Treesearch

Seed mass is an ecologically important trait that often differs considerably among ecotypes. Yet, because few studies examine the impacts of seed mass on adult life-history traits, its role in local adaptation is unclear. In this study, using accessions of Panicum hallii that spanned the two major ecotypes, we examined whether covariation between seed mass, seedling and reproductive traits impacts ecotypic divergence and local adaptation. The perennial grass P. hallii has two distinct ecotypes - a large-seeded upland ecotype adapted to xeric environments and a small-seeded lowland ecotype...

Switchgrass, a potential biofuel crop, is a genetically diverse species with phenotypic plasticity enabling it to grow in a range of environments. Two primary divergent ecotypes, uplands and lowlands, exhibit trait combinations representative of acquisitive and conservative growth allocation strategies, respectively. Whether these ecotypes respond differently to various types of environmental drivers remains unclear but is crucial to understanding how switchgrass varieties will respond to climate change. We grew two upland, two lowland, and two intermediate/ hybrid cultivars of switchgrass...

Genesee Fire Protection District (GFPD) and members of the Board contacted the Wildfire Research Center (WiRē) early in 2021. GFPD serves a community of approximately 1,500 homes and 3,600 residents. The community borders the south side of I-70 and runs south up varied topography with varied vegetation to approximately 8,000 feet of elevation and is considered to be at extremely high risk of wildfire. In 2020, GFPD worked with the Forest Stewards Guild to update their Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). GFPD and WiRē collaborated to collect household-level data in an effort that is...

Anoplophora glabripennis (Asian longhorn beetle, ALB) and Anoplophora chinensis (Citrus longhorn beetle, CLB) are native forest pests in China; they have become important international quarantine pests. They are found using the same Salix aureopendula host tree of Cixi, Zhejiang province, China. On this host tree, we collected additional beetles that appeared to be morphologically intermediate between ALB and CLB. By using a stereoscope, we observed that there were several bumps on the base of the elytra, which was inconsistent with ALB, which typically has a smooth elytral base, but was...

Background. Pre-fire fuels, topography, and weather influence wildfire behaviour and fire- driven ecosystem carbon loss. However, the pre-fire characteristics that contribute to fire behaviour and effects are often understudied for wildfires because measurements are difficult to obtain. Aims. This study aimed to investigate the relative contribution of pre-fire conditions to fire energy and the role of fire advancement direction in fuel consumption. Methods. Over 15 years, we measured vegetation and fuels in California mixed-conifer forests within days before and after wildfires, with...

Mature and old-growth forests are valued for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, habitat, hydrologic function, aesthetics, and spirituality, as well as Tribal and Indigenous histories, cultures, and practices. Over the last 500 years, land use change and industrialization have resulted in global declines in the area of older forests (however defined). The goal of this study was to identify concepts and indicators to define mature and old-growth forests across the vegetation types of the United States in order to quantify their abundance and distribution. Defining old growth has been...

Disturbances change our forests. However, we are only just beginning to explore how disturbances can affect each another or how they might be "linked." By understanding disturbance links, we may be able manipulate one forest disturbance to manage another.

The wildland–urban interface (WUI) is where buildings and wildland vegetation meet or intermingle1,2. It is where human–environmental conflicts and risks can be concentrated, including the loss of houses and lives to wildfire, habitat loss and fragmentation and the spread of zoonotic diseases3. However, a global analysis of the WUI has been lacking. Here, we present a global map of the 2020 WUI at 10 m resolution using a globally consistent and validated approach based on remote sensing-derived datasets of building area4 and wildland vegetation5. We show that the WUI is a global phenomenon,...

The Landsat multispectral time series is a valuable source of moderate spatial resolution data to support forest mapping and monitoring tasks. Using United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plots within the states of Michigan, Oregon, and West Virginia, two methods to summarize time series observations, harmonic regression coefficients and Global Land Analysis & Discovery (GLAD) Phenology metrics, are compared for predicting forest community type, total aboveground live biomass (AGLBM), and species-specific AGLBM. Harmonic regression...

Tree planting is increasingly being adopted as a strategy to address global change, including mitigation, adaptation, and restoration. Although reforestation has long been central to forest management, the desired outcomes of traditional and emerging tree-planting strategies face barriers linked to a lack of ecological diversity in forest nurseries. In the present article, we outline how insufficient diversity in nursery seedlings among species, genotypes, and stock types has impeded and will continue to hinder the implementation of diverse ecological or climate-suitable planting targets,...