Treesearch

Understanding habitat dynamics is essential for effective conservation as landscapes rapidly change. In a companion paper in this issue, Shirk et al. (2023) introduced an automated habitat monitoring system using Google Earth Engine and applied this framework to develop a dynamic model of Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) habitat across the southwestern US from 1986 to 2020. Objectives We explored the application of this dynamic model of Mexican spotted owl habitat in the context of the species’ ecology.

Recent increases in ecological disturbances driven by climate change and our expanding human footprint make it challenging for natural resource managers to keep apprised of current conditions and adjust management plans accordingly. To effectively conserve species in highly dynamic landscapes requires more timely habitat monitoring and a more responsive adaptive management cycle.

Socially vulnerable populations in the United States are bearing the highest costs of water scarcity, which is likely to worsen with climate change, population growth, and growing disparities between areas with high demand and the location of available supplies. Prior research showing that socially vulnerable groups are inequitably exposed to some of the worst shortages has focused on singular dimensions of social vulnerability, typically in relatively localized geographies, leaving us with an incomplete understanding of the national scope of the problem. This study combines data on...

We developed new measures of structural complexity using single point terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) point clouds. These metrics are depth, openness, and isovist. Depth is a three-dimensional, radial measure of the visible distance in all directions from plot center. Openness is the percent of scan pulses in the near-omnidirectional view without a return. Isovists are a measurement of the area visible from the scan location, a quantified measurement of the viewshed within the forest canopy. 243 scans were acquired in 27 forested stands in the Pacific Northwest region of the United...

Afforestation to control soil erosion has been implemented throughout China over the past few decades. The long-term hydrological effects, such as total water yield and baseflow, of this large-scale anthropogenic activity remain unclear. Using six decades of hydrologic observations and remote sensing data, we explore the hydrological responses to forest expansion in four basins with contrasting climates across China. No significant change in runoff was found for the period 1970–2012 for the cold and dry Hailar River Basin in northeastern China. However, both forest expansion and reduced...

Some introduced species cause severe damage, although the majority have little impact. Robust predictions of which species are most likely to cause substantial impacts could focus efforts to mitigate those impacts or prevent certain invasions entirely. Introduced herbivorous insects can reduce crop yield, fundamentally alter natural and managed forest ecosystems, and are unique among invasive species in that they require certain host plants to succeed. Recent studies have demonstrated that understanding the evolutionary history of introduced herbivores and their host plants can provide...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are air pollutants that are costly to measure using traditional air-quality monitoring methods. We used an epiphytic bio-indicator (moss genus: Orthotrichum) to cost-effectively evaluate atmospheric deposition of PAHs in Portland, Oregon in May 2013. However, it is unclear if measurements derived from these bioindicators are good proxies for human exposure. To address this question, we simultaneously, measured PAH-DNA adducts in blood samples of non-smokers residing close to the sites of moss measurements. We accounted for individual determinants of...

As a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United States has reported an inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sector since the mid-1990s (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2022). In 2020, National Inventory Report net GHG emissions decreased substantially due, in large part, to the global pandemic. Forest land, harvested wood products (HWP), woodlands, and urban trees within the land sector collectively continue to represent the largest net carbon (C) sink in the United...

Temperate forests play an important role in the sequestration and storage of carbon. We evaluated the long-term effects of manipulating stand density on aboveground live tree carbon dynamics and volume production for separate pine (Pinus spp.) and oak (Quercus spp.) forests of central USA. For both species groups, stand-level carbon storage in standing live trees was greatest without management, with unthinned pine plateauing around 100 Mg/ha of carbon at approximately 50 years old and the oak stands increasing to around 100 Mg/ha of carbon by about 80 years old. In the pine stands,...

El volumen 33 de 2022 de Acta Científica: Una revista transdisciplinaria de Puerto Rico y el Caribe (AC-PuR&C) es especial ya que rinde honores, muy humildes, al legado e inspiración que un extraordinario gigante de nuestro entorno natural – doctor Frank Howard Wadsworth (26 de noviembre de 1915 – 5 de enero de 2022) – nos deja a inicios de este año. Un visionario, irradiante de rectitud, honestidad y entereza ante la adversidad (viniera de donde viniera), don Frank facilitó gran parte de la transfiguración de paisajes naturales en Puerto Rico que, desde mucho tiempo, estaban sujetos al...