Forest Sciences Commons^™

Monitoring Whitebark Pine Stand Health In The Central Washington Cascades, Nancy H. Parra, Teresa J. Lorenz, Taza D. Schaming, Alison Scoville

Student Published Works

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) plays a vital role in colonizing newly disturbed areas, providing shade for other tree species to germinate, and supplying food for a variety of birds and mammals, such as Clark’s Nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) and grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis). Decline of whitebark pine populations has been attributed to several factors, including white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreaks, and fire exclusion. In 2009, the U.S. Forest Service began to install permanent plots in whitebark pine stands in Washington and Oregon as …

Wilderness And The Geotag: Exploring The Claim That "Geotagging Ruins Nature" In The Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Wa, Mara Gans

All Master's Theses

This research explores the claim that “geotagging ruins nature” by quantifying and qualifying patterns in geotag use and visitors’ experiences in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, in Washington, United States. Many have raised concerns that geotags increase recreational visitation to public lands, which subsequently contributes to negative resource impacts. Others, however, claim that geotagging has made the outdoors more accessible to less privileged communities and raise concerns that condemning geotags will perpetuate the exclusion of certain groups from outdoor recreation. This debate is studied within federally designated Wilderness, which is legally defined as “untrammeled by man,” a definition rooted in problematic …

Dynamic Microclimate Boundaries Across A Sharp Tropical Rainforest–Clearing Edge, Eric A. Graham, Mark Hansen, William J. Kaiser, Yeung Lam, Eric Yuen, Philip W. Rundel

Biology Faculty Scholarship

As landscapes become increasingly fragmented, research into impacts from disturbance and how edges affect vegetation and community structure has become more important. Descriptive studies on how microclimate changes across sharp transition zones have long existed in the literature and recently more attention has been focused on understanding the dynamic patterns of microclimate associated with forest edges. Increasing concern about forest fragmentation has led to new technologies for modeling forest microclimates. However, forest boundaries pose important challenges to not only microclimate modeling but also sampling regimes in order to capture the diurnal and seasonal dynamic aspects of microclimate along forest edges. …

Hot But Not Dry: Modest Changes In Water Relations For An Epiphytic Bromeliad In A Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest, Saúl Hernández-Robinson, Eric A. Graham, Olivia Hernández-González, Roberth Us-Santamaría, José Luis Simá, Fernando Arellano-Martín, José Luis Andrade

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Premise of research. Epiphytic bromeliads endure intense seasonal environmental changes in the canopy of dry tropical deciduous forests. The analysis of the physiological responses of these epiphytes to environmental changes can be useful in assessing their plasticity, vulnerability, and adaptations to such extreme habitats.

Methodology. We measured microenvironmental variables and water relations for plants of the epiphytic bromeliad Tillandsia brachycaulos in three microhabitats within the canopy of a dry tropical forest. We measured individual plants for seasonal and spatial differences in light, leaf temperature, osmotic potential, cell wall elasticity, and relative capacitance as indications of their physiological responses …

Holocene Fire History Reconstruction Of A Mid-Evaluation Mixed-Conifer Forest In The Eastern Cascades, Washington, Zoe Rushton

All Master's Theses

Fire histories of mid-elevation mixed-conifer forests (MEMC) are uncommon, particularly in the eastern Cascades of Washington. As a result, fire regimes and the effects of 20th century fire suppression in these forests are not well understood. In the summer of 2014 a 7.80 meter-long sediment core was extracted from Long Lake, located approximately 45 km west of Yakima, WA, which exists in a grand fir-dominated mixed-conifer forest. Fire activity for the Long Lake watershed was reconstructed using macroscopic charcoal analysis and pollen analysis was used to reconstruct vegetation change through time. Charcoal results show low fire activity in the early …

Two Post-Glacial Sagebrush Steppe Fire Records At The Wildland-Urban Interface, Eastern Cascades, Washington, Dusty Pilkington

All Master's Theses

Recent increases in large fires in the rapidly developing wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas of central Washington, where development intermixes with wildland fuels, contribute to federal firefighting costs exceeding of $1 billion annually. In addition, cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) invasion and anthropogenic-caused warming shorten fire return intervals while lengthening fire seasons. These climatic, ecological, economic, and social factors combine with fuel accumulation resulting from historic fire suppression to threaten lives and property in the WUI. To plan for safe growth in WUI areas, long-term fire histories are needed to expand understanding of past fire regimes in an understudied ecosystem, sagebrush …

Provisioning And Its Effects On The Social Interactions Of Tibetan Macaques (Macaca Thibetana) At Mt. Huangshan, China, Brianna I. Schnepel

All Master's Theses

The dispersal patterns of food resources has a significant effect on the composition of primate groups and social interactions within those groups. Humans often alter the dispersal of food. Non-humans often use affiliative behaviors to elicit tolerance or support from other group members. I investigated whether provisioned food resources alter the social interactions and group dynamics of Macaca thibetana. All-occurrence sampling and scan sampling were used for data recorded by camera traps. Trail-cameras were placed at six locations that contain natural and human food resources and recorded 60-second videos. Social behavior and proximity of the monkeys were recorded. I …

Experiments To Measure The Effects Of Timber Harvesting Equipment On Surface Lithic Scatters, Douglas J. Baughman

All Master's Theses

The importance of cultural resource preservation cannot be overstated; however local economies are at least as important. Due to conservative archaeological site protection practices in Region 5 of the United States Forest Service, the economy of Northeastern California is being adversely affected. In an attempt to help the Forest Service make more informed management decisions and improve the Northeastern California economy, I undertook experiments on the effects of timber harvesting on lithic scatters on Modoc National Forest. The experiments involved placement of 225 glass tiles (proxy lithics) in each of three plots subject to vehicle traffic and log dragging by …

Seed Invasion Filters And Forest Fire Severity, Tom R. Cottrell, Paul F. Hessburg, Jonathan A. Betz

Biology Faculty Scholarship

Forest seed dispersal is altered after fire. Using seed traps, we studied impacts of fire severity on timing of seed dispersal, total seed rain, and seed rain richness in patches of high and low severity fire and unburned Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests in the Fischer and Tyee fire complexes in the eastern Washington Cascades. Unburned plots had the lowest average seed production. The high severity fire patches in the Fischer Fire Complex had a higher total seed production than low severity fire patches of the same complex. At the Tyee Fire Complex, the total seed production for each …

Conservation And Restoration Of Pine Forest Genetic Resources In México, C. Sáenz-Romero, Amy E. Snively, R. Lindig-Cisneros

Student Published Works

Deforestation rates in México are about 670,000 ha/year. This threatens the richness of forest genetic resources in México, causing the disappearance of locally adapted populations and rare and endangered pine species. México is one of the six megadiverse countries in the world, with half of the world’s Pinus species. Pinus is one of the most economically and ecologically important forest genera in México. We suggest that delineation of seed zones and the establishment of a network of Forest Genetic Resource Conservation Units (FGRCUs), linked with forest management and ecological restoration programs will protect this valuable resource. We estimate that FGRCUs …

An Assessment Of Potential Habitat Corridors And Landscape Ecology For Long-Tailed Macaques (Macaca Fascicularis) On Bali, Indonesia, Mark Warren Southern

All Master's Theses

The relationship between Balinese long-tailed macaques, Bali's cultural settings, and Bali's physical settings was studied. A Geographical Information System (GIS) database was developed and analyzed to determine if forest corridors exist on Bali that may provide habitat connectivity between 42 Balinese long-tailed macaque troops. The GIS database was also analyzed to determine if the landscape type that has the highest percentage of overlap with the 42 Balinese long-tailed macaque home range sites is forest. The results indicate that connectivity between troops located within Bali's western region is significantly higher than that for troops located in Bali's eastern region. The results …