Fuel reduction management practices in riparian areas of the Western USA.

Two decades of uncharacteristically severe wildfires have caused government and private land managers to actively reduce hazardous fuels to lessen wildfire severity in western forests, including riparian areas. Because riparian fuel treatments are a fairly new management strategy, we set out to document their frequency and extent on federal lands in the western U.S. Seventy-four USDA Forest Service Fire Management Officers (FMOs) in 11 states were interviewed to collect information on the number and characteristics of riparian fuel reduction treatments in their management district. Just under half of the FMOs surveyed (43%) indicated that they were conducting fuel reduction treatments in riparian areas. The primary...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Environmental Management, Springer New York, fuel reduction, prescribed fire, riparian, All tags... thinning, wildfire, Fewer tags

Density-dependent vulnerability of forest ecosystems to drought

Abstract (from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12847/full): Climate models predict increasing drought intensity and frequency for many regions, which may have negative consequences for tree recruitment, growth and mortality, as well as forest ecosystem services. Furthermore, practical strategies for minimizing vulnerability to drought are limited. Tree population density, a metric of tree abundance in a given area, is a primary driver of competitive intensity among trees, which influences tree growth and mortality. Manipulating tree population density may be a mechanism for moderating drought-induced stress and growth reductions, although the relationship between tree population density and...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: Data Visualization & Tools, Drought, Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather, Forests, Landscapes, All tags... National CASC, Pinus ponderosa, Pinus resinosa, Science Tools For Managers, climate change adaptation, drought impacts, ecosystem services, semi-arid forests, temperate forests, thinning, tree population densisty, Fewer tags

Fire Climate Adaptation Actions Definitions

Descriptions of fire-related climate adaptation actions available to and in use by fire managers

Categories: Data; Tags: Available Science Assessment Project, Data Visualization & Tools, Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather, Fire, Northwest CASC, All tags... Science Tools For Managers, State of the Science, climate adaptation actions, fuels treatment, managed wildfire, mechanical fuel treatments, prescribed fire, thinning, Fewer tags

Bird Responses to Young Stand Thinning in Western Oregon in 2013

The US Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, and Oregon State University established the Young Stand Thinning and Diversity Study (YSTDS) in 1990 to demonstrate and test options for young stand management in western Oregon. The YSTDS is designed to determine if different thinning, underplanting, and snag creation treatments in 35-50 year-old plantations can accelerate the development of late-seral conditions. The study was implemented on 4 replicate blocks, each consisting of an untreated Control stand and 1 each of the following stand-level thinning treatments: (1) a Light Thin treatment, approximating the timber industry standard, with about 260 residual trees per hectare (tph; 100/acre); (2) a Heavy...

Categories: Data; Tags: Botany, Ecology, Forestry, Oregon State University, Pacific Northwest Research Station, All tags... USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Western Oregon, Wildlife Biology, Willamette National Forest, biodiversity, biota, environment, forest management, late-seral habitat, thinning, wildlife, young forests, Fewer tags

Ecosystem water balance and ecological drought patterns under historical and future climate conditions for the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) Landscape

These data were compiled for research pertaining to the effects of stand density treatments on growth rates in semi-arid, ponderosa pine forests. Also, these data examined how the planned restoration treatments in the Four Forests Restoration Initiative (4FRI), the largest forest restoration project being implemented in the United States, would alter landscape-scale patterns of forest growth and drought vulnerability throughout the 21st century. Using drought-growth relationships developed within the landscape, we considered a suite of climate and thinning scenarios and estimated both average forest growth and the proportion of years with extremely low growth as a measure of vulnerability to long-term decline. The...

Tags: 21st century, 4FRI, Arizona, Climatology, Coconino National Forest, All tags... Colorado Plateau, Ecology, Flagstaff, Forestry, Four Forests Restoration Initiative, Geography, Information Sciences, Kaibab National Forest, RCP, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), air temperature, atmospheric and climatic processes, basal area, basal area increment, basal area reduction, biomass, biomass increment, climate, climate change, climate impacts, climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere, density treatment, drought severity, drought vulnerability, drought-growth relationships, droughts, ecological distribution, ecological drought, ecological processes, ecological restoration, ecosystem restoration, environmental driver, environmental restoration, forest density, forest ecosystems, forest growth, forest stand, forest treatment, future time period (late), future time period (near), geography, geoscientificInformation, growth, growth rate, growth rates, growth vulnerability, historical time period, landscape, landscape, landscape structure, landscape-scale patterns, northern Arizona, pine forests, ponderosa pine forests, precipitation, precipitation (atmospheric), predicted growth, relative growth, representative concentration pathway, restoration treatments, semi-arid forests, shifting climate, soil moisture, stand density treatments, stand driver, temperature, thinning, thinning treatments, Fewer tags

Ecosystem water balance and ecological drought patterns under historical and future climate conditions for the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) Landscape (COPY)

These data were compiled for research pertaining to the effects of stand density treatments on growth rates in semi-arid, ponderosa pine forests. Also, these data examined how the planned restoration treatments in the Four Forests Restoration Initiative (4FRI), the largest forest restoration project being implemented in the United States, would alter landscape-scale patterns of forest growth and drought vulnerability throughout the 21st century. Using drought-growth relationships developed within the landscape, we considered a suite of climate and thinning scenarios and estimated both average forest growth and the proportion of years with extremely low growth as a measure of vulnerability to long-term decline. The...

Tags: 21st century, 4FRI, Arizona, Climatology, Coconino National Forest, All tags... Colorado Plateau, Ecology, Flagstaff, Forestry, Four Forests Restoration Initiative, Geography, Information Sciences, Kaibab National Forest, RCP, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), air temperature, atmospheric and climatic processes, basal area, basal area increment, basal area reduction, biomass, biomass increment, climate, climate change, climate impacts, climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere, density treatment, drought severity, drought vulnerability, drought-growth relationships, droughts, ecological distribution, ecological drought, ecological processes, ecological restoration, ecosystem restoration, environmental driver, environmental restoration, forest density, forest ecosystems, forest growth, forest stand, forest treatment, future time period (late), future time period (near), geography, geoscientificInformation, growth, growth rate, growth rates, growth vulnerability, historical time period, landscape, landscape, landscape structure, landscape-scale patterns, northern Arizona, pine forests, ponderosa pine forests, precipitation, precipitation (atmospheric), predicted growth, relative growth, representative concentration pathway, restoration treatments, semi-arid forests, shifting climate, soil moisture, stand density treatments, stand driver, temperature, thinning, thinning treatments, Fewer tags

Timber Harvest Change in the Little North Santiam River Basin, Oregon, 1995 to 2009

These data were released prior to the October 1, 2016 effective date for the USGS’s policy dictating the review, approval, and release of scientific data as referenced in USGS Survey Manual Chapter 502.8 Fundamental Science Practices: Review and Approval of Scientific Data for Release. Using available aerial photos from approximately a 15-year period, changes in timber harvest were mapped in the Little North Santiam River Basin, Oregon. Timber harvest plots as seen on digital orthophotos from 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2009 were digitized and attributed based on harvest type or purpose: clearcut, thinning, or development.

Categories: pre-SM502.8; Tags: Elkhorn, Little North Santiam River, Lyons, Marion County, Mehama, All tags... NSDI, Oregon, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), clearcut, development, environment, geoscientificInformation, inlandWaters, inlandWaters, thinning, timber harvest, Fewer tags