Treesearch

Background: Nearly 40 years of research provides an extensive body of evidence about human health, well-being, and improved function benefits associated with experiences of nearby nature in cities. Objectives: We demonstrate the numerous opportunities for future research efforts that link metro nature, human health and well-being outcomes, and economic values. Methods: We reviewed the literature on urban nature-based health and well-being benefits. In this review, we provide a classification schematic and propose potential economic values associated with metro nature services. Discussion:...

The annual national report of the Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, presents forest health status and trends from a national or multi-State regional perspective using a variety of sources, introduces new techniques for analyzing forest health data, and summarizes results of recently completed Evaluation Monitoring projects funded through the FHM national program. In this 14th edition in a series of annual reports, survey data are used to identify geographic patterns of forest insect and disease activity. Satellite data are...

Inter-annual variability (IAV) of forest Net Primary Productivity (NPP) is a function of both extrinsic (e.g., climate) and intrinsic (e.g., stand dynamics) drivers. As estimates of NPP in forests are scaled from trees to stands to the landscape, an understanding of the relative effects of these factors on spatial and temporal behavior of NPP is important. Although a high degree of spatial coherence (i.e., the degree of spatial synchrony over time) is often assumed, this inherent behavior is rarely examined. Quantifying this term may improve future predictions as site-level estimates are...

First-year tree seedlings represent a particularly vulnerable life stage and successful seedling establishment is crucial for forest regeneration. We investigated the extent to which Pinus ponderosa P. & C. Lawson populations from different climate zones exhibit differential expression of functional traits that may facilitate their establishment. Seeds from two populations from sites with contrasting precipitation and temperature regimes east (PIPOdry) and west (PIPOmesic) of the Oregon Cascade mountains were sown in a common garden experiment and grown under two water availability...

Within the days and weeks following a catastrophic weather event, governmental forestry agencies often implement aerial reconnaissance missions to delineate damage zones. These initial rapid assessments are sometimes followed by on-the-ground surveys in order to verify the rapid assessments and more precisely quantify damage. When aerial or on-the-ground surveys are not feasible, data collected by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, may be considered an alternative source of information to describe the extent and severity...

Question: Many predictions about forest succession have been based on chronosequences. Are these predictions – at the population, community and ecosystemlevel – consistent with long-termmeasurements in permanent plots? Location: Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco dominated forest in western Oregon, US. Methods: Over a 100-yr period, measurements every 5–10 yrs of the growth, mortality and regeneration of individually tagged trees in three 0.4-ha forest plots dominated by P. menziesii were used to test predictions derived from chronosequence studies. Results: Population- and community-leve...

Wildlife habitat mapping has evolved at a rapid pace over the last fewdecades. Beginning with simple, often subjective, hand-drawn maps, habitat mapping now involves complex species distribution models (SDMs) using mapped predictor variables derived from remotely sensed data. For species that inhabit large geographic areas, remote sensing technology is often essential for producing range wide maps. Habitat monitoring for northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurinam>

Statistics of central tendency and dispersion may not capture relevant or desired characteristics of the distribution of continuous phenomena and, thus, they may not adequately describe temporal patterns of change. Here, we present two methodological approaches that can help to identify temporal changes in environmental regimes. First, we use higher-order statistical moments (skewness and kurtosis) to examine potential changes of empirical distributions at decadal extents. Second, we adapt a statistical procedure combining a non-metric multidimensional scaling technique and higher density...

Mountain meadow habitats are valued for their ecological importance. They attenuate floods, improve water quality, and support high biodiversity. Many meadow habitats in the western US are degraded, and efforts are increasing to restore these montane meadow ecosystems. Rewatering projects such as pond-and-plug quickly raise the water table by blocking the existing incised stream channel and can result in the rapid recovery of wet meadow habitats. Based on the existing literature, however, it is difficult to determine realistic expectations for outcomes of restoration projects across a...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Females often outnumber males in Salix populations, although the mechanisms behind female bias are not well understood and could be caused by both genetic and ecological factors. We investigated several ecological factors that could bias secondary sex ratios of Salix sitchensis colonizing Mount St. Helens after the 1980 eruption. M ETHODS: We determined whether S. sitchensis secondary sex ratios varied across disturbance zones created by the eruption and across mesic and hydric habitats within each zone. For one population, we tracked adult mortality, whole-plant...