Treesearch

Mastication is a silvicultural technique that grinds, shreds, or chops trees or shrubs into pieces and redistributes the biomass onto the forest floor to form a layer of woody debris. Unlike other fuel treatments that remove this biomass, masticated biomass often remains on site, which increases total fuel loading and causes concern over how the masticated particles may burn if exposed to prescribed fire or wildfire. Central to the question of how these particles may burn is how the time since mastication affects the decomposition of the wood particles comprising the fuels. We conducted...

Periods of disuse or physical inactivity increases bone porosity and decreases bone mineral density, resulting in a loss of bone mechanical competence in many animals. Although large hibernators like bears and marmots prevent bone loss during hibernation, despite long periods of physical inactivity, some small hibernators do lose bone during hibernation. Little pocket mice (Perognathus longimembris) remain underground during winter hibernation and undergo bouts of torpor and interbout arousals, but the torpor bout duration is shorter than other rodent hibernators. Additionally, little...

Frequent-fire forests were historically characterized by lower tree density, a higher proportion of pine species, and greater within-stand spatial variability, compared to many contemporary forests where fire has been excluded. As a result, such forests are now increasingly unstable, prone to uncharacteristically severe wildfire or high levels of tree mortality in times of drought stress. While reducing tree density might help to restore resilience, thinning treatments are frequently seen as conflicting with management for other resources such as wildlife habitat, in part because standard...

Large landslides can exert a lasting influence on hillslope and channel form and can continue to contribute to high in-stream sediment loads long after the event. We used discharge and suspended sediment concentration data from the Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds to evaluate the temporal distribution of sediment inputs from 11 landslides of 100 to 5500 m3. Slide-related suspended sediment loads were estimated as deviations from expected loads referenced to nearby control watersheds. For the two largest slides, suspended sediment export during the year of the slide accounted for 5 and...

Long-term flow records from sub-watersheds in the Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds were used to test the accuracy of four methods commonly used to estimate peak flows in small forested watersheds: the Rational Method, the updated USGS Magnitude and Frequency Method, flow transference methods, and the NRCS curve number method. Comparison of measured and calculated results for 10-year return-interval flows demonstrates that, under the conditions tested, the direct flow transference method provides the most reliable results if suitable data are available; results for 100-year flows show...

Precommercial or early thinning of regenerating redwood forests can support management objectives including maximizing yield, forest structure restoration, and promoting carbon sequestration. We present data collected over 30 years following a precommercial thinning (PCT) in a 19 year-old naturally regenerated and planted coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens(D. Don) Endl.) and coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) stand. The study site is typical of most regenerating redwood forests with spatial variation in tree distribution from stump sprouting (coppice)...

We describe five new species of Elaphomyces from Bartlett Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA (E. americanus, E. bartlettii, E. macrosporus, E. oreoides, and E. remickii) and revise the description of a sixth previously published species (E. verruculosus). Of the five new species, E. bartlettii and E. remickii are only known from New Hampshire whereas E. americanus, E. macrosporus, and E. oreoides are widely distributed in eastern North America. Elaphomyces verruculosus is the most widespread and abundant Elaphomyces species in eastern North America with a distribution extending from...

Winter is typically considered a dormant period in northern forests, but important ecological processes continue during this season in these ecosystems. At the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, we used an elevational climate gradient to investigate how changes in winter climate affect the litter and soil invertebrate community and related decomposition rates of Acer saccharum (Sugar Maple) litter over a 2-year period. The overall abundance and richness of litter invertebrates declined with increasing elevation, while the diversity and...

California has recently experienced one of the worst droughts on record, negatively impacting forest ecosystems across the state. As a major source of the region’s water supply, it is important to evaluate the vegetation and water balance response of these montane forested watersheds to climate variability across the range of rain- to snow-dominated precipitation regimes. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Runoff Index (SRI) were used to capture the hydrologic drought signal, and MODIS vegetation indices (i.e., the normalized difference vegetation index and the...

Forestry and natural resources by their very nature tend to attract individuals who enjoy nature and perhaps choose the profession for the promise of solitude in the woods. This is a challenge for our profession and for SAF, because maintaining a vibrant membership requires us to engage with people. The newest SAF working group, Diversity and Inclusion, has some strategies that will help local and regional chapters, divisions, and state societies include diverse new members.