Treesearch

The native vs. exotic status of reed canarygrass (RCG), a major invasive species of Minnesota wetlands, is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate this native vs. exotic status to enhance its management. Genetic comparison of wild RCG populations from six Minnesota and six Czech Republic rivers was performed. A total of 2521 polymorphic SNP markers (single nucleotide polymorphisms) were used to evaluate 478 RCG samples across all collections. In the PCoA, all (n = 256) tested extant wild, riparian RCG genotypes from six Minnesota Rivers and six Czech Republic Rivers were genetical...

Soils within a forested park in New York City, NY, USA, were sampled to evaluate spatial variation in pH on a disturbed forest restoration site, and compare soil physicochemical parameters (pH, texture, moisture, organic matter [OM], plant available Mg, Ca, Mn, Al, Fe, K, Na, P, Cu, and Zn) between the restoration site and an intact forest. The divergence of soil parameters between sites suggests that forest clearing on the restoration site initiated the erosion of fine particles and altered soil chemistry. Within the restoration site, the spatial pattern, and correlation with base-cations,...

Predicting post-fire tree mortality is not an exact science, but knowing whether trees will die within 3 years post-fire will help managers and silviculturists responsible for certifying prescriptions determine whether management objectives and desired future conditions can still be achieved (Filip et al. 2007). Management objectives and desired conditions often determine how trees will be marked. Data gathered for several years following fires, both in the Pacific Northwest and throughout the west, have provided significant information to help inform the likelihood of tree death following...

This field guide provides a simplified post-fire rubric to evaluate trees after fire for injuries and estimate whether it is likely to die within 3 years. For details, see Hood, S., I. Ragenovich, and B. Schaupp. 2021. Post-fire Assessment of Tree Status and Marking Guidelines for Conifers in Oregon and Washington. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region. Report Number R6-FHP-RO-2020-02 (Revised June 2021) (https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/69012).

Road networks form the basic transportation system for most of the world's inhabitants, stimulating local and regional economies. Scientific advances in recent years have revealed that this vast, growing, planetary construction boom has been occurring mostly in non-urban environments, and most aggressively in developing frontiers of tropical regions. However, even in highly urbanized countries, road networks consist mostly of roads outside of urban areas. To produce a reliable, comprehensive picture of the global road network, scientists have taken advantage of improvements in mapping...

Place-based and fieldwork learning play a key role in higher education in environmental sciences and other geospatial disciplines. We report on a study in which we evaluated a web-based virtual tour application for teaching natural resource management in fire-prone western forests in two undergraduate classes. The virtual tour uses 360°-image-based virtual scenes and pre-recorded audio commentary by a domain expert to lead participants through the Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest where forest treatments were implemented to reduce fire hazard. We present results from assessing...

Global expansion of lighting and noise pollution alters how animals receive and interpret environmental cues. However, we lack a cross-taxon understanding of how animal traits influence species vulnerability to this growing phenomenon. This knowledge is needed to improve the design and implementation of policies that mitigate or reduce sensory pollutants. We present results from an expert knowledge survey that quantified the relative influence of 21 ecological, anatomical, and physiological traits on the vulnerability of terrestrial vertebrates to elevated levels of anthropogenic lighting...

Ecological research increasingly considers integrative relationships among phenomena at broad spatial and temporal domains. However, such large-scale inferences are commonly confounded by changing properties in the processes that govern phenomena (termed nonstationarity), which can violate assumptions underlying standard analytical methods. Changing conditions are fundamental and pervasive features in ecology, but their influence on ecological inference and prediction increases with larger spatial and temporal domains for a host of factors. Fortunately, tools for identifying and accommodati...

This resource update is a brief look at some of the basic metrics that describe the status of and changes to forest resources in Massachusetts. This information is based on field data collected using the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) annualized sample design, and it is updated yearly. Tables for Forests of Massachusetts, 2020 can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-333-Tables. The FIA one-click application that generated this report can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FIA-One-Click-State-Report-v1.2.

This resource update is a brief look at some of the basic metrics that describe the status of and changes to forest resources in New Jersey. This information is based on field data collected using the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) annualized sample design, and it is updated yearly. Tables for Forests of New Jersey, 2019 can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-343-Tables. The FIA one-click application that generated this report can be found at https://doi.org/10.2737/FIA-One-Click-State-Report-v1.2.