Understory

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Research Natural Areas (RNAs) network protects some of the finest examples of natural ecosystems for the purposes of scientific study, education and maintenance of biological diversity. RNAs are managed to maintain the natural features for which they were established and to maintain natural processes. Because of the emphasis on natural conditions, they represent a valuable ecological resource for scientists, managers and educators. The Forest Service encourages scientific and educational use of Research Natural Areas. This application and ...

Sea level rise (SLR) is one of the greatest future threats mangroves face. Mangroves have kept up with past SLR by maintaining their forest floor elevation relative to SLR through root growth, sedimentation, and inland migration. Currently, these processes are affected by human activities. Identifying mangroves resilient to SLR is vital for more effective conservation of mangroves.

The Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds (a collaboration between the USDA Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, CAL FIRE) in Mendocino County, CA, have been the subject of a wide variety of timber harvest monitoring studies since they were established in 1961. These studies have largely been associated with three experimental harvests: the First Experiment removed approximately two thirds of the timber in the South Fork watershed in the early 1970s using selection harvest, the Second Experiment removed about 50% of the timber in the North Fork watershed...

The Pacific Southwest Research Station charter highlights how partners like local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies and policymakers, universities, communities, indigenous groups, private industry, and non-profit entities help shape PSW both formally and informally.

The Tahoe Central Sierra Initiative (TCSI) Blueprint is a set of strategy maps that identify opportunities for forest protection and adaptation across a 2.4-million-acre region of the central Sierra Nevada. It is the culmination of an effort to improve resilience to anticipated climate change and wildfire, beetle, and drought-caused tree mortality. The Tahoe Central Sierra Initiative group along with scientists and forest managers versed in the concept of resilience, defined resilience based on ten ecological and social pillars. The Blueprint includes evaluations of 30 unique metrics, such as ...

The Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project (STEW-MAP) was applied in the Los Angeles River Watershed to answer the questions: Who are the active environmental stewardship groups in my area and where, why, and how are they caring for the land? STEW-MAP defines a “stewardship group” as a civic organization or group that works to conserve, manage, monitor, transform, educate on and/or advocate for the environment.Leveraging national expertise and previous regional investment in Los Angeles County STEW-MAP, the Los Angeles (LA) River STEW-MAP provides detailed information on the geographical f...

Climate change, high-severity wildfire, and drought threaten the resilience of forests and communities in the Sierra Nevada. The area burned by high-severity wildfires annually is increasing, and prolonged droughts coupled with beetle outbreaks have the potential to result in massive tree mortality, leaving extremely large areas of dead trees. These factors, along with fire suppression and unsustainable logging practices, shaped the forests we know today, which are less resilient to wildfire and drought than pre-European settlement forests. Despite significant efforts since the early 1990s to ...

Fog inundation along California’s Coast Range creates microclimates that support coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens, D. Don) forests during the summer drought period. With changes in land use and climate, the coast redwood ecosystem is susceptible to increased drought stress. Thus, understanding the role of fog in relieving drought stress is important to properly manage the remaining coast redwood forests. Fog presence and ecosystem responses (e.g., climate, soil moisture, sap flow) were monitored at the Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds in northwestern California over the 2020 fog season ...