Treesearch

Methods and models to design, prioritize and evaluate fuel break networks have potential application in many fire-prone ecosystems where major increases in fuel management investments are planned in response to growing incidence of wildfires. A key question facing managers is how to scale treatments into manageable project areas that meet operational and administrative constraints, and then prioritize their implementation over time to maximize fire management outcomes. We developed and tested a spatial modeling system to optimize the implementation of a proposed 3,538 km fuel break network...

Wildfire futures and aboveground carbon (C) dynamics associated with forest restoration programs that integrate resource objective wildfire as part of a larger treatment strategy are not well understood. Using simulation modeling, we examined alternative forest and fuel management strategies on a 237,218-ha study area within a 778,000-ha landscape that is a high priority target for federal restoration programs. We simulated two wildfire management scenarios combined with three levels of conventional forest restoration treatments over 64 years using a detailed landscape disturbance and...

We used pre-1990 climate envelopes and an ecosystem vulnerability model to forecast shifts in the extent of breeding habitats for eight owl species occurring in montane woodlands and forests of the southwestern US. For five of the eight species, the regional habitat extent was projected to decline by at least 60% by 2090. The steepest rates of habitat loss were predicted for the boreal owl (Aegolius funereus) and the flammulated owl (Psiloscops flammeolus). The boreal owl, which is absent in Arizona and at the trailing edge of its distribution in New Mexico, was projected to retain only...

Of all the ways human beings have modified the planet over the last 10,000 years, habitat loss is the most important for other species. To address this most critical threat to biodiversity, governments, non-governmental actors, and the public need to know, in near real-time, where and when habitat loss is occurring. Here we present an integrated habitat modelling system at the range-wide scale for the tiger (Panthera tigris) to measure and monitor changes in tiger habitat at range-wide, national, biome, and landscape scales, as often as the underlying inputs change. We find that after...

The Earth is changing faster than at any time in recorded history. Globally, we are facing large-scale losses in biodiversity and associated ecosystem function, changes in disturbance regimes, and widespread human migration and cultural loss (e.g., IPCC 2021). In the United States, we face many related challenges, including intensifying wildfire and climatic events, species and habitat loss, increasing demand for environmental and social justice, and rapid social change such as urbanization.

The Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail (PNT) traverses 1,200 miles from the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean. The portion of the trail in Northwest Montana and the Idaho Panhandle is at the nexus of a complex conflict situation involving outdoor recreation, wildlife conservation, and social-cultural values. This evolving conflict has gained national attention due to the diverse stakeholder interests and litigation against the US Forest Service, who administers the trail. The tension among the stakeholder groups and the various ecological and social-cultural dimensions at play...

Consider several of the most devastating fire disasters of the last century. In August 2023, the wildfire-initiated urban conflagration of Lahaina, Hawaii, damaged or destroyed more than 2,200 structures and killed 98 people. In December 2021, the Marshall Fire sparked conflagrations in Superior and Louisville, Colorado, destroying 1,084 structures and killing two. In September 2020, the Almeda Drive Fire in the communities of Talent and Phoenix, Oregon, destroyed 2,600 homes and killed three. In November 2018, the Camp Fire initiated ignitions in Paradise, California, destroyed 18,804...

The presence and abundance of organisms within an ecosystem often correlate with habitat variables that may have few, or unknown, functional values. Understanding the functional role of these variables is especially important for organisms occupying landscapes managed for timber production and containing diverse habitat patches of different quantities and structures of vegetation. We investigated the strength of associations reported in the literature between small mammal generalists and vegetation. On an industrially logged landscape in northern CA, we used occupancy and mark-recapture...

Predation is an important species interaction to monitor when assessing an invasive species’ impact on a particular ecosystem, but it can be difficult to observe and thus, fully understand. On Kaua’i island, invasive Barn Owls (Tyto alba) predate native seabirds, but difficult terrain in this region and the cryptic nature of owl predation make traditional monitoring of predation quite challenging. Using Barn Owls collected as part of removal efforts on Kaua’i and Lehua islands, we conducted DNA metabarcoding of owl digestive tracts to detect and determine seabird species they predate. We...

Landscape-scale forest restoration aims to restore ecological structure and function and provide habitat for wildlife. However, forest management likely has varying impacts across wildlife life stages, with consequences for population persistence. Using 10 years of nest (n = 294) survey data for a focal bird species, white-headed woodpecker (Dryobates albolarvatus), we assessed how forest management (tree removal and prescribed burning) at two spatial scales (stand [2.25 ha] and landscape [314 ha]), forest vegetation variables at three spatial scales (nest tree, local [0.4 ha], and...