Quantifying tree defoliation by insects over large areas is a major challenge in forest management, but it essential ecosystem assessments of disturbance and resistance against herbivory. However, the trajectory from leaf-flush to insect refoliation broadleaf trees highly variable. Its tracking requires high temporal- spatial-resolution data, particularly fragmented forests. In unique replicate...

Warming temperatures and droughts are driving widespread forest dieback growth decline worldwide. In forests experiencing dieback, declining trees may exhibit altered climate memory of growth, indicative physiological impairment. Thus, we evaluated climate-growth responses in four drought-disturbed dominated either by gymnosperms (Abies alba, Pinus sylvestris) or angiosperms (Fagus sylvatica, Q...

Woody plant encroachment typically limits the forage productivity of managed rangelands and alters a panoply semiarid ecosystem processes services. Intervention strategies to reduce woody abundance, collectively termed “brush management”, often lack observations quantify interpret changes in processes. Furthermore, comparative studies between treated untreated areas should account for heterogen...

A diversity of phenological strategies has been reported for tropical tree species. Defoliation and seasonal dormancy cambial activity inform us on how trees cope with water stress during the dry season, or maximize use resources rainy season. Here, we study matching between leaf phenology (unfolding shedding) Prioria balsamifera , a key timber species in Democratic Republic Congo. In particula...

Abstract Despite prompting persistent meteorological changes, severe defoliation following a tropical cyclone (TC) landfall has received relatively little attention and is largely overlooked within hurricane preparedness recovery planning. Changes to near-track vegetation can modify evapotranspiration for months after passage, thereby altering boundary layer moisture energy fluxes that drive th...

Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm, snapped and uprooted canopy trees, removed large branches, defoliated vegetation across Puerto Rico. The magnitude of forest damages the rates mechanisms recovery following Maria provide important benchmarks for understanding ecology extreme events. We used airborne Lidar data acquired before (2017) after (2018, 2020) to quantify landscape-scale changes in s...

The fungal pathogen Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fischer, causal agent of white pine blister rust (WPBR), was introduced to the eastern United States about 1898 (11). Hosts for the fungus include fiveneedle pines (Pinus sp. section Quinquefoliae) and currants and gooseberries (Ribes sp.). Natural infection of wild populations of Pedicularis bracteosa Benth and Castilleja Mutis ex L.f. have also bee...

Weeds are a major problem in seeding rangeland and cropland to native grasses. However, many immature weedy forbs and grasses are palatable to cattle. Research was conducted using yearling cattle for weed control in big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii var. gerardii Vitman) seedings (1987, 1988) at Mead, Nebraska on a Sharpsburg silty clay loam (fine, montmorillonitic, mesic Typic Argiudoll) soil....

In 1998, we measured the effects of Hurricane Georges after it passed over long-term research sites in Puerto Rican dry forest. Our primary objectives were to quantify hurricane effects on forest structure, to compare effects in a large tract of forest versus a series of nearby forest fragments, to evaluate short-term response to hurricane disturbance in terms of mortality and sprouting, and to...

The aim of this article is to present a concept of using airborne laser scanning (LIDAR), with one scan only, to map defoliation as a forest health variable. The idea is to apply two independent algorithms on the LIDAR data set, to produce both actual and expected leaf area index (LAI) values for every cell in a grid over the area. LAI is estimated based on laser pulse penetration through the c...