Treesearch

Elevation, soil composition, and depressions can influence the distribution of water belowground and its availability to tree roots. During the summer months when precipitation levels are at their lowest, this belowground soil moisture can stave off the effects of drought stress on trees. Although lack of soil moisture is the most well-known driver of drought stress, it may not be the only driver. Working in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in western Oregon, researchers investigated whether a lack of soil moisture or warm dry air is the primary cause of the drought stress exhibited by...

Future water availability is influenced by both climate and associated vegetation dynamics. This study coupled vegetation projections from a dynamic global vegetation model (MC2) with an ecohydrological model, Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI), to predict water yield at the 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC8) watershed level for the conterminous United States (CONUS) for the 21st century. We considered two contrasting warming scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 and 4.5) and accounted for simulation uncertainty by using a large ensemble of climate model outputs. The coupled...

High severity fire is far outpacing post-fire reforestation capacity across the American West, highlighting the need to better understand when and where natural regeneration is sufficient to meet short- and long-term reforestation goals. The vast majority of available post-fire data represents regeneration in the first few years following a fire, raising the question of how well recovery trajectories can be predicted from early post-fire snapshots. We utilize a unique dataset from seven wildfires and 78 plots surveyed twice following stand-replacing fire in two California ecoregions, the...

A growing body of evidence shows that nature-based therapy can help reduce stress and trauma symptoms. In recent years, the number of outdoor programs for veterans who experience post-traumatic stress has grown. These programs engage with public lands—both practically and symbolically—to create opportunities for transformative personal and professional experiences for veterans. Yet, there is little understanding about the diverse social, therapeutic, geographic, and activity dimensions of these programs on public lands, or how they are coordinated within and across agencies. To shed light...

Decreases in body sizes of animals related to recent climate warming can affect population persistence and stability. However, direct observations of average sizes over time and their interrelationships with underlying density-dependent and density-independent processes remain poorly understood owing to the lack of appropriate long-term datasets. We measured body size of two species common to headwater streams in coastal and Cascades ecoregions of the Pacific Northwest of North America over multiple decades, comparing old-growth and managed forests. We found consistent decreases in median...

This paper presents findings from a study that examined how well mountain bikers' cognitive processes predicted their recommendation intent—the intention to share their recreation experience with others. Specifically, we examined relationships between different mountain biking recreation goal appraisals, emotions, and mountain bikers’ intentions to suggest mountain biking destinations to others. We tested hypothesized relationships using a structural equation modeling approach. Our results show that goal congruence and interest are the primary appraisal factors predicting recommendation...

Wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) are a species of conservation concern throughout their geographic distribution. Several studies have investigated individual-level habitat selection of wood turtles in the Upper Midwest in the United States, but the effects of habitat characteristics on abundance are poorly understood. This information is needed to improve landscape-level habitat management and conservation initiatives for the species. Our study aimed to identify important aquatic and terrestrial habitat characteristics and quantify their influence on abundance dynamics of adult wood...

Understanding space-use dynamics of wildlife populations is important for informing habitat management and restoration initiatives. In West Virginia, Clemmys guttata (Spotted Turtle) is restricted to the eastern panhandle region and is considered a species of greatest conservation need. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources is interested in managing and restoring Spotted Turtle habitat, but information on space use is limited. To address this information gap, we used radiotelemetry to track space-use patterns of 9 Spotted Turtles at 2 sites that represent different wetland types...

Wisconsin encompasses a substantial portion of the Upper Midwest distribution for the globally endangered Glyptemys insculpta (Wood Turtle). However, the paucity of prior research and population monitoring statewide has limited our understanding of their status and population trends in the state. To address this information gap, we conducted standardized Wood Turtle population surveys at 50 sites across 8 HUC-8 watersheds in Wisconsin from 2018 to 2023 to estimate adult abundance and population demographic parameters. We captured turtles at 29 of 50 sites, and detected 250 unique individual...

Understanding fire and large herbivore interactions in interior western forests is critical, owing to the extensive and widespread co-occurrence of these two disturbance types and multiple present and future implications for forest resilience, conservation and restoration. However, manipulative studies focused on interactions and outcomes associated with these two disturbances are rare in forested rangelands. We investigated understory vegetation response to 5-year spring and fall prescribed fire and domestic cattle grazing exclusion in ponderosa pine stands and reported long-term responses...