Research by USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) scientists shows that the impacts of recent outbreaks of southern pine beetle further degraded shortleaf pine-hardwood forest ecosystems in the southern Appalachian region.

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The third season of an innovative series of speakers will begin Sunday, May 20 at Pine Grove Furnace State Park.

An analysis of two decades of data collected by the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest and Inventory Analysis (FIA) program shows that the live volume of hemlocks in the eastern United States is increasing despite infestations of hemlock woolly adelgidthat have decimated local populations.

A recent analysis of two decades of USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data shows the live volume of hemlocks in the eastern United States still increasing despite spreading infestations of hemlock woolly adelgid.

An invasive pest, hemlock woolly adelgid, has been marching and munching its way north along the Appalachians — killing pretty much every hemlock it can sink its sap-sucking mouthparts into.