Treesearch

Rocky Mountain beeplant (Peritoma serrulata [Pursh] de Candolle) is a member of the Cleomaceae or spiderflower family (Vanderpool and Iltis 2010) but was formerly placed in family Capparaceae. The earliest specimen was collected in 1804 by Meriwether Lewis along the Missouri River near Vermillion in Clay County, South Dakota (Reveal et al. 1999). Recent molecular work leaves the taxonomic placement of the family, genus, and species in question (see Hall 2008; Iltis et al. 2011; Roalson et al. 2015).

Seed delivery to site is a critical step in seed-based restoration programs. Months or years of seed collection, conditioning, storage, and cultivation can be wasted if seeding operations are not carefully planned, well executed, and draw upon best available knowledge and experience. Although diverse restoration scenarios present different challenges and require different approaches, there are common elements that apply to most ecosystems and regions. A seeding plan sets the timeline and details all operations from site treatments through seed delivery and subsequent monitoring. The plan...

Forests in the High Allegheny Unglaciated Plateau Subsection of Pennsylvania and New York, including the Allegheny National Forest, have been increasingly impacted by an array of native and introduced forest insects, pathogens, plants, and other disturbances for decades. An unbalanced age-class distribution, changing soil nutrient status, seedling establishment issues, droughts, and storm events also threaten forest health and structure. In 2017, the Allegheny National Forest convened a broad cross-section of forest stakeholders to collaboratively assess and prioritize these threats and...

A central tenet of landscape conservation planning is that natural communities can be supported by a connected landscape network that supports many species and habitat types. However, as the planning environment, ecological conditions, and risks and stressors change over time, the areas needed to support landscape connectivity may also shift. We demonstrate an approach designed to assess functional and structural connectivity of an established protected area network that has experienced landscape and planning changes over time. Here we present an approach designed to inform adaptive...

Landscape connectivity is increasingly promoted as a conservation tool to combat the negative effects of habitat loss, fragmentation, and climate change. Given its importance as a key conservation strategy, connectivity science is a rapidly growing discipline. However, most landscape connectivity models consider connectivity for only a single snapshot in time, despite the widespread recognition that landscapes and ecological processes are dynamic. In this paper, we discuss the emergence of dynamic connectivity and the importance of including dynamism in connectivity models and assessments....

The northern Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, and the central Sierra Nevada are regions of North America where limber pine (Pinus flexilis James) and whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) live in sympatry or close proximity. For those needing to distinguish between these two pine species in these areas of western North America, seed cones are the best visual identification aid. Limber pine has seed cones that measure 7-15 cm long and have persistent woody scales whereas whitebark pine has seed cones that measure 4-8 cm long and have tightly overlapping woody scales.

Many research studies and syntheses have suggested that prescribed fire (Rx fire) and wildland fire use fires (WFU) are perhaps the most effective tool for restoring whitebark pine ecosystems (Murray et al. 1995, Keane et al. 2012, Perkins 2015, Keane 2018). Rx and WFU fires can kill competing conifers; reduce surface and canopy fuels; and create attractive sites for nutcracker caching. They best mimic historical fire regimes, much better than mechanical thinnings and cuttings (Keane and Parsons 2010). However, the primary assumption of their application as a restoration tool is that the...

Terpenes are phytochemicals found in multiple plant genera, especially aromatic herbs and conifers. Terpene content quantification is costly and complex, requiring the extraction of oil content and gas chromatography analyses. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy could provide an alternative quantitative method, especially if calibration can be developed with the spectra of dried plant material, which are easier and faster to acquire than oil-based spectra. Here, multispecies NIR spectroscopy calibrations were developed for total terpene content (mono- and sesquiterpenes) and for specific...