Treesearch

Many of the cultural traditions practiced by Native Americans were channeled from or associated with their experiences with the natural world. These traditions, in turn, served to inform land management practices that effectively maintained a sustainable ecological balance among people and land for thousands of years. Today, many Native Americans find it difficult to continue the ecological and cultural, or “ecocultural” practices of their ancestors (Long et al. 2018). Here we explore some of the factors that give rise to these challenges. This chapter provides a general overview of...

Ecosystems of the Lassen and Modoc National Forests depend on disturbance as part of the natural process. However, climate change, a source of disturbance itself, has also been changing patterns of other ecological disturbances, including the frequencies and intensities of fire, pests, and pathogens. This chapter presents a review and synthesis of peer-reviewed literature focused on natural disturbance processes and how those processes relate to and interact with a changing climate. The chapter begins with an overview of different ways climate change can impact the ecosystems of these two...

Since its inception in 1973, the National Silviculture Workshop (NSW) has brought together forest managers and researchers from across the USDA Forest Service, and more recently our university and other partners, to provide a forum for information sharing and science advancements in silviculture. The 2019 NSW focused specifically on this partnership with the theme "Forest Management-Research Partnerships" in Bemidji, MN. With nearly 300 participants, this proceedings and that of the Journal of Forestry special section (Volume 118, Issue 3), highlight some of the best outcomes of our...

In fire-dependent ecosystems, the absence of fire can contribute to a positive feedback in which increased vegetation cover leads to increased accumulation of soil organic matter and nutrient stocks. These changes in turn can influence competitive shifts among plant communities, resulting in increased woody plant establishment, canopy closure, and ultimately leading toward mesophication. Poor soil conditions may be especially important for maintaining the open structure characteristic of pine barrens ecosystems, which are imperiled due to loss of key ecosystem processes such as fire and...

As described in Chapter 1.1 (Dumroese, this synthesis, The Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis: Background, Rationale, and Scope), the Lassen and Modoc National Forests (hereafter the Lassen and the Modoc) share dry pine forestland that was not addressed by two prior science syntheses: Science Synthesis to Support Socioecological Resilience in the Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascade Range (hereafter, Sierra Nevada Science Synthesis; Long and others 2014) and Synthesis of Science to Inform Land Management within the Northwest Forest Plan Area (hereafter Northwest...

As described in Chapter 1.1 (Dumroese, this synthesis, The Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis: Background, Rationale, and Scope), the Lassen and Modoc National Forests (hereafter the Lassen and the Modoc) share dry pine forestland that was not addressed by two prior science syntheses: Science Synthesis to Support Socioecological Resilience in the Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascade Range (hereafter, Sierra Nevada Science Synthesis; Long and others 2014) and Synthesis of Science to Inform Land Management within the Northwest Forest Plan Area (hereafter Northwest...

Sagebrush (Artemisia species) habitat, an intricate, species-rich mosaic of different sagebrush species and a remarkably diverse assemblage of grasses, forbs, and other shrubs, once covered about 170 million acres (69 million ha) across the Western United States (fig. 4.3.1). Noss et al. (1995) note that sagebrush habitat is an imperiled ecosystem because of its degradation, fragmentation, or removal by humans (Connelly et al. 2011), including conversion to agriculture (Leonard et al. 2000) compounded by other factors such as invasion by nonnative annual grasses, encroachment by junipers...

The adaptive management of forests and rangelands is directed toward achieving an ecologically sustainable landscape that contributes to social and economic sustainability. This “socioecological resilience” is a significant focus of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service 2012 Planning Rule directing how national forests are to revise their forest plans, as introduced in Chapter 1.1 (Dumroese, this synthesis, The Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis: Background, Rationale, and Scope). This process is complicated not only by ecological disturbances...

The anticipated changes in human populations, natural ecosystems, and the global climate are expected to impact public lands management. Land use is expected to shift due to altered productivity of local ecosystems, to overall increased human population, and to the changing market interests and cultural values. In rural areas, these demographic trends may result in the expansion of the wildland urban interface into previously undeveloped areas for amenity communities, and conversely, to departure from communities dependent on natural resource-supported economies. A recent science synthesis...

The concept of ecosystem services connects the activity of environmental and natural resource management to desired outcomes of human economic utility, social well-being, and cultural health. A desire for mutual sustainability between human interests and ecological cycles is inherent in the ecosystem services approach (Patterson 2014). The complex network of interactions between natural processes and human impacts is referred to as a socioecological system.