Research Highlights

Researchers studied nesting success in areas dominated by native tree species such as willows, areas dominated by invasive species such as tamarisk, sites that burned, those not burned and those where invasive species had been removed.

Forest Inventory and Analysis Program scientists throughout the country are collaborating with the Remote Sensing Applications Center to develop modeling and mapping procedures for the 2011 Tree Canopy Cover product of the National Land Cover Database (NLCD).

The unique wilderness of Boundary Waters Canoe Area draws over 250,000 visitors annually, making it one of the most popular wilderness areas in the US. With this popularity comes the challenge of maintaining the desired pristine beauty, water quality and isolation of the area. Together with the Superior National Forest in Minnesota and university partners, the Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists are monitoring and mapping visitor travel and camping patterns.

Surprising successes have been achieved in the first year of a pilot project examining how humans, lynx and wolverine use winter recreation areas. This year, hundreds of winter recreationists in Colorado and Idaho agreed to carry Rocky Mountain Research Station supplied and monitored GPS units to track their movements.

The Western Biomass Tool estimates the costs of harvesting, chipping and transporting biomass. The Western Biomass Tool can also be used to calculate the cost of removal purely as a fuel-management measure. Both applications are valuable to managers who need to understand the economic viability of their proposed management activities. Funded through the Forest Service's National Fire Plan, development of the tool was a collaborative effort by Forest Service researchers and the University of Idaho.

Don't expect the Clark's nutcracker, a jay-size bird named for the Lewis and Clark expedition's William Clark, to save the declining whitebark pine. That is the conclusion of Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists after they analyzed results of experimental ecosystem restoration projects at five sites in Idaho and Montana.

Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists, partnered with Forest Service Forest Health Protection, have determined that partial forest cutting can, under typical bark beetle conditions, reduce spruce beetle-caused tree mortality.

Aspen death in parts of the Interior West, including Colorado and Utah, has been alarming in recent years. While loss of aspen in localized areas is a serious concern, a Rocky Mountain Research Station monitoring project has found that data do not indicate that the tree is in a broad population crisis.

Working with the U.S. Forest Equipment Standards Committee in SAE and the International Organization for Standardization, SRS researchers examined the effects of material, temperature, and design variations on the risk of window failure in forest machines. SRS

SRS researchers and partners developed a new technique for managing longleaf pine forests called the Proportional-B (Pro-B) Method. Results show forest personnel can easily learn and apply Pro-B and achieve desired outcomes in the forest.

SRS scientists are partnering with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and the Stevenson Land Company to initiate a regional study that focuses on the ecosystem response (regeneration of oakand other hardwood species, and plant diversity) to three recommended, but not widely tested, treatments.

Buffer Guidelines: This field guidebook was promotes multifunctional landscape management through a concise yet comprehensive and easy-to-understand synthesis of science-based guidelines for planning and designing conservation buffers, corridors, and greenways in both rural and urban settings.

SRS is enhancing one of its models that examines the potential impacts of climate change, land use, and population changes on water supplies. The researchers are building this integrated, water-centered modeling on previous water supply and demand research that resulted in a Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI) model.

In a recent study on the Nantahala National Forest in western North Carolina, Forest Service scientists investigated the importance of riparian zones to bats and salamanders, and tested the effects of riparian zone width on these important taxa.

The passage of the 1998 Farm Bill led to the development of a nationally consistent approach to forest inventory across the United States.These documents (and the data that support these reports) are used by the State forestry agencies to understand the issues that are impacting the condition of the forests in their States.

Scientists in SRS' Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center are developing a database of the more than 4,000 plants introduced into the United States. The database compiles a variety of biological traits that affect species invasiveness and distribution.

An SRS scientist summarized research results from the National Fire and Fire Surrogate Study (FFS). Researchers found, among other things, that mechanical treatments do not serve as surrogates for fire for most variables, suggesting that fire should be used for restoration of these ecosystems.

Regarding Wisconsin termines, laboratory tests were initiated to evaluate transfer of a number of different dusting compounds to un-dusted colony mates with varied results.

Two widely distributed beetle families, the death-watch (Anobiidae) and spider beetles (Ptinidae), include a number of economically significant species which cause damage to wooden materials and/or stored products. Distribution and abundance of several common species are known but the obscure lifecycle and small body size of many of these beetles often hinders identification. The purpose of this project was to develop a comprehensive list of all species in these families occuring in Wisconsin, and identify those which could potentially become problematic.