Tag: forest ecosystems

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Oriental Bittersweet-Celastrus orbiculatus

Written by D.J. Moorhead and G.K. Douce for Forest Encyclopedia Network
Figure 1. Oriental bittersweet’s leaves are elliptical in shade and alternately arranged. The vines can wrap tightly around trees, potentially girdling the tree and killing it. Photo by James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, courtesy of forestryimages.org.


Oriental bittersweet is a deciduous, climbing, woody vine that can grow to lengths of 60 ft (Miller 2003). The alternate, elliptical leaves are light green in color (Fig. 1). Small, inconspicuous, auxiliary …

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Kudzu-Pueraria montana (Lour.) Merr.

Adapted from: D.J. Moorhead and G.K. Douce for Forest Encyclopedia Network
Figure 1. Distinctive three-parted leaf of kudzu. Photo by James H. Miller, USDA Forestry service, courtesy of forestryimages.org.

Kudzu is a climbing deciduous vine capable of reach lengths of over 100 feet. The stems can grow to 4 inches in diameter and the large semi-woody roots can reach depths of 3 to 16 feet (Miller 2003). Kudzu is easily identified because it grows in a large dense mat of …

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Mimosa – Albizia julibrissin

Written by D.J. Moorhead and G.K. Douce for Forest Encyclopedia Network

A mimosa infestation favors disturbed sites, where they can grow quickly and prevent native plant establishment.

Figure 1. Mimosa flowers are very showy and fragrant. The leaves are delicate-looking and bipinnately compound. Photo by Ted Bodner, Southern Weed Science Society. Figure 2. Mimosa can quickly invade forest edges and old fields. The showy flowers make infestation very conspicuous. Photo by James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service. Image credits: forestryimages.org.

Mimosa, also known as silk tree, is a small deciduous tree that is 10 to 50 feet in height, often having multiple trunks. It has delicate looking bi-pinnately compound leaves that resemble ferns (Miller 2003). The bark is smooth and light tan to greenish in color. Mimosa has very showy, …

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Chestnut Blight

Contents


Written by: D. J. Moorhead, G. K. Douce, C. Evans, and D. Kennard for Forest Encyclopedia Network
Figure 1. A typical chestnut blight canker on a small
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Dynamics of Nutrient Cycling

Adapted from: Peter M. Bierman and Carl J. Rosen. Nutrient Cycling and Maintain Soil Fertility in Fruit and Vegetable Crop Systems. Department of Soil, Water and Climate, University of Minnesota. Available at: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/m1193.html#nutcyc

Introduction

Plants require four factors for growth and reproduction: light, water, the right temperature, and nutrients. Plant nutrients are chemical elements that are mostly absorbed by plant roots as inorganic chemicals dissolved in water, and it is important to understand both the biological and chemical processes that …

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Understanding Decomposition and Its Controls

Written by Sabrina Kleinman

Decomposition is the breakdown of dead organic material into smaller particles, which helps release nutrients and carbon for plant and microbial production. Decomposition converts these dead materials into organic materials, inorganic nutrients, and CO2. The process involves a series of integrated physical and chemical reactions that are performed by a vast array of soil organisms, enzymes, chemicals, and physical processes. This breakdown limits the amount of carbon that can be stored within an ecosystem, …

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Dynamics of Nutrient Cycling, cont.

Adapted from: Peter M. Bierman and Carl J. Rosen. Nutrient Cycling and Maintain Soil Fertility in Fruit and Vegetable Crop Systems. Department of Soil, Water and Climate, University of Minnesota. Available at: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/m1193.html#nutcyc

Soil fertility can be maintained when nutrients are efficiently recycled through the soil food web and soil-plant-animal system. Nutrient cycling is conveniently illustrated in diagrams that range from very simple (Fig. 1) to extremely complex (Fig. 2).

Basic Plant Nutrient Cycle

Figure 1. This diagram illustrates how
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Diversity in the Forest Understory

Written by Amy Grotta

The understory of a forest is made up of the trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants that exist below the canopy. In general, the forest understory makes up the largest percentage of plant diversity in a given forest ecosystem. While the canopy, or overstory, may be composed of one to a dozen tree species, depending on the ecosystem, many more plant species tend to be found in the understory (Table 1).

Table 1. Number of plant species …

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Dogwood Anthracnose

Written by D. Kennard for Forest Encyclopedia Network
Figure 1. Stem dieback from dogwood anthracnose (Discula destructiva). Photo by Robert A. Anderson, courtesy of forestryimages.org.

Dogwood anthracnose is a relatively new disease to North America. It was first observed in 1976 affecting a population of Cornus nuttallii in Washington state (Byther and Davidson 1979). Two years later, Pirone (1980) noticed a widespread and rapid deterioration of flowering dogwoods in New York and Connecticut (Fig. 1). In 1983, the …

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Balsam Woolly Adelgid in Fraser Fir

Written by: D. Moorhead and G.K. Douce for Forest Encyclopedia Network
Figure 1. Balsam woolly adelgid was first found on Mount Mitchell, North Carolina, in 1957. The Fraser fir trees located at high elevations on Mount Mitchell have experienced heavy mortality. Photo by Robert F. Billings, Texas Forest Service, courtesy of forestryimages.org.

The balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae), a native of Europe, was first located in the southern Appalachians in 1957 on Mount Mitchell, North Carolina (Figure 1). …

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