Current Projects
Regional analysis of potential short-rotation woody crops sites to sequester carbon and produce biomass fuels
This project will identify and map potential sites for growing eastern cottonwood and black willow as SRWC and compare estimates of yields and revenues to identify areas profitable for SRWC production at the regional scale. The SRWC have been reported to adapt to diverse soil and climate conditions but a regional study focusing on identification of sites and potential environmental and economic benefits is lacking. Therefore, identification of sites that are economically favorable for growing dedicated bioenergy crops can provide crucial information for utilizing these species for greater ecosystem services. Biomass yield data from an ongoing study will be used to forecast SRWC yields and carbon sequestration under different management regimes.
Funding Agency: USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station
Improved estimators of forest inventory attributes for Mississippi and the southern United States
Forest management and planning requires information at different spatial and temporal scales. Volume, taper, and biomass models have a long history of application in forest management and planning and are integral part of sustainable forest management. With the generation of new data and improved research methods, it is possible to enhance existing models for their predictive abilities and develop alternative modeling approach to meet needs pertaining to the evolving resource management objectives. This research aims to develop tools for estimating resource inventory by fusing ground-based measurement, remotely sensed data, and future projections of climate. Overall objective of this research is to obtain improved estimators of forest inventory attributes for the state of Mississippi and the southern USA. Specific objectives are to:
Enhance the volume, taper, and biomass estimation methods used in the southern USA,
Use lidar data in combination with ground-based measurement data to estimate forest structure and change, and
Assess the trend in forest productivity and change in the southern United States.
Funding Agency: USDA McIntire-Stennis
Restoration impacts on ecosystem productivity, soil health, and water quality
This research aims to determine the impacts of commonly used restoration land management activities on ecosystem structure (e.g., biomass production, species diversity, invasive species control) and function (e.g., soil carbon sequestration and storage, soil nitrogen availability, downstream water quality). In addition, it aims to develop statistical models that relate structure with functions using drone imageries.
Funding Agency: Infinity Science Center
Collaborators: Dr. Courtney Siegert, Associate Professor, Department of Forestry, Mississippi State University
Dr. Joshua Granger, Assistant Professor, Department of Forestry, Mississippi State University
Completed Projects
National-scale forest biomass sampling and estimation
This project focused on developing new methods for estimating aboveground biomass and its components. These methods will be useful in accurately quantifying the role of forestry sector in carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation. In addition, the models developed in this study will be useful for reporting greenhouse gas inventory, fuel load assessment, formulating fire management strategies, and developing wildfire models. These models can also provide information to assess the feasibility of bioenergy plant establishment in terms of availability of feedstocks and associated cost of transportation.
Funding: USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station
Economic feasibility of short rotation woody crops in bioenergy production
The research questions to be investigated in this project were:
Does increased harvesting frequency result in greater biomass production of cottonwood and willow?
Is there a differential response to increased biomass harvesting frequency for the two species?
Is there planting spacing by biomass harvesting frequency interaction, i.e., for a given species, does increased biomass harvesting frequency result in same proportional change in biomass productivity across all spacing treatments?
Funding Agency: USDA Forest Service Center for Bottomland Hardwoods Research