Treesearch

There is growing recognition that more accurate Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) field plot coordinates are required to enable direct comparison of field-measured inventory attributes and high-resolution remotely sensed measurements. After extensive testing and a successful pilot project, in 2014 the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Northwest Forest Inventory and Analysis Program (PNW-FIA) implemented a high-performance global navigation satellite system (HPGNSS) initiative to provide high-quality coordinates at the subplot level for all FIA plots in the inventory...

Data from citizen science (CS) projects (and some social media) can offer selected samples with extensive information about human interactions with the natural world. Independently, we elicit levels of engagement with the eBird project from members of the eBird CS project and from a general- population sample. The general-population sample allows an ordered-probit model to explain propensities to engage with eBird at different levels, which we transfer to predict selection-correction terms for our independent sample of eBird members. We illustrate our method with a question posed only to...

Emerging plant pathogens have been increasing exponentially over the last century. To address this issue, it is critical to determine whether these pathogens are native to ecosystems or have been recently introduced. Understanding the ecological and evolutionary processes fostering emergence can help to manage their spread and predict epidemics/epiphytotics. Using restriction site-associated DNA sequencing data, we studied genetic relationships, pathways of spread and the evolutionary history of Phellinus noxius, an emerging root-rotting fungus of unknown origin, in eastern Asia, Australia...

Urban parks provide many ecosystem services, and conserving biodiversity is one of the most important among them. Keeping track of biodiversity indices and their evolution over time is a useful procedure for preserving biodiversity within urban habitats. The paper presents an application of the R programming language and the R package “vegan” for calculating alpha and beta diversity indices for dendroflora in urban parks. The case study includes five major parks in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia: Danube, Futog, Kamenica, Liman and Railway park. The alpha indices calculated in the paper are...

The paper compares two multi-criteria methods, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the best–worst method (BWM), in assessing criteria related to the quality of urban parks. The criteria assessed were accessibility, location, biodiversity preservation, park equipment, water elements, terrain configuration, cultural and historical value, and the presence of small architectural objects. Five decision-makers participated in the research, having expertise in urban greenery, urban forestry, environmental protection, landscape design, and cultural and historical heritage. The results of...

Tropical forest degradation (e.g., anthropogenic disturbances such as selective logging and fires) alters forest structure and function and influences the forest’s carbon sink. In this study, we explored structure-function relationships across a variety of degradation levels in the southern Brazilian Amazon by 1) investigating how forest structural properties vary as a function of degradation history using airborne lidar data; 2) assessing the effects of degradation on solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) seasonality using TROPOMI data; and 3) quantifying the contribution of...

Social media platforms represent a potentially cost-effective solution to obtaining stated preference data. We use data from a representative sample and a sample of convenience to investigate how willingness to pay (WTP) for increased cultural (recreational) use of an ecologically unique site differs across the two groups. We find mixed evidence of differences in WTP estimates between the two samples depending on the survey attribute. Where differences exist, the most effective selection correction mechanism is the ordered probit with weights. Our results suggest caution about extrapolating...

The plains spotted skunk (Spilogale interrupta) is of conservation concern because of widespread population declines and is being considered for listing under the United States Endangered Species Act. Although the taxon is relatively rare and difficult to study, recent research and reports provided some information about spotted skunks in Arkansas and Missouri, USA. Using this information, we employed full and simplified multivariate species distribution models to evaluate cover type associations and identify regions of high predicted presence for plains spotted skunks. The simple model...

Wildfire is an influential driver of social and ecological change that calls for adaptive governance on federal lands. We identify supporting and limiting elements of adaptive governance in the context of wildfire management on the Deschutes National Forest (DNF). We use key findings to propose actions and leverage points to increase the US Forest Service’s ability to engage in adaptive governance. Our research suggests that key supporting elements of adaptive governance within the Forest Service are generally found at the local scale. These supportive elements can be tapped to shed...

We evaluated commonly used methods for monitoring stream restorations to inform and improve restoration monitoring and evaluation, using a headwater stream in the Oregon Coast Range as a case-study example. In-stream restoration projects are seldom monitored both pre- and post-restoration. In addition, frequently used low-cost methods may not provide sufficient data to effectively assess trends in stream temperature. Here, we examined what can be learned from temperature loggers installed in the same locations over multiple years in a restored stream. In-stream structures were installed...