Jones Center hosts rare plant workshop

The Jones Center recently hosted a workshop that brought together botanists from Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. The goal of the workshop was to develop a framework for an upcoming Species Status Assessment for ciliate-leaf tickseed. The species is globally rare and is being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act. The status assessment […]

PNAS: New study defines hurricane regimes for North American forests

Forest hurricane regimes defined for North America

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.

Zampieri awarded SAF Mollie Beattie Scholarship

The Society of American Foresters named Dr. Nicole Zampieri among two 2023-2024 Mollie Beattie Visiting Scholars. Nicole is a post-doctoral researcher at Tall Timbers Research Station and the Jones Center at Ichauway Landscape Ecology Lab. Her current work investigates patterns of mortality in pine-oak savannas and uses dendrochronology techniques to understand patterns of disturbance. She also plays an important role in guiding and mentoring the research of fellow labmates and beyond. Congratulations, Nicole!

New study: Longleaf pine woodlands increase streamflow during droughts

Jones Center researcher Dr. Seth Younger found that longleaf pine woodlands increase water yeidl during droughts. The study looked at 21 rural watersheds with varying levels of longleaf pine cover and found that those with high longleaf pine cover had 17% higher stream flow than those with low cover. The increase was even higher during critical drought periods, highlighting how longleaf pine restoration can improve conservation outcomes on land and in streams.

Sen. Ossoff visits Ichauway, launches bill to improve data collection

Sen. Jon Ossoff visited the Jones Center at Ichauway to announce a bill that would improve data collection efforts of the US Forest Service. The new bill would authorize USFS to collect data on above and below ground carbon and adopt new technologies such as lidar. The bill is expected to improve data collection within the USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis.

PBS features Landscape Ecology Lab’s tree winching research

Chuck visits the Jones Center at Ichauway and chats with Director Dr. Kier Klepzig about their work on the 30,000-acre property. They join Dr. Jeff Cannon in the field and help him with a bit of hands-on research into how much hurricane wind force it takes to fell a longleaf pine.

New study: Longleaf pine resilience after Hurricane Michael

A new study led by University of Florida and Landscape Ecology lab alumnus Cody Pope was published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management. The study examined growth of longleaf pine and associated oak saplings for 2 years after hurricane Michael, and found that canopy removal may benefit longleaf pine over competing oak species, indicating that hurricanes may reinforce and stabilize longleaf pine dominace in frequent-fire forests.