Browsing by Subject "Department of Forest Resources"
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Item Bark Beetle: Fungus Interactions in Declining Hickory Trees(2010-11-29) Zenner, BobbiThe objective of this study is to determine whether C. smalleyi is commonly carried by hickory bark beetles when they emerge from beetle infested, declining bitternut hickory in late spring. The findings will help answer the question of whether the beetle is an important vector of C. smalleyi. These results will be added to those of additional assays of beetles from the same site as well as from a second Wisconsin location.Item Evaluating the Effectiveness of National Woody Biomass Utilization Efforts on National Forest Lands(2010-04-21) Olson, SarahThe USDA Forest Service is currently conducting hazardous fuel reduction projects on national forest lands to reduce wildfire risk through the United States. A byproduct of these treatments is woody biomass, which can be used to achieve renewable energy goals, as well as to enhance forest health. Significant amounts of time and financial resources have been invested by the Federal Government to achieve these goals. However, to date, there is little evidence on the A) amount of biomass used to achieve renewable energy goals, or B) the effectiveness of agency efforts to enhance biomass utilization. Making an analysis of this data requires that information entered into forest databases Timber Information Manager (TIM) and National Fire Plan Operations and Reporting System (NFPORS) be broken apart and re-aggregated to identify and measure biomass data.Item Evaluating Wood Energy Opportunity Zones: Integrating Social and Biophysical Project Planning(2011-11) Becker, Dennis R.A forest-based bioeconomy may simultaneously address national security concerns and climate change and promote economic development while facilitating forest health treatments and wildfire risk reduction. This research accelerates wood energy development using information on the social, financial, and environmental aspects of facility siting to identify “opportunity zones” adjacent to national forests.Item The Influence of Ants on Native and Exotic Parasitoid Success(2010-04-21) Gunderson, SarahSoybean aphids are an invasive species inducing a loss of up to 50% of soybean yields - or millions of dollars - each year. Parasitoids are small wasps that attack aphids and may reduce their population levels significantly. However, ants benefit from aphid exudates and will ‘tend’ aphids, or protect them from predators such as parasitoids. While there are native parasitoids that attack soybean aphids, they are not doing a sufficient job in controlling soybean aphid populations. A parasitoid called Binodoxis communis from the soybean aphid’s native range (China) has been determined to be a biological control agent for the soybean aphid. This experiment was designed to determine the influence of ants on B. communis compared to a native parasitoid, Lysiphlebus testaceipes.Item Minnesota Agri-tourism: Status and Interest(2009-10-07) Schuweiler, Andrea; Gustafson, KentAgri-tourism is defined as a set of activities that occurs when people link travel with the products, services, and experiences of agriculture. Examples of agri-tourism include, but are not limited to, farm stays, hay rides, wine trails, farm tours, and farm festivals. Agri-tourism can increase farm revenue, lead to a more diversified business, and stimulate local economies. In 2009, the University of Minnesota Tourism Center, in partnership with Renewing the Countryside, the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, and the Minnesota Grown program of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture conducted a survey of Minnesota farms to learn about agri-tourism businesses, activities, and opportunities. The information gained from the survey is designed to help the University of Minnesota Tourism Center and its partner organizations provide better educational and marketing opportunities for agri-tourism in Minnesota.Item Modeling the Response of Arctic Vegetation to Increasing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Climate Change(2009-10-07) Cassidy, EmilyAn increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is contributing to planetary warming that is strongest over high latitude land areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and strong warming have led to changes in vegetation distribution, permafrost depth, and snow cover, which significantly affect the interactions between terrestrial ecosystems and the climate through biophysical and biogeochemical processes. With a continued rise in greenhouse gas emissions and additional warming in the high latitudes, uncertainty exists as to how the Arctic biosphere will respond in the coming decades and whether Arctic ecosystems will remain a carbon sink or instead become a source of carbon to the atmosphere. Elevated carbon dioxide and climate change can affect vegetation growth through changing the assimilation of carbon dioxide and the respiration of carbon from the vegetation and soil. Using a dynamic global vegetation model (IBIS), potential changes in both the biophysical and biogeochemical processes of Arctic vegetation were analyzed to determine how future climate change and elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide may alter their functioning and ability to store carbon.Item Plant Community Responses to Silvicultural Opening Size Across and Between Gaps in Wisconsin Northern Hardwood Forests(2009-04-08) Schultz, Emma L.Within northern hardwood forests, gap-creating disturbances alter the resources available to understory vegetation. Levels of diversity following disturbance are expected to vary based on the size of the created gap. One mechanism of understanding this overall diversity is the Gap Partitioning Hypothesis (GPH), which proposes that a variation in resource availability allows for species specialization. My hypothesis is that as gap size increases, diversity levels should parallel this increase until the full gap heterogeneity has been attenuated. However, other biotic factors may decouple this hypothesis, such as the presence of clonally reproducing shrubs (example Rubus strigosus). I tested this theory in medium-sized (20-meter diameter) and large-sized (46-meter diameter) gaps in a northern hardwood forest of northern Wisconsin. Understory competition and abundance was assessed in the summer of 2008 in this forest in 1 square-meter plots which were previously established within gaps which were created approximately thirteen years ago. Preliminary analyses show that overall, intermediate gap sizes tended to be more diverse than the larger gap sizes. Diversity levels tended to be lower than predicted due to the dense population of Rubus strigosus in the larger, and to an extent, the medium-sized, gaps. This study shows that gap size is important to floristic diversity, but that additional interacting factors, such as shrub presence, play just as significant a role. The herbaceous understory can be used as an indicator for supporting forest function, which underlines the importance of understanding this ground-level diversity as a tool to increase the diversity and health of the rest of the forest stand.Item Sustainable Forest Feedstock for Bioenergy Production: Environmental, Economic, and Social Availability(2010) Becker, Dennis R.; Klapperich, Jon; Domke, Grant; Kilgore, Michael A.; D'Amato, Anthony W.; Current, Dean; Ek, Alan R.Despite the potential for significant utilization in the production of bioenergy and biofuels, little is known of the economic, environmental, and social availability of forest biomass or the cumulative effects of increased demand. Past studies have estimated total physical biomass available without taking into account the range of constraints imposed by transportation distances, harvest costs, environmental laws, or site access. Supply estimates are further complicated by uncertainties about the willingness of private landowners to sell timber or thin forests for biomass. The result is a potential overestimation of supply that threatens the viability of new and existing businesses, and the sustainability of the forest resource. Study results are presented on the long-term physical availability of forest biomass across northern Minnesota and Wisconsin to compare to measures of environmental, economic, and social availability. Variations in management intensity are modeled to illustrate changes in volume under different sustainability thresholds and implications for increasing the use of biomass for bioenergy production in the Lake States.Item Wilderness Visitor Experience Over Time: Change, Constraints, & Impacts(2009-10-07) Schroeder, Sierra L.; Schneider, Ingrid E.Various constraints to recreation and leisure are well documented. Constraints are “factors that limit people’s participation in leisure activities, people’s use of leisure services, or people’s enjoyment of current activities” (Jackson & Scott, 1999, p. 301). Structural constraints are oft-cited in outdoor recreation and include time and distance. Schneider (2007) suggested that wilderness visitors likely face similar constraints as general recreationists, yet such research is limited to a single empirical study (Green et al., 2007). As such, the purpose of this study was to understand changes such as constraints impacting recreational wilderness visitors, and to describe the impact of these constraints among visitors to a U.S. wilderness area: the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). Specially: What are the structural constraints encountered by BWCAW visitors? If and how are wilderness experiences influenced by these constraints?