This paper describes the long-term effects on vegetation following the catastrophic fire in 1987 on the northern Great Xing’an Mountain by analyzing the AVHRR GIMMS 15-day composite normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) dataset. Both temporal and spatial characteristics were analyzed for natural regeneration and tree planting scenarios from 1984 to 2006. Regressing post-fire NDVI values...

Understanding the genetics of lifetime fitness is crucial to understand a species' ecological preferences and ultimately predict its ability to cope with novel environmental conditions. Yet, there is a dearth of information regarding the impact of the ecological variance experienced by natural populations on expressed phenotypic and fitness differences. Here, we follow the natural dynamics of e...

Projected increasing demands for timber coupled with reduced harvests on public lands have led to concern among some forest policymakers regarding the adequacy of future U.S. timber supplies. One question concerns the likelihood that prevailing market incentives will induce industrial and nonindustrial private landowners to intensify forest management. We develop empirical models of historical ...

Two schools of thought exist regarding the planting of bare-root seedlings. One school favors the “pull-up” method where the seedling is pulled-up 3 to 10 cm after placing the roots in the planting hole. Although this action purportedly straightens the taproot, data are lacking to show this extra step actually improves field performance. Pulling the seedling up usually results in the root-colla...

This study used panel data models with spatial error correlation to analyze private tree planting in the US South from 1955 to 2003. Controlling for statewide, fixed effects allows us to disentangle the effect of spatial interaction from that of state heterogeneity and omitted variables. The results show that there is significant spatial interdependence among the southern states in private tree...

Limited water resources restrict winter wheat grain yield and quality in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of North China, and establishing optimal planting patterns according to crop water requirements is the key factor for achieving rational water use. In this paper, 4 planting patterns were applied, namely, uniform row (30 cm; traditional pattern), wide (40 cm)-narrow (20 cm) row, furrow (double line...

A suitable planting pattern and irrigation strategy are essential for optimizing winter wheat yield and water use efficiency (WUE). The study aimed to evaluate the impact of planting pattern and irrigation frequency on grain yield and WUE of winter wheat. During the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 winter wheat growing seasons in the North China Plain, the effects of planting patterns and irrigation fre...

Urban schoolyard environments are increasingly characterized by a proliferation of hard surfaces with little if any greenery. Schoolyard "greening" initiatives are becoming increasingly popular; however, schoolyard designs often fail to realize their restorative potential. In this quasi-experimental study, a proposed schoolyard greening project was used to visualize alternative planting designs...