Treesearch

The concept of ecosystem services connects the activity of environmental and natural resource management to desired outcomes of human economic utility, social well-being, and cultural health. A desire for mutual sustainability between human interests and ecological cycles is inherent in the ecosystem services approach (Patterson 2014). The complex network of interactions between natural processes and human impacts is referred to as a socioecological system.

Revisions to forest plans, as directed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 2012 Planning Rule, has appreciable focus directed toward management of National Forest System lands so that they are ecologically sustainable and contribute to social and economic sustainability (see Chapter 1.1, Dumroese, this synthesis, The Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis: Background, Rationale, and Scope; and Chapter 5.1, Flores, this synthesis, An Introduction to Social, Economic, and Ecological Factors in Natural Resource Management of Northeastern California...

The Great Basin can be defined floristically by plant communities dominated by species of sagebrush (Artemisia) and saltbush (Atriplex) in its southern portions and in its northern portions by sagebrush steppe and woodlands dominated by juniper (Juniperus). By this definition, nearly 7.4 million acres (3 million ha) of Great Basin sagebrush steppe exists in the coterminous United States. It can also be defined hydrologically as the area in the Western United States that is internally drained; in other words, with a few exceptions, precipitation does not ultimately flow to the oceans, but...

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) develop when various combinations of a vast array of bacteria, cyanobacteria, fungi, lichens, terrestrial algae, and mosses occupy the surface and upper few millimeters of the soil (Warren et al. 2019b). Historically, BSCs have been referred to as cryptobiotic, cryptogamic, microbiotic, microfloral, microphytic, and organogenic crusts. They can be present in a wide range of ecological, successional, and climatic conditions when and where disturbance and/ or aridity have resulted in opportunities for colonization of exposed bare soil surfaces. BSCs are most...

Situated in Northeastern California, the Lassen National Forest spans 1.2 million acres (485,625 ha) and the Modoc National Forest another 1.65 million acres (667,730 ha), mainly in Lassen and Modoc Counties, but also across portions of Butte, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, and Tehama counties. A unique blend of geology, topography, elevations from 2,000 to 14,000 feet (610 to 4,270 m), and climate have fostered immense biodiversity within this area. On the western edge of these national forests, the Cascade Range, characterized by steep changes in elevation and a Mediterranean climate (cool,...

The volcanic soils of the Southern Cascades and the Modoc Plateau support a diverse assemblage of conifer species. On the western slopes of the Southern Cascades, Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), ponderosa (Pinus ponderosa) and lodgepole (Pinus contorta) pines, and white (Abies concolor) and Shasta red firs (Abies magnifica) are common, whereas ponderosa and Jeffrey (Pinus jeffreyi) pines inhabit the drier east slopes. Eastern slopes and valleys commonly contain big sagebrush (Artemisia species) and western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) habitats. The Great Basin, with its high...

When asked today to define range or rangeland, most people respond with something such as “open lands used for grazing by livestock.” That perception, however common, is incorrect. Range or rangeland is a type of land, not a type of use. While livestock grazing is, indeed, a common use of rangeland, it is by no means the only one. The definition of rangeland is variable and has changed over the years. The 1872 poem and the later classic western folk song by Brewster Higley, Home on The Range, predated the massive expansion of livestock in the Western United States and makes no mention of...

Estimates of rangeland in the United States vary widely depending on the definition used, but, in general about one-third of the area of the United States (511 to 662 million acres [207 to 268 million ha] out of 2 billion acres [800 million ha] in the coterminous United States) is considered rangeland (Reeves and Mitchell 2011; USDA 2016; USDOI 2013). Rangeland should not be confused with grazing land that includes rangeland, pastureland, forestland, or any other land with potential for providing forage for wild or domestic ungulates (Society for Range Management 1998, and see Chapter 3.1,...

Climate change is increasing the risk of extreme events, resulting in social and economic challenges. I examined recent past (1971–2000), current and near future (2010-2039), and future (2040-2069) fire and heat hazard combined with population growth by different regions and residential densities (i.e., exurban low and high densities, suburban, and urban low and high densities). Regional values for extreme fire weather days varied greatly. Temperature and number of extreme fire weather days increased over time for all residential density categories, with the greatest increases in the...

Substantial shifts in the distribution of western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.) are predicted during the coming decades in response to changing climatic conditions. However, it is unclear how the interplay between direct climate effects, such as warmer, drier conditions, and indirect climate effects, such as predicted increases in fire disturbance, will impact fire-adapted species such as western larch. The objectives of this study were (1) to compare the relative importance of stand, site, and indirect versus direct climatic factors in determining western larch seedling recruitment;...