Treesearch

This document provides descriptions and definitions to help users interpret and understand key concepts presented on the Climate Change Atlas website. Information is intended to support users in exploring and using the data and model outputs in the Climate Change Atlas. As users progress through this document, information builds upon previous concepts with exercises and examples. The guide concludes with a more in-depth description of the scientific methods used to model species habitat suitability, migration potential, and adaptability scores. This document will serve as an archive of...

Laurel wilt is a disease of woody plants in the laurel family (Lauraceae). Hundreds of millions of redbay (Persea borbonia) trees have been killed by laurel wilt in the southeastern Atlantic Coastal Plain region of the United States (US). The disease has also killed large numbers of sassafras (Sassafras albidum) trees in forests and landscapes, and avocado (Persea americana) trees in commercial production. As of October 2019, laurel wilt was known to occur from Texas to North Carolina, south through Florida and north to Kentucky. Laurel wilt is expected to continue spreading through...

A 2017 analysis of the urban forest in San Diego, California, reveals that this area has an estimated 4.9 million live trees across all ownerships. The most common tree species by number are Chinese banyan, arroyo willow, Japanese cheesewood, Aleppo pine, and pygmy date palm. Trees in San Diego are estimated to store about 289,000 tons of carbon (1.1 million tons of carbon dioxide [CO2]) valued at $49.3 million. In addition, it is estimated that these trees remove about 34,600 tons of carbon per year (or 127,000 tons CO2 per year, valued at $5.9 million per year, an amount roughly equivalen...

A primary prediction of climate change ecology is that species will track their climate niche poleward and upslope. However, studies have shown species responding in surprising ways. In this study, we aim to understand the impact of global change on species ranges by considering both climate and habitat changes. Using occupancy analysis of acoustic survey data in the mountains of the northeastern United States, we tested specific predictions of range responses to warming (shifting upslope), precipitation change (shifting downslope), and forest composition change (shifting downslope). We...

Acquiring data on rare and threatened species can be challenging, particularly in remote areas. Environmental DNA (eDNA) offers a less effort-intensive method for detecting species compared to physical fish sampling methods. In our study, we focused on the Endangered Yaqui catfish Ictalurus pricei, a freshwater fish endemic to the Sonoran desert in Arizona, USA, and Sonora, Mexico, and the non-native channel catfish I. punctatus. We developed and employed mitochondrial eDNA markers to sample 35 locations in the Yaqui River basin in Mexico and employed a hier ar chi cal Bayesian formulation...

Surveys were conducted from January 9, 2023, to April 29, 2023, at eight sampling sites within Everglades National Park: Long Pine Key, Flamingo Marina, Gulf Coast Visitor Center area, Caribbean Club, 9 Mile Pond, Hells Bay, Coot Bay, and Coastal Prairie. Samplers included University of Montana staff, Forest Service staff from the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Denver Service Center staff, and Everglades National Park volunteers. Samplers would ask the visitor if they would be willing to answer the survey in-person or later using a QR code or an email link; responses recorded...

The National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) is conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program, to collect information on the attitudes, behaviors, and other characteristics of America's private forest ownerships. This report provides documentation and results from the 2017 to 2018 iteration of the NWOS, which is referenced by the terminal year, 2018. The term "corporate ownerships" collectively refers to large corporate ownerships, which are companies owning 45,000+ acres of forest land, and small corporate ownerships, which include...

An analysis of the urban forest in the city and extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of San Antonio, TX revealed that this area had an estimated 137.8 million live trees across all ownerships. The most common tree species were Ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei), Texas persimmon (Diospyros texana), mescal bean (Sophora secundiflora), sugarberry (Celtis laevigata), and honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa). Trees in San Antonio were estimated to store about 3.5 million tons of carbon (12.8 million tons of carbon dioxide [CO2]), valued at $594.4 million. In addition, these trees were estimated to...

Climate change is driving unprecedented declines in dominant, habitat-forming foundation species across marine and terrestrial ecosystems globally. As climatic novelty becomes the norm, ecosystem reassembly will become increasingly common. Predicting and understanding these transitions, and their implications for future ecosystem functioning, is essential for designing effective forward-looking management strategies. We explored 3 scenarios that describe a range of ecosystem reassembly trajectories following declines in previously dominant habitat-forming taxa: compensation, in which...

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service conducts the national forest inventory of the United States. Although FIA assembles a myriad of forest resource information, many analyses rely on the fundamental attributes of tree volume, biomass, and carbon content. Due to the chronological development of the FIA Program, numerous models and methods are currently used across the country, contingent upon the tree species and geographic location. Thus, an effort to develop nationally consistent methods for prediction of tree volume,...