Treesearch

Urbanization fundamentally alters soil physiochemical properties, but little is known on how this human effect alters soil biota. Microarthropods are important bioindicators due to their sedentary life form and sensitivity to environmental changes. Taxonomic richness, abundance, diversity, distribution of microarthropod communities were investigated in three urban land use types, remnant forests, low maintenance grass, highly disturbed open spaces, and were compared to deciduous forest stands outside the city, that served as reference. In general, habitats with more disturbed soil decreased...

Wildland fire managers are increasingly embracing risk management principles by being more anticipatory, proactive, and “engaging the fire before it starts”. This entails investing in pre-season, cross-boundary, strategic fire response planning with partners and stakeholders to build a shared understanding of wildfire risks and management opportunities. A key innovation in planning is the development of potential operational delineations (PODs), i.e., spatial management units whose boundaries are relevant to fire containment operations (e.g., roads, ridgetops, and fuel transitions), and...

White-tailed deer have an interesting and complicated recent history. While widespread hunting nearly a century ago drastically reduced the species' population, conservation programs and regulated hunting have caused overall populations to rebound significantly. For decades, high-density deer populations have suppressed forest growth, decimated certain wildflower and shrub species, and degraded habitat for wildlife and recreation.

The red pine forests of the western Great Lakes region aren't what they used to be. For a century, scientists and foresters have viewed these forests as structurally simple, single-cohort stands of red pine (Pinus resinosa) originating after stand-replacement fires. Forest managers emulated this perceived model in their management and have long grown even-aged red pine plantations. But after a century of this approach, along with fire suppression and a changing climate, these forests are showing signs of stress. The climate is warming, and forests are suffering from more frequent short-term...

Scattered throughout the Midwest and elsewhere in North America, pine barrens communities occur on sandy, infertile soils and are characterized by low tree density and an understory of grasses and other fire-dependent species. These communities are highly important as refugia for many threatened, endangered, and sensitive species, including sharp-tailed grouse and several butterflies. Northern Research Station scientists are studying soils in natural, remnant barrens and linking fire-behavior data to soils and vegetation data. In doing so, they are helping land managers understand how to...

Applied ecology is based on an assumption that a management action will result in a predicted outcome. Testing the prediction accuracy of ecological models is the most powerful way of evaluating the knowledge implicit in this cause-effect relationship, however, the prevalence of predictive modeling and prediction testing are spreading slowly in ecology. The challenge of prediction testing is particularly acute for small-scale studies, because withholding data for prediction testing (e.g., via k-fold cross validation) can reduce model precision. However, by necessity small-scale studies are...

The net soil greenhouse gas mitigation potential of conservation agricultural management practices is strongly influenced by the direction and magnitude of soil organic C (SOC) change in deep soil layers (>6"). Deep SOC is typically old, highly processed, and consists of microbial products and root exudates associated with clay and other minerals. However, it can be susceptible to decomposition and priming from the addition of new, labile organic C. We examined long-term soil C dynamics (organic and inorganic) 13 years after conversion to no-tillage (NT) under varying nitrogen fertilizer...

Science plays a critical role in natural resource management, and the use of science in decision-making is mandated by several policy initiatives. Other disciplines have documented the challenges associated with applying science to management and possible solutions to overcoming challenges, but the evaluation of science use in wildland fire management is relatively immature. In this paper, we reviewed the available literature that evaluates science use in wildland fire management and common barriers and facilitators to science use in decision-making.

With about 82 percent of the U.S. population living in urban areas today, it may sometimes feel that we’re removed from nature. Yet science is increasingly revealing how dependent we are on nature for our individual and collective physical, emotional, and mental health, as well as for climate resilience. In some cases, the connections we need for our own and other species' survival and well-being may literally be just down the street.

Scientists and managers are working together through an effort called Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC). This framework, primarily implemented in rural areas, is now being applied to an area along the Mississippi River National Recreation Area in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. The project involves test plots for alternative climate change strategies in an urban floodplain forest and is designed to provide a degree of real-time feedback to managers to ensure that the forests along the river continue to provide important services as the climate changes.