Richard Waring

Richard Waring

Richard Waring is emeritus Distinguished Professor of Forest Science at Oregon State University. In his long career, he has held guest and visiting professorships at leading institutions around the world, and has served as administrator of a NASA program exploring land-atmosphere interactions and as a long-term consultant to NASA on forest modeling projects.

Why do coniferous trees in the Pacific Northwest grow so fast, so large, and live so long?

When we were growing up, we thought that the only really tall trees in the western U.S. were giant redwoods in northwestern California. It wasn’t until Richard moved to Oregon in the early 1960s that he discovered not only are redwoods exceptionally large, but that all the conifers (e.g., spruces, firs, cedars, hemlocks, and pines) grow taller and can live longer than their relatives elsewhere in the world (see Table 1).

Determining When Trees Are Drought Stressed

Unlike most annual crops, the roots of long-lived trees can penetrate through soils to great depth to reach water (Figure 1).  If we can’t tell how deeply roots penetrate, how do we determine when trees run out of water?  One way is to monitor the moisture status of leaves and twigs, because these are connected through the sapwood in branches, stems, and roots to water deep underground.

Forests Against Trump

Wouldn’t it be a splendid irony if reaction to Trump’s short-sighted stupidity led to an increase in tree planting that might otherwise be difficult to achieve?

On Wildfires and Pollution

A new study from the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres suggests that naturally caused forest fires emit three times as much pollution as previously estimated. The pollution is in the form of particulate matter, which is one of the most dangerous forms of pollution. These measurements were compared to controlled forest fires intentionally set, and the findings showed that controlled fires produced less particulates.  
foreword Friday

#ForewordFriday: International Day of Forests Edition

International Day of Forests was on Tuesday, March 21. While reflecting on the day, we asked Joe Landsberg and Richard Waring, authors of Forests in Our Changing World, if days like these have any meaning. Here's what they had to say: "Most specially designated days, beyond religious and memorialm days, have little meaning for the vast majority of people.We have arbor day in this country that involves the supervised action of planting trees.