Forest Sciences Commons^™

Disturbance Regimes And Management Strategies Of Mountain Ash Forest Ecosystems In Victoria, Australia; A Literature Review, Zoe Plumb

Sustainability and Social Justice

This paper discusses the ecology of mountain ash forests, the disturbances regimes that currently exist in these ecosystems, and finally addresses the current management practices and future management practices. Mountain ash forests are subjected to a wide range of research in the Central Highlands of Victoria, an area approximately 14,000 hectares in range. These forests are dominated by montane ash trees (Eucalyptus regnans F. Muell), which are critically endangered and at risk of collapse, attributed to the decline in large hollow-bearing trees throughout the region. Management of these forests are controlled by the Department of Environment, Land, Water, and …

The Influence Of Burn Severity On Post-Fire Spectral Recovery Of Three Fires In The Southern Rocky Mountains, Jaclyn Guz, Florencia Sangermano, Dominik Kulakowski

Geography

Increased wildfire activity and altered post-fire climate in the Southern Rocky Mountains has the potential to influence forest resilience. The Southern Rocky Mountains are a leading edge of climate change and have experienced record-breaking fires in recent years. The change in post-fire regeneration and forest resilience could potentially include future ecological trajectories. In this paper, we examined patterns of post-fire spectral recovery using Landsat time series. Additionally, we utilized random forest models to analyze the impact of climate and burn severity on three fire events in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Fifteen years following the fires, none of the burned stands …

Emerging Hot Spot Analysis To Indicate Forest Conservation Priorities And Efficacy On Regional To Continental Scales: A Study Of Forest Change In Selva Maya 2000-2020, Nicholas Cuba, Laura A. Sauls, Anthony J. Bebbington, Denise Humphreys Bebbington, Avecita Chicchon, Pilar Delpino Marimón, Oscar Diaz, Susanna Hecht, Susan Kandel, Tracey Osborne, Rebecca Ray, Madelyn Rivera, John Rogan, Viviana Zalles

Geography

Despite the importance of preserving contiguous tropical forest areas to maintain biodiversity and terrestrial carbon stocks, methodological challenges continue to hinder broad-scale analysis of threats to these forests. Emerging Hot Spot Analysis (EHSA) is a spatial-statistical method that conveys complex information about the temporal dynamics of deforestation across a range of moderate to coarse spatial scales. Using Global Forest Change (GFC) data as inputs, EHSA produces spatially comprehensive, gridded outputs that represent a standardized, reproduceable way to instantiate contiguous forest tracts as spatial objects. Doing so allows aggregation of other GFC-derived values and analysis of alternative geographic configurations besides sub-national …

Effects Of Bark Beetle Outbreaks On Forest Landscape Pattern In The Southern Rocky Mountains, U.S.A., Kyle C. Rodman, Robert A. Andrus, Cori L. Butkiewicz, Teresa B. Chapman, Nathan S. Gill, Brian J. Harvey, Dominik Kulakowski, Niko J. Tutland, Thomas T. Veblen, Sarah J. Hart

Geography

Since the late 1990s, extensive outbreaks of native bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) have affected coniferous forests throughout Europe and North America, driving changes in carbon storage, wildlife habitat, nutrient cycling, and water resource provisioning. Remote sensing is a cru-cial tool for quantifying the effects of these disturbances across broad landscapes. In particular, Landsat time series (LTS) are increasingly used to characterize outbreak dynamics, including the presence and severity of bark beetle-caused tree mortality, though broad-scale LTS-based maps are rarely informed by detailed field validation. Here we used spatial and temporal information from LTS products, in combination with extensive field data …

Forest-Linked Livelihoods In A Globalized World, Johan A. Oldekop, Laura Vang Rasmussen, Arun Agrawal, Anthony J. Bebbington, Patrick Meyfroidt, David N. Bengston, Allen Blackman, Stephen Brooks, Iain Davidson-Hunt, Penny Davies, Stanley C. Dinsi, Lorenza B. Fontana, Tatiana Gumucio, Chetan Kumar, Kundan Kumar, Dominic Moran, Tuyeni H. Mwampamba, Robert Nasi, Margareta Nilsson, Miguel A. Pinedo-Vasquez, Jeanine M. Rhemtulla, William J. Sutherland, Cristy Watkins, Sarah J. Wilson

Geography

Forests have re-taken centre stage in global conversations about sustainability, climate and biodiversity. Here, we use a horizon scanning approach to identify five large-scale trends that are likely to have substantial medium- and long-term effects on forests and forest livelihoods: forest megadisturbances; changing rural demographics; the rise of the middle-class in low- and middle-income countries; increased availability, access and use of digital technologies; and large-scale infrastructure development. These trends represent human and environmental processes that are exceptionally large in geographical extent and magnitude, and difficult to reverse. They are creating new agricultural and urban frontiers, changing existing rural landscapes and …

Data: Pre-Fire Disturbance History Modulates Relationships Between Ground Cover And Post-Fire Conifer Regeneration, Nathan Gill, Dan Jarvis, Tom Veblen, John Rogan, Dominik Kulakowski

Student Works

Understory vegetation and ground cover drive many important ecosystem processes, including tree seedling regeneration. The exact effect of ground cover on tree seedling establishment, survival, and growth depends on biophysical context. In subalpine forests, this context is largely determined by disturbances such as beetle outbreak, blowdown, and fire. Compounded disturbances that overlap in short succession can alter stand properties and trajectories in ways that are not predictable from the additive impact of individual disturbances. The aim of this study is to examine how compounded Dendroctonus rufipennis (spruce beetle; SB) outbreak followed by fire and compounded wind blowdown followed by fire …

Conflicts Over Extractivist Policy And The Forest Frontier In Central America, Anthony J. Bebbington, Laura Aileen Sauls, Herman Rosa, Benjamin Fash, Denise Bebbington

Geography

Central America is characterized by an asymmetric forest transition in which net deforestation is a product of both forest loss and patches of forest resurgence. Forest loss is also associated with rights violations. We explore the extent to which extractive industry and infrastructure investments create pressure on forest resources, community rights and livelihoods. Drivers of this investment are identified, in particular: constitutional, legislative and regulatory reforms; energy policies; new financial flows; and ideas of development emphasizing the centrality of infrastructure in combining geographical integration and economic growth. We discuss forms of contentious action that have emerged in response to these …

Greening The Gateway Cities: Summer Internship With The Clark University Human Environment Regional Observatory (Hero) And Massachusetts Department Of Conservation And Recreation (Dcr), Zhiwen Zhu

Sustainability and Social Justice

This report provides a detailed account of my internship experience with the Clark University Human-Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) and Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) in the summer of 2017. This internship concerns the urban tree health assessment in three ‘Greening the Gateway’ cities in Massachusetts. During the internship, I conducted tree survey field work, database management, mapping, tree survey data analysis and urban tree plantation benefits microclimate simulation. During the internship I worked with the professors and students at Clark University and University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the staff from Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Worcester Tree …

Seeing Community Through The Trees: Characterizing Resident Response To Urban-Tree Planting Initiatives, Eli Goldman

Sustainability and Social Justice

Urban tree planting initiatives have become common across cities in the United States. In order to advocate for sustainable urban forests, managers of urban planting initiatives must adopt a strong community framework, which includes community values in reforestation efforts. Clark University researchers conducted interviews and surveys with residents in six central Massachusetts cities and towns to assess why residents value urban trees and to characterize public response to reforestation efforts. Results indicate residents had positive experiences with tree planting programs, are most likely to value urban trees for aesthetic reasons, and commonly associate change in neighborhood character with Asian Longhorned …

Changes In Floristic Composition In The State Forests In Worcester County (Massachusetts) Over 34 Years, Flor A. Monroe

Sustainability and Social Justice

ABSTRACT

CHANGES IN FOREST DIVERSITY OF STATE FOREST IN WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS, OVER 34 YEARS PERIOD

The forest in Massachusetts has changed since the earliest colonial settlement and today the floristic composition is more homogeneous. This study investigates the potential change in the floristic composition over thirty years in Worcester County State Forests. Shannon, richness and evenness indices for two periods were compared, and Jaccard index was used to analyze similarity in composition between the periods. The possible influence of severe weather events was also analyzed.

It was found Changes in the floristic composition, but the magnitude of the changes …

Assessment Of The Environmental Sector And Climate Change In Malawi: Relationships Between Environmental Policy, Scientific Literature, And Development Projects, Esther A. Baumann

Sustainability and Social Justice

As funding increases for climate change related issues in Sub-Saharan Africa there should also be an increase in research to understand how scientific literature in the environmental sector can assist in developing policy and implementing development projects. Using secondary research, this paper centers on Malawi to develop an understanding of what is occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole in regards to climate change and environmental policy, science and development projects. It sought to determine if scientific thematic areas of research and recommended courses of action were being incorporated into actual government policies and on the ground development projects. This …

Forest Baseline And Deforestation Map Of The Dominican Republic Through The Analysis Of Time Series Of Modis Data, Florencia Sangermano, Leslie Bol, Pedro Galvis, Raymond E. Gullison, Jared Hardner, Gail S. Ross

Geography

Deforestation is one of the major threats to habitats in the Dominican Republic. In this work we present a forest baseline for the year 2000 and a deforestation map for the year 2011. Maps were derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Radiometer (MODIS) products at 250. m resolution. The vegetation continuous fields product (MOD44B) for the year 2000 was used to produce the forest baseline, while the vegetation indices product (MOD13Q1) was used to detect change between 2000 and 2011. Major findings based on the data presented here are reported in the manuscript "Habitat suitability and protection status of four species …

Evaluating The Effects Of Common-Pool Resource Institutions And Market Forces On Species Richness And Forest Cover In Ecuadorian Indigenous Kichwa Communities, Johan A. Oldekop, Anthony J. Bebbington, Karl Hennermann, Julia Mcmorrow, David A. Springate, Bolier Torres, Nathan K. Truelove, Niklas Tysklind, Santiago Villamarín, Richard F. Preziosi

Geography

We compare conservation outcomes between a protected area (PA) and four indigenous common-property regimes (CPRs) under differing degrees of market integration in the Ecuadorian Amazon. We first assess how market forces and common-pool resource institutions governing processes of forest conversion affect biodiversity and forest cover, and whether institutions mitigate the effect of market forces. We then analyze how biodiversity and forest cover differ between a PA, and communities with different market access. Finally, we link biodiversity and forest cover changes within communities to differences in land-use practices. While we show similar levels of forest cover and biodiversity between the PA …