Treesearch

In Norway, the management of natural and cultural resources is subject to increasing public scrutiny. Conflicts are escalating over many issues concerning the balance between preservation and utilisation. Traditionally conflicts over issues like growth in commercial nature tourism, predator control, forest policies, protected areas management, cultural heritage protection, and rights associated with common access, have been explained in terms of opposing values, attitudes, and goals between urban and rural interests. However, historical differences between the urban and rural in terms of...

Experience from case studies of biological invasions in aquatic ecosystems has motivated a set of proposed empirical “rules” for understanding patterns of invasion and impacts on native species. Further evidence is needed to better understand these patterns, and perhaps contribute to a useful predictive theory of invasions. We reviewed the case of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) invasions in the western United States and their impacts on native cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki). Unlike many biological invasions, a considerable body of empirical research on brook trout and cutthroat...

Forest roads are an important environmental issue. While many scientists interested in hydrology recognize climate-altering processes as an important global issue, there are problems that are similar in scope and magnitude because human industriousness has brought them to so many parts of the world. Almost everywhere people live and work they build and use unimproved roads, and wherever the roads go, a range of environmental issues follows. Among the environmental effects of unimproved roads, those on water quality and aquatic ecology are some of the most critical. Increased chronic...

This paper presents a broad-based synthesis of the general ecology of the ponderosa pine ecosystem in the Black Hills. This synthesis contains information and results of research on ponderosa pine from numerous sources within the Black Hills ecosystem. We discuss the silvical characteristics of ponderosa pine, natural disturbances that govern ecosystem processes, wildlife habitat and management, various silvicultural methods to manage ponderosa pine forests, and watershed management of the Black Hills.

Burned-over big sagebrush sites dominated by perennial grasses supported fewer species of birds and fewer total number of birds than sites of unburned big sagebrush sites.

This research represents the first comprehensive summary of our study of stopover ecology of migratory landbirds in riparian habitats along the middle Rio Grande of central New Mexico. We report results from mist-netting operations conducted during spring and fall migration in 1994, 1995, and 1996. A total of 23,800 individuals of 146 species were captured during the study. Of the 146 species, 53 percent were Neotropical migrants, and 32 percent were temperate migrants. The most abundant species were the MacGillivray's Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, and White-crowned Sparrow in spring and the...

The health of many Rocky Mountain ecosystems is in decline because of the policy of excluding fire in the management of these ecosystems. Fire exclusion has actually made it more difficult to fight fires, and this poses greater risks to the people who fight fires and for those who live in and around Rocky Mountain forests and rangelands. This paper discusses the extent of fire exclusion in the Rocky Mountains, then details the diverse and cascading effects of suppressing fires in the Rocky Mountain landscape by spatial scale, ecosystem characteristic, and vegetation type. Also discussed...

Improperly constructed or maintained roads near riparian and wetland areas may degrade these valuable sites. Degradation affects many aspects of the riparian and wetland ecosystems. This field guide presents information in a practical, user friendly format to help resource managers and professionals. Well-documented evaluation and monitoring strategies are critical in riparian road restoration projects. Learning from mistakes as well as successes helps to improve and protect valuable riparian and wetland sites. This two-volume field guide covers the management and techniques for riparian...

Harvesting for conventional forestry products, bioenergy, or fuels reduction creates varying levels of soil disturbance depending upon the felling and extraction systems used. Site preparation before replanting imposes additional soil disturbances depending on the mix of mechanical, chemical, and fire techniques used These inter-rotation disturbances usually affect subsequent plant diversity in different ways. Although the common assumption is that these impacts are negative, they can be highly positive depending on the type and level of disturbance. The level and direction of impact...

Stiff clubmoss (Lycopodium annotinum L.) and groundcedar (Lycopodium complanatum L.; synonym = Diphasiastrum complanatum [L.] Holub.) (Lycopodiaceae) are circumboreal clubmoss species that are widely distributed in North American boreal habitats. In the northern Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, groundcedar and stiff clubmoss occur in disjunct, extremely isolated populations in remnant boreal white spruce and mixed conifer-hardwood forests. To date, only two populations of each species have been located on Black Hills National Forest lands1: both species occur in a dense colony in...