Articles

The Pacific Northwest’s 2020 Labor Day fires gave scientists a rare opportunity to investigate how aquatic communities respond to megafire.

Research Ecologist Rima Lucardi is working on multiple fronts to combat invasive plants, by using autotoxins, biochemicals produced by a plant that inhibit growth or induce mortality, against itself.

A new study shows that habitat restoration does not have uniform effects on a sensitive woodpecker species.

Scientists tested large‑scale passive acoustic monitoring feasibility across multiple Southwestern forest ecosystems and share new insights on high‑priority management species.

Tree cores, sandy soils, and elevation tell the story of historic forests of the Front Range of Colorado in a new study.

Historical records provide insights for today's managers.

A first study of its kind uses citizen science data to detect new spiders from the Caribbean U.S. territories. It has detected 13 new spiders in 3 new families.

Researchers from the Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory, along with collaborators from two universities, advanced NMR analyses for whole cell walls by developing a finely pulverized low-moisture gel-state 2D NMR method. This method produces sharp, high‑resolution spectra across hardwoods, softwoods, and grasses, enabling simultaneous detection of lignin subunits, interunit linkages, and polysaccharides directly from intact biomass. Improved methods for conducting structural analysis of plant cell walls will help facilitate conversion of plant biomass into fuels, chemicals, and other materials.

LANDFIRE is a nationwide mapping program that began 22 years ago and provides a vast suite of geospatial datasets related to vegetation and disturbance across the United States. These products often serve as the silent foundation to national wildland fire and natural resource planning applications. It is difficult to portray the amount and variety of data LANDFIRE ingests to inform its products...

New maps are responsive to managers' desire for maps of: basal area, board feet, total volume, and much more.

Scientists conducted the first quantitative small-scale analysis of mountain pine beetle activity across annual generations.

Understory plantings of subtrees and shrubs are often successful from a survival standpoint, but rarely decrease invasive grass biomass or lead to newly recruiting native species in Hawaii.

How much more drought can desert bird communities absorb before their populations start to unravel?

Wildlife may experience very different smoke and air-pollution levels than nearby monitoring stations report, but new low-cost sensors measure air quality directly where animals move.

Recent research shows that wildlife living in heavily recreated parts of the Bridger-Teton National Forest are far less likely to flee when they hear hikers, bikers, or off-highway vehicles than wildlife in lightly used areas. In fact, fleeing was 22 percent lower in high-use areas, and the shift was strongest in species usually considered most sensitive, such as elk.By pairing experimental noi...

The daily activity pattern of any species affects where and when they are exposed to human recreation, and this is of particular importance in highly recreated landscapes. Scientists from the Rocky Mountain Research Station partnered with Yosemite National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, and the Stanislaus, Sierra, and Sequoia National Forests in California to address management que...

New research addresses the first priority of the Native Seed Partnership plan, which was co-developed with agency and non-profit partners, native seed businesses, and researchers, to improve the success of native seed restoration.

An expansivestudy reveals the diversity of pollinator communities throughout the entire Southeast.The study is the first of its kind and was conducted across 19 experimental forests of the Southern Research Station. Most of these research sites are located on national forest lands and were established decades ago.“These experimental forests provide a good representation of major forest types ...

Introduced animals are among the most persistent threats to Hawaiʻi’s forests. Ungulates such as feral pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, and deer can damage native vegetation, reducing forest regeneration through overgrazing, soil disturbance, increased erosion, and by spreading invasive plants and diseases. Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death, commonly known as ROD, is one such disease that can be spread by fe...