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Pinemap: Integrating Research, Education and Extension for Enhancing Southern Pine Climate Change - Mapping the future of southern pine management in a changing world
Research Team
PI:
T.A. Martin, University of Florida
Cooperating Institutions:
University of Florida (lead)
Alcorn State University
Auburn University
Mississippi State University
North Carolina A&T University
North Carolina State University
Oklahoma State University
Texas A&M University
University of Georgia
USDA Forest Service
Virginia Polytechnic and State Institute
Virginia State University
among 50+ Co-PIs and Collaborators Dr. Sabine Grunwald
is involved in the project to conduct multi-scale landscape modeling research and she has responsibility for the project data infrastructure (lab and field measurements).
Graduate (Ph.D.) student (supervised by Grunwald): C. Wade Ross
Database management / programmer: Brandon Hoover
Time: 5/2011 to 5/2016
Funding Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) - National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) / Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) CAP Regional Project (funding amount for this project: $20 million)
Overview:
Project web site: http://www.pinemap.org
On Friday, Feb. 18, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced the award of a five-year, $20 million grant to a consortium led by the University of Florida, to fund research, outreach and education to develop and transfer better management methods for southern pine, notably loblolly pine.
From both an environmental and an economic standpoint, pine trees are one of the most important agricultural products in the southeastern U.S.
In an 11-state region reaching from Virginia to Texas, forests occupy about 60 percent of all land. That includes about 25 million acres of naturally occurring pine forest, and another 25 million acres of planted pine.
Among planted pine, the most important species is loblolly, which accounts for about 80 percent of planted forest in the Southeast. It’s widely used for lumber, pulp and paper production, and has great potential for biofuel production.
Southeastern pine forests produce about 16 percent of global industrial wood, more than any other country in the world.
The forest products industry is responsible for 5.5 percent of the jobs and 7.5 percent of the total industrial output of the region.
Two-thirds of all the drinking water in the U.S. comes from forested watersheds.
Forests in the SE U.S. store enough carbon each year to offset 13% of the regions greenhouse gas emissions.
Project goals are to create, synthesize, and disseminate the necessary knowledge to enable southern forest landowners to:
- harness pine forest productivity to mitigate atmospheric carbon dioxide
- more efficiently utilize nitrogen and other fertilizer inputs
- adapt their forest management approaches to increase resilience in the face of changing climate.
The project is structured around six aims:
- Aim 1 - Monitoring network establishment and measurement
- Aim 2 - Multi-scale modeling
- Aim 3 - Gene discovery and deployment guidelines
- Aim 4 - Life cycle assessment; multi-scale policy and economic analysis; assessment of alternative management adoption
- Aim 5 - Educational and training programs for stakeholders and students
- Aim 6 - Extension program development and delivery
Disciplinary aims contribute to broader integrated project goals: Mitigation, adaptation, and education and extension.
Project summary: Over the last 50 years, cooperative research on planted southern pine management among SE U.S. universities, government agencies, and forest industry has developed and facilitated the widespread implementation of improved genetic and silvicultural technology. The impact of the regional research cooperatives is difficult to overstate, with current members managing 55% of the privately owned planted pine forestland, and producing 95% of the pine seedlings planted each year. Our team includes the eight major forestry cooperative research programs, scientists from nine land grant and three 1890s institutions, the US Forest Service, and climate modeling and adaptation specialists associated with the multi-state SE Climate Consortium and state climate offices. Our goal is to create and disseminate the knowledge that enables landowners to: harness planted pine forest productivity to mitigate atmospheric CO2; more efficiently use nitrogen and other fertilizer inputs; and adapt their forest management to increase resilience in the face of changing climate. We will integrate our team’s infrastructure and expertise to: 1) develop breeding, genetic deployment and innovative management systems to increase C sequestration and resilience to changing climate of planted southern pine forests ; 2) understand interactive effects of policy, biology, and climate change on sustainable management; 3) transfer new management and genetic technologies to private industrial and non-industrial landowners; and 4) educate a diverse cross-section of the public about the relevance of forests, forest management, and climate change. These efforts will enable our stakeholders to enhance the productivity of southern pine forests, while maintaining social, economic, and ecological sustainability.
Results [in progress]
Peer-reviewed Publications:
Oral and poster presentations:
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