Treesearch

Large-extent, fine-resolution land cover classification maps are an important tool for providing a common baseline and prioritizing management actions. These maps are powerful for landscape-wide land planning and restoration efforts. The low computing requirements and relatively fast processing of the RMRS Raster Utility land cover mapping approach allows for low-cost landscape classification. The RMRS Raster Utility provides a powerful new analytical tool for GIS professionals and land and resource managers.

Soil texture and organic matter content greatly influence how soils recover from a disturbance. High organic matter is positively correlated with resilience. Over 80 percent of the harvest units showed soil recovery following a timber harvest years later. Only 9 percent did not recover, while some units had 100 percent recovery. Root growth, freeze-thaw cycles, and soil fauna contribute to soil recovery from compaction. Using harvest equipment and methods that reduces forest floor compaction decreases soil disturbance that affects tree growth.

Through a project called Rangelands on the Edge, RMRS scientists and collaborators are studying past, current, and projected changes to rangelands related to residential development in the conterminous United States. A recently published report on the project includes maps and analysis of variables such as housing density, road and soil characteristics, topography, proximity to population centers, and land cover, use, and ownership. This information can help refine planning and development decisions related to residential locations, land cover, highway placement, watershed management, and...

To Masticate or Not: Useful Tips for Treating Forest, Woodland, and Shrubland Vegetation is a recent GTR that provides a synthesis of the science on ecological impacts of mastication and what land managers need to know about designing mastication projects. The GTR includes three decision trees that are designed to help land managers determine whether a mastication treatment is possible, and if so, the appropriate equipment to fulfill the management objectives.

The collective impacts of fire exclusion polices, mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) outbreaks, and white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch) infections have resulted in a rapid decline of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) forests in western North America over the last several decades (Arno 1986, Kendall and Keane 2001, Goeking and Izlar 2018). Especially distressing are the projected declines in these iconic forests because of future changes in climate (Warwell et al. 2007, Chang et al. 2014). Future warmer and drier climates could result in...

The populations of the Caucasian pit viper are declining and face genetic threats because of habitat fragmentation. Landscape genetics facilitates effective connectivity conservation actions by providing methods to predict factors affecting gene flow. Objectives We described the genetic diversity and structure of Caucasian pit viper populations in Iran. We also adopted an individual-based landscape genetics approach to determine the effects of landscape features on gene flow across the species’ range. Methods We evaluated the degree of genetic structuring using spatial and non-spatial...

During the 1990s through 2010 bark beetle-caused tree mortality was a hot news topic in the western United States (US). An estimated > 5 Mha were affected by multiple bark beetle species. A large proportion of the total tree mortality, however, was attributable to a single species, the mountain pine beetle (MPB, Dendroctonus ponderosae Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae). MPB has a large current distribution (Baja California Norte through the western United States and into British Columbia and Alberta, Canada), is polyphagous on most Pinus species within its range, and true to its name...

Flame spread is the process by which a flame propagates over the surface of a solid fuel. Its practical interest is that is a primary mechanism for a fire to develop and grow. However, it is also of fundamental interest because the spread of a flame is a complex process involving the interaction between solid thermo-physical processes (heat transfer, thermal decomposition, gasification) and gas thermo-chemical processes (transport, mixing, chemical kinetics). As these processes are complex, simplifications are often made to gain some traction. One approach that is discussed here is to...

The environment has a strong influence on the abundance and distribution of plant pathogenic organisms and plays a major role in plant disease. Climatological factors may also alter the dynamics of the interactions between plant pathogens and their hosts. Nothophaeocryptopus (=Phaeocryptopus) gaeumannii, the causal agent of Swiss needle cast (SNC) of Douglas‐fir, is endemic to western North America where it exists as two sympatric, reproductively isolated lineages. The abundance of this fungus and the severity of SNC are strongly influenced by climate. We used statistical and population...

Swiss needle cast is a foliar disease of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) that results in premature foliage loss and reduced growth. The causal fungus, Nothophaeocryptopus gaeumannii, was first detected in New Zealand in 1959 and spread throughout the North and South Islands over the following decades. The contemporary genetic structure of the N. gaeumannii population in New Zealand was assessed by analyzing 468 multilocus SSR genotypes (MLGs) from 2,085 N. gaeumannii isolates collected from 32 sites in the North and South Islands. Overall diversity was lower than that reported from...