Forest ThreatNet
Eastern Threat Center Highlights Cont'd
Is Water Quality in the Neuse River Basin Protected After Timber Harvests?
On lands managed for timber, leaving a forested buffer between timber harvest areas and waterways is one example of a Best Management Practice (BMP) that can protect water quality, but, until recently, the effectiveness of BMP strategies had not been evaluated in the North Carolina Piedmont region. Eastern Threat Center biological scientist Johnny Boggs led a study, published in the Journal of Forestry, that put BMPs in the Piedmont to the test. He and colleagues measured sediments and nutrients in small streams within paired watersheds draining into the Piedmont's Neuse River, which runs through many timber-producing forests. The researchers found increased levels of sediments and nutrients immediately after harvests had taken place, but concluded that BMPs do indeed protect the Neuse River's water quality because these changes were not severe enough to harm aquatic ecosystems. Read more in CompassLive...
The Neuse River begins in North Carolina's Piedmont Region and flows for 275 miles to the Atlantic Ocean. Photo by Ken Thompson, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Research Fellow Rides the Canadian Airwaves During International Conference
For hydrologist Dennis Hallema, a recent conference presentation in Kelowna, British Columbia, turned into an opportunity to speak about an urgent research issue in front of an even larger audience. Following his talk at the 4th International Conference on Forests and Water in a Changing Environment, Hallema (an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education fellow working with the Eastern Threat Center) was approached by a producer for CBC Radio One. The following morning, Hallema spoke live on air with CBC host Chris Walker about the effects of wildland fires on water supply in the United States. The interview, which was broadcast July 8 on CBC Radio One Daybreak South, focused on a collaborative study that began in October 2014 with funding from the Joint Fire Science Program. Read more in CompassLive...
A large part of the Douglas fir and larch forest outside Kelowna, Canada, was burned in the 2003 Myra Canyon fire. A 2015 photo shows slow recovery in the Interior Plateau due to low annual precipitation and nutrient-low soils. Photo by Dennis Hallema, U.S. Forest Service.
National Monitoring Report Highlights Recent Forest Health Issues
Annual Forest Health Monitoring reports summarize the status, trends, and analyses of the nation's forest resources. The recently published 2014 report, edited by Eastern Threat Center cooperating scientists Kevin Potter and Barb Conkling, features chapters authored by Center scientists and cooperators that discuss a variety of forest health issues, including patterns of insect and disease activity, forest fire occurrence, drought, core forest decline, and climate change risks and genetic degradation.
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