Treesearch

Sediment load in streams is known as both a carrier and a potential source of contaminants, while sediment deposition can alter stream flow, stage and morphology, and thereby has broad impacts on stream hydrology, aquatic life, and recreation activity. For vast amounts of watersheds around the world, sparse daily measured sediment data may exist, but continuous and multiyear daily measured sediment data are largely unavailable because of time-consuming and budget constraint for measurements. However, when developing total maximum daily load (TMDL) and calibrating/validating watershed...

In the Southwestern United States, land managers face a pressing management decision on how to dispose of the biomass resulting from the thinning of overstocked Ponderosa pine forests. These smaller-diameter trees, limbs, and tops have little to no value in the current forest products market. Additionally, pile-burning biomass can impact air quality in the surrounding communities and result in burn scars and other negative environmental effects.

High severity fires of unprecedented size have become regular occurrences and land managers are now facing the challenge of how to manage the increasing expanse of postburn landscapes. As the climate warms, tree species distributions are shifting, and managers are considering whether to promote the same tree species that previously existed at a site or more climate-adapted trees. Will long-lived tree species migrate on their own as fast as the climate is changing? Recently published work by Rocky Mountain Research Station research forester Mike Battaglia, Colorado State University’s Katie...

The equal fitness paradigm (EFP) is a life-history model in which the currency of fitness is usable energy rather than individuals, and the principal trade-off is between survival, evaluated as generation time, and productivity, evaluated as growth and reproductive rates. In the current study I examined variation in generation time, age at first reproduction, productivity, and mortality in salamanders of the genus Desmognathus within the framework of the EFP. Desmognathus salamanders are restricted to eastern North America, with a center of distribution in the southern Appalachian Mountains...

This resource update is a brief look at some of the basic metrics that describe the status of and changes to forest resources in Maine. This information is based on field data collected using the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) annualized sample design, and it is updated yearly. Tables for Forests of Maine, 2021 can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-366-Tables.The FIA one-click application that generated this report can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FIA-One-Click-State-Report-v1.2.

This resource update is a brief look at some of the basic metrics that describe the status of and changes to forest resources in Indiana. This information is based on field data collected using the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) annualized sample design, and it is updated yearly. Tables for Forests of Indiana, 2021 can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-368-Tables.The FIA one-click application that generated this report can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FIA-One-Click-State-Report-v1.2.

This resource update is a brief look at some of the basic metrics that describe the status of and changes to forest resources in New Hampshire. This information is based on field data collected using the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) annualized sample design, and it is updated yearly. Tables for Forests of New Hampshire, 2021 can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-371-Tables.The FIA one-click application that generated this report can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FIA-One-Click-State-Report-v1.2.

Mass timber products (MTPs) are being adopted in new building constructions and remodels in the last three decades, credited to their renewable and low carbon footprint characteristics. However, there are no mass timber manufacturers currently existing in Atlantic Canada. Extended distances of transporting MTPs to this region from other Canadian provinces may sacrifice the environmental benefits of using MTPs. This study was aimed to understand, via conducting a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA), the environmental impacts of a midrise institutional building, which is located in...

Wildfire activity is increasing throughout forests of the western United States, in large part due to the effects of a warming climate. The 2020 fire year in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming is a particularly striking example - several of the largest fires on record in this region (i.e., since the early 1900s) occurred in 2020. Many of these fires burned in high-elevation forests, an uncommon occurrence over the past century, and several burned well into the fall and winter due to atypically warm, dry conditions. Like the 2002 Hayman Fire and other recent events in the region, the...

Amplified by warming temperatures and drought, recent outbreaks of native bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) have caused extensive tree mortality throughout Europe and North America. Despite their ubiquitous nature and important effects on ecosystems, forest recovery following such disturbances is poorly understood, particularly across regions with varying abiotic conditions and outbreak effects.