Treesearch

Forest inventories require estimates and measures of uncertainty for subpopulations such as management units. These units often times hold a small sample size, so they should be regarded as small areas. When auxiliary information is available, different small area estimation methods have been proposed to obtain reliable estimates for small areas. Unit level empirical best linear unbiased predictors (EBLUP) based on plot or grid unit level models have been studied more thoroughly than area level EBLUPs, where the modelling occurs at the management unit scale. Area level EBLUPs do not...

The nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon represent the descendants of dozens of bands and communities that had knowledge about, and relationships with, every dimension of the state’s lands, waters, flora, and fauna. While some tribes and their reservations were formed by treaties ratified by the U.S. Senate, other tribes negotiated treaties with the U.S. that either were never ratified or were ignored. This legal and political complexity is characteristic of federal-tribal relations across what was once the Oregon Country (modern day Oregon, Washington, Idaho and parts of Montana and...

Owing to high rates of introgressive hybridization, the plastid genome is poorly suited to fine-scale DNA barcoding and phylogenetic studies of the oak genus (Quercus, Fagaceae). At the tips of the oak plastome phylogeny, recent gene migration and reticulation generally cause topology to reflect geographic structure, while deeper branches reflect lineage divergence. In this study, we quantify the simple and partial effects of geographic proximity and nucleome-inferred phylogenetic history on oak plastome phylogeny at different evolutionary scales. Our study compares pairwise phylogenetic...

Background: Perennial growth in plants is the product of interdependent cycles of daily and annual stimuli that induce cycles of growth and dormancy. In conifers, needles are the key perennial organ that integrates daily and seasonal signals from light, temperature, and water availability. To understand the relationship between seasonal cycles and seasonal gene expression responses in conifers, we examined diurnal and circannual needle mRNA accumulation in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) needles at diurnal and circannual scales. Using mRNA sequencing, we sampled 6.1 × 109 reads from 19...

Sudden wind shifts caused by atmospheric gust fronts can lead to firefighter entrapments and fatalities. In this study, we describe the physical processes involved in the related phenomena of convective downdrafts, gust fronts and downbursts. We focus on the dominant process, evaporative cooling in a dry surface layer, as characterised by the measure known as downdraft maximum available potential energy (DMAPE). We present a climatological analysis of DMAPE for the coterminous United States, developed from the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis data for the period 1979–2008. Diurnal and...

Assessing the status of soil nutrients with their corresponding microbial communities provides important information about degraded soils during the restoration of coastal wet pine forests. Net nitrogen mineralization, nitrogen-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), and soil microbial biomass were compared with patch-derived volume along a 110-year longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) chronosequence for identifying a trajectory and ecological benchmark during forest restoration. Net nitrogen mineralization rates decreased significantly in the maturing-aged, pine patches, driven by a larger drop in net...

Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax [Pursh] Nutt.) is an herbaceous, evergreen perennial found in higher elevations of the northern Rocky, Sierra Nevada, Klamath, Siskiyou, Cascade and Olympic Mountains and in coastal areas from Washington to northern California. It is used by Native Americans for basketry and is an important floral green, but the conditions needed for reproduction and commercially valuable characteristics are not well known. We studied how the light environment affects size, morphology, color, and reproduction of a lowland, southeastern Olympic Peninsula beargrass population. We...

This magazine article is an informal review of a wide range of research concerning environmental equity, specifically regarding human health benefits derived from experiences of nearby nature in urbanized places. The article recounts key issues of environmental equity, including green jobs and training programs. The primary purpose of the article is to share current knowledge about equitable access to trees, parks and gardens. The actionable information is aimed at professional and manager audiences who may have an interest in urban design and planning, as well as urban forestry. A...

This magazine article is an informal review of a wide range of research, spanning multiple decades, concerning human health benefits derived from experiences of nearby nature in urbanized places. The actionable information is aimed at professional and manager audiences who may have an interest in urban design and planning, as well as urban forestry. The article begins with a historical overview of the evolution of infrastructure systems in cities, spanning the time from ‘filthy cities’ to implementation of grey infrastructure to contemporary green infrastructure innovations. It promotes an...

Introduction: Interrelated social and ecological challenges demand an understanding of how environmental change and management decisions affect human well-being. This paper outlines a framework for measuring human well-being for ecosystem-based management (EBM). We present a prototype that can be adapted and developed for various scales and contexts. Scientists and managers use indicators to assess status and trends in integrated ecosystem assessments (IEAs). To improve the social science rigor and success of EBM, we developed a systematic and transparent approach for evaluating indicators...