Treesearch

The role of a plant root system in resource acquisition is relevant to confront drought events caused by climate change. Accordingly, nursery practices like phosphorous (P) fertilization and root pruning have been shown to modify root architecture; however, their combined benefits require further investigation in Mediterranean species. We evaluated the effect of applied P concentrations (0, 15, 60, and 120 mg L-1 P) with or without chemical (copper) root pruning (WCu,WoCu, respectively) in Aristotelia chilensis and Quillaja saponaria on morpho-physiological and root architecture traits....

Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis of terrestrial substrates, such as soil and sand, is a rapid and potentially cost-effective way to monitor rare wildlife species. A promising use-case in the southeastern United States is provided by the eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi), for which accurate monitoring has been challenging due to large home ranges and low-density populations. However, knowledge gaps regarding eDNA deposition and persistence in this system currently limit our ability to apply eDNA sampling effectively at the landscape scale. To overcome some of these gaps, we used an...

Wildfire regimes are changing rapidly with widespread increase in the intensity, frequency, and duration of fire activity, especially in the western United States. Limited studies explore the impacts of wildfires on aquatic taxa and few focus on lentic habitats that are essential for amphibians, many of which are of conservation concern. We capitalized on existing pre-fire surveys for anuran species and resurveyed a random subset of wetlands across a gradient of soil burn severity to investigate the short-term effects of wildfire on a relict population of wood frogs in the southern Rocky...

Severe wildfires often increase nitrogen (N) losses from burned forests which can impact downstream water quality, water treatability, and aquatic habitat. Woody mulch is commonly applied to mitigate post-fire soil erosion and enhance revegetation, but it is also a source of labile carbon (C) that can stimulate microbial immobilization and limit N release to soil and streams. The objective of our study was to evaluate whether woody mulch application could reduce N losses from soils and export from watersheds affected by the 2020 Cameron Peak fire in Northern Colorado, USA. Our assessment...

Effective wildfire prevention includes actions to deliberately target different wildfire causes. However, the cause of an increasing number of wildfires is unknown, hindering targeted prevention efforts. We developed a machine learning model of wildfire ignition cause across the western United States on the basis of physical, biological, social, and management attributes associated with wildfires. Trained on wildfires from 1992 to 2020 with 12 known causes, the overall accuracy of our model exceeded 70% when applied to out‐of-sample test data. Our model more accurately separated wildfires...

The 1964 Wilderness Act famously defines wilderness as an area “untrammeled by man.” But what does it mean to “trammel” the wilderness? Many have interpreted trammeling as any intentional human action or manipulation that affects wilderness ecosystems, which means that any management intervention, even one aimed at helping a wilderness area’s natural conditions, must be considered a trammeling action.

Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of large precipitation events that flood soils and establish anoxic conditions that promote microbial denitrification, a predominant source of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O, a strong greenhouse gas). Denitrification may be favored within topographic depressions in otherwise flat fields that are prone to ponding, establishing “hotspots” of N2O emissions. The location of N2O hotspots may also depend on the distribution of soil microbial communities that are responsible for the production and consumption of N2O in soils. Yet, relating...

Protected areas play an important role in wildlife conservation, yet evaluating their effectiveness can be difficult. We assessed the efficacy of protected areas for Mexican Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis lucida) by examining how federally designated Protected Activity Centers (PACs) and nest cores aligned with true Mexican Spotted Owl space use for roosting and foraging. We also examined if Mexican Spotted Owls used multiple PACs - a behavior commonly observed in California Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) - and how Mexican Spotted Owl home range size compared to PAC size....

Forest soil amendments are increasingly used in western US forests to dispose of unmerchantable woody residues, reduce wildfire risk, and improve soil properties. Our objective was to determine the effect of fertilizer and organic amendments on tree growth and organic matter decomposition after thinning. Treatments were a control, three single soil amendments (wood chips, fertilizer, and biochar), and one combined soil amendment (biochar + fertilizer), each applied after thinning a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex. Laws) stand. After 10 years, amendment treatments had no effect on...

Forest management activities that are intended to improve forest health and reduce the risk of catastrophic fire generate low-value woody biomass, which is often piled and open-burned for disposal. This leads to greenhouse gas emissions, long-lasting burn scars, air pollution, and increased risk of escaped prescribed fire. Converting low-value biomass into biochar can be a promising avenue for advancing forest sustainability and carbon neutrality. Biochar can be produced either in a centralized facility or by using place-based techniques that mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and generate...