Treesearch

Seed banking supports conservation, but freshly collected and stored seed may differ in important characteristics. Our resurrection study assessed differences in seedling traits from stored and fresh populations of six native plant species in the Great Basin, where invasive annual grasses increase fire frequency to the detriment of native plants. We evaluated stored seed collected through the Seeds of Success programme and contemporary re-collections from the same population 3–11 years later, including sites that burned between collection dates and paired, unburned sites. We sowed seeds in...

Native plant seed can be used to restore healthy, resilient ecosystems in an era of global degradation and change. In the United States (U.S.), federal agencies bolster the availability of native seed by coordinating seed collection, agricultural production, and use in restoration and reclamation with a broad network of federal and non-federal partners. As a result, the native seed supply has greatly expanded, but challenges and knowledge gaps remain for effective native seed development and use. To address these issues, we synthesize lessons learned from 20+ years of experience across...

Forest roads directly influence storm runoff, soil erosion, and sediment transport, making soil and water conservation essential. This study estimated runoff and erosion using the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model for a typical unimproved forest road in the Chipola Experimental Forest, considering two alternative designs: a compacted “graded aggregate base” and a gravel surface. Both historical and future performance were evaluated using five widely used climate models in their Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) fifth phase (CMIP5) and sixth phase (CMIP6) versions...

Rainfall temporal resolution and climate input formats can influence runoff and soil erosion predictions on forest roads. This study evaluated their effects using the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) simulations for a forest road in Florida’s Chipola Experimental Forest. High-resolution NOAA-ASOS precipitation data (2000–2024) were used to generate breakpoint, fixed-interval (5–60 min), and time to peak/peak intensity (TPIP) climate inputs. WEPP predictions were generally stable across input types, with modest differences in average annual runoff and soil loss. Finer temporal...

The generality of the worldwide leaf economics spectrum (LES) has made it a pillar of trait-based ecological research. Yet, few studies have examined the processes shaping the evolution of the LES within species, in part, because most species occupy only a small portion of the LES. To address this gap, we took advantage of the distinct leaf economics strategies present in different ecotypes of the phenotypically diverse perennial grass Panicum virgatum (switchgrass) to generate a genetic mapping population, which we planted in common gardens at three sites spanning 12 degrees of latitude...

As extreme wildfire events become more frequent, understanding how forest treatments interact with wildfire is increasingly critical. However, assessing wildfire-treatment outcomes is challenging due to interactions among treatments, weather, topography, and fuels. We investigated wildfires from southern Wyoming to northern New Mexico to evaluate under what conditions treatments reduce the ecological impacts of fire, as measured by remotely sensed burn severity. We determined (1) factors influencing the relationship between treatments and burn severity, (2) how burn severity differed...

Coeur d'Alene salamanders ( Plethodon idahoensis ) are found in small, isolated populations in the mountains of Montana, Idaho, and British Columbia. Effective conservation of this species hinges upon understanding population distribution and connectivity; however, identifying occupied Coeur d'Alene salamander (CDL) sites is challenging. Surveys in Montana have been haphazard and have involved biologists searching potential sites during rainy nights in the early summer. To evaluate alternative survey methods, we sampled water at known‐occupied CDL sites across western Montana to evaluate...

The mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae, is a bark beetle that can cause extensive tree mortality of its hosts in western North America. Lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta, is one of its primary and most widely distributed hosts. The insect exhibits a one-year life cycle with a dispersal flight of emerging adults, referred to as brood adults, which attack new trees in the late spring–early summer. The larvae develop through the summer and overwinter. The following spring, development resumes, followed by pupation and emergence of a new generation of brood adults. Every year, a...

Drought is expected to increase in frequency and severity due to climate change, highlighting the urgency of understanding drought impacts on wildlife across geographies and taxonomic groups. We conducted a review of peer‐reviewed articles from 1982 to 2024, focusing on the impacts of anomalous drought on terrestrial vertebrates. We recorded 3324 total wildlife responses, 188 from single‐species studies and 3136 from multi‐species studies. Within single‐species studies, 66% of responses were negative, 32% were unclear, and 2% were positive, illustrating the widespread threat of increasing...

Climate change increases drought frequencies and intensities, posing risks to biodiversity. Species inhabiting arid regions may be vulnerable to drought because they live near their physiological limits, while species with low historical drought exposure may lack adaptations to cope with unprecedented drought. Using a breeding bird dataset and the Standardized Precipitation‐Evaporation Index, we assessed drought vulnerability of 37 bird species across deserts of the western United States. We tested drought effects on community and species‐level relative abundance, how species’ long‐term...