Tag: Tools

New synthesis of wildland fire smoke science

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
A comprehensive, open access book on smoke from wildland fires across the U.S. is now available. Wildland Fire Smoke in the United States: A Scientific Assessment synthesizes the physical, chemical, biological, social, and policy issues critical to mitigating the impacts of smoke from wildland fires. Seventy researchers, land managers, and other experts co-authored the book.…  More 

Forests to Faucets 2.0

by Jennifer Moore Myers and Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Standing on the banks of the Yadkin River in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the river tumbles peacefully by. The river water has made a long journey: it originated as rainfall deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. It flows through the Uwharrie, Sumter, and Francis Marion National Forests. It travels through Winston-Salem, Charlotte, and Charleston…  More 

Prescribed fire science: Why it’s needed now more than ever

by Stephanie Siegel, USDA Forest Service Contract Science Writer  • 
Much of what is known about planned fire comes from a burn manager’s memory. “It takes years to get that kind of experience,” says Joseph O’Brien, fire research ecologist with the USDA Forest Service. “If things are changing, like invasive species or climate, or if you’re a new manager, you need help.” O’Brien, writing in…  More 

New story map for the Experimental Forest Network

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Long-term research is conducted across the USDA Forest Service Experimental Forest Network. A new story map provides detailed information for each site in the SRS Experimental Forest Network. The story map: Discusses current and past research and highlights online resources, including a growing collection of digital datasets; Shows the ecoregion and type of forest community…  More 

Future water supply depends on forested lands

by Stephanie Siegel, USDA Forest Service Contract Science Writer  • 
Forests provide cleaner water than any other land cover type. Around 60 million people in the U.S. get more than half of their surface drinking water from forested lands. In Environmental Research Letters, USDA Forest Service ORISE hydrology fellow Ning Liu and colleagues break down the contributions of U.S. forests to surface drinking water supplies.…  More 

When Detecting Bats, Methods Matter

by Stephanie Siegel, USDA Forest Service Contract Science Writer  • 
If you want to record bat calls in summer, go early. Detectors recorded significantly more high-quality call files during late June and early July than August. USDA Forest Service research ecologist Susan Loeb and colleagues published results from a bat detection survey in Acta Chiropterologica. The likely reason bats had very high recorded activity in…  More 

Research Sustains Ecosystem Services

by Lars Pomara, USDA Forest Service Ecologist  • 
From clean drinking water to sustainably harvested forest products and the region’s outdoor tourism industry, nature provides abundant benefits to people in the southern Appalachians. Benefits also include biodiversity, the sense of place found in forested landscapes, and much more. Ecological assessment is a key tool for understanding the role of private and public lands…  More 

Fast, Field-Based Diagnosis of Laurel Wilt Disease

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
The redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus) and a fungal pathogen (Raffaelea lauricola) were first introduced to the U.S. in the early 2000s. Since then, the deadly duo known as laurel wilt disease has cause widespread mortality among redbay (Persea borbonia), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), and avocado (Persea americana) trees in the southeastern U.S. A team of…  More 

Pathways to Climate Safety

by Stephanie Siegel, USDA Forest Service contract science writer  • 
When forest animals need to leave their home territories, because of climate change impacts like drought, flooding, or heat or because humans are moving in, where do they go? They need a habitat corridor or pathway – with tree cover, food, and water – to protect them on their journey to a nearby suitable habitat.…  More 

Mapping Disturbances to Protect the Future of Our Forests

by Jesse Brewer, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
Our forests are changing rapidly, and with this comes the need to both understand and track how and where this change is happening. Monitoring forest disturbances is critical for effective decision making, yet our ability to do so was largely insufficient until recently. Researchers can now track a significant amount of these changes with new…  More