Treesearch

A new variable-form segmented stem profile model is developed for lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) trees from the northern Rocky Mountains of the United States. I improved estimates of stem diameter by predicting two of the model coefficients with linear equations using a measure of tree form, defined as a ratio of dbh and total height. Additional improvements were obtained by fitting this model to individual national forest data sets. Other tree and environmental variables tested but found of little use in improving stem profile estimates were crown ratio, habitat series, elevation, slope...

Methods for solving some recurring problems of maintaining a permanent plot data base for growth and yield reseuch are described. These methods include documenting data from diverse sampling designs, changing sampling designs, changing field procedures, and coordinating activities in the plots with the land management agency. Managing a permanent plot data base (including plot recruitment, maintenance, and replacement) over a long time frame for northern Rocky Mountain ecosystems has been the impetus for developing these methodologies. We have assembled a permanent plot data base by...

Fires in the open environment produce a diversity of combustion products. Special techniques are needed to characterize the emissions ranging from microcombustion-evolved gas analysis to airborne monitoring of the full-scale phenomenon. This chapter discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each, the use of data in models for full-scale fires, and provides a discussion of the measurement needs for more fully understanding the release of emissions on a global/temporal scale.

Ninety-five seedling populations of southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa var. scopulorum) along with single populations of Pinus engelmannii and Pinus arizonica were compared in four environmentally disparate common gardens. Differentiation among ponderosa pine populations was detected for a diverse assortment of variables that included patterns of shoot elongation, measures of growth potential, winter and spring freezing damage, and leaf characteristics. Multiple regression models accounted for as much as 85% of the variance among populations and described complex clines that were...

We identify wetlands, riparian woodlands and shrublands, green ash woodlands, aspen forests, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and pure and mixed forests of ponderosa pine as important wildlife habitats in the US. Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Region. The relationships of vertebrate species to each of these types are discussed relative to habitat requirements and species conservation. The importance of late-successional lodgepole pine, Douglas-fir, and spruce-fir forests is discussed in the context of regional landscapes and the maintenance of biological diversity.

The USDA Forest Service is undergoing a major change in focus in response to public interests, growing concern for sustaining natural resources, and new knowledge about wildlife, fisheries, forests and grasslands, and how they interact at the ecosystem level. This shift in direction affects how Forest Service lands are managed, what research is conducted, how resource values are prioritized and how Forest Service employees are trained to meet future management needs. In meeting public concerns over time, Forest Service stewardship has evolved from an emphasis on (1) regulation of uses...

National Forests provide a major proportion of the habitats in which elk grow, reproduce, and exist as elements of biological diversity. Forests also provide the basis upon which State management programs depend and provide sites for the public to hunt, view, and otherwise enjoy the elk resource. Individual National Forests can creatively address elk management through habitat effectiveness and elk vulnerability, and yet retain more consistent and cohesive approaches within regional and State boundaries. Emphasis in this report has been placed on process, content, and implementation of new...

A conceptual framework is given for a broad-scale survey of forest health that accomplishes three objectives: generate descriptive statistics; detect changes in such statistics; and simplify analytical inferences that identify, and possibly establish cause-effect relationships. Our paper discusses the development of sampling schemes to satisfy these three objectives, but without any design restrictions implied by existing sample surveys. A general vision of a desirable future system will increase chances that short-term decisions will lead to better environmental monitoring systems in the...

In this paper, we evaluate the reasons for gaps in communication between researchers and natural resource managers and identify methods to close these gaps. Gaps originate from differing patterns of language use, disparities in organizational culture and values, generation of knowledge that is too narrowly-focused to solve complex problems, failure by managers to relay informational needs, and failure by researchers to synthesize and package knowledge in useable forms. Information-sharing procedures that can stimulate communication among individuals in different organizations, geographical...

Because most land, including forest land, in the United States is privately owned, it is clear the private sector should be a major cooperator in "Partners in Flight" efforts to conserve neotropical migratory birds. The "private sector" is more than forest landowners, whether corporate or noncorporate; it includes agricultural landowners, mining interests, housing and commercial land developers, and others. The private sector also includes the general public as users of products generated from private lands and as stockholders in corporate landowners. Private landowners are extremely...