Treesearch

Globe-LFMC is an extensive global database of live fuel moisture content (LFMC) measured from 1,383 sampling sites in 11 countries: Argentina, Australia, China, France, Italy, Senegal, Spain, South Africa, Tunisia, United Kingdom and the United States of America. The database contains 161,717 individual records based on in situ destructive samples used to measure LFMC, representing the amount of water in plant leaves per unit of dry matter. The primary goal of the database is to calibrate and validate remote sensing algorithms used to predict LFMC. However, this database is also relevant...

As trees age, they develop discernible attributes (legacy characteristics), that provide critical wildlife habitat. An arbitrary diameter cap is often used in planning to ensure old trees remain on the landscape. Although a relation exists between tree age and diameter, several environmental factors also influence growth; consequently, not all large trees are old and not all small trees are young. Personnel on the Boise National Forest questioned the efficacy of using a diameter cap of 20 in. (51 cm) as a method for conserving old trees because it prevented the ability to meet other Forest...

Outdoor recreationists are important advocates for wildlife on public lands. However, balancing potential impacts associated with increased human disturbance with the conservation of sensitive species is a central issue facing ecologists and land managers alike, especially for dispersed winter recreation due to its disproportionate impact to wildlife. We studied how dispersed winter recreation (outside developed ski areas) impacted a reintroduced meso-carnivore, Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), at the southern periphery of the species’ range in the southern Rocky Mountains. On a voluntary...

Bias introduced by detection errors is a well-documented issue for abundance and occupancy estimates of wildlife. Detection errors bias estimates of detection and abundance or occupancy in positive and negative directions, which can produce misleading results. There have been considerable design- and model-based methods to address false-negative errors, or missed detections. However, false-positive errors, or detections of individuals that are absent but counted as present because of misidentifications or double counts, are often assumed to not occur in ecological studies. The dependent...

Drought can directly impact ecosystem function through reductions in productivity, but it can also indirectly impact people and ecosystems via disturbances such as wildfires. While often considered separately in terms of impacts, drought and wildfires are fundamentally linked by the weather conditions that drive moisture deficits in woody fuels and soil, which both increase potential for wildfire activity, as well as increase demand for water resources. Drought and wildfire danger are monitored at local, regional, and national scales, and the assessments made by various monitoring efforts...

Since 1973, the National Silviculture Workshop has provided a forum for USDA Forest Service managers and scientists to deliberate on management topics, issues, or challenges that reflect the progression of Federal forest management in the United States (Table 1). Rotating the meeting location around the United States to expose the attendees to many different ecosystems and management concerns and practices, early workshops explored techniques of uneven-aged management, controlling stand density in second-growth stands, tree improvement, and fertilization for timber management (Barton et...

Following high-severity wildfire, application of mulch on the soil surface is commonly used to stabilize slopes and limit soil erosion potential, protecting ecosystem values at risk. Despite the widespread use of mulch, relatively little is known about its effects on ecosystem recovery and soil processes important for plant re-establishment. Following a high-severity wildfire in a Colorado lodgepole pine forest, we studied the effects of both mulch material and application rate on plant recovery and the relative importance of soil abiotic conditions and microbial substrate availability as...

Pyrenophoric acid (P-Acid), P-Acid B, and P-Acid C are three phytotoxic sesquiterpenoids produced by the ascomycete seed pathogen Pyrenophora semeniperda, a fungus proposed as a mycoherbicide for biocontrol of cheatgrass, an extremely invasive weed. When tested in cheatgrass bioassays, these metabolites were able to delay seed germination, with P-Acid B being the most active compound. Here, we have investigated the cross-kingdom activity of P-Acid B and its mode of action, and found that it activates the abscisic acid (ABA) signaling pathway in order to inhibit seedling establishment....

Seasonal snow is an important component of Earth's hydrologic cycle and climate system, yet it remains challenging to consistently and accurately measure snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) across the range of diverse snowpack conditions that exist on Earth. The NASA SnowEx campaign is focused on addressing the primary gaps in snow remote sensing in order to gain an improved spatiotemporal understanding of this important resource and to further efforts toward a future satellite-based snow remote sensing mission. Ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) is an efficient and mature approach for...

Background: Forest management, especially restoration, is informed by understanding the dominant natural disturbance regime. In many western North American forests, the keystone disturbance is fire, and a plethora of research exists characterizing various fire regime parameters, although often only one or two parameters are addressed in individual studies. I performed a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis of the derived data from 26 publications to characterize five parameters of the historical fire regime of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Lawson & C. Lawson) ecosystems...