Treesearch

Recently, wildfires and prescribed burning have become more frequent in conifer forests of western North America. Most studies examining the impacts of insects on trees with post-fire injury have focused on contributions to tree mortality. Few studies have examined fire-caused injuries to estimate the probability of attack by insects. Scant data quantifying insect associations with one another, or with live and dead fire-injured trees, are available. We examined live and dead trees with varying levels of fire injury in wildfires in Colorado, Montana, Arizona and the Black Hills aiming to...

Little is known about the ecology and life history of the federally endangered Point Arena mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa nigra). The distribution of this primitive burrowing rodent is disjunct from the balance of the species’ range and occurs in a unique maritime environment of coastal grasslands and forests. Fundamental to protecting this taxon is knowledge of its breeding season and other reproductive characteristics. This information is necessary so that ground-disturbing activities near burrow systems can be scheduled to avoid the breeding season. We examined the reproductive status...

Tropicalmontane forests (TMF) are associated with a widely observed suite of characteristics encompassing forest structure, plant traits and biogeochemistry.With respect to nutrient relations, montane forests are characterized by slow decomposition of organic matter, high investment in below-ground biomass and poor litter quality, relative to tropical lowland forests. However, within TMF there is considerable variation in substrate age, parent material,disturbance and species composition. Here we emphasize that many TMFs are likely to be co-limited by multiple nutrients, and that feedback...

Decaying wood is related to nutrient cycling through its role as either a sink or source of nutrients. However, at micro scales, what is the effect of decaying logs on the physical, chemical,and biotic characteristics of the soil underneath? We took samples from a 0 to 5 cm depth under and a 50 cm distance away from decaying logs (Dacryodes excelsa and Swietenia macrophylla) at 2 stages of decay, and measured soil temperature, total and available nutrients, and root length in a tropical wet forest. We found decaying wood affected physical, chemical, and biotic properties of the underlying...

Applying biochar to forest sites can be problematic and costly because of the need to keep the forest floor as undisturbed as possible during and after harvest operations. The Missoula Technology and Development Center of the U.S. Forest Service, working with Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists, developed and tested a high-capacity biochar spreader that can be mounted on a log forwarder and used on skid trails and log landings to distribute either pelleted or bulk biochar. This spreader can be modified to carry a variety of payloads and adjusted to apply biochar at many different...

Fire can dramatically influence rangeland hydrology and erosion by altering ecohydrologic relationships. This synthesis presents an ecohydrologic perspective on the effects of fire on rangeland runoff and erosion through a review of scientific literature spanning many decades. The objectives are: (1) to introduce rangeland hydrology and erosion concepts necessary for understanding hydrologic impacts of fire; (2) to describe how climate, vegetation, and soils affect rangeland hydrology and erosion; and (3) to use examples from literature to illustrate how fire interacts with key ecohydrologi...

The role of insects in terrestrial decomposition remains poorly resolved, particularly for infrequently studied substrates like small diameter woody debris. Uncertainty about how mesh bags used to exclude arthropods may affect decomposition rates continues to impede progress in this area. We sought to (1) measure how insects affect the decomposition of small diameter tweigs and (2) test for unintended effects of mesh bags on wood decomposition using machined wooden dowels of similar size and specific gravity.

Detection tools are needed for Monochamus species (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) because they are known to introduce pine wilt disease by vectoring nematodes in Asia, Europe, and North America. In 2012–2014, we examined the effects of the semiochemicals monochamol and ipsenol on the flight responses of the sawyer beetles Monochamus carolinensis (Olivier), Monochamus clamator (LeConte), Monochamus mutator LeConte, Monochamus notatus (Drury), Monochamus obtusus Casey, Monochamus scutellatus (Say), and Monochamus titillator (F.) complex (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) to traps baited with a-pinene....

Given the growing US population and its relatively stable supply of publicly owned forests, it seems likely that future demand for outdoor recreation will be increasingly satisfied by privately owned forests. Therefore, it becomes important to understand whether visitors to publicly and privately owned forests have different characteristics. Using data from a US household survey, we found that college graduates and water-based consumptive recreationists (e.g., fishermen) were more likely to recreate on publicly owned forests and females and land-based consumptive recreationists (e.g.,...

Historically, the urban forestry literature, including the workfeatured in Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, has focused primarily on either quantitative, positivistic analyses of human-environment dynamics, or applied research to inform the management of natural resources, without sufficiently problematizing the effects of power within these processes (Bentsen et al.,2010; Krajter Ostoic and Konijnendijk van den Bosch, 2015 but see Lawrence et al., 2013). In past decades, the study of urban social-ecological systems has evolved into a mature field that explores patterns, processes,...