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Rapid urbanization has greatly changed land-use patterns in many estuarine areas around the world, including the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) resulting in serious water pollution and ecosystem degradation. Shenzhen City has conducted comprehensive ecological management and restoration in the Shenzhen Bay since 2007. The natural vegetation consisting of mangroves, semi-mangroves, wetland plants, and terrestrial plants were restored from the bund to the inner bank of the Fengtang River. Rain and sewage flow diversion systems were established. The non-point source and...

Effective management of wildlife populations threatened by disease requires accurate predictions about the consequences of intervention. However, generating such predictions is challenging, especially for organisms with complex life histories that are also threatened by climate change, such as montane amphibians. Cascades frogs (Rana cascadae) in northern California have experienced dramatic declines associated with the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis(Bd), and remnant populations are also threatened by changing climate conditions. We evaluated the population-level impacts of...

American pikas (Ochotona princeps), small mammals related to rabbits, occur in mountainous regions of western North America, where they live in shattered-rock habitats (talus). Aspects of their physiology and life history create situations that appear to put pikas at risk from warming climates. Some low-elevation, warm sites that historically harbored pikas have become extirpated, and the assumption is that these will not be re-colonized under current climate trends. Unexpectedly, in 2021, we found that pikas had re-colonized two very warm, low-elevation, dry sites in eastern California,...

Wildfires have greater impacts on socially vulnerable communities. Identifying these vulnerable communities and enhancing understanding of what influences their susceptibility to wildfires can guide the design of spatially targeted strategies in preparedness, mitigation plans, and adaptation strategies. This paper investigates the heterogeneous spatial coincidence of social vulnerability and wildfire risk in Galicia (Spain) at the municipality level. Results show that socioeconomic status, rates of dependence on social programs, and household unit characteristics are factors that contribute...

Large-scale delimiting surveys are critical for detecting pest invasions and often undertaken at different governance levels. In this study, we consider two-level hierarchical planning of surveys of harmful invasive pests including a government agency with a mandate to report the spatial extent of an invasion, and regional governments (counties) concerned about the possible threat of an outbreak. The central agency plans delimiting pest surveys across multiple administrative subdivisions. Counties could participate in these surveys if funds become available. Our goal is to find the optimal...

This document was created by the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science in collaboration with the Land Trust Alliance. This Quick Guide was developed specifically to support land trusts and serve as a steppingstone for the process of adaptation planning. Information from this toolkit was adapted from the USDA Forest Service report Forest Adaptation Resources: Climate Change Tools and Approaches for Land Managers, 2nd edition. This Quick Guide includes an updated "Short Version" of the Adaptation Workbook that was originally described in the Forest Adaptation Resources (Appendix 4)....

This document was created by the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science in collaboration with the USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub. The Quick Guide was developed as an entry point to adaptation planning for natural resources professionals. It parallels an adaptation guide developed specifically for Land Trusts in collaboration with the Land Trust Alliance, A Quick Guide to Adaptation Planning for Land Trusts but has a slightly different focal audience. Information from this toolkit was adapted from the USDA Forest Service report Forest Adaptation Resources: Climate Change Tools and...

Dry-mesic old-growth oak forests are widely distributed remnants across the eastern U.S. and are expected to increase in number and extent as second-growth forests mature. In this study, we synthesize published and unpublished information to better define the species, structure and extent of these forests. Mean site tree density for trees >=10 cm dbh ranged from 341-620 trees ha-1. In the eastern part of the region, most stand basal areas were >23 m2 ha-1, compared to <=23 m2 ha-1 in the westernmost stands. Overall, woody species diversity was relatively low compared to old-growth oak...

Virtually all states have developed best management practices (BMPs) to mitigate potential adverse effects associated with timber harvesting. This study examined how BMP implementation on Minnesota's family forest lands varied according to whether the land had a forest management plan, the timber sale was administered by a forester, or a written timber harvesting contract was used. Analysis of field monitoring data from 174 commercial timber harvesting sites on family forest lands found that BMP implementation is only modestly influenced by a forest management plan, supervising forester,...