Treesearch

Many ecologically important high elevation five-needle white pine (HEFNP) forests that historically dominated upper subalpine landscapes of western North America are now being impacted by mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus spp.) outbreaks, the exotic disease white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), and altered fire regimes. And more recently, predicted changes in climate may reduce HEFNP habitat and exacerbate adverse impacts of fire, beetles and rust. Management intervention using specially designed tactics implemented at multiple scales (range-wide, landscape, stand, and tree...

One of the greatest challenges for land managers is to maintain a multitude of ecosystem services while reducing hazards posed by wildfires, insect outbreaks, and other disturbances accelerating due to climate change. In response to limited available resources and improved technical abilities, natural resource managers are increasingly using geospatial data to plan and evaluate their management actions. Large amounts of public resources are invested in research and development to improve geospatial datasets, yet there is limited knowledge about the specific data types and data characteristi...

Consistent and spatially explicit periodic monitoring of forest structure is essential for estimating forest-related carbon emissions, analyzing forest degradation, and supporting sustainable forest management policies. To date, few products are available that allow for continental to global operational monitoring of changes in canopy structure. In this study, we explored the synergy between the NASA’s spaceborne Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) waveform LiDAR and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) data to produce spatially explicit and consistent annual...

Mountain headwater streams have emerged as important climate refuges for native cold-water species due to their slow climate velocities and extreme physical conditions that inhibit non-native invasions. Species persisting in refuges often do so as fragmented, relict populations from broader historical distributions that are subject to ongoing habitat reductions and increasing isolation as climate change progresses. Key for conservation planning is determining where remaining populations will persist and how habitat restoration strategies can improve biological resilience to enhance the...

Effects of historical fire suppression in forested ecosystems, combined with increasingly frequent and prolonged periods of drought due to a changing climate, are predicted to drive increases in the extent and intensity of wildfires in western North America and elsewhere. Understanding the effects of wildfires on forest-dependent species and interactions among species is important for conservation and management decisions. We used data collected from a long-term carnivore monitoring program in northern California and southern Oregon, USA to investigate the effects of three mixed-severity...

Salmon are iconic keystone species across the northern Pacific and Atlantic basins. Salmon is also a prized human delicacy. Wild salmon populations have been decimated by a combination of overharvesting, dams, and water diversions. Efforts to increase salmon abundance through fish farming and hatcheries have failed to stem the decline, instead exposing wild populations to diseases, pests, and the debilitating genetic effects of interbreeding with partially domesticated farm escapees and hatchery releases (1). For additional information on this publication, please see this ITIF blog:...

Wildfire-burnt hillslopes are vulnerable to erosion, precipitation-induced landslides, and debris flows. Xanthan gum (XG) and polyacrylamide (PAM) were recently shown as attractive alternatives for controlling surface erosion. However, their mobility on the hillslopes or effects on downstream waters are unknown. This study showed that after three wet-dry cycles, vertical movement of XG and PAM into the soil with rainfall is possible. Controlled water quality experiments showed that XG could have negative impacts on acidity and turbidity if its concentration in water is 0.25% or higher....

Protected areas are essential to conserving biodiversity, yet changing climatic conditions challenge their efficacy. For example, novel and disappearing climates within the protected area network indicate that extant species may not have suitable climate in protected areas in the future. Further, potential transboundary range shifts, those that involve movement from one country to another, are also challenging because physical (e.g. fencing) and non-physical barriers (e.g. contrasting conservation policies) may impede climate-induced movements. Through the lens of climate analogs, we...

Black locust (BL, Robinia pseudoacacia) is considered a promising tree species for reforestation due to its great ability to fix nitrogen. However, after two or three coppice-harvesting rotations, the productivity of BL declines. Whether soil microbial communities are affected and how these groups correlate with the nitrogen mineralization process across multi-generation stands remains unclear.

Acting as a top-down control on fire activity, climate strongly affects wildfire in North American ecosystems through fuel moisture and ignitions. Departures from historical fire regimes due to climate change have significant implications for the structure and composition of boreal forests, as well as fire management and operations. In this research, we characterize the relationship between trends in climate and fire regime characteristics, for a study area predominantly in Alberta, Canada. We examined trends of fire and climate in northwestern boreal forests using time series analysis of...