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May Newsletter: Solving Bat Mysteries |Urban Tree Benefits | Air Quality Innovations |More
U.S. Forest Service R&D Newsletter - May 2018
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May Newsletter: Solving Bat Mysteries |Urban Tree Benefits | Air Quality Innovations |More
FEATURED NEWS
American Pikas Tolerate Temperature Changes Better than Expected
Previous studies suggest that pikas could not survive temperature extremes and risk running out ofmountaintop habitat as temperatures rise. But USDA Forest Service research found that pikas inhabitwetter, colder, warmer, and drier conditions than previously described.
URBAN FORESTRY
Scientific American: U.S. Cities LoseTree Cover Just When They Need itMost
A Scientific American article on urbanizationshowcased Forest Service research that founddeclining tree cover in cities. This decline involvesa loss of about 36 million trees nationwide and $96million in associated benefits in metropolitan areaseach year.
May Newsletter: Solving Bat Mysteries |Urban Tree Benefits | Air Quality Innovations |More
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Reducing Urban Gun Violence
Forest Service research shows that firearmassault frequency dropped after abandonedbuildings and vacant lots were improved. Theresearch also suggests that tree cover reduces thelikelihood of assault and that neighborhoodimprovements cost less than gun-related crimescost communities.
FIRE AND WATER
Fire Impacts Freshwater Resources
A recent Forest Service study examined howwildland fires, including megafires, and prescribedburns, affect river flow. The research found thatlarge wildfires increase river flow across the U.S.,and the effect can last for years. Theconsequences of increased water flow can beeither positive or negative.
BIOLOGY
Bats Go Quiet During Fall MatingSeason
Forest Service research shows hoary bats, themost widespread bat species in North America,sometimes fly with little or no echolocation--theemission of high-frequency sounds to detectobjects. This challenges the long-standingassumption that bats always navigate nocturnallyusing echolocation. The research also might helpexplain why thousands of bats are killed each yearby wind turbines. Scientists believe reducedecholocation may be a mating-related behavior.
Determining the situations in which hoary bats andother species reduce echolocation may helpinform practices for monitoring bats at wind energyfacilities and protecting them from collisions withturbines.
May Newsletter: Solving Bat Mysteries |Urban Tree Benefits | Air Quality Innovations |More
CONSERVATION
Sex in the Sagebrush: ProtectingGreater Sage-Grouse Mating Areas
Sagebrush ecosystems are among the largest andmost threatened ecosystems in North America.Habitat loss has decreased populations of thegreater sage-grouse, but Forest Service researchmay help protect their mating sites. The researchsuggests that genetic analysis of DNA from thebirds' feathers can be used to identify and maplocations where they mate, which will help landmanagers identify high-priority sites to preserve.
To learn more about the Forest Service's workwith sage-grouse conservation and to watch thesage-grouse's unique strut display, check out thisvideo.
CONSERVATION
Saving the Torreya Tree
Forest Service scientists attended the TorreyaTree of Life Workshop to discuss restorationstrategies for the Florida torreya, a tree in dangerof extinction from a fungal disease. Participantsmade plans to collect torreya samples andconduct trials to identify which genotypes areresistant to the fungus.
TREE MORTALITY
Predictor Map Forecasts Lower TreeMortality in 2018
The Forest Service helped create a map of theprojected trees likely to suffer from beetle- ordrought-related mortality this year. From three to26 million trees are projected to die in 2018 fromdrought or beetles, down from 27 million in 2017and a peak of 62 million in 2016.
May Newsletter: Solving Bat Mysteries |Urban Tree Benefits | Air Quality Innovations |More
INVASIVE SPECIES
Preparing the Great Plains forInvasive Pests
Forest Service scientists and state forestryagencies conducted the Great Plains Tree andForest Invasives Initiative (GPI) to evaluate howtrees function as agricultural windbreaks. Theinitiative, which is intended to help naturalresource professionals prepare for invasivespecies, found many trees aging and in poor to faircondition. This suggests they are vulnerable toinvasive species like the emerald ash borer.
AIR QUALITY
Of Moss and Men: Using Moss as aBioindicator of Toxic Heavy Metals
A Forest Service study using moss collected fromurban trees to develop fine-scale maps of airpollution in Portland, Oregon shows that moss canbe used as an inexpensive screening tool to helpcities quickly identify where to place pollutionmonitoring equipment. It would have cost morethan $17 million to use instruments at the samespatial resolution as the moss sampling inPortland.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Qualityis phasing in the use of moss in its monitoring, andother cities are also interested in doing so. Thestudy has had further implications for humanhealth and policy.
CULTURE
Tribal Members Trained to LocateCulturally Valuable Sites
In January, the Forest Service hosted a programto train tribal members to work as specializedcrews that identify and record culturally valuableplaces. The crews use both traditional knowledgeand modern archaeological techniques.
May Newsletter: Solving Bat Mysteries |Urban Tree Benefits | Air Quality Innovations |More
SCIENCE EDUCATION
Whiteboard Videos Teach the Value and Diversity of Forests
The North American Forest Partnership (NAFP)released two whiteboard videos: one outlining theways forests make our lives better and anothercelebrating forest diversity.
WILDFIRE ADAPTATION
Video Series Paves a Path forCommunity Wildfire Adaptation
The Wildfire Research (WiRē) Team has created aseries of three short illustrative videos that explainhow the team is helping communities adapt towildfire. The videos were developed by the ForestService Rocky Mountain Research Station withNational Fire Plan Funds.
CONSERVATION
Wings Across the Americas Award
Forest service scientists and land managersreceived the Research Partnership Award at theWings Across the Americas award ceremony onMay 1 in Washington, D.C. The scientists and landmanagers are part of an interagency team that hasworked to understand Mexican spotted owlecology and translate the results into managementrecommendations.
HISTORY
Timber Management Research on theCrossett Experimental Forest
The Crossett Experimental Forest in Arkansas hasbeen instrumental to research on sustainable andprofitable timber management in the South since1934. Forest Service research on Crossett hasshown how owners of small loblolly and shortleafpine forest tracts can return the land more quicklyto production with less investment through simple,sustainable practices, such as avoidingclearcutting.
May Newsletter: Solving Bat Mysteries |Urban Tree Benefits | Air Quality Innovations |More
Did You Know? Longleaf Pines HouseIncredible Diversity
Longleaf pine ecosystems of the southern U.S. areamong the world’s most ecologically diverse andhome to many plant species found nowhereelse. Longleaf pine forests once covered morethan 90 million acres in the southern U.S. Today,about 4.3 million acres of longleaf pine or mixedpine and oak forests remain. The Forest Servicebelongs to the Longleaf Partnership Council,which works to increase the area of longleaf pineecosystems.
(Scroll down for an infographic on southernforests).
Recent Blogs
Where Your Front Door Meets the Forest
Tips to help your home survive a wildfire.
A Food Forest Grows in Atlanta
The Forest Service Community Forest and OpenSpace Conservation Program helped establish anurban food forest in southeastern Atlanta.
Celebrating STEM at the 2018 USA Scienceand Engineering Festival
Forest Service scientists and sciencecommunicators led hands-on activities aboutresearch on April 6-8 at the 2018 USA Scienceand Engineering Festival, the nation's largestSTEM festival.
Why Monitor Air Quality During Wildland Fires
The Forest Service and partners implemented aproactive response to the threat posed by wildfiresmoke to human health and safety.
May Newsletter: Solving Bat Mysteries |Urban Tree Benefits | Air Quality Innovations |More
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