Treesearch

Green social prescriptions (GSPs) are interventions designed to combat sedentary behavior and preventable diseases by leveraging the benefits of nature-based physical activity. As these programs are still evolving, there is limited data regarding the likelihood of participation from an international perspective. This study examined factors influencing participation likelihood in GSPs across various geographic contexts, levels of greenness, nature-relatedness, well-being, and socio-demographic variables. We conducted an online, cross-sectional survey with 2,467 participants from Australia,...

White-nose syndrome (WNS) has caused dramatic population declines in several bat species, including the Tricolored Bat (Perimyotis subflavus). Several studies have documented bats using colder roosting temperatures after infection; however, this strategy may have costs such as increased freezing risks or greater predation risks and it is unknown when during hibernation bats begin to utilize these colder temperatures. Our aim was to examine Tricolored Bat roost locations in a WNS-positive site in relation to roost microclimate and other environmental conditions throughout the hibernation...

The Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) occurs in Texas as a rare resident in the Guadalupe and Davis Mountains of the Trans-Pecos ecoregion. Otherwise it occurs only as an irruptive visitor primarily during the fall, winter and spring months in the northern two-thirds of the state. Researchers have identified eleven distinctive Red Crossbill forms in North America based on the structure of their flight calls. Each of these “call types” occupies a core range in North America. Red Crossbills depend on various conifer seeds as a primary food source, and during years of poor seed production can...

Prior work on computer-vision wood identification (CVWID) for North American hardwoods yielded two independent deep learning models a 22-class model for diffuse-porous woods and a 17-class model for ring-porous woods but did not address semi-ring-porous woods nor provide a CVWID solution for an unknown specimen without a human first determining which model to deploy. As untrained human operators would lack the anatomical proficiency to differentiate among porosity domains, it is necessary to develop a consolidated model that can identify diffuse-, ring-, and semi-ring-porous woods....

We investigated the riverscape genetic structure of Klamath smallscale suckers (Catostomus rimiculus) in the Smith River, California, a population believed to have been introduced and founded by approximately six individuals within the last 100 years. Analyzing 15 microsatellites from larval samples across the species’ entire known Smith River range, we discerned: (1) increased genetic diversity downstream, (2) increased within-site differentiation upstream, and (3) isolation by river distance. These introduced suckers displayed a genetic profile expected for native species in river...

1. Widespread fuel accumulation in various strata is increasing the risk of high-severity, crown-fires. Knowing the vertical forest structure is a crucial factor for fire management planning. 2. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors have successfully retrieved the main characteristics of the vertical structure of forests. However, detecting and vertically mapping the various fuel strata that can act as ladder fuels (i.e. fuel arrangements that will bring the fire from the surface to the canopy) is challenging and limits our ability to manage the most hazardous forests. 3. Here we...

This report provides a foundation for climate change response on the Arapaho- Roosevelt and Pike-San Isabel National Forests located along the Front Range and mountainous regions of Colorado. The preceding chapters outline the best available scientific information on the impacts of climate change on the Arapaho-Roosevelt and Pike-San Isabel National Forests. This vulnerability assessment supports national forest managers in meeting expectations to consider climate change in their work, including land management planning guided by the 2012 Planning Rule for implementing the National Forest...

Release from interspecific competition can lead to niche shifts and have positive fitness consequences. I studied two closely related and ecologically similar Empidonaxspecies that breed across an elevational gradient in the southern Sierra Nevada, California: Dusky Flycatcher (Empidonax oberholseri) and Hammond’s flycatcher (E. hammondii). The two species coexisted at low and moderate elevations but only Dusky Flycatchers occurred in high elevation forests. Where they co-occurred, Dusky Flycatchers nested primarily in shrubs but at high elevations they nested primarily in trees and snags....

Falcataria falcata, until recently known as Falcataria moluccanaand commonly known as albizia, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Malaysian peninsula, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands. It has been introduced to, and become naturalized in, continental Africa, Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands. F. falcatais an early successional pioneer species that typically establishes via purposeful plantings. It readily spreads and outcompetes other tree species as a function of its symbiotic nitrogen-fixing capacity, copious long-lived seedbanks, and rapid growth...

Accurate representation of the location and amount of burned areas is vital to the understanding of patterns and impacts of fires. Some extant burned area maps appear to have high commission errors, which lead to an overrepresentation of burned area. The primary research objective of this study was to assess whether region-specific training data used for machine learning routines improve accuracy of burned area products for western San Diego County. We used training data derived from fine-scale aerial orthoimagery to create and compare three training sets, each with a different Landsat...