Treesearch

We examined the dynamics of aboveground forest woody carbon pools — live trees, standing dead trees, and down wood—during the first 6 years following wildfire across a wide range of conditions, which are characteristic of California forest fires. From repeated measurements of the same plots, we estimated change in woody carbon pools as a function of crown fire severity as indicated by a post-fire index, years since fire, pre-fire woody carbon, forest type group (hardwood vs. softwood), elevation, and climate attributes. Our analysis relied on 130 U.S. national forest inventory plots...

Research has shown there is a positive relationship between urban greenness and the well-being of cityresidents. But greenness is often unevenly distributed across a city, raising environmental justice issues.In 2011 and 2012 the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program installed ground plotsin the urbanized areas of Oregon and Washington. We analyze these data for the urban areas west of theCascade Mountains, linking it with demographic data from the U.S. Census to examine the relationshipbetween greenness and socioeconomic status at a sub-regional scale. To explore some...

Water and carbon cycles are strongly coordinated and water availability is a primary limiting factor in many terrestrial ecosystems. Photosynthesis requires sufficient water supply to leaves and constraints on delivery at any point in the hydraulic continuum can lead to stomatal closure and reduced photosynthesis. Thus, maximizing water transport enhances assimilation and can provide plants with a competitive advantage. Unregulated water transport, however, can lead to excessive gradients in xylem tension that result in the development of air or vapor bubbles (i.e. embolisms) that block...

Forest resilience to climate change is a topic of national concern as our standing assets and future forestsare important to our livelihood. Many tree species are predicted to decline or disappear while othersmay be able to adapt or migrate. Efforts to quantify and disseminate the current condition of forests areurgently needed to guide management and policy. Here, we develop a new indicator to summarize rawdensity-independent mortality of forested stands by species from the last decade of the 20th century tothe first decade of the 21st century using forest inventory data. We define...

MCFire is a computer program that simulates the occurrence and effects of wildfire on natural vegetation, as a submodel within the MC1 dynamic global vegetation model. This report is a technical description of the algorithms and parameter values used in MCFire, intended to encapsulate its design and features a higher level that is more conceptual than the level provided by the computer source code, so that programmers and users can better understand its features and limitations. Two primary sources of the MCFire algorithms are the National Fire-Danger Rating System and CONSUME 3.0. MC1...

This annotated bibliography contains all citations that we could find on tree voles (Arborimus longicaudus, A. pomo) and white-footed voles (A. albipes), including many unpublished sources in museum archives, court proceedings, and agency documents. Some documents not readily available in published form or museum archives are available upon request from the compilers.

Forest disturbances are increasing in extent and intensity, annually altering the structure and function of affected systems across millions of acres. Land managers need rapid assessment tools that can be used to characterize disturbance events across space and to meet forest planning needs. Unlike vegetation management projects and wildfire events, which typically are well documented, there is often insufficient data on the extent and intensity of insect and disease outbreaks during periods between intensive inventories. This report describes a rapid assessment approach using normalized...

A diverse workforce in science can bring about competitive advantages, innovation, and new knowledge, skills, and experiences for understanding complex problems involving the science and management of natural resources. In particular, fisheries sciences confronts exceptional challenges because of complicated societal-level problems from the overexploitation and degradation of aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Here, we examine the status of gender and race or ethnicity among the US fisheries science workforce on the basis of a survey of 498 faculty members from 56 institutions of higher...

The sourcing of food plays a significant role in assessing the sustainability of a city, but it is unclear how much food a city can produce within its city limits. In this study, we propose a method for estimating the maximum food crop production capacity of a city and demonstrate the method in Seattle, WA USA by taking into account land use, the light environment, and a mix of food crops necessary to supply a year-round vegetarian diet. By artificially removing trees from the city, we estimate the effect of tree shading on food crop production capacity. We find that at maximum food...

tManagement of ecological conditions and processes in multiownership landscapes requires cooperationby diverse stakeholder groups. The structure of organizational networks – the extent to which networksallow for interaction among organizations within and across ideological and geographic boundaries –can indicate potential opportunities for cooperation on landscape-scale problems. In the arid landscapesof the western United States, where increasingly large wildfires burn irrespective of property boundariesand land designations, organizations involved in the restoration of forests and the...