Treesearch

The Ecuadorian government and its partner organizations in the international conservation community share an interest in developing monitoring programs for Andean protected areas to help support management for recreation, education, and ecological sustainability. To accomplish this goal, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of the Interior are providing assistance to establish a system of ecological monitoring. Assistance was focused on Parque Nacional Cotopaxi, a protected area centered on a 5911m active stratovolcano and an ecosystem dominated by the paramo...

Distributions of plant species are generally continuous, gradually changing across landscapes and blending into each other due to the influence of, and interactions between, a complex array of biophysical gradients (Whittaker 1967; 1975). Key biophysical gradients for understanding vegetation distributions include moisture, temperature, evaporative demand, nutrient availability, and solar radiation. Models to predict plant community distributions across landscapes can be developed by identifying the unique set of biophysical gradients that drive the physiological responses of plant species...

This chapter describes the data compilation process for the Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools Prototype Project (LANDFIRE Prototype Project) reference database (LFRDB) and explains the reference data applications for LANDFIRE Prototype maps and models. The reference database formed the foundation for all LANDFIRE tasks. All products generated by the LANDFIRE Prototype Project were developed from field-referenced data collected by resource professionals and screened for quality and consistency by the LFRDB team (Keane and Rollins, Chapter 3), ensuring that each LANDFIRE...

Fire is a keystone process in most natural, terrestrial ecosystems. The vital role that fire plays in controlling the structure of an ecosystem underscores the need for us to increase our knowledge of past and current fire regimes (Morgan and others 1994). Dendrochronological reconstructions of fire histories provide descriptions of past fire regimes across a range of spatial and temporal scales (Baisan and Swetnam 1995; Swetnam and Betancourt 1991; Swetnam and Dieterich 1985).

Utilization of small-sized wood (biomass) from forests as a potential source of renewable energy is an increasingly important aspect of fuels management on public lands as an alternative to traditional disposal methods (open burning). The potential for biomass utilization to enhance the economics of treating hazardous forest fuels was examined on the Bitterroot National Forest and surrounding areas. Initial forest stand conditions were identified from Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data. The Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) was used to simulate stand growth and development and...

Rangelands are natural areas with certain characteristics that make them unsuitable for agriculture. They include several types of vegetation such as deserts, grasslands, shrubs, forests, and riparian areas. Cattle ranching, along with the products and services it engenders, is a prime activity that rangelands have traditionally supported.

Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) ecosystems typically experience stand replacing fires during which some or all of the ignited biomass is consumed. Biomass consumption is directly related to the energy released during a fire, and is an important factor that determines smoke production and the effects of fire on other resources. Consumption of aboveground biomass (fuel) was evaluated for a series of operational prescribed fires in big sagebrush throughout the interior West. Pre-burn fuel characteristics (composition, amount, and structure), fuel conditions (live and dead fuel moisture...

U.S. Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program is part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) MAB program, and is one of six regional MAB programs that span the globe. The MAB Program was created in 1971 with the goal to explore, demonstrate, promote, and encourage harmonious relationships between people and their environments. Biosphere reserve networks are a primary vehicle for accomplishing MAB goals and serve four basic functions: 1) conserve biodiversity, 2) demonstrate sustainable development approaches, 3) support research and monitoring related...

The black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) is unusual among species proposed for Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing in that several million individuals currently exist across a large area in the wild. The National Wildlife Federation's 1998 listing petition estimated the current area occupied by the species at 283,500-324,000 ha. Although widespread, the species occurs mostly in remnant, highly segregated subpopulations with little genetic interchange and limited potential for long-term persistence.

We utilized a screw trap, trap-box weir, remote passive integrated transponder tag (PIT) detection weir, and otolith microchemistry to evaluate (2000-2004) spawning demographics and migration patterns of adfluvial bull trout Salvelinus confluentus in Trestle Creek, Idaho, a tributary to Lake Pend Oreille. Annual repeat spawning was more common than alternate-year spawning. Annual growth, estimated from adult bull trout PIT-tagged in 2000 and recaptured in 2001, averaged 28 mm. Peak diel movement of adult bull trout occurred after sunset. Emigration of juveniles occurred in two pulses, one...