Forest Management and Water Yield: Tool Development and Synthesis of Outcomes for Embedded Wetlands

Apr 24, 2023

Wetlands provide a suite of ecosystem services, including fish and wildlife habitat, microclimate regulation, nutrient and sediment capture and storage, water storage to reduce flooding, and carbon storage with resulting benefits for climate change mitigation. The scope of these services may be significantly affected by surrounding land cover, including variations in forest density and canopy leaf area.

On May 11 at 1:00 p.m. eastern, Dr. Katie Glodzik and Dr. Esther Lee from the University of Florida School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatic Sciences will present on a new model-based tool and associated findings on the influence of upland forest management on wetland and landscape-scale hydrologic functions. Findings may be used to inform management practices that increase water yield, improve wetland functions, and support targeted wetlands restoration efforts in the future. Model results related to the influence of wetland hydrology on carbon sequestration and the potential to increase the carbon storage capacity of wetlands will be discussed. While the focus of this presentation is on geographically isolated wetlands in Coastal Plain pine forests of the southeastern United States, trends may be leveraged to inform management of a diversity of wetlands landscapes.

Registration is not required. Visit the Conservation Outcomes Webinar Series webpage for additional information, including a link to access the live event.

Source : usda.gov

Video: How American Farmers Harvest 1.15 Billion Pounds of Sunflowers

Across the open plains of North Dakota and South Dakota, sunflower fields turn the American landscape into a sea of gold. In this farming documentary, we go inside modern sunflower farming to see how farmers plant, grow, harvest, clean, dry, process, and transform sunflower seeds into valuable products used every day.

In 2024, American farmers harvested about 1.15 billion pounds of sunflowers. This video follows the full journey from warm spring planting to combine harvesting, seed cleaning, storage, oil extraction, refining, roasting, packaging, and animal feed production.

You will see how sunflower seeds are processed into cooking oil, roasted snacks, bakery ingredients, birdseed, livestock feed, and useful byproducts. From golden fields to modern processing plants, this is the story of how a beautiful flower becomes one of America’s important oilseed crops.

Watch until the end to discover how sunflower farming connects farmers, machines, factories, food production, and sustainable agriculture.