Treesearch

Data-driven decision support can help guide sustainable grazing management by providing an accurate estimate of grazing capacity, in coproduction with managers. Here, we described the development of a decision support model to estimate grazing capacity and illustrated its application on two sites in the western United States. For the Montgomery PassWild Horse Territory in California and Nevada, the upper limit estimated in the capacity assessment was 398 horses and the current population was 654 horses. For the Eagle Creek watershed of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest of eastern...

The relative influence of climate and Indigenous cultural burning on past forest composition in southern New England, US, remains debated. Employing varied analyses, this study compared data on Indigenous settlements from over 5000 years before present (YBP) with relative tree abundances estimated from pollen and land survey records. Results suggested that fire-tolerant vegetation, mainly oak (Quercus spp.), was more abundant near Indigenous settlements from 4955 to 205 YBP (i.e., 86-91% fire-tolerant trees), and significantly (p < 0.05) higher from 3205 to 205 YBP; fire-tolerant vegetation...

Many disease epidemics recur seasonally, and such seasonal epidemics can be shaped by species interactions among parasites, pathogens, or other microbes. Field experiments are a classic approach for understanding species interactions but are rarely used to study seasonal epidemics. Our research objective was to help fill this gap by manipulating the seasonal timing of the establishment of infectious diseases while tracking epidemics and other ecological responses. To do this, we conducted a multiyear field experiment in an old field in the Piedmont of North Carolina, USA, dominated by the...

Extreme fire spread events rapidly burn large areas with disproportionate impacts on people and ecosystems. Such events are associated with warmer and drier fire seasons and are expected to increase in the future. Our understanding of the landscape outcomes of extreme events is limited, particularly regarding whether they burn more severely or produce spatial patterns less conducive to ecosystem recovery. To assess relationships between fire spread rates and landscape burn severity patterns, we used satellite fire detections to create day-of-burning maps for 623 fires comprising 4267...

Many barriers prevent ranchers from supporting prescribed fire on grazing leases or their own land. Barriers include negative perceptions of fire resources limitations, and fear of liability. We surveyed ranching landowners around four National Grasslands in North and South Dakota - public grazinglands managed by the USDA Forest Service - to assess landowner attitudes towards prescribed fire and provide insight into the barriers to using prescribed burning on the National Grasslands. Respondents reported being motivated by an interest in stewardship and want managers to prioritize sound...

NaturePLACE Collaborative Arts Program, formerly known as the Urban Field Station Collaborative Arts Program, is a virtual, place-based artist residency program hosted by the USDA Forest Service in partnership with The Nature of Cities. The program aims to foster collaborations between land managers, artists, and scientists, cross-cut disciplinary approaches to Place, Landscapes, Arts, Creativity, and Ecologies, and curate events and public programs that mix science and art into public conversations. A key element of the program is that it is not a commission for work, but a call to engage...

Forest tree diversity helps shape the assembly of herbivorous insect communities in forests worldwide, and Island biogeography theory explains the role of tree range area as a driver of variation in native insect richness per tree species. However, it is unclear if these biogeographical principles apply to non-native insect herbivores. We created an extensive list of tree–insect associations for tree species native to Palearctic Europe bioregion, and investigated how both native and non-native insect herbivore species richness per tree may be influenced by various factors including the...

Termites are important wood decomposers in tropical and sub-tropical forest ecosystems, but less is known about termite activity in temperate forests, especially poorly-drained wetlands. Therefore, we carried out a 5-year study to assess the effects of a seasonally-variable water table on wood decomposition by termites. The study was carried out on three forested wetland sites on the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the US where the water table was: 1) only in the mineral soil, 2) at the soil surface for 3.7 months/year, and 3) at the soil surface for 5.7 months/year, and on an adjacent drier...

Annual model and crop species have been the subject of most epigenetic studies for plants. In contrast to annuals, forest trees persist on natural landscapes and experience environmental variation within and across seasons, years, and decades or even centuries. Most forest trees species are undomesticated and typically grown on variable landscapes with no irrigation or application of agricultural chemicals. Forest trees must thus rely on their inherent ability to alter growth and physiology to mitigate the effects of changing abiotic and biotic stressors. Like other plants, trees have...

Background: Despite mixed evidence supporting the link between greenspace and asthma exacerbations, several studies suggest a negative association. The mechanisms underlying this relationship are unclear, with air pollution concentrations potentially playing a key role. This study investigated whether air pollution concentrations modify or mediate the relationship between residential greenspace and pediatric asthma exacerbations. Methods: Data were drawn from a pediatric asthma cohort at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (2011–2016), including children aged <18 years. Participants were...