Treesearch

The recognized gap between research and implementation in avian conservation can be overcome with translational ecology, an intentional approach in which science producers and users from multiple disciplines work collaboratively to co-develop and deliver ecological research that addresses management and conservation issues. Avian conservation naturally lends itself to translational ecology because birds are well studied, typically widespread, often exhibit migratory behaviors transcending geopolitical boundaries, and necessitate coordinated conservation efforts to accommodate resource and...

Predator fear effects influence reproductive outcomes in many species. In non-urban systems, passerines often respond to predator cues by reducing parental investment, resulting in smaller and lighter nestlings. Since trophic interactions in urban areas are highly altered, it is unclear how passerines respond to fear effects in human-altered landscapes. Nestlings of passerines in urban areas also tend to be smaller and lighter than their rural counterparts and are often exposed to high densities of potential predators yet experience lower per capita predation—the predation paradox. We...

Residential landscapes support human well-being and ecological functioning in urban ecosystems. Trees and native plants in yards and neighborhoods positively influence satisfaction, an important component of human well-being and quality of life. However, these patterns may not hold true in arid ecoregions, where the composition of desert vegetation contrasts the tall, broad-leafed trees of temperate regions. The effects of xeric, desert-like landscaping on satisfaction with the neighborhood environment are especially important to consider given the large amount of resources required to...

Gap-based silviculture and legacy-tree retention are strategies that can increase structural and resource heterogeneity while maintaining forest productivity at the stand scale. Nevertheless, areas of delayed regeneration have been noted in openings with some persisting for a decade or more. To better understand the causes of localized recruitment delay and/or near-term failure, we examined spatial patterning of persistent (≥15 years) patches of regeneration failure (≤1 sapling ≥1.37 m tall per 10 m2) at two long-term experimental gap experiments in northern Wisconsin and the Upper...

To a large degree, the sources and stability of soil organic carbon remain poorly constrained. A clear understanding of links among the components of the soil C cycle is hampered by the complexity of the system as well as challenges associated with partitioning bulk soil C into meaningful fractions. A large accidental 14CO2 release at the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, USA provided a strong label pulse into adjacent, well-studied oak forests, resulting in highly elevated Δ14C values in leaf litter (~1000‰) and roots (~260–450‰). A four-year manipulative study was conducted to determine...

The USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) and Intermountain Region (R4) are modeling an approach to how National Forest System management and science can work together in meaningful ways with tangible results. The R4-RMRS Science Partner Program actively cultivates relationships between research scientists and land managers to co-produce new knowledge and land management approaches. When scientists and managers develop solutions together, we strengthen the agency’s ability to address the complex challenges facing our forests, grasslands, and the communities that depend...

Haven't heard of irregular shelterwood? Don't worry, it's a newer term for professional foresters, too. Irregular shelterwood was developed in Europe and has recently been adapted for North American forests. Practicing foresters say that they have been doing irregular shelterwoods for a while primarily on private lands, but just didn't have the right terminology for it until recent times.

Identifying the potential for natural soil microbial communities to predictably affect complex plant traits is an important frontier in climate change research. Plant phenology varies with environmental and genetic factors, but few studies have examined whether the soil microbiome interacts with plant population differentiation to affect phenology and ecosystem function. We compared soil microbial variation in a widespread tree species (Populus angustifolia) with different soil inoculum treatments in a common garden environment to test how the soil microbiome affects spring foliar phenology...

Mechanistic, individual-based simulation models have been used for >25 years to overcome well-known limitations of “habitat suitability” models. InSTREAM 7 is the latest of our individual-based models for predicting the effects of flow and temperature regimes on stream salmonid populations. Unlike PHABSIM (or other methods based on habitat “quality,” e.g., as net rate of energy intake), inSTREAM mechanistically represents specific effects of flow and temperature on all life stages, and how those effects combine into testable predictions of population measures such as abundance, relative...

Forests provide the most stable and highest quality water supplies among all land uses. Quantitatively evaluating the benefits of forest water supply functions is important to effectively mitigate the impacts of land development, climate change, and population growth. Here, by integrating a water balance model and national drinking water data, we determined the amount of surface water yield originating on different forest ownership types at a fine resolution (88,000 watersheds) and tracked that water through the river network to drinking water intakes and the populations they serve. We...