Tag: Silviculture

Using Prescribed Fire to Restore and Sustain Oak Ecosystems

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Used incorrectly, fire can degrade wood quality and its value as timber. When should managers use prescribed fire in hardwood stands? “I field a lot of questions from state and local partners about the long-term effects of using prescribed fire in hardwood stands,” says USDA Forest Service scientist Callie Schweitzer. Schweitzer has spent her career…  More 

Forest Birds & Forest Trees

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
For every stage of forest succession, there’s a bird species that needs it. But others are flexible, thriving in many types of forests. The blue-gray gnatcatcher, eastern wood-pewee, great crested flycatcher, summer tanager, and white-breasted nuthatch are all associated with mature forests. But a recent study suggests these birds are forest generalists rather than mature…  More 

Definitive New Book on Saproxylic Insects

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Bark-feeders, fungus-feeders, wood-borers, and wood-nesting bees – all are saproxylic insects, which means they depend on dead or dying wood. The insects that prey on or parasitize them are also considered saproxylic. “About a third of all forest insect species are saproxylic,” says USDA Forest Service research entomologist Michael Ulyshen. Ulyshen recently edited a definitive…  More 

The Climate Is Changing—What’s a Silviculturist To Do?

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Climate change is here. In southern forests, it takes the form of novel disturbances – different frequency and severity of drought, fire, wind storms, insect outbreaks, even ice storms – or a combination of these stressors. “How will managers respond to the threats posed by changing climate conditions?” asks USDA Forest Service scientist James Guldin.…  More 

Arkansas Research Forester Receives International and Regional Honors

by Teresa Jackson, SRS Public Affairs  • 
Silvicultural histories are recognized by forestry professionals from the United Kingdom to Arkansas. The Editorial Board of Forestry, an international journal of forest research, recently awarded USDA Forest Service research forester Don Bragg the 2017 Percy Stubbs, John Bolton King and Edward Garfitt Prize for Silviculture for advancing silviculture research. Bragg received this prestigious award…  More 

Women in Science: Callie Schweitzer

by Julia Kirschman, SRS Bent Creek Experimental Forest, Technology Transfer Specialist  • 
The Women in Science series features women scientists from across the Southern Research Station (SRS)–their education, career paths, challenges, achievements, and inspirations. Meet SRS scientist Callie Schweitzer, a research forester with the Upland Hardwood Ecology and Management Research Unit in Huntsville, Alabama. She received her doctorate and master’s degrees in Forest Resources and Ecology from Pennsylvania State University.…  More 

National Silviculture Workshop

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
In 1973, foresters and scientists gathered for the first U.S. Forest Service National Silviculture Workshop. Since 1979, the workshop has been held every two years. The workshop brings two branches of the U.S. Forest Service – the National Forest System and Research & Development – together to address silvicultural challenges. University scientists and managers from…  More 

Introducing Femelschlag

by Debbie Crane, The Nature Conservancy  • 
Visitors to the Cradle of Forestry (located near Brevard in Pisgah National Forest) learn about the Biltmore Forest School – the first school of forestry in North America. It was started in 1898 by Carl Schenck. A native of Germany, Schenck brought German forestry concepts to the United States. It is fitting that today in…  More 

American Chestnuts in the Field

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
By the 1950s, two non-native pathogens had killed almost all American chestnut trees. “There’s a lot of interest in breeding a chestnut that looks like American chestnut with the disease resistance of Chinese chestnut,” says U.S. Forest Service research forester Stacy Clark. “However, there hasn’t been much research on reintroducing disease-resistant trees to the forest.”…  More 

Where Are the Southern Pine Beetles?

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Between 2005 and 2015, only 18 counties in the southern U.S. experienced southern pine beetle outbreaks–fewer than two outbreak counties per year on average. U.S. Forest Service entomologist Chris Asaro wanted to know why and worked with two other Forest Health Protection scientists, John Nowak and Anthony Elledge, on a new review paper published in Forest…  More