Accomplishment Highlights
Synthesis and Communication
Online Encyclopedia Houses Forest Threats Research—Forest science is useful to researchers, land managers, and policy makers when achieving land management goals. Eastern and Western Centers jointly sponsored development of the Encyclopedia of Environmental Forest Threats, which will house peer-reviewed scientific research and case studies. The encyclopedia will be available at http://www.threats.forestencyclopedia.net.
Web-based Tool Highlights Forest Threats—Land users often try to identify forest threats themselves before seeking additional expertise. Eastern Center scientists and partners launched the forest threats summary viewer, a tool that provides images, threat distribution maps, additional forestry contact information, and brief descriptions about forest threats throughout the eastern U.S.
Annual Reports Highlight Condition of Nation’s Forests—Trends in forest health are extremely important for land managers and policy makers. Eastern Center scientists and North Carolina State University researchers produce annual reports synthesizing trends in forest health. These reports highlight forest sustainability potential based on criteria such as carbon cycling, soil conservation, and biological diversity.
Agencies Discuss Wildland Fire—Wildland fires have become a major concern throughout the U.S. The Western Center hosted two 3-day roundtables for the interagency Joint Fire Sciences Program to gather information regarding current knowledge and practices in wildland fire as well as identify knowledge gaps for assessing fire and fire management risks.
Fire is a Worldwide Issue – A Western Center scientist presented at the 5th International Conference on Forest Fire Research in Portugal to help European scientists and resource managers learn about the latest Forest Service research available to manage wildland fires and reduce the threat of forest fuels build-up.
Chinese Partnership Studies Affect Land Management—A U.S.-China consortium on carbon and water contributes global comparisons and understanding of climate change’s interactive effects with land management and the consequent impacts on carbon sequestration and water resources. Eastern Center scientists are consortium members actively involved in designing research protocols, project updates, and graduate student workshops.
Canada Hosts Climate Change Discussion—An Eastern Center researcher presented at the 23rd session of the North American Forest Commission in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, to help North American forest management agencies better understand climate change and how to best allocate management resources to minimize negative climate change impacts.
European Scientists Study Invasive Species—The chief Western Center scientist was selected to be the U.S. representative among 22 European nations developing a strategy to address invasive species in European forests. This European Union-funded project invited scientists from four other nations (U.S., China, South Africa, and Australia) to participate in strategy development.
China and U.S. Collaborate on Biocontrol of Invasive Species—The Western Center director presented current Forest Service research information at the international biological control of forest invasive species workshop in Beijing, China.
What’s Fueling the Fire?—Science-based landscape fuel treatment strategies will greatly assist land management agencies in prioritizing fuel reduction projects. Western Center researchers developed an integrated framework that uses an actuarial-based risk approach coupled with recent advances in fire behavior modeling. This new approach to landscape design (Arc Fuels) can be accessed at http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/wwetac.
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Oak wilt photo by Ronald Billings, Texas Forest Service, www.bugwood.org
Cogongrass photo by Charles Bryson, USDA Agricultural Research Service, www.bugwood.org
