Treesearch

Since the 1930s, the United States Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program has inventoried the nation’s forests to produce “The Nation’s Forest Census.” This census provides valuable snapshots of forests in the lower 48 states, Hawaii, southeast Alaska, and the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands. Although select areas of interior Alaska have been inventoried, a systematic inventory hasn’t been conducted due to the interior’s remoteness and correspondingly higher inventory costs.A team composed of researchers with the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station,...

Agricultural landscapes in south Asia have high human densities, experience year-round cropping, and the few remaining wetlands experience heavy human use. Factors affecting the breeding success of colonially-nesting waterbirds in such conditions are poorly understood. Using Bayesian Network (BN) models, we explored the importance of colony size, extent of persisting wetlands, human influence as proximity to habitation, and variation in landscape conditions due to changing crops (season) on the breeding success of two stork species – the Asian Openbill Anastomus oscitans and the Lesser...

The magnitude of sediment yield following forest timber harvest is controlled by increases in both sediment supply and streamflow. Since the relation between sediment transport and streamflow typically follows a power law, small increases in streamflow may translate into large increases in sediment transport. Interpreting the geomorphic effects of streamflow increases is confounded by the fact that timber harvest influences both the hydrologic regime and sediment supply of a watershed simultaneously, making it difficult to isolate the streamflow effect alone. Here we report on a novel...

Environmental DNA (eDNA) assays for single‐ and multi‐species detection show promise for providing standardized assessment methods for diverse taxa, but techniques for evaluating multiple taxonomically divergent assemblages are in their infancy. We evaluated whether microfluidic multiplex metabarcoding on the Fluidigm Access Array™ platform and high‐throughput sequencing could identify diverse stream and riparian assemblages from 48 taxon‐general and taxon‐specific metabarcode primers. eDNA screening was paired with electrofishing along a stream continuum to evaluate congruence between...

The Southwest Washington Adaptation Partnership (SWAP) was developed to identify climate change issues relevant for resource management in southwest Washington, specifically on Gifford Pinchot National Forest. This science-management partnership assessed the vulnerability of natural resources to climate change and developed adaptation options that minimize negative impacts of climate change on resources of concern and facilitate transition of diverse ecosystems to a warmer climate. The vulnerability assessment focuses on fish and aquatic habitat, vegetation, special habitats, recreation,...

The shoreline in southeast Alaska is changing. In many places, the shoreline is rising as glaciers melt and the land rebounds; elsewhere, rising sea levels are submerging the current shoreline. These changes are altering coastal habitats and subsistence resources on which many rural Alaska Native communities rely in southeast Alaska.Forest Service scientists Adelaide Johnson and Linda Kruger modeled the relationships between physical shoreline features and biological communities to project future shorelines and the distribution of food resources. They also engaged high school students from...

One of the desired outcomes of dam decommissioning and removal is the recovery of aquatic and riparian ecosystems. To investigate this common objective, we synthesized information from empirical studies and ecological theory into conceptual models that depict key physical and biological links driving ecological responses to removing dams. We define models for three distinct spatial domains: upstream of the former reservoir, within the reservoir, and downstream of the removed dam. Emerging from these models are response trajectories that clarify potential pathways of ecological transitions...

Public officials and stakeholders who want to advance watershed protection may want to consider how ballot referendum design can serve as a nudge in voting behaviors. We extend the research literature on voter preferences by using behavioral economics theory to provide new insights into voter behaviors towards watershed conservation referendums. We drew upon observations from 76 separate watershed protection referendums, conducted in the eastern U.S. from 1991 to 2013, and evaluated the wording of the ballot statement to determine their potential influence on voter support and the psycholog...

Many climate change models predict increases in frequency and magnitude of temperature fluctuations that might impact how ectotherms are affected by disease. Shifts in temperature might especially affect amphibians, a group with populations that have been challenged by several pathogens. Because amphibian hosts invest more in immunity at warmer than cooler temperatures and parasites might acclimate to temperature shifts faster than hosts (creating lags in optimal host immunity), researchers have hypothesized that a temperature shift from cold-to-warm might result in increased amphibian...