Predicting Understory Species Richness from Stand and Management Characteristics Using Regression Trees

Forests 2013, 4(1), 122-136; doi:10.3390/f4010122

Author 

Nilesh Timilsina ^1,* , Wendell P. Cropper, Jr. ²

, Francisco J. Escobedo ³

 and Joanna M. Tucker Lima ¹

¹

School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, 373 Newins-Ziegler Hall, P.O. Box 110410, Gainesville, Fl 32611, USA

²

School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, 214 Newins-Ziegler Hall, P.O. Box 110410, Gainesville, Fl 32611, USA

³

School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, 361 Newins-Ziegler Hall, P.O. Box 110410, Gainesville, Fl 32611, USA

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. 

Received: 28 November 2012 / Revised: 8 February 2013 / Accepted: 19 February 2013 / Published: 22 February 2013

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Abstract 

Managing forests for multiple ecosystem services such as timber, carbon, and biodiversity requires information on ecosystem structure and management characteristics. National forest inventory data are increasingly being used to quantify ecosystem services, but they mostly provide timber management and overstory data, while data on understory shrub and herbaceous diversity are limited. We obtained species richness and stand management data from relevant literature to develop a regression tree model that can be used to predict understory species richness from forest inventory data. Our model explained 57% of the variation in herbaceous species richness in the coastal plain pine forests of the southeastern USA. Results were verified using field data, and important predictors of herbaceous richness included stand age, forest type, time since fire, and time since herbicide-fertilizer application. This approach can make use of available forest inventories to rapidly and cost-effectively estimate understory species richness for subtropical pine forests. View Full-Text

Keywords: herbaceous richness;  understory richness;  pine flatwoods;  regression tree;  forest inventory;  richness model

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Fusarium Head Blight Control and Prevention of Mycotoxin Contamination in Wheat with Botanicals and Tannic Acid

Toxins 2014, 6(3), 830-849; doi:10.3390/toxins6030830

Author 

Hans-Rudolf Forrer * , Tomke Musa

, Fabienne Schwab ^†

, Eveline Jenny

, Thomas D. Bucheli

, Felix E. Wettstein

 and Susanne Vogelgsang * 

Agroscope, Institute for Sustainability Sciences, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zurich, Switzerland

^†

Present Address: Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology, Duke University, 121 Hudson Hall, Durham, NC 27708, USA;

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed. 

Received: 24 December 2013 / Revised: 5 February 2014 / Accepted: 13 February 2014 / Published: 26 February 2014

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Perspectives in Deoxynivalenol Research)

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Abstract 

Suspensions or solutions with 1% of Chinese galls (Galla chinensis, GC) or 1% of tannic acid (TA), inhibited germination of conidia or mycelium growth of Fusarium graminearum (FG) by 98%–100% or by 75%–80%, respectively, whereas dried bark from buckthorn (Frangula alnus, FA) showed no effect at this concentration. In climate chamber experiments where the wheat variety “Apogee” was artificially inoculated with FG and F. crookwellense (FCr) and treated with 5% suspensions of TA, GC and FA, the deoxynivalenol (DON) content in grains was reduced by 81%, 67% and 33%, respectively. In field experiments with two commercial wheat varieties and artificial or semi-natural inoculations, mean DON reductions of 66% (TA) and 58% (FA), respectively, were obtained. Antifungal toxicity can explain the high efficacies of TA and GC but not those of FA. The Fusarium head blight (FHB) and mycotoxin reducing effect of FA is probably due to elicitation of resistance in wheat plants. With semi-natural inoculation, a single FA application in the first half of the flowering period performed best. However, we assume that applications of FA at the end of ear emergence and a treatment, triggered by an infection period, with TA or GC during flowering, might perform better than synthetic fungicides. View Full-Text

Keywords: Fusarium graminearum (FG);  antifungal;  natural compound;  phenolic;  phytoalexin;  elicitor; deoxynivalenol (DON); forecasting;  organic

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Aboveground Biomass of Glossy Buckthorn is Similar in Open and Understory Environments but Architectural Strategy Differs

Forests 2015, 6(4), 1083-1093; doi:10.3390/f6041083

Author 

Caroline Hamelin ^1,* , Daniel Gagnon ^1,2

 and Benoit Truax ²

¹

Department of Biology, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada

²

Fiducie de recherche sur la forêt des Cantons-de-l'Est/Eastern Townships Forest Research Trust, 1 rue Principale, Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, QC J0B 2M0, Canada

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. 

Academic Editors: Shibu Jose and Eric J. Jokela

Received: 12 February 2015 / Revised: 16 March 2015 / Accepted: 2 April 2015 / Published: 8 April 2015

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exotic and Invasive Plant Species Impacting Forests)

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Abstract 

The exotic shrub glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus) is a great concern among forest managers because it invades both open and shaded environments. To evaluate if buckthorn grows similarly across light environments, and if adopting different shapes contributes to an efficient use of light, we compared buckthorns growing in an open field and in the understory of a mature hybrid poplar plantation. For a given age, the relationships describing aboveground biomass of buckthorns in the open field and in the plantation were not significantly different. However, we observed a significant difference between the diameter-height relationships in the two environments. These results suggest a change in buckthorn’s architecture, depending on the light environment in which it grows. Buckthorn adopts either an arborescent shape under a tree canopy, or a shrubby shape in an open field, to optimally capture the light available. This architectural plasticity helps explain a similar invasion success for glossy buckthorn growing in both open and shaded environments, at least up to the canopy closure level of the plantation used for this study. View Full-Text

Keywords: Frangula alnus;  plasticity;  invasive species;  southern Québec (Canada);  biomass equation;  light availability

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Mitigating Stress and Supporting Health in Deprived Urban Communities: The Importance of Green Space and the Social Environment

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13(4), 440; doi:10.3390/ijerph13040440

Author 

Catharine Ward Thompson ^1,* , Peter Aspinall ²

, Jenny Roe ^3,4

, Lynette Robertson ⁵

 and David Miller ⁶

¹

OPENspace Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9DF, UK

²

School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society (EGIS), Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK

³

Center for Design and Health, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA

⁴

Stockholm Environment Institute, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK

⁵

Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art, Renfrew St., Glasgow G3 6RQ, UK

⁶

The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. 

Academic Editor: Paul B. Tchounwou

Received: 30 January 2016 / Revised: 13 April 2016 / Accepted: 15 April 2016 / Published: 22 April 2016

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green-Blue Space and Health: Advances in Methods, Technologies and Applications)

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Abstract 

Environment-health research has shown significant relationships between the quantity of green space in deprived urban neighbourhoods and people’s stress levels. The focus of this paper is the nature of access to green space (i.e., its quantity or use) necessary before any health benefit is found. It draws on a cross-sectional survey of 406 adults in four communities of high urban deprivation in Scotland, United Kingdom. Self-reported measures of stress and general health were primary outcomes; physical activity and social wellbeing were also measured. A comprehensive, objective measure of green space quantity around each participant’s home was also used, alongside self-report measures of use of local green space. Correlated Component Regression identified the optimal predictors for primary outcome variables in the different communities surveyed. Social isolation and place belonging were the strongest predictors of stress in three out of four communities sampled, and of poor general health in the fourth, least healthy, community. The amount of green space in the neighbourhood, and in particular access to a garden or allotment, were significant predictors of stress. Physical activity, frequency of visits to green space in winter months, and views from the home were predictors of general health. The findings have implications for public health and for planning of green infrastructure, gardens and public open space in urban environments. View Full-Text

Keywords: urban green space;  stress;  health;  socio-economic deprivation;  social isolation;  place belonging;  physical activity; gardens;  allotments

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Pre-logging Treatment of Invasive Glossy Buckthorn (Frangula alnus Mill.) Promotes Regeneration of Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus L.)

Forests 2017, 8(1), 16; doi:10.3390/f8010016

Author 

Thomas D. Lee ^1,* , Stephen E. Eisenhaure ²

 and Ian P. Gaudreau ³

¹

Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, 56 College Road, Durham, NH 03824, USA

²

Office of Woodlands and Natural Areas, University of New Hampshire, Kingman Farm, Route 155, Madbury, NH 03823, USA

³

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New Hampshire, 33 Academic Way, Durham, NH 03824, USA

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. 

Academic Editors: Timothy A. Martin and Jean-Claude Ruel

Received: 31 October 2016 / Revised: 23 December 2016 / Accepted: 23 December 2016 / Published: 29 December 2016

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Abstract 

Non-native glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus Mill.) is invasive in forests of the northeastern USA but little is known of its effects on tree regeneration. We tested whether killing buckthorn stems before logging reduces its post-logging abundance and increases the density and height of eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) seedlings. Three 0.4 ha plots were clearcut, three were thinned, and three were left as controls. Each plot had previously been divided into three subplots that received different buckthorn treatments during the two years before logging. Buckthorn treatments were (1) stems cut at base five times; (2) stems cut once then heat killed four times; (3) untreated control. Three years post-logging, buckthorn density and stem height were unaffected by logging but equally reduced by the two buckthorn treatments. Buckthorn reduction increased density and height of pine seedlings, and seedling height also increased with logging. In the fifth year post-logging, pine height growth and biomass were greater in clearcut than in thinned treatments, greater in areas of buckthorn removal and, within treated subplots, greater in areas with low buckthorn density than in thickets of recovering buckthorn. Thus, although buckthorn inhibited regenerating pine, pre-logging destruction of buckthorn stems reduced such competition for at least four years. View Full-Text

Keywords: basal cutting;  biological invasion;  competition;  exotic shrub;  flame gun;  glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus Mill.); eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.)

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Figure 1

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