Treesearch

When land managers or planners need to understand how a segment of a forest road is impacting water quality, the Geomorphic Road Analysis and Inventory Package (GRAIP) is the go-to resource, with in-depth tools for intensive analysis. However, GRAIP’s use is limited to road segments where detailed field data are available or when analyzing high-risk roads within priority watersheds. With the National Forest System having over 380,000 miles of roads, that’s a lot of mileage that can’t be easily analyzed with GRAIP. For situations where field data are unavailable or entire watersheds need...

The Northern Great Plains region, which includes Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming (Figure 25.1), has a wealth of natural resources supporting economies, sense of place, and leisure activities. Climate change impacts on individuals and communities will differ, and it is critical to consider equity dimensions (Ch. 20). Economic dependence on crops, rangelands, and recreation makes residents with land-based livelihoods vulnerable to climate-related changes in weather, as well as flows of water, nutrients, and wildlife across the landscape. This region is largely...

To evaluate the impacts of climate change, it is essential to first understand the many ways in which our climate is changing. Indicators characterize how environmental conditions are changing over time to help communicate climate impacts, risks, and vulnerabilities. Indicators provide foundational science in support of the US Global Change Research Program’s (USGCRP) sustained assessment process, including the National Climate Assessment (NCA). In the NCA, indicators are defined as data (presented as charts or maps) based on historical observations and measurements that are used to track...

The water storage capacity of the root zone can determine whether plants survive dry periods and control the partitioning of precipitation into streamflow and evapotranspiration. It is currently thought that top-down, climatic factors are the primary control on this capacity via their interaction with plant rooting adaptations. However, it remains unclear to what extent bottom-up, geologic factors can provide an additional constraint on storage capacity. Here we use a machine learning approach to identify regions with lower than climatically expected apparent storage capacity. We find that...

Objective We sought to measure a step-pool restoration project's effects on a steelhead Oncorhynchus mykisspopulation and explore the capability of process-based modeling to enhance understanding of the results. Methods We used before-after–control-impact monitoring in combination with a process-based, individual-based, spatially explicit fish population model to evaluate a stream restoration project that reconfigured the channel and primarily added step pools to a reach of a second-order stream in northwestern California. Result Five years of monitoring both before (2012–2016) and after...

The benefits and functions of urban trees are well-studied, and stewardship groups, non-governmental organizations, tree professionals, and municipal leaders aim to increase canopy cover and expand planting programs. However, urban trees also present variable risks to human safety and infrastructure based on tree species, size, age, health, and maintenance history. Furthermore, changing global climate conditions and increased storm frequency and intensity make it imperative for urban forestry professionals to mitigate risk and collaborate with stakeholders. In this qualitative study, we...

The summers of 2022 and 2023 in the northern hemisphere have demonstrated that extreme heat events are an urgent, real problem that cities must address. Among the many aspects of urban planning that relate to human thermal comfort, a major aspect that can contribute to the solution is maintaining and increasing urban tree canopy cover. However, the scientific evidence for the magnitude of cooling benefit is sparse and highly variable. In reviewing the empirical evidence on the extent to which urban trees can cool the environment, we argue that there are still significant knowledge gaps,...

Expanding geographic distribution and increased populations of ticks has resulted in an upsurge of human-tick encounters in the United States (US), leading to an increase in tickborne disease reporting. Limited knowledge of the broadscale spatial range of tick species is heightened by a rapidly changing environment. Therefore, we partnered with the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture and used passive tick surveillance to better understand spatiotemporal variables associated with foresters encountering three tick species (Amblyomm...

The Northwest - Washington, Oregon, and Idaho - encompasses diverse communities, economies, and ecosystems, with almost 14 million residents.1 From western coastal regions to forested mountains to arid shrub-steppe, the Northwest is home to numerous culturally and economically important native plants and animals. Northwest ecosystems provide housing, recreation, food, and income that support the collective health and well-being of the region’s communities and economies. The 43 Federally Recognized Tribes in the Northwest also rely on the region’s ecosystems to sustain their livelihoods....