Treesearch

The California Condor (CACO; Gymnogyps californianus) is a critically-endangered apex scavenger with multiple reintroduction sites providing population reinforcement. Spent lead ammunition pollution in CACO food (i.e., carrion and gut piles) was most likely responsible for the decline of CACO populations in the twentieth century and continues to be the leading source of condor mortality. To aid condor recovery decisions for the California population, numbering approximately 200 in early 2024, we present results from a female-only, individual-based life cycle model. We simulated future CACO...

Community wildfire readiness includes homeowner wildfire risk mitigation and wildfire evacuation preparedness. In 2021 and 2022, the Wildfire Research (WiRē) Center partnered with Chelan County Fire District #3 (CCFD #3) to learn how CCFD #3 can effectively engage with residents about preparing for a wildfire event and mitigating wildfire risk around the home.The CCFD #3 residents were responsive to the household survey (38% response rate). Respondents reported being aware of wildfire risk and having taken action to mitigate risk on their properties and prepare for evacuation. However,...

Volcanic provinces are among the most active but least well understood landscapes on Earth. Here, we show that the central Cascade arc, USA, exhibits systematic spatial covariation of topography and hydrology that are linked to aging volcanic bedrock, suggesting systematic controls on landscape evolution. At the Cascade crest, a locus of Quaternary volcanism, water circulates deeply through the upper ∼1 km of crust but transitions to shallow and dominantly horizontal flow as rocks age away from the arc front. We argue that this spatial pattern reflects a temporal state shift in the deep...

Monitoring vegetation response to valley-scale floodplain restoration to evaluate effectiveness can be costly and time-consuming. We used publicly available National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) data and commonly used ArcGIS software to assess land cover change over time at five study sites located in semi-arid environments of eastern Oregon and north-central California. Accuracy assessments of our unsupervised classifications were used to evaluate effectiveness. Overall accuracy across sites and years ranged from 64.2% to 89.2% with mean and median accuracy of 79.1% and 80.6%,...

At first glance, wood turtles may look like any other aquatic turtle—but they’re actually quite unique. Their carapace features elevated, concentric rings, resembling growth rings associated with trees. Unlike most other turtles, this semi-aquatic, freshwater species spends a substantial amount of time in terrestrial environments where it’s found in the upper midwestern and northeastern portions of the U.S. and southeastern Canada. Wood turtles are found predominantly in river systems with clean, highly oxygenated and medium- to fast-flowing streams for brumation—similar to hibernation in...

The non-material benefits obtained through interaction with nature are known as cultural services. We employed an online survey to value cultural services provided by the Fanjing Mountain National Nature Reserve, China. The valuation combined a stated-preference approach with online deliberation, where participants considered and discussed the services through typing in chat groups. The services perceived by most participants, in descending order, were spiritual experiences, recreation, aesthetic appreciation, education, and scientific value. In two hypothetical scenarios, where participant...

This report traces the flow of timber harvested in Colorado during calendar year 2020, describes the composition and operations of the State’s primary forest products industry, and quantifies volumes and uses of wood fiber. Recent wood products industry changes are discussed as well as trends in timber harvest, production, and sales of primary wood products.

The ambrosia beetle Megaplatypus mutatus (Chapuis) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Platypodinae) is native to South America and is an important forest pest in poplar plantations in Argentina as well as in Italy where it has been introduced. Unlike most platypodine ambrosia beetles, it targets specifically live and vigorous trees. We report for the first time an attack on African mahogany trees, Khaya grandifoliola C. DC., by M. mutatus in Brazil, indicating its preference for trees with larger diameters. Most attacked trees exhibited only one or two gallery entrance holes, primarily along the...

Urban forests provide ecosystem services that are public goods with local (shade) to global (carbon sequestration) benefits and occur on both public and private lands. Thus, incentives for private tree owners to invest in tree care may fall short of those of a public forest manager aiming to optimize ecosystem service benefits for society. The management of a forest pest provides a salient focus area because pests threaten public goods provision and pest management generates feedback that mitigates future risks to forests. We use a game theoretic model to determine optimal pest treatment...

Due to concentrated surface water runoff, edge-of-field buffers may ineffectually mitigate agricultural nonpoint source pollution. To address this challenge, we evaluated the AgBufferBuilder (ABB) tool, which designs nonlinear buffers based on hydrologic modeling. ABB was tested on 45 areas of interest (AOIs) within the Saginaw Bay basin in central Michigan (United States) to determine the effectiveness of ABB at improving sediment trapping efficiency from runoff compared to existing conditions. While ABB did not consistently achieve the target sediment trapping efficiency rate of 75% in...