Forest ThreatNet

• The Landscape Dynamics Assessment Tool (LanDAT) can help natural resource conservation practitioners monitor and assess impacts on changing landscapes and the ecological services and benefits they provide to people. New users can learn more during one of two workshops to be held in Asheville, NC, on May 16 or June 21. Additional workshop opportunities will be announced soon.
• Center research ecologist Kurt Riitters presented "U.S. forest fragmentation and land cover patterns" based on his contribution to the recently published Future of America's Forests and Rangelands: Update to the Forest Service 2010 Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment. View the recorded presentation, part of the RPA Assessment webinar series.
• The Center-hosted USDA Southeast Regional Climate Hub will present "Weather Variability and its Impacts on Forest Health," on May 15 at 1:00 ET. This webinar will address short- and long-term impacts of droughts, floods, winds, and ice on insect and fungal populations and damage in southern forests. Visit the Webinar Portal for Forestry and Natural Resources for details.
• The Climate Change Resource Center (CCRC), a Center partner, has released a new video featuring a stream restoration project that took place in the Monongahela National Forest. The video discusses management efforts such as reconnecting stream habitats, creating well-forested riparian areas, and providing complex in-stream habitat for fish and other aquatic species.

• First Friday All Climate Change Talks (FFACCTs) are monthly information sharing forums featuring presentations about research activities focused on climate change impacts to forest ecosystems. Visit the FFACCTs webpage for archived resources and upcoming FFACCTs presentation topics.
• The U.S. Forest Service Research and Development newsletter highlights science news across the agency. Read the April issue, and subscribe to receive future issues.

New Publications and Products (search Treesearch for all Forest Service pubs and abstracts):

• Liu, C., G. Sun, S.G. McNulty, A. Noormets, and Y. Fang. 2017. Environmental controls on seasonal ecosystem evapotranspiration/potential evapotranspiration ratio as determined by the global eddy flux measurements. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 21:311-322. DOI:10.5194/hess-21-311-2017

• Pomara, L. and B. Zuckerberg. 2017. Climate variability drives population cycling and synchrony. 2017. Diversity and Distributions 23: 421-434. DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12540
• Yemshanov, D., F.H. Koch, B. Lu, R. Fournier, G. Cook, and J.J. Turgeon. 2017. A new hypervolume approach for assessing environmental risks. Journal of Environmental Management 193:188-200. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.02.021

Personnel Updates

Joel Larson is serving as the Acting Director of the Center-hosted USDA Southeast Regional Climate Hub. Previously, Joel worked in the USDA Climate Change Program Office, which coordinates the Department’s responses to climate change, focusing on implications of climate change on agriculture, forests, grazing lands, and rural communities. Prior to joining USDA, Joel worked with the Bureau of Land Management, where he coordinated activities related to fish and wildlife, forestry, and grazing, among other natural resource management issues.