Treesearch

Land disturbance can increase carbon emissions, cause detrimental environmental impacts, and threaten human life and property. Monitoring land disturbance in near-real-time is essential to mitigate their negative effects and prevent future losses. However, rapid and timely monitoring of land disturbance at a high spatial resolution is in its infancy. Here, we developed an algorithm for Near-Real-Time MOnitoring of laNd dIsturbance based on Timeseries of harmOnized Reflectance (NRT-MONITOR) from Landsats 7-8 and Sentinel-2 data at 30-m spatial resolution. It incorporates an online recursive...

Large, severe wildfires continue to burn in frequent-fire adapted forests but the mechanisms that contribute to them and their predictability are important questions. Using a combination of ground based and remotely sensed data we analyzed the behavior and patterns of the 2020 Creek Fire where drought and bark beetles had previously created substantial levels of tree mortality in the southern Sierra Nevada. We found that dead biomass and live tree densities were the most important variables predicting fire severity; high severity fire encompassed 41% of the area and the largest high...

Bark beetles are casual agents of tree mortality, often affecting landscapes with diverse topography. The Douglas-fir beetle (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins) (DFB) uses Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco), as its primary host. Populations often increase following disturbances such as defoliation, fires, or blowdowns and then transition into live healthy trees. Mitigating tree mortality where high mortality levels are incompatible with land manager objectives is of relevance. In this study, we compared mortality levels in eighteen thinned and twelve unthinned pure Douglas-f...

The PODs (potential operational delineations) concept is an adaptive framework for cross-boundary and collaborative land and fire management planning. Use of PODs is increasingly recognized as a best practice, and PODs are seeing growing interest from federal, state, local, tribal, and non-governmental organizations. Early evidence suggests PODs provide utility for planning, communication, coordination, prioritization, incident response strategy development, and fuels mitigation and forest restoration. Recent legislative action codifies the importance of PODs by devoting substantial...

Across the higher mountains of the western United States and Canada and in northern Mexico, there are six species of pines informally referred to by researchers and managers as the "high elevation five-needle white pines" (e.g., Tomback et al., 2011; Keane et al., 2011; H5II High Elevation Five Needle Pine Research Conference (high-five pines.org). These pines are related at the subgenus level (Family Pinaceae, Genus Pinus, Subgenus Strobus) but classified within two different taxonomic pine sections, reflecting their different evolutionary affinities: Section Quinquefoliae-whitebark...

Restoration of an alluvial wet-meadow system was conducted in the late 1990s to reestablish hydraulic interactions between the river, floodplain, and groundwater to support aquatic–riparian ecosystem function. A single-discharge approach sized the bankfull channel dimensions to the effective discharge (Qe) and three degrees of channel widening relative to the Qe design were explored to identify which design attained dynamic equilibrium in the shortest time. The three experimental channel designs were implemented with bankfull widths of 96%, 157%, and 191%, respectively, of the Qe geometry....

Lycorma delicatula, White (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae), spotted lanternfly, is a univoltine, phloem-feeding, polyphagous and invasive insect in the USA. Although a primary host for this species is Ailanthus altissima, tree of heaven, L. delicatula also feeds on a wide range of hosts important to the USA including cultivated grapevines. Due to the need for classical or augmentative biological control programs to reduce impacts of L. delicatula across invaded areas, we developed a laboratory-based rearing protocol for this invasive species. Here, we evaluated the use of A. altissima apical...

This resource update is a brief look at some of the basic metrics that describe the status of and changes to forest resources in North Dakota. 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 North Dakota, 2021 can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-361-TablesThe 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 Iowa. 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 Iowa, 2021 can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-363-TablesThe FIA one-click application that generated this report can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FIA-One-Click-State-Report-v1.2.

Estimates of burn severity and forest change following wildfire are used to determine changes in forest cover, fuels, carbon stocks, soils, wildlife habitat, and to evaluate fuel and fire management strategies and effectiveness. However, current remote-sensing models for assessing burn severity and forest change in the U.S. are generally based on data collected from California, USA, forests and may not be suitable in other forested ecoregions. To address this problem, we collected field data from 21 wildfires in the American Southwest and developed region-specific models for assessing...