Treesearch

The management of urban forests is a key element of resilience planning in cities across the globe. Urban forests provide ecosystem services as well as other nature-based solutions to 4.2 billion people living in cities. However, to continue to do so effectively, urban forests need to be able to thrive in an increasingly changing climate. Trees in cities are vulnerable to extreme heat and drought events, which are predicted to increase in frequency and severity under climate change. Knowledge of species' vulnerability to climate change, therefore, is crucial to ensure provision of desired...

Habitat loss and non-native species are 2 of the most important factors that influence native species persistence and behaviors globally. The insectivorous Hawaiian hoary bat (Lasiurus semotus) is the only extant terrestrial mammal native to the Hawaiian Islands. Non-native invasive insectivore species, which are potential competitors of bats for prey, may influence hoary bat behavior. The goal of this study was to determine how small-scale suppression of invasive insectivores (rodents, ants, and yellowjacket wasps [Vespula pensylvanica]) influenced bat activity in grasslands and woodlands....

Recovery of ecosystem properties following removal of invasive plants likely varies with characteristics of the plant and the relative soil quality at a given site. These factors may influence the occurrence of soil legacies and secondary invasions, hindering the effectiveness of restoration strategies. We assessed the potential for ecosystem recovery following removal of N-fixing Scotch broom for 4 years at two sites that contrasted strongly in soil quality in western Washington and Oregon, USA. Comparisons were made among plots, where Scotch broom was never present (uninvaded), retained,...

National forest roads allow access to public lands providing connections to natural and cultural heritage. Planning processes that address potential road closures or conversions can be highly contentious. Public participatory GIS (PPGIS) has been used as a tool to gather information for environmental planning and decision-making. Our PPGIS approach in a national forest in Washington (USA) incorporated workshops and online engagement with 1,810 participants to gather public input for sustainable roads planning. We identified the most important forest destinations and developed an analytical...

Recreation opportunities exist as a system at multiple scales. They are offered by a variety of public and private recreation providers sometimes with different objectives. Incremental and disparate planning across providers can lead to mismatched supply and demand, inefficient use of resources, and difficulty responding to emerging trends. Furthermore, traditional recreation supply and demand studies haven’t systematically integrated many recreation land management benefits including biodiversity and wildlife conservation, ecosystem services, human health, and environmental justice.Histori...

The oak (Quercus) species of eastern North America are declining in abundance, threatening the many socioecological benefits they provide. We discuss the mechanisms responsible for their loss, many of which are rooted in the prevailing view that oaks are drought tolerant. We then synthesize previously published data to comprehensively review the drought response strategies of eastern US oaks, concluding that whether or not eastern oaks are drought tolerant depends firmly on the metric of success. Although the anisohydric strategy of oaks sometimes confers a gas exchange and growth advantage...

This chapter focuses on emergency response following an initial detection of an invasive plant pest or foreign animal disease (FAD) as well as the regulatory authority utilized to initiate a response. Many emergency responses will be associated with crops and livestock on farms and ranches while others may involve nurseries, forests, wildlife, and exotic animals in various urban and rural locations. The incident command system framework is typically utilized to organize response eforts. Standard response preparedness and mobilization will be discussed with a consideration of the multitude...

Invasive species are a primary threat to biodiversity and are challenging to manage once populations become established in previously unoccupied areas. But removing them is further complicated when invasions occur in continental, mixed-ownership systems. We demonstrate a rare conservation success: the regional-scale removal of an invasive predator – the barred owl (Strix varia) – to benefit the spotted owl (Strix occidentalis) in California. Barred owl site occupancy declined sixfold, from 0.19 to 0.03, following 1 year of removals, and site extinction (0.92) far exceeded colonization...

Long-term forest experiments provide valuable knowledge in managing forests for productivity and other ecosystem services. California’s “Garden of Eden” experiment was established to determine growth potential of Pinus ponderosaplantations in response to intensive cultural treatments. We examined the 20-year growth-response of tree volume to intensive cultural treatments consisting of combinations of herbicide on competing vegetation (H), fertilization (F), and insecticide (I). We found that both H and F treatments synergistically increased tree growth at intermediate and lower-quality...