Treesearch

In this study we illustrate the value of social data compiled at the community scale to guide a local wildfire mitigation and education effort. The four contiguous fire-prone study communities in North Central Washington, US, fall within the same jurisdictional fire service boundary and within one US census block group. Across the four communities, similar attitudes toward wildfire were observed. However, significant differences were found on the measures critical to tailoring wildfire preparation and mitigation programs to the local context such as risk mitigation behaviors, reported...

This first interim research report concerning subterranean termite activity summarizes the 36-month evaluation of a 5-year study-in-progress on the Stanislaus National Forest, Calaveras County, California, within the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The Lakemont timber salvage site was clear-cut during 2017 and received biochar treatments during November 2017. Wood stakes, ground-boards and PVC termite monitoring stations were installed during 2018. Evaluation and sampling began during 2019. Study plots were established across the open field salvage site. Non-disturbed forest tree plots were also...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Technology and Development Program (NTDP) reviewed existing literature and collected and analyzed data to summarize information about soil trafficability for ground-based harvesting operations and recreational vehicle use of forest roads and trails on National Forest System (NFS) lands. The U.S. Army defines soil trafficability as “the capability of the soil to support moving vehicles” (U.S. Department of the Army 1994), such as timber harvesting equipment or recreational vehicles. Soil scientists should design and implement...

Restoring or enhancing soil properties on forest, range, mine, or agricultural soils is becoming increasingly important. In particular, threats to soil from drought, intense rain, flooding, heat, and wildfire can reduce the productive capacity of the soil and also reduce our ability to grow food and fiber or regulate carbon (C), water, or nutrients (Blanco-Canqui 2021). Creating wood-based biochars from material normally burned in slash piles is an opportunity to increase forest health by decreasing wildfire risk or insect and disease outbreaks (Rodriguez-Franco and Page-Dumroese 2021)....

Wildfires increasingly create large high-severity patches with interior areas far from less disturbed habitats. We evaluated how these trends impact bird communities by investigating the effect of internal distance from lower-severity areas, high-severity patch size, and years since fire on avian alpha and beta diversity. Location: Sierra Nevada, California, USA.

Wildfire mitigation is becoming increasingly urgent, but despite the availability of mitigation tools, such as prescribed fire, managed wildfire, and mechanical thinning, the USA has been unable to scale up mitigation. Limited agency capacity, inability to work across jurisdictions, lack of public support, and procedural delays have all been cited as barriers to mitigation. But in the context of limited resources and increasing urgency, how should agencies prioritize investments to address these barriers?

In many regions of the world, forest management has reduced old forest and simplified forest structure and composition. We hypothesized that such forest degradation has resulted in long-term habitat loss for forest-associated bird species of eastern Canada (130,017 km2) which, in turn, has caused bird-population declines. Despite little change in overall forest cover, we found substantial reductions in old forest as a result of frequent clear-cutting and a broad-scale transformation to intensified forestry. Back-cast species distribution models revealed that breeding habitat loss occurred...

During the last century, numerous models have been developed to predict soil erosion and concomitant sediment deposition. Most have been shown to be inadequate and/or inaccurate in one respect or another. Historically, erosion model results have been compared with sediment outflow from watersheds, providing no information regarding sources and sinks of erosion and deposition within them. This paper documents the application of the new-generation Unit Stream Power Erosion and Deposition (USPED) model at the U.S. Army’s Fort Campbell, Kentucky / Tennessee. The USPED model is relatively...

A new long-legged fly species, Chrysotus soya sp. nov. (Diptera: Dolichopodidae), is described and illustrated from specimens collected in soybean fields near Brookings, South Dakota, USA. The abundance of this species in soybeans suggests it plays an important role as a beneficial predator.

Northern pike are among the most exciting freshwater fishes to land because they tend to put up quite a fight. This species is broadly distributed outside its native range due to human transport and subsequent expansion. Where pike have been introduced, native fish like bull trout, which are listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), are suffering dire consequences as this long-lived, generalist top predator is using native fish as a food source. A recent publication, “Mechanism of northern pike invasion in the Columbia River basin,” describes how a team of Tribal, State,...