When people consider the large-scale crops that contribute to modern society, wheat and corn often come to mind. But for many in the southeastern United States, known as the “wood basket” both for the United States and the world, pine is key.
That’s why, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture offered a grant for coordinated agricultural projects, a team of researchers banded together to propose an unprecedented study on southern pine forests.
The Pine Integrated Network: Education, Mitigation, and Adaptation project, better known as PINEMAP, began in 2012 when Tim Martin, professor of tree physiology at the University of Florida, along with representatives from 11 southeastern land-grant universities and a host of other research cooperatives, proposed a five-year research project to determine how changes to climate could affect pine forests in the southeastern United States.
The vast team of scientists, educators, and cooperative extension professionals worked to develop a plan to help forest landowners increase carbon sequestration, increase the efficiency of fertilizer inputs, adapt forest management approaches, and plant a larger variety of trees to increase forest resilience and sustainability under a changing climate.
“We wanted to know how we might expect the natural resources we manage to respond to climate change in the future, and how we could effectively convey that information into management recommendations that stakeholders could use,” said Martin, the project director.
From Forest Business Network: https://www.forestbusinessnetwork.com/67013/massive-southeastern-pine-research-project-earns-national-partnership-award/