Alerts from an early warning system developed in part by DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory could help protect forests across the U.S. from the threats of insects, disease and wildfire. Led by the USDA Forest Service, the multi-agency project uses h…
ALBANY, Calif. — Synthesizing more than 10 years of cooperative research on the exotic invasive, quarantine sudden oak death pathogen, the USDA Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) recently published “Sudden Oak Death and Ph…
The potential for outbreaks of spruce and mountain pine beetles in western North America’s forests is likely to increase significantly in the coming decades, according to a study conducted by USDA Forest Service researchers and their colleagues. The…
The world’s biggest fungus, discovered in Oregon’s Blue Mountains in 2001, is challenging traditional notions of what constitutes an individual. The underground fungus–estimated to be between 2000 and 8500 years old–is also deepening our understanding of the ecosystem, with possible implications for the management of Canadian forests, according to a paper by the discoverers. The clone of Armillaria ostoyae–the tree-killing fungus that causes Armillaria root disease–covers an area of 9.65 square kilometres, about the size of 6000 hockey rinks or 1600 football fields.
Research by USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) scientists and collaborators suggests that erosion in small freshwater streams could be a contributing factor in the decline in American eel populations recorded over the last two decades.