Hazard Rating of Parks Trees and Establishment of Adopt-A-Tree Program, Nacogdoches, Texas

The purpose of this project is to inventory parks and recreation trees in the city of Nacogdoches, Texas, using a Trimble Pro XRS GPS unit to establish location; and to construct a geographic information system (GIS) database for forest health that can be updated as forest health conditions change in the future. Tree health data collected will include structure of the main bole and branches; insect and disease pests; life expectancy; and shape of the crown and cultural history. An Adopt-a-Tree program, developed in the Arthur Temple College of Forestry at Stephen F. Austin State University, will be established to document planting and maintenance of the urban forest. Each tree planted will have the person planting the tree, a digital picture and the tree species entered into a GIS database for later retrieval, spatial analysis and visual/map display. The project follows the constructs of landscape ecology for documenting structure, function and change of the urban forest

Characteristics of bark beetle infestations in East Texas during a period of low southern pine beetle activity

The species composition nf southern pine bark beetle infestations was examined in east Texas in 1979, A total of 545 infestations were located in thirteen 18,000 acresurvey blocks. Ips spp, were observed in 98.9 of ihe infestations, with black turpentine beetles, Dendrnclonus lerebrans Olivier, present in 42.4 % ofthe infestations. Southern pine beetles, D. fronlulis Zimmemiann. were only observed in 11 infestations (2.0%), and were less abundant than other bark beetle species in these infestations. Almost 80% of the infestations were associated with a recognizable pre-disposing factor (lightning, fire, etc.). Most Infestations were small (less than six trees), though infestations associated with fire damage typically contained more than five infested trees. In the absence of an identified pre-disposing factor, infestations were frequently located in stands rated as high or moderate hazard for southern pine beetl

Accuracy Assessment on Drone Measured Heights at Different Height Levels

The advancement in unmanned aerial system (UAS) technology has made it possible to attain an aerial unit, commonly known as a drone, at an affordable price with increasing precision and accuracy in positioning and photographing. While aerial photography is the most common use of a drone, many of the models available in the market are also capable of measuring height, the height of the drone above ground, or the altitude above the mean sea level. On board a drone, a barometer is used to control the flight height by detecting the atmospheric pressure change; while a GPS receiver is mainly used to determine the horizontal position of the drone. While both barometer and GPS are capable of measuring height, they are based on different algorithms. Our study goal was to assess the accuracy of height measurement by a drone, with different landing procedures and GPS settings

Life in a Pine Cone

This exercise focuses on a little-known microhabitat -- the pine cone. A pine cone\u27s primary function is, of course, reproduction ... housing the seeds of the next generation of conifer trees. However, pine cones are also the basis of a food web that provides both resources and living space for a wide variety of small arthropod species. The procedure outlined below is designed to examine this microhabitat and compare its community diversity among different species of conifers and habitats. The exercise is based on a 1985 paper, Life in a Pine Cone, by David L. Kulhavy, Robert S. Baldridge and James W. Bing published in Texas Natural History. The paper is the basis of a Ward\u27s Bulletin of the same title. The procedures have been modified somewhat in cooperation with D. L. Kulhavy for use in this exercise. Students, or teams of students, will collect a standard sample of cones from a species of pine tree in a habitat of their choice, extract the arthropods associated with their cones, and provide numerical and descriptive data in a standard format. To ensure comparability between samples, a sampling protocol will be followed

Effects of fertilizer and herbicide application on Nantucket pine tip moth infestation (Lep., Tortricidae)

A study of fertilizer and herbicide e}ects on Nantucket pine tip moth (NPTM), Rhyacionia frustrana (Comstock) infestations was conducted in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L) plantations in Nacogdoches Co. Texas from 0877 to 0878. Both fertilizer and herbicide applications had effects on NPTM infestation level, pupal weight and host tree oleoresin production. Nitrogen fertilization increased infestation levels, whereas, phosphorus applications tends to decrease infestation rate. Herbicide treatment had a negative effect on NPTM infestations possibly because of decreased moisture stress and increased tree vigour. This is in contrast to general observations of increased NPTM infestations associated with reducing competing vegetation. Fertilizer application alone did not significantly improve pine growth due to competing vegetation. A combination of fertilizer and herbicide achieved the best growth

Digital Preservation and Access of Natural Resources Documents

Digitization and preservation of natural resource documents were reviewed and the current status of digitization presented for a North American university. It is important to present the status of the digitation process for natural resources and to advocate for increased collections of digital material for ease of reference and exchange of information. Digital collections need to include both published documents and ancillary material for research projects and data for future use and interpretation. The methods in this paper can be applied to other natural resource collections increasing their use and distribution. The process of decision making for documents and their preservation and inclusion in ScholarWorks is presented as a part of the Forest Sciences Commons as a subset of the Life Sciences Commons of the Digital Commons Open Network launched and maintained by bepress. Digitization has increased the roles and skillsets needed for librarians and from libraries. This creates new challenges and opportunities for the library as publisher and as an advocate for open access. Digital curation melds together digitization and knowledge management and enhances community engagement. Digitization of collections are reviewed and natural resource documentation presented for faculty publications, Research Projects and Centers, eBooks, Journals, Galleries and electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). Recommendations are made to increase the digital curation of the collection by encouraging community participation and use. Digital archives are important to natural resource professionals as society-ready natural resource graduates need to deal effectively with complex ecological, economic and social issues of current natural resources management. Natural resource research for the future needs to ensure that professionals have a greater breath of knowledge as they interpret and apply new knowledge, understanding, and technology to complex, transdisciplinary social and biological issues and challenges

Effects of fertilization and herbicides on growth of young loblolly pine and infestations of Nantucket pine tip moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

A 2-year-old pine plantation was selected to receive treatments of fertilizers and herbicides to evaluate effects on Nantucket pine tip moth infestations and the tree growthparameters of height, diameter and volume increment. Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, and hexazinone and sulfometuron methyl herbicides were used in creating six treatments: (i) control; (ii) phosphorus; (iii) nitrogen and phosphorus; (iv) phosphorus and herbicide; (v) nitrogen, phosphorus and herbicide; and (vi) herbicide. Treatments were applied in 1987 and 1988. In 1987, trees treated with nitrogen, phosphorus and herbicide had significantly greater height, diameter and volume growth than trees not receiving fertilizer treatments, but did not have significantly higher tip moth infestations than control trees. Treatments receiving phosphorus only had much lower tip moth infestation rates than other treatments except nitrogen and phosphorus. In 1988, tip moth infestations were uniformly low, with no differences in treatment effects observed

Southern pine beetle infestation probability mapping using weights of evidence analysis

Weights of Evidence (WofE) spatial analysis was used to predict probability of southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis) (SPB) infestation in Angelina, Nacogdoches, San Augustine and Shelby Co., TX. Thematic data derived from Landsat imagery (1974–2002 Landsat 1–7) were used. Data layers included: forest covertype, forest age, forest patch size and percent slope. WofE predicted infestation probabilities were signifi cantly higher at infestation locations, versus random locations (p\u3c0.0001). Signifi cantly more infestations occurred in the higher probability areas (p=0.002). Infestation size was not signifi cantly correlated with probability (p=0.0528). Correlations were found between WofE probability and traditional SPB hazard rating, calculated from forest inventory data, using the Mason (1981) system (p\u3c0.0001). WofE probability maps were used to produce current SPB three and fi ve-class hazard rating maps for the study area. WofE was effective for predicting SPB hazard, utilizing existing, remotely-sensed data sets

Positional Precision Analysis of Orthomosaics Derived from Drone Captured Aerial Imagery

The advancement of drones has revolutionized the production of aerial imagery. Using a drone with its associated flight control and image processing applications, a high resolution orthorectified mosaic from multiple individual aerial images can be produced within just a few hours. However, the positional precision and accuracy of any orthomosaic produced should not be overlooked. In this project, we flew a DJI Phantom drone once a month over a seven-month period over Oak Grove Cemetery in Nacogdoches, Texas, USA resulting in seven orthomosaics of the same location. We identified 30 ground control points (GCPs) based on permanent features in the cemetery and recorded the geographic coordinates of each GCP on each of the seven orthomosaics. Analyzing the cluster of each GCP containing seven coincident positions depicts the positional precision of the orthomosaics. Our analysis is an attempt to answer the fundamental question, “Are we obtaining the same geographic coordinates for the same feature found on every aerial image mosaic captured by a drone over time?” The results showed that the positional precision was higher at the center of the orthomosaic compared to the edge areas. In addition, the positional precision was lower parallel to the direction of the drone flight