Treesearch

The hazards associated with firebrands have been well documented. However, there exist few studies that allow for the hazard from a given fire to be quantified. To develop predictive tools to evaluate this hazard, it is necessary to understand the conditions that govern firebrand generation and those that affect firebrand deposition. A method is presented that allows for time-resolved measurements of fire behavior to be related to the dynamics of firebrand deposition. Firebrand dynamics were recorded in three fires undertaken in two different ecosystems. Fire intensity is shown to drive...

New physics-based fire behavior models are poised to revolutionize wildland fire planning and training; however, model testing against field conditions remains limited. We tested the ability of QUIC-Fire, a fast-running and computationally inexpensive physics-based fire behavior model to numerically reconstruct a large wildfire that burned in a fire-excluded area within the New York– Philadelphia metropolitan area in 2019. We then used QUIC-Fire as a tool to explore how alternate hypothetical management scenarios, such as prescribed burning, could have affected fire behavior. The results...

The production of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) continues to receive considerable attention because of their desirable material characteristics for a variety of consumer applications. There are, however, challenges that remain in transitioning CNFs from research to widespread adoption in the industrial sectors, including production cost and material performance. This Review covers CNFs produced from nonconventional fibrillation methods as a potential alternative solution. Pretreating biomass by biological, chemical, mechanical, or physical means can render plant feedstocks more facile for...

This chapter is a review and synthesis of research conducted at Hawai’i Experimental Tropical Forest (HETF) on stream nutrients and biological responses. It is intended to inform national and regional water quality regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), about existing results of relevant scientific studies that are available at HETF, and to identify future field and synthetic research of potential use to regulatory agencies that might be conducted at HETF.

Chapters 2 through 19 of this report describe existing research results and monitoring datasets from individual experimental forests and ranges (EFRs) of potential use to water quality regulatory agencies. Research addressing the focus question of biological responses to stream nutrients differs among the reviewed EFRs. For example, all of the reviewed EFRs have studies that might be useful for the reference waterbody approach for developing nutrient criteria, while only some of those EFRs have results that would be applicable to the stressor-response modeling approach. In addition, the...

Cyclonic storms (often called hurricanes, typhoons, or cyclones) often cause population declines in vulnerable bird species, and the intensity of these storms appears to be increasing due to climate change. Prior studies have reported short-term impacts of hurricanes on avifauna, but few have examined long-term impacts. Over two decades (1993–2018), we periodically surveyed a subspecies of West Indian Woodpecker Melanerpes superciliaris nyeanus on San Salvador, a small island in The Bahamas, to determine its distribution on the island, habitat use, and effects of hurricanes on abundance...

Birds experience a sequence of critical events during their life cycle, and past events can subsequently determine future performance via carry-over effects. Events during the non-breeding season may influence breeding season phenology or productivity. Less is understood about how events during the breeding season affect individuals subsequently in their life cycle. Using stable carbon isotopes, we examined carry-over effects throughout the annual cycle of prairie warblers (Setophaga discolor), a declining Nearctic–Neotropical migratory passerine bird. In drier winters, juvenile males that...

This chapter is a review and synthesis of research conducted at Fernow Experimental Forest (FER) on stream nutrients and biological responses. It is intended to inform national and regional water quality regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, West Virginia Division of Forestry, and West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR), about existing results of relevant scientific studies that are available at FER, and to identify future field and synthetic research of potential use to regulatory agencies that might be conducted at FER.

This chapter is a review and synthesis of research conducted in and adjacent to the San Dimas Experimental Forest (SDEF) on stream nutrients and biological responses to stream nutrients. It is intended to inform national and regional water quality regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Regional Water Quality Control Boards, and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, about existing results of relevant scientific studies that are available at SDEF, and to identify future field and synthetic research of potential use to...

This chapter is a review and synthesis of research conducted at Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF) on stream nutrients and biological responses. It is intended to inform national and regional water quality regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, about existing results of relevant scientific studies that are available at LEF, and to identify future field and synthetic research of potential use to regulatory agencies that might be conducted at LEF.