Research

Society for Conservation Biology – Protecting the climate system requires urgently reducing carbon emissions to the atmosphere and increasing cumulative carbon stocks in natural systems. Recent studies confirm that large trees accumulate and store a disproportionate share of aboveground forest carbon. In the temperate forests of the western United States, a century of intensive logging … Read more

The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have completed their inventory of mature and old-growth forests in the United States and created an interactive map. Based on the initial inventory, Forest Service and BLM landscontain roughly 32 million acres of old growth and about80 million acres of mature forest. Old growth represents … Read more

Phys.org – Over the coming decades, many forested watersheds could be lost to development, lowering water quality and raising water treatment costs, according to a new study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment. This is the first study to combine water quality data, land cover projections, and information about public water systems … Read more

Wildfires are destructive forces, but they can occur naturally. Because of this, certain plants and animals have evolved to depend on periodic wildfires for ecological balance. Prescribed burns can mimic the benefits of wildfires while also lowering the risks associated with larger, uncontrolled fires. READ THE STORY AT NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

A recent paper examined the role that plantation forestry has on fire severity, and compared this to the relative importance of other variables known to drive fire severity (topography, weather, and fuels). This is important research because a frequent assertion made is that intensively managed forests, characterized by densely planted, even-aged young trees, are less … Read more

Logging in national forests is increasing. National Forests are legally required to balance five uses: recreation, timber, range, wildlife, and water. Recreation generates far more income than timber harvests in national forests. READ THE STORY AT BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS

Evidence from 36 years of data following experimental clear-cut logging at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, N.C., suggests that forest disturbance in the southern Appalachian mountains can cause elevation of nitrogen in streamflow. These elevated nitrogen levels can last decades or perhaps longer. READ THE USFS STUDY