Longleaf Alliance: Lab Studies in Hurricane Ecology
Join the members of the Jones Center Landscape Ecology Lab as we present our latest research at the 15th Biennial Longleaf Conference, taking place from October 7 to 11, 2024, in Miramar Beach, Florida.
Presentations from our lab will focus on hurricane ecology in longleaf pine, considerations for management hurricane risk to longleaf pine ecosystems, and two lab members will debut work on hurricane ecology using dendrochronological and remote sensing techniques
New study: Overstory and litter properties drive fuel dynamics
The composition of fire-dependent forests can shift after decades of fire exclusion. Forests can shift to trees with distinct overstory and leaf litter traits that can further suppress fire and make restoration difficult. We compared how leaf litter and overstory properties differed between fire-adapted pines and oaks, and the non-fire adapted species that often encroach after fire suppression. We found that trees produced distinct microclimates and that drying properties of leaf litter varied among species. This information is useful for understanding mesophytic encroachment and for accelerating successful restoration efforts
Module 1: Getting started with LiDAR processing for forestry and natural resources
If you are interested in learning to use LiDAR for forestry and natural resources, this tutorial can help you get started. You will learn to view large datasets, create raster products, map trees, and more!
PNAS: New study defines hurricane regimes for North American forests
Hurricanes are a chronic disturbance to many forests. but currently no study defines hurricane regimes for North America. This study uses hurricane models and long-term data to define four distinct hurricane regimes for the region, and discusses how hurricanes may be a useful lens for understanding the distribution of tree species and their traits.
Now Hiring: Landscape Ecology Seasonal Technician
The Landscape Ecology Lab at the Jones Center at Ichauway is hiring a full-time Seasonal Technician for a 6-month term starting November 16, 2026. The position combines fieldwork in longleaf pine forests with data processing, including tree mapping, mortality surveys, and terrestrial lidar collection and processing. Applications are due October 29, 2026
Jones Center Landscape Ecology Lab at the Longleaf Conference 2026
The Jones Center Landscape Ecology Lab will showcase restoration and forestry research at the 16th Biennial Longleaf Conference in Williamsburg, VA. Our team will present three talks, two posters, and a hands-on demo of Pinescape, our virtual reality forestry simulator, advancing satellite remote sensing for restoration and biodiversity credit monitoring, ecological forestry, and fire behavior in longleaf pine ecosystems.
Jeffery Cannon Receives 2026 Emerging Leader Award from The Longleaf Alliance
Dr. Jeffery Cannon, landscape ecologist at the Jones Center at Ichauway, has received The Longleaf Alliance’s 2026 Emerging Leader Award. The Alliance recognized his research on how hurricanes influence longleaf pine cone production and regeneration, along with his work in ecological forestry and accessible training tools, including interactive forestry simulations. The award will be presented at the 16th Biennial Longleaf Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia, October 27-30.
Landscape Ecology Lab welcomes Brittany LaPointe
The Landscape Ecology Lab welcomes Brittany LaPointe as a Remote Research Assistant based in Dothan, Alabama. Brittany brings remote sensing experience from USGS EROS and NASA DEVELOP internships, where she studied post-fire vegetation recovery in the Black Hills and California’s Santa Cruz Mountains. At the Jones Center, she’ll apply that expertise to evaluate longleaf pine restoration outcomes at a regional scale and expand her skills working with lidar data.
Landscape Ecology Lab welcomes Nathan Moore
Nathan Moore joins the Jones Center at Ichauway Landscape Ecology Lab as a PhD student at Auburn University, where he is co-advised by Dr. Heather Alexander and Dr. Jeffery Cannon. After completing his MS in Natural Resource Ecology and Management at Oklahoma State University, Nathan brings research experience in soil carbon, rangeland ecology, fire, and landscape-scale disturbance to the lab’s work on longleaf pine and mixed oak ecosystems.
Hurricanes, Longleaf Pine, and the Science of Resilience — 5 years of hurricane research
Longleaf pine has weathered hurricanes for millennia and is one of the most windfirm southern pine species. But resistance is only part of the story — our research shows storms also trigger surges in cone production, open canopy gaps that favor longleaf regeneration, and create microhabitats used by dozens of vertebrate species. We’ve also mapped hurricane wind regimes across North America to help guide long-term conservation planning as storm patterns shift with climate change. Check out this short feature on our hurricane ecology research.
UGA Today highlights lab’s research on smoke emissions from prescribed fire
UGA Today recently covered new research quantifying how prescribed fire smoke affects air quality across the Southeast. The study found prescribed burns account for over 20% of regional fine particle pollution, with Georgia seeing the most smoke-impacted days of any state studied. Jones Center scientist Jeffery Cannon co-authored the work, which used burn permit records to model smoke exposure more accurately than satellite data alone — helping land managers balance fire’s conservation benefits with community health.
Podcast: Hurricanes and Forest Ecology | Timber University Podcast, Ep. 41
Recently Dr. Jeffery Cannon joined the Timber University podcast to discuss the lab’s hurricane research in longleaf pine ecosystems. The conversation covers how storms shape forest structure, stimulate reproduction, and reinforce fire regimes — and how lidar is helping researchers quantify these impacts. The episode also touches on managing for resilience and what disturbance ecology means for landowners and restoration practitioners.
New Study: Modeling smoke exposure from burn permits
Prescribed fire is essential for forest management, but estimating its smoke impacts remains a challenge. Our lab contributed to a new study creating a novel way of estimating smoke exposure from burn permit geodatabases by integrating them with atmospheric and chemical transport models to improve PM2.5 estimates from Rx burns. The permit-based approach captures small, short-lived burns often missed by satellites and allows exploring new ways to reduce smoke emissions overall
“Piloting” metrics for monitoring biodiversity credits
The first U.S. biodiversity credits were sold in May 2025 for longleaf pine restoration, signaling a new market to support conservation. The Landscape Ecology Lab is pioneering streamlined monitoring protocols using drones and terrestrial lidar to measure vegetation structure in longleaf ecosystems. This cost-effective approach could make biodiversity credits more accessible to small landowners and provide viable financial incentives for conservation work.