Treesearch

The Nature Conservancy and the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture have long-term goals to reintroduce fire into U.S. ecosystems at ecologically relevant spatial and temporal scales. Building on decades of collaborative work, a Master Participating Agreement was signed in March 2017 to increase overall fire management capacity through training and education. In October 2017, The Nature Conservancy hosted a cross-boundary fire training, education, research, and restoration-related event for 2 weeks at Sycan Marsh Preserve in Oregon. Eighty people from 15 organizations applied prescribe...

We compared three commonly used sampling methods for estimating coarse woody surface fuel (>7.62 cm diameter) loading: fixed-area plot, planar intersect using one transect, and planar intersect using two transects. Sampling occurred in ponderosa pine/ Douglas-fir (Pinus ponderosa/Pseudotsuga menziesii) dominated stands in the northern Rocky Mountains, USA. These methods commonly have tradeoffs in execution and accuracy that managers must consider. We found fixed-area plot sampling was more likely to capture log occurrence; planar intersect methods estimated zero loading on 23 to 47 percent...

Fences and mulch contribute to the spread of wildland-urban interface fires, acting both as ignition targets and as sources that may ignite nearby objects through direct flame contact and firebrand generation. This paper presents the findings from outdoor experiments that investigated the spread of fire through firebrand spotting from fences and mulch beds near a structure in a wind field. A fence section, mulch bed, or combination was arranged perpendicular to a small structure, with a large fan directing wind toward the structure. After ignition, data were collected on firebrand spotting...

We analyzed the predictive accuracy of rate of fire spread models used operationally in Australia in five different fuel types (grasslands, temperate shrublands, semiarid shrublands, dry eucalypt [Eucalyptus spp.] forests, and conifer forests). This analysis was undertaken by comparing predictions of older models with those of newer models and noting changes in error statistics based on independent evaluation of datasets composed largely of wildfire observations. We observed the newer models to have improved prediction accuracy in four of the five cases over their previous counterparts;...

The status quo approach of addressing wildfire threat in British Columbia is not working. In 2017, wildfires overwhelmed suppression capabilities, burned 1.2 million hectares, and cost $568 million for suppression and immediate rehabilitation. From 2003 to 2017, the Provincial government spent $3.1 billion on direct fire suppression, but only $73.8 million on proactive fuels mitigation in the wildland-urban interface. A holistic, landscape view of this problem and transformative changes to wildfire and forest management are urgently needed to achieve forest and community resilience to...

The relationship between people and wildfire has always been paradoxical: fire is an essential ecological process and management tool, but can also be detrimental to life and property. Consequently, fire regimes have been modified throughout history through both intentional burning to promote benefits and active suppression to reduce risks. Reintroducing fire and its benefits back into the Sky Island mountains of the United States-Mexico borderlands has the potential to reduce adverse effects of altered fire regimes and build resilient ecosystems and human communities. To help guide...

Management of genetic variation in natural populations is necessary to mitigate the effects of environmental change and biodiversity loss. While traditional genetic techniques have aided management of biodiversity, the rapid advancement of genomics technology has provided advancements for the field of biodiversity conservation including increased resolution and identification of adaptive loci corresponding to ecologically relevant phenotypes. In this chapter, we explore how population genomics has been implemented into wildlife management via a literature review and discussions with...

Over fifty years of progress in place attachment research has produced many important insights as well as many competing senses of place attachment as a theoretical construct. Place constructs range from fairly specific terms such as place dependence and place identity to more general terms such as rootedness and sense of place, which all attempt to describe some aspect of place experience and attachment. These constructs are often used interchangeably, which adds to the confusion resulting from different and contested place definitions and relationships (Lewicka, 2011; Relph, 2008)....

Asymmetric climate projections throughout the U.S. Great Plains may intensify the existing latitudinal temperature gradient and magnify the longitudinal precipitation gradient. These potential changes present a unique challenge to understanding the ecological consequences of future climates in the region. Here we investigate how climate change may affect the spatio-temporal patterns of potential natural vegetation types (PVT) and net primary production (NPP) throughout the 21st century with the global dynamic vegetation model MC2. Simulations were driven by projected climate variables from...

The order Esociformes (Pikes and Mudminnows) comprises two families, Esocidae (Pikes) and Umbridae (Mudminnows). The Pikes are a small Holarctic (Northern Hemisphere) family, that includes large, elongate predators with duckbill-like snouts full of sharp teeth. Popular with sport fishers, the largest Pikes fight fiercely on hook and line. As piscivorous, voracious, ambush predators, the Pikes play an important functional role in the trophic ecology and fish assemblage structure of many aquatic systems, especially in northern lakes. Other esocids, such as the Olympic Mudminnow, Novumbra...