Welcome to the Southern Research Station’s Insects, Diseases, and Invasive Plants Research Work Unit website. Our mission is to provide the basic biological and ecological knowledge and innovative management strategies required for management and control of native and non-native insect pests, disease pathogens and invasive plants in changing forest ecosystems. Learn more about us →
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Latest issue of Southern Forest Health Newsletter: Summer 2018
In this issue: Use of non-native wood by saproxylic insects, Eastern white pine workshop and initiative, SPB Road Shows shares knowledge with managers, Forest pathology at LTU, Andy Whittier completes thesis on teak nutrition, Undergraduate wins scholarship to study abroad, Asheville 6th graders learn about forest research, UGA students win presentation awards, and Jim Meeker completes 15 years with FHP.
News & Events
Termites and Dead Wood in Pine Plantations
A handful of the world’s 3,100 known termite species damage homes. In forests, however, termites are valuable.
“Termites recycle dead wood,” says U.S. Forest Service research entomologist Michael Ulyshen. Termites consume as much as 20 percent of the dead wood in forests, as Ulyshen showed in 2014.
Winter won’t wait...
In the Northern Hemisphere, winter officially starts at the same time every year. In 2017 it was on a Thursday, December 21st, the shortest day of the year. The Winter Solstice. And winter has swept into the Southeastern U.S. with some teeth this year.
SRS Shares Science at BugFest
On September 17, more than 35,000 insect enthusiasts gathered at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, NC.
U.S. Forest Service employees were among them. As in years past, the Southern Research Station had a table at BugFest. Hundreds of children and adults stopped by to learn about SRS research and to see insects up close.
Latest Publications
- Response of twelve florida cogongrass (imperata cylindrica ) populations to herbicide treatment
Enloe, Stephen F.; Lucardi, Rima D.; Loewenstein, Nancy J.; Lauer, Dwight K. - Shade and hemlock woolly adelgid infestation increase eastern hemlock foliar nutrient concentration
Lapham, Marika ; Miniat, Chelcy Ford; Mayfield, Albert E.III; Jetton, Robert M.; Brantley, Steven T.; Zietlow David R., ; Brown, Cindi ; Rhea, James R. - Biology and control of cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) in southern forests
Minogue, Patrick J.; Brodbeck, Brent V; Miller, James H. - Assessment of abiotic and biotic factors associated with eastern white pine ( Pinus strobus L.) dieback in the Southern Appalachian Mountains
Schulz, Ashley N.; Mech, Angela M.; Asaro, Christopher; Coyle, David R.; Cram, Michelle M.; Lucardi, Rima D.; Gandhi, Kamal J.K. - Association of Caliciopsis pinea Peck and Matsucoccus macrocicatrices Richards with eastern white pine ( Pinus strobus L.) seedling dieback
Schulz, Ashley N.; Mech, Angela M.; Cram, Michelle M.; Asaro, Christopher ; Coyle, David R.; Lucardi, Rima D.; Lucas, Sunny ; Gandhi, Kamal J.K.