Treesearch

The estimated cost of repairing damage caused to recreational sites annually is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. These depreciative activities also reduce the quality of visitors’ experiences in the damaged areas. Indirect methods, such as visitor education through brochures and signs, continue to be the least controversial management approaches to depreciative acts. Yet, the literature on studies examining the most effective message presentations remains sparse. A survey mailed to randomly selected National Association for Interpretation members assessed the perceived effectiveness...

Variation in cold-hardiness traits, and their extent of genetic control and interrelationships, were investigated among individuals (clones) within a single large full-sib family of coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) from Oregon. Cold injury to needle, stem, and bud tissues was evaluated in fall 1996 and spring 1997 following artificial freeze testing of detached shoots collected from 4-year-old ramets (rooted cuttings). Variation among clones in cold-injury scores was significant (p < 0.01) for all shoot tissues in both fall and spring and averaged...

We examined interactions between temperature, soil development, and decomposition on three elevational gradients, the upper and lower ends of each being situated on a common lava flow or ash deposit. We used the reciprocal transplant technique to estimate decomposition rates of Metrosideros polymorpha leaf litter during a three-year period at warm and cool ends of each gradient. Litter quality was poorest early in soil development or where soils were most intensely leached and waterlogged. In situ litter decomposition was slowest on the young 1855 flow (k= 0.26 and 0.14 at low and high...

Population‐specific differences in the freezing resistance of Metrosideros polymorpha leaves were studied along an elevational gradient from sea level to tree line (located at ca. 2500 m above sea level) on the east flank of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. In addition, we also studied 8‐yr‐old saplings grown in a common garden from seeds collected from the same field populations. Leaves of low‐elevation field plants exhibited damage at −2°C, before the onset of ice formation, which occurred at −5.7°C. Leaves of high‐elevation plants exhibited damage at ca. −8.5°C, concurrent with ice...

Winter frosts caused by radiative cooling were hypothesized to limit successful reintroduction of Hawaiian plants other than Acacia koa to alien-dominated grasslands above 1700 m elevation. We determined, in the laboratory, the temperature at which irreversible tissue damage occurred to Metrosideros polymorpha leaves. We also conducted a field study of this species to determine if (1) leaf damage was correlated with sub-zero leaf temperatures, (2) radiative cooling could be moderated by canopies of A. koa, and (3) low soil temperatures contributed to seedling damage. The last was evaluated...

Shaded fuelbreaks and larger landscape fuel treatments, such as prescribed fire, are receiving renewed interest as forest protection strategies in the western United States. The effectiveness of fuelbreaks remains a subject of debate because of differing fuelbreak objectives, prescriptions for creation and maintenance, and their placement in landscapes with differing fire regimes. A well-designed fuelbreak will alter the behavior of wildland fire entering the fuel-altered zone. Both surface and crown fire behavior may be reduced. Shaded fuelbreaks must be created in the context of the...

Pollen and high-resolution charcoal data from Bluff Lake and Crater Lake, California, indicate simi lar changes in climate, vegetation and fire history during the last 15 500 years. Pollen data at Bluff Lake suggest that the vegetation betweenc. 15 500 and 13 100 cal. BP consisted of subalpine parkland with scattered Pinus andAbies. After 13 100 cal. BP a relatively closed forest ofP. monticola,P. contorta andAbies developed, and fire-event frequency was low. The inferred climate then was cooler and wetter than present. Pinus and Quercus vaccinifolia dominated at both sites during the...

Polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and imaging spectrometry exemplify advanced technologies for mapping wildland fuels in chaparral ecosystems. In this study, we explore the potential of integrating polarimetric SAR and imaging spectrometry for mapping wildland fuels. P-band SAR and ratios containing P-band polarizations are sensitive to variations in stand age and vegetation cover for an area of chaparral in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. Mean P-HV/C-HV, averaged by stand age using a GIS fire history, is shown to increase with stand age. Vegetation cover maps...

Airborne remote sensors have long been a cornerstone of wildland fire research, and recently three-dimensional fire behaviour models fully coupled to the atmosphere have begun to show a convincing level of verisimilitude. The WildFire Experiment (WiFE) attempted the marriage of airborne remote sensors, multi-sensor observations together with fire model development and verification. An interagency array of sensors was mounted on the research Lockheed C-130 aircraft of the National Science Foundation and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) for this project. Many of our...

After a century since introduction to North America from Europe, white pine blister rust, caused by Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch., is recognized as one of the catastrophic plant disease epidemics in history. It has not yet stabilized and continues to spread and intensify. Its nine native white pine hosts comprise major timber producers, important watershed protectors, keystone ecological species, and the oldest trees on earth. All are highly susceptible and some have been damaged severely in parts of their native range, as well as where they have been planted as exotics. Resistance, the...