Treesearch

Purpose: To outline important considerations and options for post-fire seeding, including the selection of seed mixes and seeding equipment for restoring sagebrush communities following fire. The emphasis is on lower-elevation communities where restoration needs are greatest. References and resources are offered for greater detail and guidance on specific topics.

Natural Resource Conservation Service Range Planting - Conservation Practice Standards provide guidelines for making decisions about seedbed preparation, planting methods, plant materials selection, seeding rate, seeding depth, timing of seeding, postplanting management, and weed control. Adoption of these standards is expected to contribute to successful improvement of vegetation composition and productivity of grazed plant communities. Also expected are some specific conservation effects, such as improved forage for livestock; improved forage, browse, or cover for wildlife; improved...

Mass attack by tree-killing bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) brings about large chemical changes in host trees that can have important ecological consequences. For example, mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) attack increases emission of terpenes by lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.), affecting foliage flammability with consequences for wildfires. In this study, we measured chemical changes to Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Mirb.) Franco) foliage in response to attack by Douglas-fir beetles (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins) as...

Inducible plant defenses - those produced in response to herbivore feeding - are thought to have evolved as a cost-saving tactic that allows plants to enact defenses only when needed. The costs of defense can be significant, and loss of plant fitness due to commitment of resources to induced defenses could affect plant populations and play a role in determining the success or failure of weed biocontrol. We used methyl jasmonate (MeJA) to experimentally induce defenses without herbivores in invasive houndstongue plants (Cynoglossum officinale L.) in the field and measured resulting growth...

A new brown-rot fungal species, Veluticeps fasciculata, is described from southern China. It is characterized by perennial effused basidiocarps with smooth or tuberculose hymenophore, nodose-septate generative hyphae, fasciculate cystidia (as hyphal pegs in hymenophore) and relatively small basidiospores. It occurs on wood of Cunninghamia and Cryptomeria. Although similar to Veluticeps berkeleyi, morphological and molecular (ITS rDNA sequences) data show that V. fasciculata is a distinct species. Complete description and illustrations are provided for the V. fasciculata. In addition, V....

Dead wood pools are strongly influenced by natural disturbance events, stand development processes, and forest management activities. However, the relative importance of these influences can vary over time. In this study, we evaluate the role of these factors on dead wood biomass pools across several forest management alternatives after 60 years of treatment on the Penobscot Experimental Forest in central Maine, USA. After accounting for variation in site quality, we found significant differences in observed downed coarse woody material (CWM; ≥7.6 cm small-end diameter) and standing dead...

Mountain pine beetle (MPB, Dendroctonus ponderosae) is a significant mortality agent of Pinus, and climate-driven range expansion is occurring. Pinus defenses in recently invaded areas, including high elevations, are predicted to be lower than in areas with longer term MPB presence. MPB was recently observed in high-elevation forests of the Great Basin (GB) region, North America. Defense and susceptibility in two long-lived species, GB bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) and foxtail pine (P. balfouriana), are unclear, although they are sympatric with a common MPB host, limber pine (P. flexilis).

Riparian ecosystems are vital components of aridlands within the southwestern United States. Historically, surface flows influenced population dynamics of native riparian trees. Many southwestern streams has been altered by regulation, however, and will be further affected by greenhouse warming. Our analysis of stream gage data revealed that decreases in volume of annual discharge and mean peak discharge and a shift to earlier peak discharge will occur in the Southern Rockies region of Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. These changes will likely decrease rates of reproduction and survival of...

The Island Park Sustainable Fire Community (IPSFC) Project is a collaborative working group of citizens, businesses, non-profit organizations, and local, state, and federal government agencies (www.islandparkfirecommunity.com) working to create fire-resilient ecosystems in and around the human communities of West Yellowstone, Montana and Island Park, Idaho. The IPSFC is guided in part by the Federal Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Act of 2009, and by the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy, often known simply as the "Cohesive Strategy" (www.forestsandrangelands....

Forests across the United States are expected to undergo numerous changes in response to the changing climate. This second edition of the Forest Adaptation Resources provides a collection of resources designed to help forest managers incorporate climate change considerations into management and devise adaptation tactics. It was developed as part of the Climate Change Response Framework and reflects the expertise, creativity, and feedback of dozens of direct contributors and hundreds of users of the first edition over the last several years (see https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-GTR-87). Six...