Treesearch

Climate change is altering precipitation regimes that control nitrogen (N) cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. In ecosystems exposed to frequent drought, N can accumulate in soils as they dry, stimulating the emission of both nitric oxide (NO; an air pollutant at high concentrations) and nitrous oxide (N2O; a powerful greenhouse gas) when the dry soils wet up. Because changes in both N availability and soil moisture can alter the capacity of nitrifying organisms such as ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) to process N and emit N gases, predicting whether shifts in precipitatio...

Designing large-scale fuel reduction programs has increasingly become a complex planning process owing to multifaceted fire management objectives that vary in space and time. In many fire-prone systems, fuel management strategies rely on fuel break networks (FBN) and fuel treatment mosaics (FTM) to mitigate wildfire impacts. While both archetypes are being widely implemented as part of newer fire management initiative, managers must decide how to allocate investments to best achieve desired long-term outcomes. This problem creates a new spatial prioritization paradigm that has long-term...

Knowledge-action gaps (KAGs) are gaps between knowledge and the application of that knowledge, which can result in management actions that are not based on the best available science. Awareness of KAGs and ways to address them are increasing - for example, forming collaborative relationships between scientists and managers to coproduce and apply scientific knowledge and brokering this knowledge with interested parties. Here, we present a new conceptual model that integrates knowledge coproduction with knowledge brokering. We also present a new example of addressing KAGs that involves...

Climate change is contributing to unprecedented rates of ecological transformation worldwide. Shifts in species distributions and altered structural complexity of habitat has implications for ecosystem function and human relationships. The 1964 Wilderness Act was passed to preserve undeveloped large landscapes in their “natural” condition and for the continued recreational, cultural, and spiritual benefit of the people. Nevertheless, wilderness is still vulnerable to the direct and indirect impacts of climate change. Using active management to respond to climate change challenges in...

Whitebark pine, a geographically widespread upper subalpine tree species, exists largely within federally designated wilderness areas that are afforded greater protection as compared to surrounding public and privately owned lands (Box 1). Nevertheless, climate change, associated disturbances, and white pine blister rust are causing an increase in tree mortality of this species across most of its range. Because of the multitude of ongoing and emerging threats, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service published a final rule (87 FR 76882) to list whitebark pine as a federally threatened...

Forest fires present significant global risks, leading to loss of life, community displacement, and extensive damage to property and the environment, with substantial economic and social consequences. Propagation of wildland fires can be divided into two categories: surface and crown fires. This study aims to identify threshold parameters that influence the transition from surface to crown fire, helping fire managers prevent manageable fires from escalating into uncontrollable crown fires. This study conducted pine forest simulations using the physics-based fire model Fire Dynamics...

Background. Prevailing American wildland fire modelling systems fail to predict fire growth in urban areas due to the absence of burnable urban fuels. Aims. This research aims to identify fuel models that optimise fire spread in urban areas relative to a hypothetical fire spread model derived from observations of recent urban fires. Methods. A target Rate of Spread (RoS) is derived from observations of seven urban conflagrations to anchor the model to absolute RoS. Exhaustive parameter sweeps are used to identify combinations of fuel variables that result in optimal performance. Key...

Slash pile burning is a commonly used practice for disposing of unmerchantable forest residues resulting from forest thinning and timber harvest to lower wildfire intensity and risk, but can also generate significant greenhouse gas (GHG) and particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions. These effects of pile burning generate costs that are rarely taken into account in forest management budgets, expenses that could significantly affect decision-making if considered. This study quantifies those external costs of pile burning in the Deschutes National Forest in central Oregon, relating modeled...

Practitioners know temperatures and sea levels will continue to rise, but skillful projections of exactly how climate change will manifest locally are not available to help make decisions now. Despite this uncertainty, decisions that reduce risks and improve resilience to future climate change are being made. This chapter details tangible ways managers, stakeholders, and decision-makers are incorporating climate change in planning and decision-making efforts. We draw from real-world examples that encompass grazing management decisions under drought; assessing future risk to national forest...

Wildfire suppression is shaped by a complex interplay of environmental conditions, resource allocation and management strategies.Examining the containment of the 2021 Schneider Springs Fire in the Eastern Cascades of Washington State, USA, we emphasise critical roles of variable selection, representative sampling and suppression-specific factors.Using descriptive, predictive and causal models, we assessed the influence of weather conditions, terrain features, personnel availability, tree canopy cover, fire containment lines, and previously identified ‘best available’ containment features.Hi...