Treesearch

Forest degradation can be defined as the loss of forest volume, biomass and/or forest productivity caused by natural or human influences. Achieving Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) requires that deforestation and degradation can be efficiently, reliably, and cost-effectively detected and quantified, often where ground and aerial surveying is problematic. Therefore, remote sensing approaches, coupled with field and/or aerial data, offer possible solutions and efficiencies. While synoptic coverage using high-resolution data such as Landsat can provide...

Globally, approximately two-thirds of the world's forests are considered degraded, but practical, cost-effective tools for monitoring forest quality remain elusive. Techniques for monitoring deforestation and changes to forest carbon stocks are widespread and well published. However, techniques for monitoring forest degradation are relatively untested in developing countries despite their inclusion in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). The lack of a forest degradation...

We used a combination of field measurements and simulation modelling to quantify the effects of salvage logging, and a combination of salvage logging and pile-and-burn fuel surface fuel treatment (treatment combination), on fuel loadings, fire behaviour, fuel consumption and pollutant emissions at three points in time: post-windstorm (before salvage logging), post-salvage logging and post-surface fuel treatment (pile-and-burn). Salvage logging and the treatment combination significantly reduced fuel loadings, fuelbed depth and smoke emissions. Salvage logging and the treatment combination...

Forest growth models are useful for asking “What if?” questions when evaluating silvicultural treatments intended to increase the complexity of future stands. What if we thinned to level A or B? How would it aff ect the growth rates of understory trees? How many trees would survive? To answer these types of questions, a growth model needs to accurately predict the growth and survival of understory trees. Some users of the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) growth model have commented that model predictions for understory trees do not match their fi eld observations or data. To study the...

Th e Density Management and Riparian Buff er Study (DMS) of western Oregon is a template for numerous research projects on managed federal forestlands. Herein, I review the origins of Riparian Buffer Study component and summarize key findings of a suite of associated aquatic vertebrate projects. Aquatic vertebrate study objectives include characterization of headwater fauna and habitats, and examination of the eff ects on headwater-dwelling species of combined buffer-and thinning treatments in years 1, 2, 5, and 10 post-treatment. Some treatment eff ects have emerged, with negative eff...

Streamside areas may be dispersal funnels or runways for a variety of species. For over-ridge dispersal, headwaters offer the shortest distance links among riparian zones in adjacent drainages. We summarize landscape designs for connectivity of habitats using headwater riparian linkage areas as the foundation for a web of landscape-scale links. We developed management considerations for placement of headwater linkage areas including: 1) providing connections between larger basins; 2) maintaining habitat connectivity in the face of climate change; 3) incorporating place-based disturbance...

One of the fundamental concepts behind the conservation strategy in the U.S. federal Northwest Forest Plan is the importance of habitat buff ers in providing functional stream and streamside ecosystems. To better understand the importance of riparian buff ers in providing habitat for associated organisms, we investigated responses of small mammals to various streamside management options in western Washington forests. First, we conducted a retrospective study at 49 first- to thirdorder streams on state, federal, and private lands on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. Streams represented...

Initiated simultaneously, the Density Management and Riparian Buff er Study of western Oregon and the Northwest Forest Plan have had intertwining paths related to federal forest management and policy changes in the Pacifi c Northwest over the last 15 to 20 years. We briefl y discuss the development of the Northwest Forest Plan and how it changed the way forest policy was developed in the region. Th e concurrent conceptualization and implementation of the Density Management and Riparian Buff er Study within this new management framework resulted in a proof-of-concept for adaptive management...

Th inning has been promoted as a method for accelerating the development of late-seral habitat and improving the overall health and function of young forests in the Pacifi c Northwest. Population studies have shown early and positive responses to thinning by some small forest-floor mammals (primarily mice, terrestrial voles, and shrews). However, thinning reduces the abundance of some tree-dwelling rodents, especially Northern Flying Squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus) and Red Tree Voles (Arborimus longicaudus), that are important prey species for Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis...

Recent bark beetle outbreaks have had a significant impact on forests throughout western North America and have generated concerns about interactions and feedbacks between beetle attacks and fire. However, research has been hindered by a lack of experimental studies and the use of fire behavior models incapable of accounting for the heterogeneous fuel complexes. We populated the Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Dynamics Simulator with data from 11 field sites to investigate the effect of mountain pine beetle (MPB)-caused tree mortality on simulated crown fire behavior across a range of...