RESEARCH IN REVIEW
APPLIED RESEARCH
silviculture
The following articles
will appear in the June
2014 edition of Forest
Science.
www.forest-science.org
SPECIAL SECTION
entomology & pathology
Mountain Pine Beetle, a Major Disturbance Agent in US Western
Coniferous Forests: A Synthesis of the State of Knowledge
José F. Negrón and Christopher J. Fettig, editors
In recent years, the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae, has impacted
⬎8.9 million hectares of forests in the western United States. Historically a common
occurrence in western forests, particularly in lodgepole and ponderosa pine, the magnitude and extent of recent outbreaks have exceeded past events since written records
are available and have occurred in areas where outbreaks were less common. While
mountain pine beetle is an important part of the ecology of these forests, extensive
levels of tree mortality resulting from outbreaks may have undesirable impacts, for
example negatively affecting aesthetics, recreation, and fiber resources among other
ecosystem services. This special section contains 10 articles concerning different aspects of the biology, ecology, and management of mountain pine beetle. A number of
relevant topics are reviewed and available literature synthesized.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5849/forsci.13-169
FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH
economics
Industrial Timberland Ownership and Financial Performance of US
Forest Products Companies
Yanshu Li and Daowei Zhang
This study presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between industrial timberland ownership and financial performance of forest products companies in the
United States. Based on structure-conduct-performance model of the industrial organization theory, the authors develop and estimate a three-stage least squares (3SLS)
model system that links timberland ownership with performance. The results show
that holding timberland improves a forest products company’s profitability and lowers its systematic risk. Still, these benefits cannot overcome the costs induced by
institutional arrangements, leading most forest products companies to divest their
timberlands.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5849/forsci.12-145
Influence of Site Conditions, Shelter Objects, and Ectomycorrhizal
Inoculation on the Early Survival of Whitebark Pine Seedlings
Planted in Waterton Lakes National Park
Erin R. Lonergan, Cathy L. Cripps, and Cyndi M. Smith
Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is an endangered five-needle pine limited to high
elevations in western North America. Populations are being decimated by white pine
blister rust, mountain pine beetles, and fire suppression. Over 200,000 rust-resistant
seedlings have been planted for restoration in the western United States, but survival
rates are low. Several treatment combinations (planting on burns, in beargrass, near
shelter objects, and with mycorrhizal inoculation) intended to enhance the survival of
planted nursery seedlings were evaluated. Each of 21 plots contained four site condition combinations (burned/not, beargrass/not). Half of 983 seedlings were inoculated
with the native ectomycorrhizal fungus Suillus sibiricus in the nursery. Seedlings were
planted with/without a shelter object (stumps, logs, rocks). After 2 years, some of the
highest seedling survival rates (82%) were in burned areas (prescribed torching) where
beargrass mats were absent. In unburned areas with beargrass, mycorrhizal treatment
increased survival 17–24% and when combined with shelter objects was 68 – 84%.
Shelter objects increased survival 10 –12.5% on burns and 31% on unburned areas
without beargrass, where survival was low (42%). Overall, early seedling survival was
higher than for other whitebark pine restoration attempts at 95 and 69% for years one
and two, likely due to particular treatment combinations possibly helped by favorable
spring moisture conditions.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5849/forsci.13-511
geospatial technologies
Accuracy Assessment of Land Cover Maps of Forests within an
Urban and Rural Environment
Daniel R. Unger, I-Kuai Hung, and David L. Kulhavy
Land cover maps of forests within an urban and rural environment derived from high
spatial resolution multispectral data (QuickBird) and medium spatial resolution multispectral data (Landsat ETM⫹, SPOT 4) were compared to ascertain whether increased spatial resolution increases map accuracy of forests and whether map accuracy
varies across land cover classification schemes. It is commonly assumed that increased
spatial resolution would probably increase land cover map accuracy regardless of land
cover classification methodology. This study assessed whether that assumption is
correct within a rural and an urban environment. Map accuracy for modified National
Land Cover Data (NLCD) 2001 Level II, Level I, and Unique (a modified NLCD
2001 Level II and Level I combination) shows that 30-m Landsat ETM⫹ data had the
highest overall map accuracy for rural, urban, and combined rural/urban land cover
maps. Analysis of user’s and producer’s accuracies shows that Landsat ETM⫹ data
had higher levels of producer’s accuracy of ⬎ 90.0% for the coniferous cover type for
modified NLCD 2001 Level II and Unique, excluding one instance for which SPOT
4 had a user’s accuracy of 98.5% for the rural coniferous cover type. Modified NLCD
2001 Level I Landsat ETM⫹ data had user’s and producer’s accuracy for a homogeneous forest cover type of 98.4 and 90.6%, respectively. Landsat ETM⫹ data also
outperformed SPOT 4 and QuickBird in an urban environment, creating the only
map products with forest cover type user’s and producer’s accuracies ⬎ 90.0%.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5849/forsci.13-614
Journal of Forestry • May 2014
257