Treesearch

Monitoring of large woody debris (LWD) in the two mainstem channels of the Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds since 1998, combined with older data from other work in the watersheds, gives estimates of channel wood input rates, survival, and outputs in intermediate-sized channels in coastal redwood forests. Input rates from standing trees for the two reaches over a 15 year period varied from a high of 28 m3/km/yr in the North Fork (in 1995) to a low of 0.12 m3/km/yr in the South Fork (from 2000 to 2002). Rates in the South Fork, where a second-growth forest was selectively logged in the...

California's coastal salmon and steelhead populations are listed under California and Federal Endangered Species Acts; both require monitoring to provide measures of recovery. Since 2004 the California Department of Fish and Game and NOAA Fisheries have been developing a monitoring plan for California¡¯s coastal salmonids (the California Coastal Salmonid Monitoring Plan- CMP). The CMP will monitor the status and trends of salmonids at evolutionarily significant regional scales and provide population level estimates. For the CMP, data to evaluate adult populations are collected using a...

Initial increases in dry-season flow after selective logging of second-growth coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) in the 424 ha South Fork Caspar Creek watershed disappeared by 7 years after logging ended, and low flows then dropped to below expected values for the next 20 years. During the16 years after clearcut logging in the 473 ha North Fork watershed, late summer flows increased to nearly twice those expected and then declined to pre-treatment levels on a trajectory that suggests further decline is likely. This contrast in dry-season flow responses is consistent with expected...

Landslides have been mapped at least annually in the 473 ha North Fork Caspar Creek watershed since 1985, allowing evaluation of landslide distribution, characteristics, and rates associated with second-entry partial clearcut logging of 1989 to 1992. Comparison of sliding rates in logged and forested areas shows no appreciable difference for streamside slides (size range: 7.6 to 380 m3). However, the incidence of large landslides, including both streamside and upslope slides of 98 to 4900 m3, varied by treatment. Such slides displaced 12 m3/yr per km2 of unlogged forest but showed rates...

Invasive non-native species can create especially problematic restoration barriers in subtropical and tropical dry forests. Native dry forests in Hawaii presently cover less than 10% of their original area. Many sites that historically supported dry forest are now completely dominated by non-native species, particularly grasses. Within a grass-dominated site in leeward Hawaii, we explored the mechanisms by which non-native Pennisetum setaceum, African fountain grass, limits seedlings of native species. We planted 1,800 seedlings of five native trees, three native shrubs, and two native...

Sampling with different plot types and sizes was simulated using tree location maps and data collected in three even-aged coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) stands selected to represent uniform, random, and clumped spatial patterns of tree locations. Fixed-radius circular plots, belt transects, and variable-radius plots were installed by simulation. Bootstrap sample means, coefficient of variation (CV), and 95 percent confidence intervals were calculated for sample estimates of eight important stand parameters. Percent CV models depicted sample precision and enable calculation of minimum...

The black twig borer, Xylosandrus compactus (Eichhoff) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), is a pest of coffee and many endemic Hawaiian plants. Traps baited with chemical attractants commonly are used to capture ambrosia beetles for purposes of monitoring, studying population dynamics, predicting outbreaks, and mass trapping to reduce damage. The objectives of this research were to optimize trapping systems for X. compactus and other ambrosia beetles such as Xylosandrus crassiusculus (Motschulsky) and Xyleborinus saxesenii (Ratzeburg) by comparing efficacy of several attractants,...

Biomass burning (BB) is a major global source of trace gases and particles. Accurately representing the production and evolution of these emissions is an important goal for atmospheric chemical transport models. We measured a suite of gases and aerosols emitted from an 81 hectare prescribed fire in chaparral fuels on the central coast of California, US on 17 November 2009. We also measured physical and chemical changes that occurred in the isolated downwind plume in the first ˜4 h after emission. The measurements were carried out onboard a Twin Otter aircraft outfitted with an airborne...

We document here a decline of nearly 30% in the Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) population of Washington, Oregon, and northern California between 2000 and 2010. The Northwest Forest Plan is an ecosystem-management plan for federal forest lands in the Pacific Northwest of the United States that incorporates monitoring to determine if species’ conservation objectives are met. To evaluate the plan’s effectiveness in conserving populations of the murrelet, a species associated with older, late-successional forests, we estimated the murrelet’s density in near-shore marine waters of...

Wildlife management often hinges upon an accurate assessment of population density. Although undeniably useful, many of the traditional approaches to density estimation such as visual counts, livetrapping, or mark–recapture suffer from a suite of methodological and analytical weaknesses. Rare, secretive, or highly mobile species exacerbate these problems through the reality of small sample sizes and movement on and off study sites. In response to these difficulties, there is growing interest in the use of noninvasive survey techniques, which provide the opportunity to collect larger...