working with our partners

SRS scientists took the lead in national and international cooperative efforts to develop and promote biomass utilization research and technology. They organized a national workshop to demonstrate new technology and equipment for biomass removal, utilization, and transportation. Our scientists were also instrumental in organizing the First International Symposium on Advanced Biomass Science and Technology.

SRS scientists have begun working with colleagues in the United Kingdom to examine the re-introduction of European earthworms on a Scottish island because they are the same earthworms that are beginning to invade North American forests. Information on how the earthworms spread and how they impact soil and water will be useful in developing strategies for limiting their spread in southern forests.

SRS developed a partnership to reestablish the gauging station on Turkey Creek watershed on Santee Experimental Forest. A real-time gauging station allows data to be accessible via the Internet with 15 minutes of collection. Deep wells enable incorporation of groundwater monitoring into the protocol. A working group communicates networking opportunities.

SRS scientists are currently studying the effects of rainfall and temperature on the breeding activity of 13 species of frogs in eastern Texas. This information is critically important to predict the potential effects of a changing climate on frog populations. Key partners include Texas A&M University and Oklahoma State University.

After the Okefenokee wildfire that burned 553,000 acres in Georgia and Florida, the rapid damage assessment involved combining data from Forest Inventory and Analysis plots with information about the wildfire perimeter from the Southern Area Coordination Center. The resulting data were used by the assessment team to develop a preliminary estimate of mortality and lost timber values.