Treesearch

The USDA Forest Service has recently piloted health partnerships that facilitate therapeutic outdoor experiences on national forests, building on the growing evidence of the multiple health benefits of activities and time spent in nature. This article presents brief case studies of three pilot partnerships between national forests and health organizations in California, Indiana, and Georgia (USA). These partnerships deliver nature-based programming for the general public as well as those who are in recovery from major surgeries, have been diagnosed with cancer, and face chronic health...

This chapter focuses on the application of a landscape-level perspective to enhance delivery of ecosystem goods and services from agroforestry in order to create more resilient agricultural landscapes. It provides an overview of landscape ecology, the patch-corridor-matrix model, recent approaches for improving matrix quality, and the multifunctional landscape framework. The chapter explores opportunities for agroforestry to contribute to a culture-based food supply that could improve human health and build on local knowledge. It provides an introduction to methods for assessing landscapes...

The Forest to Faucets version 2.0 (F2FV2) assessment uses geospatial modeling at the 12-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC12) scale in the conterminous United States to identify watersheds that are most important to surface drinking water, the ability to produce clean water, forest ownership (public or private), and potential threats to water yield from insects and diseases, wildfire, land use or climate change. F2FV2 updates a 2011 version of the project (Forests to Faucets version 1.0). Results, presented by regions administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,...

Heat waves lasting days or weeks are among potential hazards expected to increase with climate change, but beyond heat waves, sustained temperatures may be incompatible with high urban population densities. I examined patterns of population density classes and exposure to maximum monthly temperature to identify where high urban population density classes were more at risk for prolonged heat than other density classes and if heat may have influenced high urban population densities during the recent past (1970-2000). Then, I considered exposure of population density classes to maximum...

Long-term studies of insect populations in the North American boreal forest have shown the vital importance of long-distance dispersal to the maintenance and expansion of insect outbreaks. In this work, we extend several concepts established previously in an empirically-based dispersal flight model with recent work on the physiology and behavior of the adult eastern spruce budworm (SBW) moth, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens). An outbreak of defoliating SBW in Quebec, ongoing since the mid-2000s, already covers millions of hectares of forests in eastern Canada and threatens to spread into...

While many forestry practitioners and ecologists have a general understanding of the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and the type of data collected, most non-expert users of FIA reports and basic data are unlikely to be familiar with the breadth of information available and the many potential uses of the data. We present four case studies from National Forests in the eastern United States, to highlight a variety of applications of FIA data, though similar case studies could also be identified on private lands. These include informing a model to help...

Amphibians are declining globally and while many factors are contributing to this decline, habitat loss and degradation caused by climate and land use changes are among the most critical. Habitat degradation and increased interspecific competition are both concerns for long-term viability of the federally-threatened Cheat Mountain salamander (Plethodon nettingi) which is endemic to high elevations in West Virginia. In this study, we quantified the impacts of linear habitat fragmentation (i.e., a linear forest clearing for creation of a ski slope) on local colonization and extinction...

Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) is increasing in density in the eastern United States and expanding in range to the west, while western Juniperus species also are increasing and expanding, creating the potential for a novel assemblage. I estimated range expansion and intersection by comparing recent USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis surveys (mean year = 2009) to the oldest available surveys (mean year = 1981), with adjustments for sampling changes, and predicted climate envelopes during the following year ranges: 1500-1599, 1800-1849, 1850-1899, 1900-1949, and...

Community forests managed by indigenous, traditional, and local communities must be environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable for their benefits to persist. Certification of community forests communicates that products harvested there meet these standards. However, certification of community forests has been limited, particularly in Africa. Financial analysis, review of audit reports, and a survey of forest managers were used to explore monetary and non-monetary social costs and benefits of Forest Stewardship Council certification for 14 timberproducing community forests...

Residents’ support for tourism is essential for the tourism governance. Currently, knowledge of factors influencing tourism support is inconclusive. Studies applying social exchange theory reveal that tourism support is a function of perceived tourism impacts. However, studies suggest that social exchange theory applications insufficiently explain determinants of tourism support. Using the Value-Attitude-Behavior approach, and quality of life concept, we examine factors likely to predict support for tourism. Our results suggest that residents’ perceived tourism impacts are strong determinan...