Welcome to the Southern Research Station

The Southern Research Station, with headquarters located in western North Carolina, is the leading organization for research on natural resource management and sustainability in the Southern United States. With a staff of 130 scientists serving 13 Southern States, our mission is to create the science and technology needed to sustain and enhance Southern forest ecosystems and the benefits they provide. (more...)

Message from the Director...

Audio Welcome (mp3)

Hello and welcome to the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station!

I’m Jim Reaves, Station Director, and I want to thank you for visiting the Station’s Web site.

The Southern Research Station is proud of the cutting-edge research being conducted by our 130 scientists, who are working hard to understand and address the current and emerging natural resource issues facing the South’s forests today.

Our mission is to create the science and technology needed to sustain and enhance southern forest ecosystems and the benefits they provide.

I invite you to learn more about the research of our award-winning scientists, who are recognized as world leaders in forest research and monitoring.

They are working with other Forest Service staff, universities, NGOs, state foresters and other government agencies, landowners, and many others to conduct sound science that helps ensure the health of our forest ecosystems in the future.

Two-thousand and nine is going to be an exciting and productive year for the Station. (more....)

Southern Research Station Science Areas
	Forest Threats provides the knowledge and tools required to predict and avert or mitigate the impacts of forest health threats.
	Forest Values considers natural resources and humans inextricably linked in the South. These linkages will only strengthen as increased urbanization, globalization, and shifting values influence and alter how people interact with forests.
	Forest Inventory and Monitoring quantifies and monitors the condition of natural resources in the South. It is critical for determining ecosystem responses to forest health threats and improvements in natural resource condition resulting from management activities.
	Forest Restoration and Management creates and improves tools and technologies that are needed to successfully restore and manage ecosystems in this changing environment.
	Forest Watershed Science provides the knowledge and tools required to manage the full range of forest water resources in a dynamic and complex landscape.

Invasive of the Month: Nonnative Wisterias

Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) and Japanese wisteria (W. floribunda) are deciduous high climbing, twining, or trailing leguminous woody vines to 70 feet with long pinnately compound leaves and showy spring flowers. Chinese and Japanese wisterias are difficult to distinguish from one another due to possible hybridization.

Ecology. Form dense infestations where previously planted. Occur on wet to dry sites. Colonize by vines twining and covering shrubs and trees and by runners rooting at nodes when vines covered by leaf litter. Seeds water-dispersed along riparian areas. Large seed size a deterrent to animal dispersal.

History and use. Introduced from Asia in the early 1800s. Traditional southern porch vines.

Stem. Woody vines to 10 inches in diameter with infrequent alternate branching.Twigs densely short hairy. Older bark of Chinese wisteria tight and dark gray with light dots (lenticels) compared to white bark of Japanese wisteria...(More)

Recent Publications Added To Our Website

We have 26,984 publications online that you can view and print.

• Hydrologic and water quality monitoring on Turkey Creek watershed, Francis Marion National Forest, SC
• Estate planning for forest landowners: what will become of your timberland?
• Lagoonal stormwater detention ponds as promoters of harmful algal blooms and eutrophication along the South Carolina coast
• Finding a "disappearing" nontimber forest resource: using grounded visualization to explore urbanization impacts on sweetgrass basketmaking in greater Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
• History, administration, goals, values, and long-term data of Russia's strictly protected scientific nature reserves
• Tree crown conditions in Missouri, 2000-2003
• Analyzing the feasibility of utilizing small diameter hardwood timber for solid wood products and residues