Treesearch

Black spruce (Picea mariana) peatlands play important ecologic and economic roles in the temperate-boreal region of North America, providing a valuable timber resource while also performing important ecosystem functions. Climate models project decreases in the amount of snowfall received throughout the temperate-boreal region by 2100, as average wintertime temperatures increase. We used a paired-plot experimental design to assess the effect of snow removal on soil temperature and frost development at six forested peatland sites in northern Minnesota, USA, during the three winters from 2017...

Wildfire is an annual threat for many rural communities in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. In some severe events, evacuation is one potential course of action to gain safety from an advancing wildfire. Since most evacuations occur in a personal vehicle along the surrounding road network, the quality of this network is a critical component of a community’s vulnerability to wildfire. In this paper, we leverage a high-resolution spatial dataset of wildfire burn probability and mean fireline intensity to conduct a regional-scale screening of wildfire evacuation vulnerability...

Emissions from a stand replacement prescribed burn were sampled using an unmanned aircraft system (UAS, or “drone”) in Fishlake National Forest, Utah, U.S.A. Sixteen flights over three days in June 2019 provided emission factors for a broad range of compounds including carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter < 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including carbonyls, black carbon, and elemental/organic carbon. To our knowledge, this is the first UAS-based emission sampling for a fire of this magnitude...

Beaver-related restoration is a process-based strategy that seeks to address wide-ranging ecological objectives by reestablishing dam building in degraded stream systems. Although the beaver-related restoration has broad appeal, especially in water-limited systems, its effectiveness is not yet well documented. In this article, we present a process-expectation framework that links beaver-related restoration tactics to commonly expected outcomes by identifying the set of process pathways that must occur to achieve those expected outcomes. We explore the contingency implicit within this...

Alaska is among northern high‐latitude regions where accelerated climate change is expected to impact streamflow properties, including seasonality and primary flow drivers. Evaluating changes to streamflow, including flood characteristics, across this large and diverse environment can be improved by identifying the distribution and influence of flow drivers. Using metrics of mean monthly streamflow data from 253 streamgages, seasonal flow regimes were clustered to guide identification of seasonal flow drivers and form hydrologic groups for identification of peak‐flow populations. Nine...

Managed forests generally produce high water quality, but degradation is possible via sedimentation if proper management is not implemented during forest harvesting. To mitigate harvesting effects on total watershed sediment yield, it is necessary to understand all processes that contribute to these effects. Forest harvesting best management practices (BMPs) focus almost exclusively on overland sediment sources, whereas in-and-near stream sources go unaddressed although they can contribute substantially to sediment yield. Thus, we propose a new framework to classify forest harvesting...

The Perdido Key beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus trissyllepsis), Choctawhatchee beach mouse (P. p. allophrys), and St. Andrew beach mouse (P. p. peninsularis) are 3 federally endangered subspecies that inhabit coastal dunes of Alabama and Florida, USA. Conservation opportunities for these subspecies are limited and costly. Consequently, well‐targeted efforts are required to achieve their downlisting criteria. To aid the development of targeted management scenarios that are designed to achieve downlisting criteria, we developed a Bayesian network model that uses habitat characteristics to...

The Special Issue “Decision Support to Address Multiple Ecosystem Services in Forest Management Planning” includes nine research papers, two review papers, and a white paper presenting highlights of focused research initiatives. The papers provide a comprehensive framework for the analysis and review of advanced Decision Support Systems (DSS), which are multi-criteria decision approaches. Their emphasis is on how these methods and tools may contribute to address the multi-functionality of forests, to support scenario and trade-off analysis of ecosystem services, and to represent interests...

Introductions of new invasive species continue with ever-expanding global trade, and the increase in invasive species does not show any sign of saturation for most taxonomic groups. However, some non-native species may arrive in an area and fail to become established or have no measurable impact. Thus, the protection of valued ecosystems depends on reliable knowledge about the species that are or might be invading, the ecosystems that are being invaded, the potential magnitude of different types of harm, the availability and effectiveness of management responses, and the desired state of...

Alaska has fewer invasive species and is less impacted by invasive species than most places on Earth. Until recently, Alaska has been protected by its cold climate and by its comparative lack of roads and other development.However, these barriers are eroding. Warming climate trends and longer shoulder seasons have reduced the climate flter that so far may have prevented some invasive species from establishing in the State (Figs. A1.1 and A1.2; Carlson et al. 2015; Jarnevich et al. 2014; Sanderson et al. 2012; Wolken et al. 2011). More extensive wildland fire combined with increasing...