Treesearch

Air quality impacts from wildfires have been dramatic in recent years, with millions of people exposed to elevated and sometimes hazardous fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations for extended periods. Fires emit particulate matter (PM) and gaseous compounds that can negatively impact human health and reduce visibility. While the overall trend in U.S. air quality has been improving for decades, largely due to implementation of the Clean Air Act, seasonal wildfires threaten to undo this in some regions of the United States. Our understanding of the health effects of smoke is growing...

Forests provide a suite of goods and services that are vital to human health and livelihoods. Studies of ecosystem services, which frequently attempt to place a monetary value on forest processes and organisms, can help inform management decisions by providing a baseline for discussing the costs and benefits of different management options.A recent study by Pacific Northwest Research Station researchers, Adelaide “Di” Johnson and Ryan Bellmore, along with retired Forest Service fisheries biologist Ron Medel and Alaska Department of Fish and Game fisheries biologist Stormy Haught, aimed to...

Recreation and tourism on public lands benefit visitors through improved health, enjoyable experiences, and enrichment from our natural and cultural heritage. Public land managers play a critical role by providing opportunities for high-quality outdoor experiences while protecting ecosystems, recognizing cultural and historical connections, sustaining local economies, and promoting resilient communities. The challenge of stewarding public lands and meeting increasing public demands in an era of decreasing fiscal resources, conflicting public values, and significant environmental changes...

At two affiliate sites of the North American Long-Term Soil Productivity Study (Matlock, WA and Molalla, OR, USA), soil chemical properties and stand characteristics of planted coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) were compared 15 years after forest harvesting and application of three logging-debris configurations (dispersed, piled, or removed) combined with either initial vegetation control (IVC; year 0) or annual vegetation control (AVC; years 0 to 5). At Matlock, soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) concentrations each were 17% greater after IVC than after AVC; at...

A comprehensive understanding of multipaddock, rotational grazing management on rangelands has been slow to develop, and the contribution of adaptive management (Briske et al. 2011) and sufficient scale (Teague and Barnes 2017) have been identified as key omissions. We designed an experiment to compare responses of vegetation and cattle in an adaptively managed, multipaddock, rotational system with that of a season-long, continuous system at scales comparable with those of a working ranch. We hypothesized that 1) year-long rest periods in the adaptively managed, rotational pastures would...

Wildfires were a frequent source of disturbance in forests of the Western United States prior to Euro-American settlement. Following a series of catastrophic wildfires in the Northern Rockies in 1910, the U.S. Forest Service adopted a broad wildfire suppression policy that has resulted in forests thick with small trees. These crowded trees compete for nutrients and water and experience increased drought stress in summer.In recent decades, many trees have died following drought, bark beetle outbreaks, and severe wildfire. A link between this mortality and increasing susceptibility to...

The long-term effectiveness of dry-forest fuels treatments (restoration thinning and prescribed burning) depends, in part, on the pace at which trees regenerate and recruit into the overstory. Knowledge of the factors that shape post-treatment regeneration and growth is limited by the short timeframes and simple disturbance histories of past research. Here, we present results of a 15-year fuels-reduction experiment in central Washington, including responses to planned and unplanned disturbances. We explore the changing patterns of Douglas-fir regeneration in 72 permanent plots (0.1 ha)...

This article offers the Extension community a pathway to drought resilience and climate-related conversations through knowledge exchange workshops. In 2017, a "flash drought" affected eastern Montana, and ranchers in the region faced numerous challenges. Moreover, drought-favorable climate conditions are predicted to increase for the region. We held five workshops to facilitate an exchange of adaptive drought management strategies, focusing on key themes for drought resilience: (a) drought planning and adaptive management, (b) use of local knowledge networks, (c) flexible stocking and...

‘Managed grazing’ is gaining attention for its potential to contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing bare ground and promoting perennialization, thereby enhancing soil carbon sequestration (SCS). Understanding why ranchers adopt managed grazing is key to developing the right incentives. In this paper, we explore principles and practices associated with the larger enterprise of ‘regenerative ranching’ (RR), which includes managed grazing but infuses the practice with holistic decision-making. We argue that this broader approach is appealing due to a suite of ecological, economic...

Red turpentine beetle, Dendroctonus valens (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) is a non-aggressive pine bark beetle native to North America, and more aggressive invader in China. Dispersing pioneer beetles are attracted to potential host trees by oleoresin monoterpene kairomones, but respond more strongly to those combined with ethanol, a mixture often released from stressed, dying, or recently dead trees. (+)-3-Carene, usually the dominant or co-dominant monoterpene in ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa, is a stronger attractant than α-pinene or β-pinene where tested over a large portion...