PSW Research Spotlight from October 2023 - December 2023
Effective beginning 5/30/2025
This website, and all linked websites under the control of the agency, is under review and content may change.
The publications below were posted from Pacific Southwest Research Station researchers between October 2023 and December 2023. There are many more publications produced by our scientists available through Treesearch.
Featured Publications
CaliforniaPollinator Resilience in the Face of Increasing Fire Severity |
The compounding effects of fire exclusion, land use changes, and climate change have increased the extent and frequency of high-severity fires in regions that historically burned at low- to medium-severity. The effects of this shift in the fire regime may affect wildlife through changes in available resources or by directly impacting populations. For example, pollinators may increase in abundance after a fire if more flower resources become available due to a loss in canopy cover. However, high-severity fire may negatively impact pollinators by killing ground- or tree-dwelling species, including those that live underground. The loss or reduction of these pollinator species may subsequently reduce the availability of ecosystem services they provide in these high-severity fire affected areas.
This study examined how burn severity and habitat type interact to affect pollinator abundance in upland (mixed conifer forest) and meadow habitats in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. The aim was to survey all major pollinator groups, including hummingbirds, butterflies, bumblebees, and other insects (bees, flies, beetles, etc.) in and around the 2014 King Fire. The results of this study may be used to inform fire management plans, and the management actions of upland habitats that are in need of fuel reduction efforts or meadows that have historically been excluded from fuel reduction and fire management plans. |
Tarbill, Gina L.; White, Angela M.; Sollmann, Rahel. 2023. Response of pollinator taxa to fire is consistent with historic fire regimes in the Sierra Nevada and mediated through floral richness. Ecology and Evolution. 13(12): e10761. |
Hawaiʻi & U.S. Affiliated Pacific IslandsTrends in Agroforestry Research Over 4 Decades |
| Agroforestry has a high potential to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation as a nature-based climate solution and is increasingly included as a climate strategy in international agreements and national plans. Yet, how to equitably increase and sustain agroforestry on the scale needed to meet these targets remains unclear. Examining broad trends in the existing 4 decades of agroforestry literature can highlight gaps and opportunities for future research that enables agroforestry transitions. Using text analytics and a full-text, corpus-based approach, we analyzed changes in word use in 9,664 agroforestry research articles and reports published between 1980 and 2020 with regard to 4 key themes of the social dimensions of agroforestry transitions. |
Trends in agroforestry research over 4 decades Hastings Silao, Zoe; Ocloo, Xorla S.; Chapman, Melissa; Hunt, Lauren; Stenger, Katelyn. 2023. Trends in agroforestry research over 4 decades. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. 11(1): 1. |
Publications by Research Area |
