Treesearch

Long-term implementation of uniform silvicultural systems can reduce species (Crow et al. 2002, Leak and Sendak 2002, Schulte et al. 2007) and structural (Angers et al. 2005, Hupperts et al. 2018, Montes et al. 2005) diversity. Diversity loss leads to less resilient forest ecosystems (Holling 1973), especially with increasing challenges due to climate change. Implementation of natural disturbance-based management could be beneficial for biodiversity by emulating natural stand conditions that prevailed before the species decline (Hupperts et al. 2018). Therefore, we sought to answer the...

In recent years, the state of Colorado has experienced extreme wildfire events that have degraded forest and watershed health and devastated human communities. With expanding human development and a changing climate, wildfire activity is likely to increase, and wildfire management agencies will be challenged to sustain landscapes and the ecosystem services they provide. A critical element of the United States’ federal-, state-, and local-level multiagency wildfire response is the interagency dispatching system, which facilitates the ordering, mobilization, and tracking of firefighting...

Ecosystem responses to environmental change are usually studied solely using aboveground (usually leaf) traits. However, belowground plant traits, such as fine roots and coarse belowground organs, likely play a crucial role in ecosystem response, especially under aridifcation. We conducted a literature survey on belowground plant traits along aridity gradients in temperate grasslands to propose which effect traits might be connected with abrupt vegetation changes that would occur with aridification due to environmental change. With increasing aridity, seasonal regeneration decreasingly...

Climate warming is rapid in the Arctic, yet impacts to biological systems are unclear because few long-term studies linking biophysiological processes with environmental conditions exist for this data-poor region. In our study spanning 25 years in the Alaskan Arctic, we demonstrate that climate change is affecting the timing of freeze-thaw cycles in the active layer of permafrost soils and altering the physiology of arctic ground squirrels (Urocitellus parryii). Soil freeze has been delayed and, in response, arctic ground squirrels have delayed when they up-regulate heat production during...

Providing forest biomass estimates with desired accuracy and precision for small areas is a key challenge to incorporating forest carbon offsets into commodity trading programs. Enrolled forest carbon projects and verification entities typically rely on probabilistically sampled field data and design-based (DB) estimators to estimate carbon storage and characterize uncertainty. However, this methodology requires a large amount of field data to achieve sufficient precision and collection of these data can be prohibitively expensive. This has spurred interest in developing regional-scale...

Protecting and enhancing forest carbon sinks is considered a natural solution for mitigating climate change. However, the increasing frequency, intensity, and duration of droughts due to climate change can threaten the stability and growth of existing forest carbon sinks. Extreme droughts weaken plant hydraulic systems, can lead to tree mortality events, and may reduce forest diversity, making forests more vulnerable to subsequent forest disturbances, such as forest fires or pest infestations. Although early warning metrics (EWMs) derived using satellite remote sensing data are now being...

The history of Menominee Tribal Enterprises (MTE) is a fascinating and romantic story about our forest and how the Menominee people have successfully managed it for eons. Today, these management practices have resulted in an extraordinary, healthy, and productive emerald forest whose boundaries can be seen from space. The picture from space clearly shows more than a geographic boundary. It is silent testimony of a resilient culture that responsibly cared for their land, for the benefit of mankind and the planet itself. There is no story quite as powerful and compelling as MTE. That...

Managing northern hardwood forests using high frequency, low intensity silvicultural systems—such as single-tree selection—favors shade-tolerant species and can reduce tree species diversity. Management decisions among family forest owners (FFOs) can affect species and structural diversity within northern hardwood forests at regional scales. We surveyed FFOs in the western Upper Peninsula (WUP) of Michigan to understand likely future use of three silvicultural treatments: single-tree selection, shelterwood, and clearcut. Our results indicate FFOs were most likely to implement single-tree...

Every time natural resource managers design and apply a treatment to a forest stand, then observe or monitor outcomes of that treatment, they learn about how a system responds based on numerous factors. Lessons from silvicultural treatments implemented within an agency or company can provide a wealth of knowledge within it, there are relatively few opportunities for practitioners to share those lessons across administrative boundaries. We created the Great Lakes Silviculture Library in 2015 to provide a platform for practitioners to share these lessons more broadly.

Arborists and urban foresters are in the tree business for many personal reasons. Working to build and maintain the tree canopy brings us joy in our service to communities. A healthy tree spreading its beauty and shade on a hot summer day reminds us why we are in this profession, especially when we see people cooling off underneath. Recent studies and findings from the Forest Service have expanded our understanding of the importance of the many benefits that city trees provide. In our gut we knew these to be true, but now we have the science to back it up—and these findings reinforce the...