Treesearch

Declines in populations of Pacific salmon have prompted extensive and costly restoration efforts, yet many populations are still in peril. An improved understanding of landscape-scale controls on salmon habitat should help focus restoration resources on areas with the greatest potential to host productive habitat. We investigate the contribution of deep-seated landslides (DSLs) to Coho Salmon habitat by comparing the quantity and connectivity of potential seasonal habitat observed in five streams with extensive DSLs to five lacking significant landsliding. Further, we measure valley width...

Pools provided by beaver (Castor canadensis) contribute to critical habitat requirements of salmonids in fluvial systems of the Pacific Northwest, therefore more land managers are interested in managing watersheds that include beavers or engaging in beaver-related restoration projects. We evaluated the utility of applying an existing beaver habitat suitability model to better understand beaver dam site characteristics in coastal Oregon, identify optimum dam site locations, and guide future beaver-related restoration efforts. We used a combination of t-tests, Wilcoxon rank sum tests, and a...

Prescribed fire is an active management tool used to address wildfire hazard and ecological concerns associated with fire exclusion and suppression over the past century. Despite widespread application in the United States, there is considerable inconsistency and lack of information regarding the extent to which specific outcomes are achieved and under what prescribed fire regimes, particularly in regard to ecological goals related to plant community structure. We quantify differences and patterns in plant functional group abundance, species richness and diversity, and other key forest...

Island ecosystems provide habitat for many endemic species that may be threatened by nonnative species introductions. We examined nonnative freshwater turtle occurrences and diets to examine potential predation effects on native species in Kawai Nui Marsh, Oahu, Hawaii. No freshwater turtles are native to the Hawaiian Archipelago. The Pond Slider (Trachemys scripta) and Chinese Softshell (Pelodiscus sinensis) were the only turtles found in the marsh after 767 trap days. Trachemys scripta stomachs (n = 50) contained mostly the nonnative plant Commelina diffusa and nonnative snails (Pomacea...

Background: Fuel reduction treatments have been widely implemented across the western US in recent decades for both fire protection and restoration. Although research has demonstrated that combined thinning and burning effectively reduces crown fire potential in the few years immediately following treatment, little research has identified effectiveness of thinning and burning treatments beyond a decade. Furthermore, it is unclear how posttreatment disturbances such as a bark beetle outbreak affect fuel treatment effectiveness. Results: We evaluated differences in surface and canopy fuel...

Studies of habitat selection and use by wildlife, especially large herbivores, are foundational for understanding their ecology and management, especially if predictors of use represent habitat requirements that can be related to demography or fitness. Many ungulate species serve societal needs as game animals or subsistence foods, and also can affect native vegetation and agricultural crops because of their large body size, diet choices, and widespread distributions. Understanding nutritional resources and habitat use of large herbivores like elk (Cervus canadensis) can benefit their...

This case study was developed as part of a larger, interdisciplinary research project to assess the social, hydrological, and ecological effects of beaver-related watershed restoration approaches in rangeland streams of the Western United States. It is one of five case studies being undertaken to investigate the social context of beaver-related restoration in western rangelands. The Scott River basin in northern California is the first place in the state where watershed restoration using beaver dam analogues (BDAs, instream post and vegetation-weave structures that mimic natural beaver...

National forest planning and management traditionally have involved addressing a broad spectrum of natural resource issues and ecological conditions to comply with forest management regulations and policies. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service issued a new forest planning rule requiring that national forests and grasslands identify and evaluate information on the ecosystem services provided by plan areas from which people benefit as part of the plan assessment phase of plan revision. Specifically, planning teams are directed now to identify “key” ecosystem services...

Wildfire ecosystems are thought to be self-regulated through pattern–process interactions between ignition frequency and location, and patterns of burned and recovering vegetation. Yet, recent increases in the frequency of large wildfires call into question the application of self-organization theory to landscape resilience. Topography represents a stable bottom-up template upon which fire interacts as both a physical and an ecological process. However, it is unclear how topographic control changes geographically and across spatial scales. We analyzed fire perimeter and topography data...

A species’ population structure and history are critical pieces of information that can help guide the use of available native plant materials in restoration treatments and decide what new native plant materials should be developed to meet future restoration needs. In the western United States, Pseudoroegneria spicata (bluebunch wheatgrass; Poaceae) is an important component of grassland and shrubland plant communities and commonly used for restoration due to its drought resistance and competitiveness with exotic weeds. We used next‐generation sequencing data to investigate the processes...