Treesearch

A set of GIS tools to analyze the impacts of forest roads on streams considering sediment production, mass wasting risk, and fish passage barriers, has been developed. Sediment production for each road segment is calculated from slope, length, road surface condition and road-side drain vegetation gathered by a GPS inventory and by overlaying the road path on a Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Sediment production is accumulated to drain points by adding the sediment production from contributing road segments. These drain point sediment loadings are then used in a DEM weighted flow accumulation...

The Coronado National Forest (CNF) is the primary public land management agency for the United States’ portion of the Madrean Archipelago. The region has a large diversity of amphibians and reptiles, with approximately 110 native species occurring on the CNF. Management of the CNF’s herpetofauna is regulated primarily by environmental laws and policies. Sixteen taxa are variously listed as threatened, endangered, sensitive, and management indicators; potential effects to these taxa must be considered before habitat-disturbing projects can be implemented.

The US Forest Service has identified unmanaged all terrain vehicle (ATV) use as a threat to forested lands and grasslands. Some undesirable impacts include severely eroded soils, usercreated unplanned roads, disrupted wetland ecosystems, as well as general habitat destruction and degraded water quality throughout forested lands. More insight on how ATV use affects trails is needed in order to make management decisions concerning ATV use on National Forest lands. Factors which may determine impacts of ATVs include site characteristics, such as soil moisture, soil types, existing terrain,...

We surveyed 88 upland wetlands and 12 1-km river sections for amphibians in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota, during 2001–2002 to gather baseline data for future monitoring efforts and to evaluate changes in the distribution of species. We compared our results to collections of herpetofauna made during 1920–1922, 1954 and 1978–1979. The boreal chorus frog (Pseudacris maculata) was the most common amphibian in upland wetlands, followed by the tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum), Woodhouse’s toad (Bufo woodhousii), northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens), plains spadefoot (Spea...

Exotic invasive plants are often subjected to attack from imported insects as a method of biological control. A fundamental, but rarely explicitly tested, assumption of biological control is that damaged plants are less fit and compete poorly. In contrast, we find that one of the most destructive invasive plants in North America, Centaurea maculosa, exudes far higher amounts of (±)-catechin, an allelopathic chemical known to have deleterious effects on native plants, when attacked by larvae of two different root boring biocontrol insects and a parasitic fungus. We also demonstrate that C....

One of the priority research areas at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute addresses the “need for improved information to guide the stewardship of fire as a natural process in wilderness while protecting social and ecological values inside and outside wilderness.” This research topic area was developed with the knowledge that wildland fire, as a natural disturbance process, can preserve ecological conditions inside and outside wilderness ecosystems and, at the same time, influence societal values across the interface between wilderness and nonwilderness lands.

The natural environment of the Madrean Archipelago comprises a mosaic of cultural landscapes. Throughout human history, people have imbued the natural environment with meaning by layering cultural values and historic contexts onto the natural world, allowing them to situate themselves in time and space. Cultural landscapes contain special places that have power associated with important events, people, or critical resources. Effective conservation and management of the Madrean Archipelago require an understanding of the complexities and intricacies of the storied cultural landscapes...

At the 2005 Biennial George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites in Philadelphia, March 14 to 18, there were many sessions relevant to wilderness. One session provided focus on a priority research area of the Leopold Institute: understanding the effects of management actions on relationships between people and wilderness. A great majority of wilderness social science has historically focused on understanding recreation visitors’ responses to on-site conditions encountered during wilderness visits. These responses are often at the core of Limits of...

The field of simulation modeling has grown greatly with recent advances in computer hardware and software. Much of this work has involved large scientific and industrial applications for which substantial financial resources are available. However, advances in object-oriented programming and simulation methodology, concurrent with dramatic increases in computer capabilities and reductions in computer hardware costs, have meant that the benefits of simulation can be extended to areas that previously have been impractical. This includes recreation management.Individual papers from this...

In-depth interviews conducted with homeowners in Larimer County's Wildland-Urban Interface revealed that homeowners face difficult decisions regarding the implementation of wildfire mitigation measures. Perceptions of wildfire mitigation options may be as important as perceptions of wildfire risk in determining likelihood of implementation. These mitigation options are often viewed as trade-offs between wildfire risk and preferred landscapes. Study participants reported, however, that one-on-one information sharing with fire experts as well as an increased understanding of the flexibility...