Agency overview | |
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Formed | 1921 [1] |
Jurisdiction | Federal Government of the United States |
Headquarters | 200 W.T. Weaver Blvd., Asheville, NC 28804-3454 |
Agency executive |
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Parent agency | US Department of Agriculture United States Forest Service |
Website | srs.fs.usda.gov |
The Southern Research Station (SRS) is one component of seven units that provide the framework for the US Forest Service (USFS) Research and Development organization. [3] Forest Service R&D is described as "...the most extensive natural resources research organization in the world". [4]
The mission of the Southern Research Station is:
...to engage in high-quality research leading to the scientific and technological advances needed to sustain and enhance forest ecosystems and the full range of benefits they provide. [5]
The R&D organization has been part of the USFS mission since the agency was created in 1905. [6] As one of seven units in the USFS R&D organization, the Southern Research Station had its beginnings as two separate entities – the Southern Forest Experiment Station and the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. [7] During their formative years, major areas of research in these two experiment stations included: [8]
Initiated in 1921, the SFES was responsible for research in southern pine types within the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, East Texas and southern Arkansas. [8] The SFES was headquartered in New Orleans, LA. [9]
The SEFES began as the Appalachian Station in 1921, [4] with its research scope being generally limited to mountain hardwood types. [8] States within the Appalachian Station included North Carolina, South Carolina, northern Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and eastern Tennessee. [10] After World War II, the Appalachian Station was redesignated as the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, and research was expanded to include both pine and hardwood types from Florida through Virginia. [1] Headquarters for the Appalachian Station and SEFES were in Asheville, NC. [11]
In 1995, the Southern and Southeastern Forest Experiment Stations merged to form the Southern Research Station with headquarters in Asheville, NC. [7] Research was expanded into new fields to address "...how climate change, human population growth, invasive plants, pathogens, and fire affect the provision of timber, wildlife, clean air and water, and recreation, as well as other ecosystem services." [7]
Thirteen US states are located within the boundary of the Southern Research Station. [12]
As of 2022, SRS research activities were being conducted within 15 Research Work Units located throughout the southeastern US and were categorized under four scientific objectives or science centers. [13]
Science Center | Research Work Unit and contact location |
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Forest Assessment and Synthesis | •Center for Forest Watershed Research (Otto, NC) •Forest Economics and Policy (Research Triangle Park, NC) •Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center (Asheville, NC and Research Triangle Park, NC) •Center for Integrated Forest Science (Raleigh, NC) •Integrating Human and Natural Systems (Athens, GA and Gainesville, FL) |
Forest Health and Disturbance | •Center for Forest Disturbance Science (Athens, GA and Clemson, SC) •Forest Genetics and Ecosystems Biology (Saucier, MS) •Insects, Diseases and Invasive Plants of Southern Forests (Athens, GA) |
Forest Inventory and Analysis | •Forest Inventory and Analysis (Knoxville, TN) |
Forest Restoration and Management | •Center for Bottomland Hardwoods Research (Stoneville, MS) •Upland Hardwood Ecology and Management (Asheville, NC) •Restoring and Managing Longleaf Pine Ecosystems (Monticello, AR) •Southern Pine Ecology and Management (Monticello, AR) •Forest Operations (Auburn, AL) •Utilization of Southern Forest Resources (Auburn, AL) |
Within the SRS, there are 20 Experimental forests and/or Rangelands located in nine southeastern states. [14] These experimental forests and rangelands provide a network for conducting long-term research studies and are a treasure trove of accumulated historical sampling data that span a time period of up to 100 years. Experimental forests also serve as education and demonstration sites where researchers interact with students, forest landowners, and forest managers. [15]
Experimental forest | Size (acres) | Location US State | Year established |
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Escambia | 2,990 | Alabama | 1947 |
Alum Creek | 4,281 | Arkansas | 1959 |
Crossett | 1,675 | Arkansas | 1934 |
Henry R. Koen | 720 | Arkansas | 1951 |
Sylamore | 4,290 | Arkansas | 1934 |
Chipola | 2,760 | Florida | 1934 |
Olustee | 3,135 | Florida | 1934 |
Hitchiti | 4,602 | Georgia | 1938 |
Scull Shoals | 4,487 | Georgia | 1961 |
Palustris | 7,515 | Louisiana | 1935 |
Experimental forest | Size (acres) | Location US State | Year established |
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Delta | 2,580 | Mississippi | 1961 |
Harrison | 4,111 | Mississippi | 1934 |
Tallahatchie | 4,569 | Mississippi | 1950 |
Bent Creek | 5,242 | North Carolina | 1925 |
Blue Valley | 1,400 | North Carolina | 1964 |
Coweeta | 5,482 | North Carolina | 1934 |
John C. Calhoun | 5,082 | South Carolina | 1947 |
Hill Demo Forest | 2,690 | North Carolina | 1947 |
Santee | 6,000 | South Carolina | 1937 |
Stephen F. Austin | 2,560 | Texas | 1945 |
In 2022, there were 33 established Research Natural Areas (RNA) located within 12 southeastern US states, excluding Tennessee. [16] At least two Research Natural Areas are located within the boundaries of the Southern Research Station's Experimental Forests:
This 60-year pictorial timeline is indicative of the USFS commitment to maintaining the infrastructure needed to support long-term forest research.
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering 193 million acres (780,000 km2) of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's Office, National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, Business Operations, as well as Research and Development. The agency manages about 25% of federal lands and is the sole major national land management agency not part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Pinus serotina, the pond pine, black bark pine, bay pine,marsh pine, or pocosin pine, is a pine tree found along the Southeastern portion of the Atlantic coastal plain of the United States, from southern New Jersey south to Florida and west to southern Alabama. Pond pine distribution may be starting to spread west towards Mississippi and Tennessee.
Pinus elliottii, commonly known as slash pine, is a conifer tree native to the Southeastern United States. Slash pine is named after the "slashes" – swampy ground overgrown with trees and bushes – that constitute its habitat. Other common names include swamp pine, yellow slash pine, and southern Florida pine. Slash pine has two different varieties: P. e. var. elliottii and P. e. var. densa. Historically, slash pine has been an important economic timber for naval stores, turpentine, and resin. The wood of slash pine is known for its unusually high strength, especially for a pine. It exceeds many hardwoods and is even comparable to very dense woods such as ironwood.
Quercus coccinea, the scarlet oak, is a deciduous tree in the red oak section Lobatae of the genus Quercus, in the family Fagaceae.
Chippewa National Forest is a National Forest located in north central Minnesota, United States, in the counties of Itasca, Cass and Beltrami. Forest headquarters are located in Cass Lake, Minnesota. There are local ranger district offices in Blackduck, Deer River and Walker.
The Atlantic Plain is one of eight distinct physiographic divisions of the contiguous United States. Using the USGS physiographic classification system, the Atlantic Plain division comprises two provinces and six sections. The Coastal Plain province is differentiated from the Continental Shelf province simply based on the portion of the land mass above and below sea level.
Carya glabra, the pignut hickory, is a common, but not abundant species of hickory in the oak-hickory forest association in the Eastern United States and Canada. Other common names are pignut, sweet pignut, coast pignut hickory, smoothbark hickory, swamp hickory, and broom hickory. The pear-shaped nut ripens in September and October, has a sweet maple like smell, and is an important part of the diet of many wild animals. The wood is used for a variety of products, including fuel for home heating. Its leaves turn yellow in the Fall.
The Keetch–Byram drought index, created by John Keetch and George Byram in 1968 for the United States Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, is a measure of drought conditions. It is commonly used for the purpose of predicting the likelihood and severity of wildfire. It is calculated based on rainfall, air temperature, and other meteorological factors.
Carya tomentosa, commonly known as mockernut hickory, mockernut, white hickory, whiteheart hickory, hognut, bullnut, is a species of tree in the walnut family Juglandaceae. The most abundant of the hickories, and common in the eastern half of the United States, it is long lived, sometimes reaching the age of 500 years. A straight-growing hickory, a high percentage of its wood is used for products where strength, hardness, and flexibility are needed. The wood makes excellent fuel wood, as well. The leaves turn yellow in Autumn.
The eastern woodlands of the United States covered large portions of the southeast side of the continent until the early 20th century. These were in a fire ecology of open grassland and forests with low ground cover of herbs and grasses.
An experimental forest, or experimental range, as defined by the United States Forest Service, is "an area administered ... 'to provide for the research necessary for the management of the land.'"
Pyrgus centaureae wyandot, the Appalachian grizzled skipper, is a small, brown, gray and white butterfly known to inhabit parts of the Appalachian highlands and Northern Michigan. It can be identified by its characteristic checkered wing pattern formed by the scales on the fore- and hindwings. The butterflies are known to prefer sites with minimal vegetation, such as open areas in hardwood forests, as well as sites of recent disturbance. The skipper's main larval food plants include Canada cinquefoil and wild strawberry depending on the specific population's range. The butterfly is listed as a federal species of concern and holds a stated-endangered title in Ohio and New Jersey.
Crossett Experimental Forest is an experimental forest operated by the Southern Research Station (SRS) of the United States Forest Service in Ashley County, Arkansas. It is managed out of the SRS office in Monticello, Arkansas, with onsite facilities about 6.8 miles (10.9 km) south of Crossett, Arkansas off Arkansas Highway 133.
Margaret Stoughton Abell was an American forester.
Peter Koch was an American engineer and wood scientist who was considered an expert in the field of wood technology by his peers. From 1963 to 1982, Koch led a team of US Forest Service scientists in forest products utilization research specific to forests of the southeastern US. Accomplishments by Koch and his research team included eight US patents plus hundreds of research publications.
Winona Lake Research Natural Area is a 280-acre (110 ha) area of old-growth forest in Saline County, in the U.S. state of Arkansas. It is located in the Winona Ranger District of the Ouachita National Forest, on the south end of the Fourche Mountains, near Jessieville, Arkansas. The area was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1977. The land is owned by the U.S. Federal Government and is administered by the USDA Forest Service.
Harrison Experimental Forest is an experimental forest facility operated by the Southern Research Station (SRS) of the United States Forest Service in Harrison County, Mississippi. The experimental forest is located within the De Soto National Forest about 25 mi (40 km) north of Gulfport, Mississippi off Old Mississippi Highway 67.
Palustris Experimental Forest is an experimental forest operated by the Southern Research Station (SRS) of the United States Forest Service in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It is located south of Alexandria, Louisiana within the Kisatchie National Forest. The experimental forest bears the name of the predominant pine species that covered this region before the virgin pine forests were harvested in the early 1900s.
The Eastern Temperate Forests is a Level I ecoregion of North America designated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in its North American Environmental Atlas. The region covers much of the Eastern and Midwestern United States, the U.S. Interior Highlands, and parts of Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes.