@article{wilson_backe_just_lahr_nagle_long_dale_frank_2023, title={Tree species richness around urban red maples reduces pest density but does not enhance biological control}, volume={88}, ISSN={["1610-8167"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.ufug.2023.128093}, abstractNote={Urban trees often host greater insect pest abundance than trees in rural forests. This may be due, in part, to differences in tree diversity and canopy cover between these settings. Urban trees are often planted in isolation or monoculture, which favors pest accumulation. Gloomy scale, Melanaspis tenebricosa Comstock, is a pest of urban red maples (Acer rubrum L.) that is abundant where impervious surfaces dominate the local landscape. Increasing tree diversity and canopy cover around urban red maples may reduce gloomy scale abundance by supporting natural enemy communities. We investigated the effect that surrounding tree species richness and tree canopy cover had on gloomy scale abundance, natural enemy abundance, and biological control in red maple trees in Raleigh, NC, USA. We collected scales and natural enemies from red maples that spanned a gradient of tree species richness, canopy cover, and impervious surface values. We also measured gloomy scale parasitism and predation of sentinel prey in red maple canopies. Greater tree species richness and canopy cover were associated with lower gloomy scale density. Red maples in diverse settings also hosted fewer scales per natural enemy. Parasitoids were less common in maples in diverse settings, but generalist predator abundance was unaffected by tree diversity. Finally, tree species richness and canopy cover did not increase biological control of scales or sentinel prey. Our findings suggest that higher tree diversity and greater canopy cover may reduce gloomy scale density, but this is not entirely explained by the effects of natural enemies and biological control.}, journal={URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING}, author={Wilson, Caleb J. and Backe, Kristi M. and Just, Michael G. and Lahr, Eleanor C. and Nagle, Annemarie M. and Long, Lawrence C. and Dale, Adam G. and Frank, Steven D.}, year={2023}, month={Oct} }
 @article{wall_hohmann_just_hoffmann_2021, title={Characterizing past fire occurrence in longleaf pine ecosystems with the Mid-Infrared Burn Index and a Random Forest classifier}, volume={500}, ISSN={["1872-7042"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119635}, abstractNote={Prior to European settlement the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystem covered over 92 million hectares in the southeastern United States. Historically, fire was an important driver of species composition in the longleaf pine ecosystem, but fire exclusion since the early 20th century has led to the degradation of longleaf pine communities and has had a detrimental effect on the large number of rare and endemic species found within this system. Thus, accurate estimates of fire history are important for better informed management of longleaf pine communities. Recently, satellite imagery has been used to identify burned areas. However, results have been inconsistent across physiographic regions and vegetation types (e.g. wetlands under high canopy). We developed a model using Landsat satellite imagery, coupled with a Random Forest (RF) machine learning algorithm, to identify burned areas and estimate the fire history from 1991 to 2019 for Fort Bragg, NC, one of the largest contiguous areas of longleaf pine ecosystem remaining. We calculated six spectral indices from the Landsat band values, including the Mid-Infrared Burn Index (MIRBI) and the change in MIRBI through time (ΔMIRBI), and used them as predictors in our RF model. We used the developed RF model to estimate the fire history for all known populations of 24 rare upland and wetland plant species found on Fort Bragg. We compared our results to a recent continental U.S. fire occurrence dataset, as well as the prescribed fire records from Fort Bragg. The overall AUC (area under the curve) for our RF model (0.74) compared favorably to the continental U.S. dataset results for Fort Bragg (0.69), and was able to capture the reduced fire frequency in wetlands. The most important predictor in our RF model was ΔMIRBI. Depending on the model, individual plant species were estimated to have experienced significant differences in fire frequency relative to the prescribed fire records. For our RF model, we estimated that 50% of wetland and 25% of upland species experienced a lower fire frequency relative to that represented in the prescribed fire records. The burn probability and classification tool generated in this paper provides land managers in the southeastern U.S. with a novel approach for accurately identifying burned areas and estimating local fire frequency across landscapes.}, journal={FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT}, author={Wall, Wade A. and Hohmann, Matthew G. and Just, Michael G. and Hoffmann, William A.}, year={2021}, month={Nov} }
 @article{hoffmann_sanders_just_wall_hohmann_2020, title={Better lucky than good: How savanna trees escape the fire trap in a variable world}, volume={101}, ISSN={["1939-9170"]}, DOI={10.1002/ecy.2895}, abstractNote={Abstract}, number={1}, journal={ECOLOGY}, author={Hoffmann, William A. and Sanders, R. Wyatt and Just, Michael G. and Wall, Wade A. and Hohmann, Matthew G.}, year={2020}, month={Jan} }
 @article{frank_just_2020, title={Can Cities Activate Sleeper Species and Predict Future Forest Pests? A Case Study of Scale Insects}, volume={11}, ISBN={2075-4450}, DOI={10.3390/insects11030142}, abstractNote={Sleeper species are innocuous native or naturalized species that exhibit invasive characteristics and become pests in response to environmental change. Climate warming is expected to increase arthropod damage in forests, in part, by transforming innocuous herbivores into severe pests: awakening sleeper species. Urban areas are warmer than natural areas due to the urban heat island effect and so the trees and pests in cities already experience temperatures predicted to occur in 50–100 years. We posit that arthropod species that become pests of urban trees are those that benefit from warming and thus should be monitored as potential sleeper species in forests. We illustrate this with two case studies of scale insects that are important pests of urban trees in parts of the US. Melanaspis tenebricosa and Parthenolecanium quercifex are geographically native to the US but take on invasive characteristics such as higher survival and reproduction and become disconnected from natural enemies on urban trees due to the urban heat island effect. This allows them to reach high densities and damage their host trees. Parthenolecanium quercifex density increases up to 12 times on urban willow oaks with just 2 °C of warming due to higher survival and adaptation to warmer temperatures. The urban heat island effect also creates a phenological mismatch between P. quercifex and its parasitoid complex, and so egg production is higher. Melanaspis tenebricosa density can increase 300 times on urban red maples with 2.5 °C of warming. This too is due to direct effects of warmer temperatures on survival and fecundity but M. tenebricosa also benefits from the drought stress incurred by warmer urban trees. These effects combine to increase M. tenebricosa density in forests as well as on urban trees at latitudes higher than its native range. We illustrate how cities provide a unique opportunity to study the complex effects of warming on insect herbivores. Studying pestilent urban species could be a pragmatic approach for identifying and preparing for sleeper species.}, number={3}, journal={INSECTS}, author={Frank, Steven D. and Just, Michael G.}, year={2020}, month={Mar} }
 @article{just_dale_frank_2020, title={Gloomy Scale (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) Ecology and Management on Landscape Trees}, volume={11}, ISSN={["2155-7470"]}, DOI={10.1093/jipm/pmaa028}, abstractNote={Abstract}, number={1}, journal={JOURNAL OF INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT}, author={Just, Michael G. and Dale, Adam G. and Frank, Steven D.}, year={2020}, month={Dec} }
 @article{just_frank_2020, title={Thermal Tolerance of Gloomy Scale (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) in the Eastern United States}, volume={49}, ISSN={["1938-2936"]}, DOI={10.1093/ee/nvz154}, abstractNote={Abstract}, number={1}, journal={ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY}, author={Just, Michael G. and Frank, Steven D.}, year={2020}, month={Feb}, pages={104–114} }
 @article{just_frank_2019, title={Evaluation of an Easy-to-Install, Low-Cost Dendrometer Band for Citizen-Science Tree Research}, volume={117}, ISSN={["1938-3746"]}, DOI={10.1093/jofore/fvz026}, abstractNote={Abstract}, number={4}, journal={JOURNAL OF FORESTRY}, author={Just, Michael G. and Frank, Steven D.}, year={2019}, month={Jul}, pages={317–322} }
 @article{just_nichols_dunn_2019, title={Human indoor climate preferences approximate specific geographies}, volume={6}, ISSN={["2054-5703"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180695}, DOI={10.1098/rsos.180695}, abstractNote={
            Human engineering of the outdoors led to the development of the indoor niche, including home construction. However, it is unlikely that domicile construction mechanics are under direct selection for humans. Nonetheless, our preferences within indoor environments are, or once were, consequential to our fitness. The research of human homes does not usually consider human evolution, and, therefore, we are without previous predictions about indoor climate preference. We worked with citizen scientists to collect indoor climate data from homes (
            n
            = 37) across the USA. We then compared these data to recent global terrestrial climate data (0.5° grid cells,
            n
            = 67 420) using a climate dissimilarity index. We also compared some climate-related physiological parameters (e.g. thermoneutral zone (TNZ)) between humans and a selection of non-human primates. On average, our study homes were most similar in climate to the outdoor conditions of west central Kenya. We found that the indoor climates of our study homes largely matched the TNZ of humans and other primates. Overall, we identified the geographical distribution of the global outdoor climate that is most similar to the interiors of our study homes and summarized study home indoor climate preferences.
          }, number={3}, journal={ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE}, author={Just, Michael G. and Nichols, Lauren M. and Dunn, Robert R.}, year={2019}, month={Mar} }
 @article{just_dale_long_frank_2019, title={Urbanization drives unique latitudinal patterns of insect herbivory and tree condition}, volume={128}, ISSN={["1600-0706"]}, DOI={10.1111/oik.05874}, abstractNote={Urban landscapes are characterized by high proportions of impervious surface resulting in higher temperatures than adjacent natural landscapes. In some cities, like those at cooler latitudes, trees may benefit from warmer urban temperatures, but trees in many cities are beset with problems like drought stress and increased herbivory. What drives patterns of urban tree health across urbanization and latitudinal temperature gradients? In natural systems, latitude–herbivory relationships are well‐studied, and recent temperate studies have shown that herbivory generally increases with decreasing latitudes (warmer temperatures). However, the applicability of this latitude–herbivory theory in already‐warmed urban systems is unknown. In this study, we investigated how the interaction of urbanization, latitudinal warming and scale insect abundance affected urban tree health. We predicted that trees in warmer, lower latitude cities would be in poorer health at lower levels of urbanization than trees at cooler, higher latitudes due to the interaction of urbanization, latitudinal temperature and herbivory. To evaluate our predictions, we surveyed the abundance of scale insect herbivores on a single, common tree species Acer rubrum in eight US cities spanning 10° of latitude. We estimated urbanization at two extents, a local one that accounted for the direct effects on an individual tree, and a larger one that captured the surrounding urban landscape. We found that urban tree health did not vary with latitudinal temperature but was best predicted by local urbanization and herbivore abundance. We did not observe increased herbivore abundance in warmer, lower latitudes cities, but instead herbivore abundance peaked in the mid latitudes of our study. This study demonstrates that urban landscapes may deviate from classical theory developed in natural systems and reinforces the need for research reconciling ecological patterns in urban landscapes.}, number={7}, journal={OIKOS}, author={Just, Michael G. and Dale, Adam G. and Long, Lawrence C. and Frank, Steven D.}, year={2019}, month={Jul}, pages={984–993} }
 @article{just_frank_dale_2018, title={Impervious surface thresholds for urban tree site selection}, volume={34}, ISSN={["1610-8167"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.ufug.2018.06.008}, abstractNote={Impervious surfaces are a ubiquitous urban feature that increase temperature and tree drought stress and are a demonstrated indicator of Acer rubrum L. tree condition and insect pest abundance. We examined the relationship between A. rubrum condition, impervious surface cover, and Melanaspis tenebricosa (Comstock) abundance, a primary herbivore of urban A. rubrum, in eight cities across the southern distribution of A. rubrum. We predicted that the effects of warming, due to impervious surface, would be greater in warmer southern cities than in cooler northern cities. We found that impervious surface was a robust predictor of tree condition, but this effect was not significantly affected by background temperature. Melanaspis tenebricosa abundance was a function of impervious surface and background temperature, with greatest abundances occurring at mid latitudes. Based on these relationships, we developed impervious surface thresholds to inform site selection for A. rubrum throughout the southeastern USA. Planting criteria based on habitat characteristics should maximize urban tree longevity and services provided.}, journal={URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING}, author={Just, Michael G. and Frank, Steven D. and Dale, Adam G.}, year={2018}, month={Aug}, pages={141–146} }
 @article{just_hohmann_hoffmann_2017, title={Invasibility of a fire-maintained savanna-wetland gradient by non-native, woody plant species}, volume={405}, ISSN={["1872-7042"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.foreco.2017.09.052}, abstractNote={Fire-promoting, open-canopy ecosystems are under threat of conversion to a fire-deterring, closed-canopy condition due to woody encroachment. This conversion of vegetation structure has been fostered by introduced woody plant species. We performed a field experiment to quantify growth, survival, and establishment success of six invasive, woody species along a managed longleaf pine savanna–wetland gradient in the Sandhills of North Carolina, USA. We investigated the effects of prescribed fire, fire history, dispersal, and abiotic conditions on the invasibility of sites along the gradient. Across 18 study sites, seeds of the six woody species were sown using three sowing methods that mimicked primary and secondary dispersal; each site contained paired plots located in savanna and savanna-wetland ecotone vegetation communities. We identified sowing treatment, abiotic conditions, seedling size, and prescribed fire as important factors for controlling woody invasion, as they prevented 5 of 6 study species from establishing in the landscape. However, the landscape was not immune to invasion. At the end of the 42-month study period, three species had established in unburned sites. In sites burned after seedling emergence, only one species, Pyrus calleryana, survived and established. We found P. calleryana survival and establishment to be a function of seedling size, soil humic matter content, and sowing treatment. Successful invasion and establishment of woody individuals in open-canopied systems increases the likelihood of fire-deterrence and further woody encroachment, threatening ecosystem integrity.}, journal={FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT}, author={Just, Michael G. and Hohmann, Matthew G. and Hoffmann, William A.}, year={2017}, month={Dec}, pages={229–237} }
 @article{just_schafer_hohmann_hoffmann_2017, title={Wood decay and the persistence of resprouting species in pyrophilic ecosystems}, volume={31}, ISSN={["1432-2285"]}, DOI={10.1007/s00468-016-1477-3}, number={1}, journal={TREES-STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION}, author={Just, Michael G. and Schafer, Jennifer L. and Hohmann, Matthew G. and Hoffmann, William A.}, year={2017}, month={Feb}, pages={237–245} }
 @article{just_hohmann_hoffmann_2016, title={Where fire stops: vegetation structure and microclimate influence fire spread along an ecotonal gradient}, volume={217}, ISSN={["1573-5052"]}, DOI={10.1007/s11258-015-0545-x}, number={6}, journal={PLANT ECOLOGY}, author={Just, Michael G. and Hohmann, Matthew G. and Hoffmann, William A.}, year={2016}, month={Jun}, pages={631–644} }
 @article{just_norton_traud_antonelli_poteate_backus_snyder-beattie_sanders_dunn_2014, title={Global biogeographic regions in a human-dominated world: the case of human diseases}, volume={5}, ISSN={["2150-8925"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84919788790&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1890/es14-00201.1}, abstractNote={Since the work of Alfred Russel Wallace, biologists have sought to divide the world into biogeographic regions that reflect the history of continents and evolution. These divisions not only guide conservation efforts, but are also the fundamental reference point for understanding the distribution of life. However, the biogeography of human‐associated species—such as pathogens, crops, or even house guests—has been largely ignored or discounted. As pathogens have the potential for direct consequences on the lives of humans, domestic animals, and wildlife it is prudent to examine their potential biogeographic history. Furthermore, if distinct regions exist for human‐associated pathogens, it would provide possible connections between human wellbeing and pathogen distributions, and, more generally, humans and the deep evolutionary history of the natural world. We tested for the presence of biogeographic regions for diseases of humans due to pathogens using country‐level disease composition data and compared the regions for vectored and non‐vectored diseases. We found discrete biogeographic regions for diseases, with a stronger influence of biogeography on vectored than non‐vectored diseases. We also found significant correlations between these biogeographic regions and environmental or socio‐political factors. While some biogeographic regions reflected those already documented for birds or mammals, others reflected colonial history. From the perspective of diseases caused by pathogens, humans have altered but not evaded the influence of ancient biogeography. This work is the necessary first step in examining the biogeographic relationship between humans and their associates.}, number={11}, journal={ECOSPHERE}, author={Just, Michael G. and Norton, Jacob F. and Traud, Amanda L. and Antonelli, Tim and Poteate, Aaron S. and Backus, Gregory A. and Snyder-Beattie, Andrew and Sanders, R. Wyatt and Dunn, Robert R.}, year={2014}, month={Nov} }
 @article{schafer_just_2014, title={Size dependency of post-disturbance recovery of multi-stemmed resprouting trees}, volume={9}, number={8}, journal={PLoS One}, author={Schafer, J. L. and Just, M. G.}, year={2014} }
 @article{schafer_breslow_just_hohmann_hollingsworth_swatling-holcomb_hoffmann_2013, title={Current and Historical Variation in Wiregrass (Aristida stricta) Abundance and Distribution Is Not Detectable from Soil delta C-13 Measurements in Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) Savannas}, volume={78}, ISSN={["1938-4386"]}, DOI={10.2179/12-021}, abstractNote={ABSTRACT Plant species distributions and transitions between vegetation types are determined by numerous factors, including disturbances such as fire. Documentation of past changes in the distribution and structure of fire-dependent ecosystems is necessary to assess the success of land management in maintaining historic vegetation types. In our study system—longleaf pine (Pinus palustris)-wiregrass (Aristida stricta) savannas and embedded wetlands (i.e., pocosins)—wiregrass is dependent on frequent burning. We used soil carbon (C) isotopes to test for past changes in the abundance of wiregrass and for shifts in the ecotone between savanna and pocosin in four sites at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Wiregrass has a C4 photosynthetic pathway and therefore produces organic matter enriched in 13C compared to other dominant species in the community that have a C3 photosynthetic pathway. At each of the four sites, we measured profiles of soil δ13C to a depth of 1 m at four locations along the vegetation gradient from upland savannas to lowland pocosins. Surface soil δ13C, which reflects C inputs from current vegetation, did not differ along the gradient despite a decrease in wiregrass cover from savanna, where it is abundant, to pocosin, where it is absent. Enrichment of soil δ13C with depth was indistinguishable from effects of decomposition, indicating that past variation in the abundance and distribution of wiregrass was not detectable in our study sites. Our results suggest that wiregrass currently does not produce, and historically has not produced, enough biomass to influence soil δ13C values along the savanna-pocosin gradient.}, number={1}, journal={CASTANEA}, author={Schafer, Jennifer L. and Breslow, Bradley P. and Just, Michael G. and Hohmann, Matthew G. and Hollingsworth, Stephanie N. and Swatling-Holcomb, Samantha L. and Hoffmann, William A.}, year={2013}, month={Mar}, pages={28–36} }