Treesearch

Project RC-1649, "Advanced Chemical Measurement of Smoke from DoD-prescribed Burns" was undertaken to use advanced instrumental techniques to study in detail the particulate and vapor-phase chemical composition of the smoke that results from prescribed fires used as a land management tool on DoD bases, particularly bases in the southeastern U.S. The statement of need (SON) called for "(1) improving characterization of fuel consumption" and "(2) improving characterization of air emissions under both flaming and smoldering conditions with respect to volatile organic compounds, heavy metals,...

Global warming and human-driven impacts are changing the World’s ecological zones. This book applies the principles described in Bailey’s Ecosystem Geography: From Ecoregions to Sites, 2nd ed. (Springer 2009, 1st ed. 1996) to describe and characterize the major terrestrial and aquatic ecological zones of the Earth. Bailey’s system for classifying these zones has been adopted by major organizations such as the U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy and this book is a significant contribution to a long tradition of classifying and studying the world’s ecological regions or ecoregions....

Geographically isolated populations of endangered species such as the Mount Graham red squirrel (MGRS) (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis) are particularly sensitive to fluctuations in habitat quality and extent. In recent decades a series of insect outbreaks and high-severity fires degraded the sole MGRS habitat in the Pinaleño Mountains of southeast Arizona, and have raised concerns about the long-term viability of the species. In this study we use dendrochological and spatial analysis methods to reconstruct the history of MGRS habitat size and quality over the past three centuries to...

As part of the federal Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program administered by the US Forest Service, the Colorado Front Range Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project (FR-CFLRP, a collaborative effort of the Front Range Roundtable1 and the US Forest Service) is required to define desired conditions for lower montane ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests on Colorado’s Front Range (approximately 6,000 to 8,000 ft asl) and monitor progress towards these desired conditions. Currently, more than 70% of these forests exhibit high to very high degree of departure from...

A Recovery Plan developed for the threatened Mexican Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) recommended designating Protected Activity Centers (PACs) with a minimum size of 243 ha to conserve core use areas of territorial owls. The plan assumed that areas of this size would protect " the nest site, several roost sites, and the most proximal and highly-used foraging areas." The PAC concept remains an important component of the recovery strategy nineteen years later, although use of designated PACs by territorial owls has never been evaluated. We assessed use of PACs for nesting and...

The Rocky Mountain Research Station’s 2014-2017 Strategic Business Plan presents the actions we will take to achieve our Vision and to meaningfully contribute to the needs of land managers, interested partners and the public as we support the mission of the Forest Service Research & Development (FS R&D) organization. The Business Plan serves as a communication tool between the Station‘s Leadership Team and our employees, the broader Forest Service community, and Forest Service colleagues.

A vision statement often describes a future state or condition to which one aspires. Such is not the case for the Station’s 2014-2017 Vision. While there is much we want to do to further enhance successful achievement of our Vision, we are well on our way.

Empirical sensitivity analyses are important for evaluation of the effects of a changing climate on water resources and ecosystems. Although mechanistic models are commonly applied for evaluation of climate effects for snowmelt, empirical relationships provide a first-order validation of the various postulates required for their implementation. Previous studies of empirical sensitivity for April 1 snow water equivalent (SWE) in the western United States were developed by regressing interannual variations in SWE to winter precipitation and temperature. This offers a temporal analog for...

Nonnative plant invasions are a management concern, particularly in riparian forests, but little is known about mechanisms through which they influence vertebrate communities. In the American Southwest, native trees such as cottonwood (Populus spp.) are thought to provide better habitat for breeding birds than nonnative plants, which are more tolerant of human-altered conditions. To evaluate effects of riparian forest composition on riparian-nesting birds, we examined nest plant use along two rivers in New Mexico that differed in abundance of nonnative vegetation. Of the nests we observed,...

This paper addresses an important set of issues currently facing the forests of western North America - the intersection of 20th Century land use legacies and the emerging impacts of climate change on drought, forest stress, wildfire, and ecosystem change. The presented information comes from a variety of sources in the scientific literature, with a focus on the Southwest United States, particularly including observations from my home landscape of the Jemez Mountains in northern New Mexico. Historic fire suppression and two regionally wet climate periods fostered widespread buildups of...