Treesearch

An important issue in biodiversity valuation is gaining a better understanding of how biodiversity conservation affects economic activities and human welfare. Quantifying the economic benefits of biodiversity for human well-being is not straightforward. Here, we expand the ecosystem service cascade by (i) attributing a methodology to the different steps of the cascade to assess the effects of changes in functional group diversity on economic activities; (ii) including multiple attributes for defining functional diversity and (iii) integrating a dynamic ecological model simulating complex...

This is a transcript of my 2017 Tane Mahuta public lecture.

Logging debris has the potential to benefit forest regeneration by increasing resource availability, modifying microclimate, and altering plant community structure. To understand potential mechanisms driving these benefits, we initiated research at a forested site on the Olympic Peninsula, WA that contained the invasive, nonnative competitor, Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius). Immediately after harvesting the stand of mature coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) in late 2011, two levels of logging debris retention were created on replicated plots: 18.9 and 9.0 Mg ha−1,...

The northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) is a federally-threatened subspecies in the United States associated with late-successional forests. In mesic forests it nests primarily in tree cavities, but also uses various types of external platform nests in drier forests. We describe 1717 northern spotted owl nests in 16 different tree species in five study areas in Washington and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest, USA. The vast majority of nests (87%) were in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) trees, except on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, where nests were about equally...

Millions of people head to federal lands every year for recreation—891 million visits in 2016 alone. These visits have significant economic implications, not only for restaurants, resorts, outfitters, and other businesses near recreation sites, but also for the people actually participating in outdoor recreation.Scientists Eric White and Jeff Kline, both with the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, worked with colleagues to summarize results from more than 400 studies that measure the economic value that people hold for recreation opportunities. The information shows...

We analyzed variations in three tree properties: tissue density, carbon fraction, and carbon density within bole tissues of nine Californian conifer species. Model performance for all three tree properties was significantly improved with the addition of covariates related to crown characteristics and position within the tree. This suggests that biomass and carbon mass estimates that rely on fixed wood density and carbon fraction may be inaccurate across tree sizes. We found a significant negative relationship between tissue density and carbon fraction within tree bole tissues, indicating...

This article uses research about non-timber forest products (NTFP) gathering in Seattle, Washington, USA to examine how people gain access to natural resources in urban environments. Our analysis focuses on gathering in three spaces: parks, yards, and public rights of way. We present a framework for conceptualizing access, and highlight cognitive mechanisms of access associated with foragers’ internal moral judgments about harvesting. Key findings are: (1) internal moral calculations about whether it is right or wrong to harvest a particular NTFP in a particular place are an important but...

This report highlights key findings from a test (“pilot”) of an interior Alaska forest inventory design. The pilot inventoried the forests of the Tanana Valley State Forest (TVSF) and the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge (TNWR) in the Tanana River Valley of interior Alaska, covering 2.5 million ac. The inventory consisted of a systematic grid of 98 field-measured plots integrated with NASA’s Goddard- LiDAR/Hyperspectral/Thermal (G-LiHT) imaging system. We summarize and interpret basic resource information such as forest area, ownership, volume, carbon stocks in trees, ground layers, dead...

Much of the North American wood products industry was severely impacted by the recession of 2008–2009. In addition, many sectors within this industry face intense global competition. Against this backdrop, we examine economic opportunities for hardwood manufacturers to achieve greater competitive advantage via product customization, through a literature review and synthesis. We also discuss several related themes including agility, lean manufacturing, and clustering. We found that, in globally competitive environments, hardwood producers must be agile to adapt to economic conditions and...

Outdoor recreation is one of many important benefits provided by public lands. Data on recreational use are critical for informing management of recreation resources, however, managers often lack actionable information on visitor use for large protected areas that lack controlled access points. The purpose of this study is to explore the potential for social media data (e.g., geotagged images shared on Flickr and trip reports shared on a hiking forum) to provide land managers with useful measures of recreational use to dispersed areas, and to provide lessons learned from comparing several...