Treesearch

Meeting forest restoration goals requires establishment and growth of seedlings that can thrive for many decades. Often, this requires use of nursery-grown plants. Despite their obvious role, however, nurseries can be considered a low priority and/or overlooked during the planning process.

On the USDA Forest Service National Forest System, reforestation and restoration plans often require tree seedlings and native plant seed to expedite achieving a desired future condition following timber harvests, wildfires, and outbreaks of disease and insect pests. The seed and seedlings used by the agency for these purposes are produced by its Genetic Resource Program and its Nursery System, State forestry offices and other public agencies, and the commercial forest nursery and native seed industries. The Forest Service National Seed Laboratory (NSL) was established in 1954 to support...

At a fundamental level, smoke from wildland fire is of scientific concern because of its potential adverse effects on human health and social well-being. Although many impacts (e.g., evacuations, property loss) occur primarily in proximity to the actual fire, smoke can end up having a significant social impact far from the source. This dynamic, combined with lengthening fire seasons, suggests that understanding how wildland fire smoke affects diverse social values will be increasingly critical. This chapter reviews the existing scientific knowledge related to wildland fire smoke with...

This report presents the strategic direction for research at the Rocky Mountain Research Station to address climate change challenges in the context of resilience, disturbance, and recovery. It describes how current and future RMRS research programs could be enhanced and applied to address emerging challenges.

This chapter assesses the current state of the science regarding the composition, intensity, and drivers of wildland fire emissions in the USA and Canada. Globally and in the USA wildland fires are a major source of gases and aerosols which have significant air quality impacts and climate interactions. Wildland fire smoke can trigger severe pollution episodes with substantial effects on public health. Fire emissions can degrade air quality at considerable distances downwind, hampering efforts by air regulators to meet air standards. Fires are a major global source of aerosols which affect...

Wildfire affects hundreds of wildland-urban interface communities each year, and yet most communities lack data reflecting the conditions before an event. This study was conducted before the devastating 2020 East Troublesome Fire1, which spread across 193,812 acres and resulted in two lives lost and 366 homes and 214 other structures burned. The fire’s dramatic run threatened over 7,000 structures and led to a mandatory evacuation of over 35,000 people in Grand and Larimer Counties. The data reported here serve as baseline data to aid in understanding the parcel and social conditions...

Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi) and Paiute cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii seleniris) are rare taxa of conservation concern. Their generally low population densities and remote distribution make traditional sampling difficult, but they primarily exist in small streams, a habitat type where environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling has proven extremely effective. We developed a single eDNA assay that allows sensitive detection of both taxa, which occur separate from each other in different regions of the Lahontan Basin. Performance of the assay was evaluated using...

Wildfire severity is a key indicator of both direct ecosystem impacts and indirect emissions impacts that affect air quality, climate, and public health far beyond the spatial footprint of the flames. Comprehensive, accurate inventories of severity and emissions are essential for assessing these impacts and setting appropriate fire management and health care preparedness strategies, as is the ability to project emissions for future wildfires. The frequency of large wildfires and the magnitude of their impacts have increased in recent decades, fueling concerns about decreased air quality....

The biological control program against Tamarix spp. (tamarisk/saltcedar; Tamaricaceae) was initiated in the 1970s to reduce negative impacts of this invasive Old World shrub to riparian biodiversity and ecosystem function in western North America. Field releases of host-specific leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) in the genus Diorhabda were initiated in 2001, with significant establishment and widespread defoliation observed roughly two years after open releases. What followed were a variety of complex interactions among invasive Tamarix, its guild of herbivores including Diorhabda spp., and the...

Anecdotal reports indicate that invasive yellow or common toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) and Dalmatian toadflax (Linaria dalmatica) (Plantaginaceae) were deliberately introduced to North America for ornamental purposes. They were also accidentally introduced as a seed contaminant, as was the case for many early-introduced invasive plants in North America (Mack, 1986, 2003; Mack and Erneberg, 2002; Lehan et al., 2013). In the absence of laws regulating the importation of exotic plants (as opposed to plant pests) into the United States, plant-lovers ranging from homesteaders and miners to...