The relationship between foliage color and foliar nutrient levels in loblolly pine

Several loblolly pine plantations in which a wide range of color grades existed between yellow and green were selected to code the range of colors found in loblolly pine foliage and to test for a relationship between foliage color, as coded by the Munsell classification system, and foliar nutrient levels. Plantations sampled were north of the native range of loblolly pine, largely those planted on severely disturbed sites, e.g., surface mine spoil, eroded old fields, and highway cuts and fills. Foliage samples were coded into six discrete Munsell colors. Seventy-five percent of all samples were from the yellow end of the spectrum, hue 2.5 GY. On the green end of the spectrum, color shifts were largely the result of changes in hue with little change in value and none in chroma. In general, nutrient means were positively correlated with Munsell color and hue, and negatively correlated with value and chroma. Munsell color.codes might be useful in determining foliar N and P since statistically significant grouping of means were identified for these two nutrients. Small positive R-squares between both foliar N and P and hue, as compared to larger R-squares for value and chroma, suggest that increasing blackness and grayness are more strongly associated with high levels of N and P than is absolute color

Extension Educators\u27 Views of Scholarship and Performance Evalutation Criteria

In response to an organizational goal of increasing scholarship, a survey of faculty and staff in the University of Minnesota Extension Service was conducted to better understand how they define scholarship, its extent of use in their everyday work, and its importance within performance evaluation. While Regional Extension Educators strongly believe they should enhance their scholarship, they also believe that it should not occur at the expense of program management, delivery, and development. In fact, they saw those factors as being more important in performance evaluations than scholarship

Timber Harvester Perceptions of Costs and Benefits from Applying Water Quality BMPs in North-central USA

Forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs) prevent or minimize the impact of forestry operations on water quality. Relatively little is known about the net financial effect to timber harvesters from applying water quality BMPs. A survey of Minnesota timber harvesters found them to be well acquainted and willing to comply with the states water quality BMP program. Although the BMP program was officially implemented in 1990, many practices were apparently being widely applied prior to the programs initiation. These practices were probably already providing important financial benefits to timber harvesters. From 1990 through 1994, however, most timber harvesters (75 percent) reported increased costs associated with applying 40 individual water quality BMPs. Only 16 percent reported financial gains from applying the individual BMPs. When looking at the net financial effect across all 40 BMPs studied, 87 percent reported a net increase in costs from applying those practices. A number of recommendations are provided to assist BMP policy makers, program designers, and educators

Building Successful Campus and Field Faculty Teams

This article discusses how to build successful campus and field faculty teams in order to meet the Land-Grant research and outreach mission more effectively. Data was collected through individual interviews, telephone surveys, and focus group discussions. Differences between campus and field faculty with regards to their respective work environments were noted, including supervision, appointment, evaluation, publication, promotion and tenure, scholarly pursuit, and funding. Improved campus and field faculty interaction can be achieved if all faculty take initiative in identifying mutually beneficial work and are diligent in creating a body of work that is recognized in both the field- and campus-based cultures

Short Term Impacts of Harvesting 0perations on Soil Chemical Properties in a Mediterranean Oak Ecosystem

Soil physical and chemical properties can be seriously affected by forest operations. There is a knowledge gap on this topic for oak ecosystems, which can play a significant role in the context of multiple-use forestry. The main objective of this study was to analyse forest floor and topsoil changes (0–10 cm) two years after the application of small-scale thinning (50% reduction of basal area) and clear-cut operations using mules to carry harvested material in a Northern Greece oak (Quercus frainetto Ten)ecosystem. The total amount of forest floor (O1+O2 horizons) was reduced by 37.8% in the thinned and 30.8% in the clear-cut plots compared to control plots. These large reductions are mainly due to reduction in the O2 horizon in the treated plots. Decomposition was reduced in the treated plots, possibly due to the new drier conditions. Treatments increased the soil pH but not to a significant extent. No evidence of erosion was found in the experimental plots due to the protective function of the forest floor and the use of designated mule trails. The areal extent of soil compaction was limited to only 3% of the total area mainly due to the careful planning and implementation of animal skidding. Small differences in C (%) and Ν (%) were found among control, thinned and clear-cut plots. The limiting growth factors in Mediterranean oak ecosystems are soil depth and the seasonal change of soil moisture, especially during the summer dry period. More research on the definition of the optimum thinning degree and extraction systems in similar ecosystems will be important to satisfy the need to improve soil characteristics

Forest Management Guideline Development Through Consensus: Important Factors to Consider

Consensus forums are one method of dealing with controversial natural resource issues. Minnesota regulators learned numerous important lessons when they used a consensus-based approach to develop voluntary site-level forest management guidelines. These include: 1) take active steps to facilitate information sharing among team leaders, 2) select team members who can effectively represent their group's perspective, who are solution-oriented, and who can help shape a compromise, 3) be prepared for problems that will arise so that they don't bog down the process, 4) use field tours as a mechanism to educate participants and to test the practicality of proposed guidelines, and 5) build in flexibility to accommodate the range of considerations which affect guideline application

Landowner and Natural Resources Professional Perceptions of Silvopasture in Central and North-Central Minnesota

Silvopasture is an agroforestry practice that combines trees, forage, and livestock in an intensively managed system. We surveyed landowners and natural resources professionals in Minnesota to determine their perceptions of silvopasture. Although most respondents had heard of silvopasture, few knew a lot about it. We concluded that there is a need for more educational programming that expands the knowledge of and provides technical assistance to landowners and natural resources professionals who want to add silvopasture to their management toolboxes

Limited Effects of Precipitation Manipulation on Soil Respiration and Inorganic N Concentrations Across Soil Drainage Classes in Northern Minnesota Aspen Forests

It is critical to gain insight into the responses of forest soils to the changing climate. We simulated future climate conditions with growing season throughfall reduction (by 50%) and winter snow removal using a paired-plot design across a soil drainage class gradient at three upland, Populus-dominated forests in northern Minnesota, USA. In situ bulk soil respiration and concentrations of extractable soil N were measured during the summers of 2020–2021. Soil respiration and N concentrations were not affected by throughfall reduction and snow removal, which was largely attributed to the limited treatment effects on soil moisture content and soil temperature. Drainage class was only a significant factor during the spring thaw period in 2021. During this period, the poorly drained plots had lower respiration rates compared to the well-drained plots, which was associated with the drainage class effects on soil temperature. The results of the companion laboratory incubation with varying levels of soil moisture also indicated no effect of the treatment on soil respiration, but effects of drainage class and moisture content on respiration were observed. Our results indicate that the combined effects of reduced summer and winter precipitation on soil respiration and N dynamics may be limited across the range of conditions that occurred in our study

The influence of partial timber harvesting in riparian buffers on macroinvertebrate and fish communities in small streams in Minnesota, USA

Relatively few evaluations of aquatic macroinvertebrate and fish communities have been published in peer-reviewed literature detailing the effect of varying residual basal area (RBA) after timber harvesting in riparian buffers. Our analysis investigated the effects of partial harvesting within riparian buffers on aquatic macroinvertebrate and fish communities in small streams from two experiments in northern Minnesota northern hardwood-aspen forests. Each experiment evaluated partial harvesting within riparian buffers. In both experiments, benthic macroinvertebrates and fish were collected 1 year prior to harvest and in each of 3 years after harvest. We observed interannual variation for the macroinvertebrate abundance, diversity and taxon richness in the single-basin study and abundance and diversity in the multiple-basin study, but few effects related to harvest treatments in either study. However, interannual variation was not evident in the fish communities and we detected no significant changes in the stream fish communities associated with partially harvested riparian buffers in either study. This would suggest that timber harvesting in riparian management zones along reaches ≤200m in length on both sides of the stream that retains RBA≥12.4±1.3m2 ha−1 or on a single side of the stream that retains RBA≥8.7±1.6m2 ha−1 may be adequate to protect macroinvertebrate and fish communities in our Minnesota study systems given these specific timber harvesting techniques