Treesearch

Ecological economics envisions problem-solving collaborative efforts characterized by disciplinary diversity and participants within and outside of research professions. Pursuit of its ambitious vision has led to ambiguity in terms of ecological economics’ paradigms, methodology, and subject matter. There remains a need for comprehensive methodologies and for nuanced discussions of methodological pluralism and action-oriented research practice. We present a pragmatist ecological economics as one foundation to practicing ecological economics. We synthesize the basic normative assumptions of...

Acquiring detailed 3D fuel data for advanced fire models remains challenging, particularly at large scales. To address this need, we present FastFuels, a novel platform designed to generate detailed 3D fuel data and accelerate the use of advanced fire models. FastFuels integrates existing fuel and spatial data with innovative modeling techniques to represent complex 3D fuel arrangements across landscapes. It leverages data sources including the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) database and plot imputation maps, and incorporates advanced features such as data assimilation from LiDAR....

Ecological connectivity is increasingly acknowledged as crucial for biodiversity conservation. Iverson et al. suggest that increasing stewardship to ensure permeability is a better approach than protecting linkages between protected areas. We argue that the optimal approach depends on the landscape context, conservation goals, and species involved and suggest that linkage plans can prioritize specific places for protection and improved management. However, when using connectivity models as predictive tools, model validation is vital. We commend Iverson et al. for assessing whether modeled...

The Pacific coastal temperate rainforest of North America (“temperate rainforest”) includes the region adjacent to the Pacific Ocean along the west coast of the United States and Canada, including a narrow fog belt that stretches from northern California through Oregon and Washington, after which it widens to include most of coastal British Columbia (BC) and southeast Alaska, and tapers off in southcentral Alaska (Figure 15.1). The region is characterized by moderate temperatures and abundant precipitation throughout much of the year. In the north, a perhumid climate dominates where...

Plastic pollution is a significant conservation issue and represents a significant threat to wildlife in marine and aquatic systems. Less understood is plastic pollution in terrestrial systems, especially those that are remote and/or protected. Here, we document the surprising discovery of the plastic bristles of a hairbrush embedded in the haypile of an American Pika (Ochotona princeps) in a remote area of Glacier National Park, Montana. We hypothesize that the bristles of the hairbrush, given their appearance, may have been perceived by the pika as herbaceous plant material that could...

Plants display a range of temporal patterns of inter-annual reproduction, from relatively constant seed production to “mast seeding,” the synchronized and highly variable interannual seed production of plants within a population. Previous efforts have compiled global records of seed production in long-lived plants to gain insight into seed production, forest and animal population dynamics, and the effects of global change on masting. Existing datasets focus on seed production dynamics at the population scale but are limited in their ability to examine community-level mast seeding dynamics...

Acquiring data on rare and threatened species can be challenging, particularly in remote areas. Environmental DNA (eDNA) offers a less effort-intensive method for detecting species compared to physical fish sampling methods. In our study, we focused on the Endangered Yaqui catfish Ictalurus pricei, a freshwater fish endemic to the Sonoran desert in Arizona, USA, and Sonora, Mexico, and the non-native channel catfish I. punctatus. We developed and employed mitochondrial eDNA markers to sample 35 locations in the Yaqui River basin in Mexico and employed a hier ar chi cal Bayesian formulation...

Surveys were conducted from January 9, 2023, to April 29, 2023, at eight sampling sites within Everglades National Park: Long Pine Key, Flamingo Marina, Gulf Coast Visitor Center area, Caribbean Club, 9 Mile Pond, Hells Bay, Coot Bay, and Coastal Prairie. Samplers included University of Montana staff, Forest Service staff from the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Denver Service Center staff, and Everglades National Park volunteers. Samplers would ask the visitor if they would be willing to answer the survey in-person or later using a QR code or an email link; responses recorded...

The first fire on Earth ignited 420 million years ago. Today, our planet remains the only one that we know of where oxygen, fuels, and ignition sources - including humans - come together to spark flames. As fire historian Stephen Pyne writes, “We are uniquely fire creatures on a unique fire planet.”

The TreeMap dataset provides detailed spatial information on forest characteristics, including number of live and dead trees, biomass, and carbon across the entire forested extent of the continental United States. The objective of TreeMap is to combine the complementary strengths of detailed-but-spatially-sparse Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data with less-detailed-but-spatially-comprehensive LANDFIRE data to better estimate forest characteristics at a variety of scales.