Treesearch

Climate change models are predicting increased frequency and severity of droughts in arid and semiarid environments, and these areas are responsible for much of the world’s livestock production. Because cattle (Bos Taurus) grazing can impact the abundance, distribution, and ecological function of native plant and animal communities, it is important to understand how cattle might respond to increasingly arid conditions. Here, we evaluate changes in habitat selection by cattle across an 8-yr period as a function of rainfall and other environmental covariates. Using resource selection...

Viewing peaceful natural environments has been shown to restore cognitive abilities and reduce physiological arousal. As such, visual access to the natural environment is becoming more commonplace in built environments. One exception to that trend is in educational settings where windowless classrooms are used to reduce outside distractions. The current study examines differences across multiple sections of a college writing course in two types of identically designed classrooms—those with a view of a natural setting and those with a view of a concrete retaining wall. Results showed that...

Predictive relationships between soil drainage and soil morphological features are essential for understanding hydromorphic processes in soils. The linkage between patterns of soil saturation, reduction, and reductimorphic soil properties has not been extensively studied in mountainous forested terrain. We measured soil saturation and reduction during a 4-yr period in three catenas of the perhumid coastal temperate rainforest of Alaska and compared these measurements to soil morphological features of Spodosols and Histosols. Soil saturation and anaerobic conditions indicated by redox...

Questions: Are exotic plant species favoured by non-native ungulate herbivores and disadvantaged by native herbivores in forested rangelands? Do the impacts of ungulates on exotic vs native plants depend on forest management activities such as prescribed fire and stand thinning? Location: Northeastern Oregon, USA. Methods: We recorded changes in richness and cover of different exotic and native plant life forms in experimental plots that were grazed only by cattle (a non-native herbivore), only by elk (a native herbivore) or not grazed by any ungulate over a 7-yr period at bothmanaged...

Climate impact studies often require the selection of a small number of climate scenarios. Ideally, a subset would have simulations that both (1) appropriately represent the range of possible futures for the variable/s most important to the impact under investigation and (2) come from global climate models (GCMs) that provide plausible results for future climate in the region of interest.We demonstrate an approach to select a subset of GCMs that incorporates both concepts and provides insights into the range of climate impacts. To represent how an ecosystem process responds to projected...

We reviewed the literature to synthesize what is known about the use of fire to maintain and restore oak forests, woodlands, and savannas of the upper Midwestern United States, with emphasis on Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Included are (1) known physical and ecological effects of fire on oaks from acorn through seedling, established sapling, and mature stages of the life cycle; (2) the use of fire to modify competitive interactions between oaks and mesic forest species (e.g., maple), between oaks and pines, and between oaks and grasses; (3) interaction of fire with other disturbances...

Current and future human and forest landscape conditions are influenced by the cumulative, unfolding history of socialecological interactions. Examining past system responses, especially unintended consequences, can reveal valuable insights that promote learning and adaptation in forest policy and management. Temporal couplings are complex, however; they can be difficult to trace, characterize, and explain. We develop a framework that integrates environmental history into analysis of coupled human and natural systems (CHANS). Our study demonstrates how historical data and methods can help...

The larch casebearer [Coleophora laricella (Hubner)], a non-native insect, continues to impact western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.) through defoliation events in the Pacific Northwest. Biological control programs starting in the 1960s released seven species of parasitoid wasps to control C. laricella outbreaks. However, information about current population dynamics of C. laricella and associated parasitoids remains lacking. Therefore, the goal of this study was to document the presence, current distributions, densities, and parasitism rates of introduced and native parasitoid wasps...

The conversion of agricultural lands to forests has increased worldwide over the past few decades for multiple reasons including increasing forest connectivity and wildlife habitat. However, previous land cover and competing vegetation often impede afforestation. We established 219 plots in 29 Quercus plantations on four previous land cover types (LCT): Clover, Soybeans, Woody Brush, and Herbaceous Weeds. Plantations were located in Illinois, USA and were sampled 15–18 years after planting. Sampling data for all trees (planted and volunteer) included species, diameter, and vine presence on...

We describe recent advances in biophysical and social aspects of risk and their potential combined contribution to improve mitigation planning on fire-prone landscapes. The methods and tools provide an improved method for defining the spatial extent of wildfire risk to communities compared to current planning processes. They also propose an expanded role for social science to improve understanding of community-wide risk perceptions and to predict property owners’ capacities and willingness to mitigate risk by treating hazardous fuels and reducing the susceptibility of dwellings. In...