Treesearch

Machine learning models are typically data-hungry algorithms that require large data inputs for training. When they produce wall-to-wall remote sensing products, model validation also requires large sets of temporally harmonized field observations. Crowdsourcing may offer a potential solution for the collection of photo interpretations for the training and validation of spatial models of tree canopy cover (TCC), as it harnesses the power of a large anonymous crowd in the completion of repetitive discrete analyses or human intelligence tasks (HITs). This study explores the factors that...

Log landings—designated staging areas for logs during timber harvests—can be enriched as habitat for native bees and other pollinator species, turning often degraded areas into local hotspots for biodiversity. Pollinators provide an important ecosystem service for economically important agricultural crops and for trees and plants, but populations are declining due in large part to habitat loss. Enriching soils and seeding native plants on log landings (beyond traditional erosion mitigation practices) can provide pollinator habitat on the modern landscape. This guide provides information...

Using mark-resight data, we investigated fidelity to territory and mate as well as breeding dispersal rates and the causes and consequences of breeding dispersal in a 20-year study of American goshawks (Astur atricapillus) in Arizona, USA. Generalized Additive Mixed Models were used to identify the relative contributions of four prominent explanatory variables (eggs laid, nest failed, nest successful, mate loss) and 21 individual and environmental variables in a machine learning Conditional Inference Forest to predict breeding dispersal. Ninety-five percent of males and 92% of females...

Earth Observation (EO) data can provide added value to nations’ assessments of vegetation aboveground biomass density (AGBD) with minimal additional costs. Yet, neither open access to global-scale EO datasets of vegetation heights or biomass, nor the availability of computational power, has proven sufficient for their wide uptake in climate policy-related assessments. Using Mexico as an example, one of the primary obstacles to enhancing their National Forest Inventory (NFI) with such global EO datasets is the lack of statistically defensible methodologies that do so, while addressing the...

This report provides detailed estimates and highlights key findings from Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data collected across the State of Louisiana from 2009 to 2017. Estimates of forest area, volume, biomass, and timber product output are provided across land ownerships, forest types, and forest demographics throughout the State. Louisiana covers approximately 34 million acres, 15 million acres (42 percent) of which is considered forest land. This report evaluates trends in land-use change as well as current forest land conditions and summarizes them within the context of the...

This assessment of South African wildland fire management is part of a broader effort from the International Programs Office of the U.S. Forest Service to assess the wildland fire situation across Africa. The assessment was guided by an Integrated Fire Management approach, which incorporates a holistic understanding of fire on the landscape and the many trade-offs of management actions. This assessment is based on a survey administered from June – July 2023 and captures the diverse perspectives of 108 survey respondents. Findings from this assessment reveal the following: (1) a perception...

During 2022–2024, the Wildfire Research (WiRē) Center partnered with the West Region Wildfire Council (WRWC) to learn more about parcel-level wildfire risk in Montrose County, Colorado. This research project was part of a larger, sustained collaboration between WiRē and WRWC, moving the focus from areas typically characterized as fire-prone due to heavily treed and steep topography, into an area with relatively gentle topography and lighter fuels. The study area borders and includes northern portions of Ouray County that fall within the service area of Montrose County Fire Protection...

Outdoor recreational wood burning, such as fire pit use, can produce large amounts of smoke which contains fine particulate matter (PM) and other air pollutants. Recently, purported “smokeless”, or low-smoke, fire pits have become widely available. Motivated by the apparent public desire for low-smoke options and the prospect of reducing PM pollution, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, collaborated with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to measure air pollutant emissions from low-smoke fire pits. We measured emission factors (EF) for PM (EFPM), carbon monoxide,...

The work environment for a wildland firefighter on an incident is both physically and mentally demanding, and for some requires a high level of caloric intake from quality food sources provided by meal catering services. The aim of this study is to explore wildland firefighter perceptions of meal catering during wildfire incidents. We conducted seven, in-depth one-hour interviews with wildland firefighters with over four decades of wildland fire experience, during the months of May through June 2024. Exploratory qualitative findings from seven interviews revealed the following themes:...

Large disturbances to ecosystems can severely impact the stability of a region’s natural resources, habitats, and outdoor recreation. Because extreme events can be large and relatively infrequent, they test institutional capacity to support recovery and restoration. When hurricanes and other large-scale disturbances like wildfires occur, much of the impacted landscape receives little to no active management. Ecosystems are often allowed to either recover or transition without much direct intervention, and successional dynamics are sometimes altered by novel invasive species, management...