential future Forest Service scientists participated in this year’s Georgia Science and Engineering Fair, where the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) Integrating Human and Natural Systems unit sponsored the  Integrating the Social and Physical/Biological Sciences awards group. More than 700 students took part in this year’s fair. The science fair is a good cross section…  More 

Vulnerability to Climate Change: Hotspots in Georgia

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery  • 
Since the 1970s, the average temperature in the southeastern U.S. has risen, especially during the winter. The increased temperature has been accompanied by other changes: droughts have become more common, and severe storms are more frequent and extreme. “We wanted to determine how these changes in climate are affecting people in Georgia,” says U.S. Forest…  More 

Changing Forest Conditions and Pollinator Decline

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery  • 
“Forests in North America have changed rapidly during the past century,” says U.S. Forest Service scientist Jim Hanula. Before European settlement, forests were a mosaic of open pine and hardwood forests, prairies, and woodland savannas. Recent studies have found that forests with sun-filled openings and those with open canopies (where the branches from adjacent trees…  More 

Eastern White Pine: Estimating Survival and Timber Value

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery  • 
Eastern white pine has grown in the eastern U.S. for millennia, but by the late 1800s, most of the old growth stands had been logged. When forestry in the U.S. emerged during the 1890s, white pine was one of the first species to be replanted, and was one of the main species Gifford Pinchot and…  More