Treesearch

Tussocks of graminoids can induce spatial heterogeneity in soil properties in dry areas with discontinuous vegetation cover, but little is known about the situation in areas with continuous vegetation and no study has tested whether tussocks can induce spatial heterogeneity in litter decomposition. In a subalpine grassland in the Central Alps where vegetation cover is continuous, we measured soil properties [concentration of N, C, organic matter (OM) and pH] and monitored litter decomposition traits (dry mass loss, loss of C, N, P and K) inside and outside tussocks of Carex sempervirens....

Contrary to assumptions of habitat selection theory, fi eld studies frequently detect ‘ ecological traps ’ , where animals prefer habitats conferring lower fi tness than available alternatives. Evidence for traps includes cases where birds prefer breeding habitats associated with relatively high nest predation rates despite the importance of nest survival to avian fi tness. Because birds select breeding habitat at multiple spatial scales, the processes underlying traps for birds are likely scale-dependent. We studied a potential ecological trap for a population of yellow warblers Dendroica...

These Guidelines apply to all Journal of Wildlife Management (JWM, The Journal) submissions. Publishing a professional manuscript proceeds most smoothly if authors understand the policy, procedures, format, and style of the outlet to which they are submitting a manuscript. These instructions supersede all previous guidelines. Manuscripts that clearly deviate from this format and style will be returned for correction before review.

Numerous management practices are applied to rangelands in the western United States to enhance wildlife, including prescribed grazing, burning, brush management, mowing, fencing, land clearing, planting, and restoration to benefit soil and water. indeed, the natural resources conservation service (NRCS) lists 167 conservation practices (http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/ technical/standards/nhcp.html). However, wildlife responses to conservation practices are usually species and even species-habitat specific, meaning not only that each species may respond differently to any specific practice but...

Knowledge of female behavior while rearing young can have important implications for species conservation. We located dens and analyzed activity (defined as movement between consecutive GPS locations) for nine female lynx with kittens in the northcentral Rocky Mountains in 2005 and 2007. We used GPS tracking collars to quantify the percentage of time a female spent active and her daily distance traveled for each of three reproductive stages, classified as predenning, denning, and postdenning. We also described the use and placement of maternal dens for these females. Female lynx in our...

The removal of forestry residues from public lands is crucial for reducing the risk of stand-replacing wildfires, restoring ecosystems to be more resilient from insect and disease outbreaks, and adapting to climate change. Residues include the tops, limbs, unmerchantable roundwood, and other woody debris that is the byproduct of silvicultural treatments prescribed to achieve these and other management objectives. Using this waste biomass for bioenergy and bioproducts production could improve the economics of silvicultural treatments and produce renewable energy. One bioproduct in particular...

Annual grass invasion in the Great Basin has increased fire size, frequency and severity. Post-fire restoration to provide functional native plant communities is critical to improve resistance to weed invasion. Our ability to successfully re-establish mixtures of native grasses, forbs and shrubs, however, is limited. We examined the effects of the standard rangeland drill and a minimum-till drill, seeding strategies for small-seeded species, and Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. spp. wyomingensis Beetle & Young) seeding rates on seeding success in burned shrub communities...

We evaluated the leading hypotheses on biophysical factors affecting species richness for Breeding Bird Survey routes from areas with little influence of human activities.We then derived a best model based on information theory, and used this model to extrapolate SK across North America based on the biophysical predictor variables. The predictor variables included the latest and probably most accurate satellite and simulation-model derived products.

In this paper we review progress towards the implementation of a riskmanagement framework for US federal wildland fire policy and operations. We first describe new developments in wildfire simulation technology that catalyzed the development of risk-based decision support systems for strategic wildfire management. These systems include new analytical methods to measure wildfire risk to human and ecological values and to inform fuel treatment investment strategies at national, regional, and local scales. Application of the risk management framework to support wildfire incidents has been...

Clements et al. (Front Ecol Environ 2011; 9[9]: 521-525) proposed a single metric that describes a "species' ability to forestall extinction" (referred to by the acronym "SAFE") as a "scientifically defendable rule of thumb for when complete demographic data are unavailable" to rank the relative threat status of a species. SAFE is calculated on a logarithmic scale and reflects the difference between a species' current population size and 5000, the estimate for a universal minimum viable population (MVP) promoted by Traill et al. (2010). Clements et al. advocated SAFE as a useful tool for...