Treesearch

As wildfires become larger and more severe across western North America, it grows increasingly important to understand how they will affect the biogeochemical processes influencing ecosystem recovery. Soil nitrogen (N) cycling is a key process constraining recovery rates. In addition to its direct responses to fire, N cycling can also respond to other post-fire transformations, including increases or decreases in microbial biomass, soil moisture, and pH. To examine the short-term effects of wildfire on belowground processes in the northern Sierra Nevada, we collected soil samples along a...

The conservation and sustainable management of forests across ownership groups of the conterminous USA was assessed using the Montréal Process Criteria and Indicators (C&I) framework using national forest inventory and other data. Sixty-one percent of the forest area in the USA is Privately owned (20% Corporate, 39% Family, and 2% Other Private), 37% is Public (28% Federal, 2% Local, and 7% State), and 2% is within Native American Tribal Reservation boundaries. There are many commonalities across ownership categories, but there are also important differences. A 1.1 million ha yr-1 decrease...

Human-assisted movement has allowed the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB, Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky)) to spread beyond its native range and become a globally regulated invasive pest. Within its native range of China and the Korean peninsula, human-mediated dispersal has also caused cryptic translocation of insects, resulting in population structure complexity. Previous studies used genetic methods to detangle this complexity but were unable to clearly delimit native populations which is needed to develop downstream biosurveillance tools. We used genome-wide markers to define...

Background: Fire-dependent vegetation communities in the northeastern USA have undergone significant transitions since social and ecological disruptions associated with Euro-American colonization of North America. There is much interest, though little information available, about historical fire regimes of fire-adapted vegetation communities in the northeastern USA in pre-Columbian times (i.e., pre-1492 CE). We intensively investigated a red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.)—oak (Quercus spp.) forested landscape in north-central Pennsylvania, USA, for exceptionally old red pine remnants (stumps,...

The Hyrcanian forest in northern Iran is threatened by human use and encroachment and has suffered degradation in some areas. The forest has been declared a World Heritage Site and management in the region is shifting from timber production to conservation. There is considerable interest in developing a greater understanding of these diverse forest communities to inform forest management and multiple use plans to maintain the diversity and resilience of these forests. The Hyrcanian forest is characterized by a complex topography of catenas ranging up mountain slopes. Topographic gradients...

A key aspect in understanding patterns in wood demand and harvesting activities is monitoring of timber products output by wood processing facilities. Estimation of change from year-to-year is necessary but is complicated due to shifts in the population as well as changing strata over time. Taking independent samples each year eases complexity, yet suffers from relatively large sampling error in comparison to other designs that take advantage of the covariance arising from correlated samples. In this study, a design intended to maximize the precision of the change estimate by retaining the...

Context. Study of interplay of disturbance and forest succession is key to understand forest landscape dynamics, especially under changing climate and disturbance regimes. However, most such studies are from small spatial and temporal scales, and thus may be limited to generalize at large scales. Objectives. We investigate how typhoons affected forest dynamics at stand and landscape scales, whether the impacts differ among forest biomes, and whether a post-volcanic forest landscape could ultimately reach equilibrium under typhoon disturbances. Methods. We used landscape modelling to...

Acoustic inspection is a reliable tool for assessing biological deterioration in wood. As wood decays, several mechanical properties are negatively affected. A variety of acoustic techniques have been developed to identify, and in some cases quantify, the extent to which the presence of decay has altered the wood. Knowledge of the extent of decay allows an inspector to estimate strength loss of the wood structure. This report serves as an introduction to acoustic inspection of biologically deteriorated wood. Basic acoustic techniques are described. Percentage reductions of wood mechanical...

April 2022 data softness was widespread, with only the housing under construction and private residential construction spending categories positive on a monthover-month basis. Year-over-year data were better; however, single-family permits were negative again. This marks the third month in 2022 of single-family starts declining, and permits also have decreased for two consecutive months. This suggests further moderation in single-family activity in the upcoming months. Completions continue to be restrained due to the inaccessibility of building materials and products, combined with other...

Using interview data with civic environmental stewardship groups in New York City (n = 26), we identify strategies through which civic stewards engage in transboundary environmental governance and urban climate adaptation planning. Our findings articulate the diverse ways that civic stewards engage with planning in urban socio-ecological systems, as they (1) shape physical spaces, (2) broker partnerships, (3) disrupt the status quo, (4) build civic capacity, and (5) envision new futures. We contribute to the literature by embedding civic stewardship within urban planning discourse,...