Forest Sciences Commons^™

Classifying And Mapping Diversity In A Species-Poor System: The Mangrove Meta-Community Of Laguna Chacahua National Park, Oaxaca, Mexico, Elizabeth Kay Weisgerber

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Classifying and Mapping Diversity in a Species-Poor System: the mangrove meta-community of Laguna Chacahua National Park, Oaxaca, Mexico

by

Elizabeth Kay Weisgerber

Both field transects and imagery grid plots were analyzed with the goal of creating a community classification map for the mangrove forest of Parque Nacional Lagunas de Chacahua. In total, data was collected in 49 sites throughout the park, recording measures such as DBH, basal area, estimated dominance, frequency, cover and relative dominance. Field locations were marked and georeferenced with a GPS and grid plots overlaid on satellite imagery of the park were generated via a random …

Smokejumper Obituary: Walters, Thomas "Jerry" (Missoula 1966), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Haver, Dale H. (Missoula 1964), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Deriving Fuel Mass By Size Class In Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga Menziesii) Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning, Carl Seielstad, Crystal Stonesifer, Eric Rowell, Lloyd Queen

Forest Management Faculty Publications

Requirements for describing coniferous forests are changing in response to wildfire concerns, bio-energy needs, and climate change interests. At the same time, technology advancements are transforming how forest properties can be measured. Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) is yielding promising results for measuring tree biomass parameters that, historically, have required costly destructive sampling and resulted in small sample sizes. Here we investigate whether TLS intensity data can be used to distinguish foliage and small branches (less than or equal to 0.635 cm diameter; coincident with the one-hour timelag fuel size class) from larger branchwood (>0.635 cm) in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga …

Smokejumper Obituary: Eriksson, Richard C. (Missoula 1960), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Biological Effects On Serpentinite Weathering, Mary H. Evert, Julie Baumeister, Elisabeth Hausrath

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Serpentinites, perhaps more than any other rock type, control the composition and evolution of the development of the surrounding ecosystems. The bulk chemistry of serpentinite rocks, high in Mg and trace elements, and low in nutrients such as Ca, K, P, and N, causes an extreme and stressful environment for ecosystems. However, the role that those serpentine ecosystems play in development of serpentine soils has not been examined.

Due to the unusual chemistry of serpentine soils, serpentine ecosystems have deeper and better-developed root systems than other ecosystems. The rhizosphere of serpentine systems, documented to produce abundant organic acids and siderophores, …

Knowledge Exchange: A Two-Way Street, Elise Lequire

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

The best available science is of little use if it gathers dust on the shelves of library stacks or is deeply embedded on an obscure website. A key part of the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) mission is to ensure research on wildland fire science is readily available to practitioners in a useful format so it can help support sound management decisions. The JFSP has made great inroads in this arena on a national level, but managers short on time often have to sift through an overload of information that may not be specific to their region. In the next …

Reducing Reliance On Supplemental Winter Feeding In Elk (Cervus Canadensis): An Applied Management Experiment At Deseret Land And Livestock Ranch, Utah, Dax L. Mangus

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wildlife managers have fed elk in North America for nearly 100 years. Giving winter feed to elk can compensate for a shortage of natural winter range and may boost elk populations while also helping prevent commingling with livestock and depredation of winter feed intended for livestock. In contrast to these benefits of supplemental feeding, there are economic and environmental costs associated with feeding, and elk herds that winter on feeding grounds have a higher risk of contracting and transmitting disease. Brucellosis is of primary concern now, and Chronic Wasting Disease may be in the future. Many see the discontinuation of …

Anthropogenic And Natural Causes Influencing Population Genetic Structure Of Juniperus Procera Hochst. Ex Endl. In The Ethiopian Highlands, Demissew Sertse, Oliver Gailing, Nicolas George Eliades, Reiner Finkeldey

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Juniperus procera is economically highly important but threatened tree species. It is the only species among 67 taxa in the genus Juniperus that naturally grows in Africa and south of the equator extending up to 18°S in Zimbabwe. Ethiopia is assumed to host the largest J. procera populations, which are also believed to have high genetic variation owing to their wide ecological amplitude. This study assessed genetic variation at AFLPs of J. procera populations in the Ethiopian highlands. In the study six populations, namely Chilimo, Goba, Menagesha-Suba, Wef-Washa, Yabelo and Ziquala were included. A total of 20-24 trees from each …

Smokejumper Obituary: Linton, Gerald J. (Missoula 1948), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Hilbun, Robert (Mccall 1951), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Frankovich, John Albert (Missoula 1946), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

How Well Do U.S. Forest Service Terrestrial Ecosystem Surveys Correspond With Measured Vegetation Properties?, Scott R. Abella

Life Sciences Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Effectiveness Of Forest Management Strategies To Mitigate Effects Of Global Change In South-Central Siberia, Eric J. Gustafson, Anatoly Z. Shvidenko, Robert M. Scheller

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

We investigated questions about the ability of broad silvicultural strategies to achieve multiple objectives (reduce disturbance losses, maintain the abundance of preferred species, mitigate fragmentation and loss of age-class diversity, and sequester aboveground carbon) under future climate conditions in Siberia. We conducted a factorial experiment using the LANDIS-II landscape disturbance and succession model. Treatments included varying the size and amount of areas cut and the cutting method (selective or clearcut). Simultaneously, the model simulated natural disturbances (fire, wind, insect out-breaks) and forest succession under projected future climate conditions as predicted by an ensemble of global circulation models. The cutting method …

A Landscape-Scale Approach For Modeling Habitat Suitability For The Louisiana Black Bear (Ursus Americanus Luteolus) In East Texas, Dan J. Kaminski, Christopher E. Comer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Lakeview, Oregon: The Little Town That Collaboration Saved, Laura Singer, Emily Rome, Liubov Doerr, Mari Saint Pierre, Dick Townsend, Alexander Freed, Daniel Mcduffee, Greg Nugent, Gretchen Olsen, Kirk Rea, Melissa Long, Ross D. Lamberth, Shelley D. Searle

National Policy Consensus Center Publications and Reports

The assessment team was made up of a diverse group - eight undergraduate PSU students, two graduate teaching assistants and one instructor - representing all ages, interests and fields of study. However, one thing everyone had in common was an interest in learning about collaboration and how it might be used to improve the state of Oregon, the nation and even the world. To that end, everyone participating in the Capstone course hoped to enhance their “Skills for Being an Effective Collaborator.” As this is the first time this course has been offered, we hope our success in meeting its …

Rats As Forest Pests In Southeastern Virginia: Girdling By The Hispid Cotton Rat Sigmodon Hispidus As A Significant Source Of Mortality Of Loblolly Pines (Pinus Taeda) In A Successional Pine Forest, Robyn M. Nadolny

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) is a common field rodent throughout the southeastern US, where volunteer loblolly pine trees (Pinus taeda) invade open space and begin the process of ecological succession from field to pine forest. Recent analysis of the diet of S. hispidus indicates that loblolly pine bark is stripped and eaten during the winter months. In this study, we explored the extent of rodent girdling on a 1.23 ha grid in a successional pine forest in southeastern Virginia. During the winter of 2005 we observed damage to 65% of trees in our study area, with 98% …

A Real-Time Risk Assessment Tool Supporting Wildland Fire Decisionmaking, David E. Calkin, Matthew P. Thompson, Mark A. Finney, Kevin D. Hyde

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Development of appropriate management strategies for escaped wildland fires is complex. Fire managers need the ability to identify, in real time, the likelihood that wildfire will affect valuable developed and natural resources (e.g., private structures, public infrastructure, and natural and cultural resources). These determinations help guide where and when aggressive suppression is required to protect values and when fire may be allowed to burn to enhance ecosystem conditions. This article describes the primary components of the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS), a geospatial decision support system developed by the US Forest Service. WFDSS provides state-of-the-art wildfire risk analysis, decision …

Oak Galls: A Strange Biology Indeed!, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Anyone who takes the time to look closely at several branches of oak will soon find one or another peculiar anomaly among the leaves and twigs. One can easily find structures resembling Ping-Pong balls, hard knots, fluffy tufts, horns—either single or clustered, or irregular thickenings, to mention just a few possibilities. These abnormal growths are galls, structures caused by the presence of small insect larvae living inside the tissue of the plant. Galls can be found on a wide variety of plants. They are common, for example, on the stems of goldenrods, and the leaves of maples, but oaks are …

High Genetic Diversity And Significant Population Structure In Cedrus Brevifolia Henry, A Narrow Endemic Mediterranean Tree From Cyprus, Nicolas George Homer Eliades, Oliver Gailing, Ludger Leinemann, Bruno Fady, Reiner Finkeldey

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Endemic island plant species with a narrow distribution are often, but not always, linked to low genetic variation within populations and a lack of differentiation among populations. Cedrus brevifolia is a narrow endemic island tree species of Cyprus. Its range is restricted to a single forest, divided into five neighbouring sites. This study, using biparentally inherited nuclear microsatellites and paternally inherited plastid (chloroplast) microsatellites, assessed the genetic variation of C. brevifolia within its sole population and the level of genetic differentiation among formed sites. The results from both markers showed high diversity (nuclear HT = 0. 70; plastid HT = …

Smokejumper Obituary: Helburn, Nicholas (Missoula 1944), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Sylvester, Vernon Eugene (Missoula 1947), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Kauffman, Norman Daniel (Missoula 1945), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Use Of Remote Sensing To Support Forest And Wetlands Policies In The Usa, Audrey L. Mayer, Ricardo D. Lopez

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Publications

The use of remote sensing for environmental policy development is now quite common and well-documented, as images from remote sensing platforms are often used to focus attention on emerging environmental issues and spur debate on potential policy solutions. However, its use in policy implementation and evaluation has not been examined in much detail. Here we examine the use of remote sensing to support the implementation and enforcement of policies regarding the conservation of forests and wetlands in the USA. Specifically, we focus on the “Roadless Rule” and “Travel Management Rules” as enforced by the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service …

Bobcats Do Not Exhibit Rub Response Despite Presence At Hair Collection Stations, Chirstopher E. Comer, Symmank M. E., James C. Kroll

Faculty Publications

We evaluated the detection rate for hair snare sampling for bobcats (Lynx rufus) using colocated hair snares and infrared-triggered cameras at 20 locations on private property in eastern Texas. Hair snares and cameras were placed together at survey stations that included both visual and olfactory attractants. In 1,680 trap-nights we photographically documented 15 visits by bobcats but collected only one bobcat hair sample. Our observations suggested limited rubbing behavior by bobcats at hair snares despite presence at hair collection stations. The explanation for this behavior remains unclear but is consistent with observations of low and variable hair trap …

Smokejumper Obituary: Beasley, William R. (Idaho City 1960), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

A Slo Landowners Guide To Natural Resource Regulations, Rob S. Whyte

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Many land owners today are simply unaware of the fact that their private land falls under not only local laws and regulations, but also several state and federal regulations. Unfortunately, this unawareness has often resulted in complete negligence to the land, further leading to the degradation of resources such as creeks and landscapes. “A SLO Land Owners Guide to Natural Resource Regulations” was created to provide the basic knowledge of the different regulations that govern landowners of San Luis Obispo County, with the intent to increase the compliance to the different laws and regulations.

Cooperative Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Translocation Strategy Throughout The Southeast, Robert J. Warren, C. Joseph Nairn

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Rangeland Oak Regeneration, Rehabilitation, And Conservation In Varian Ranch, Arroyo Grande, Ca., Tiffany Lappinga, Ivy Ku

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Since the majority of oak woodlands are currently under private management, it is important to educate landowners about the importance and value of preserving this unique type of forest, especially in California. The study region takes place in Varian Ranch, Arroyo Grande, California. This project aims to promote the health of rangeland oaks with a three-pronged approach: regeneration, rehabilitation, and conservation. Common issues associated with the decline of oaks include, but are not limited to, invasive/exotic plant species, changes in land use, overgrazing, and soil compaction. This project hopes to address some of these issues, as well as revitalize previous …

Smokejumper Obituary: Dethlefs, Ted A. (Missoula 1947), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.