Forest Sciences Commons^™

Mount Rainier National Park: Tales, Trails, & Auto Tours, Jerry Rohde, Gisela Rohde, Larry Eifert

Archives & Reprint Series (imprint)

Re-release of the 1996 book on exploring Mount Rainier National Park. We are very pleased that you are about to read a reprint of our book, but 1996 was a long time ago, and many things have changed since then. While the human and natural history accounts are still accurate, some trail and road descriptions, along with park phone numbers and park facilities, are no longer valid. Before hiking any of the trails we describe in this book, please check with one of the park visitor centers for current information.

Anuran Occupancy Of Created Wetlands Within Reforested Legacy Surface Mines In Kentucky And West Virginia, Jillian C. Newman, Steve Price, Jacquelyn C. Guzy, Joshua Castle, John J. Cox, Jeffery L. Larkin, Christopher D. Barton

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Restoration of habitat is an important component of wildlife management. Surface coal mining has altered forest cover in the Central Appalachians, and most reclamation activities on previously mined lands result in non-native grasslands or shrub lands. The Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA), which emphasizes non-native vegetation removal, soil decompaction, planting of native trees and shrubs, and, in some cases, wetland creation represents an alternative to grassland-based reclamation that may promote forest-associated wildlife on legacy surface mines. We used automated recording units to evaluate the response of anurans to created wetlands and the FRA in Kentucky and West Virginia, USA. We used …

Ovipositional Behavior Of The Twig Girdler (Cerambycidae: Oncideres Cingulata) On Stems Of Mockernut Hickory (Carya Tomentosa) In Arkansas, R. Tumlison, L. Serviss

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The Twig Girdler (Cerambycidae: Oncideres cingulata) is a long-horned beetle that girdles stems of certain species of trees to prepare a habitat for its offspring. The stems eventually die, break, and fall from the tree, but the beetle usually had already laid its eggs within the stems. Eggs are laid singly, almost always at growth rings or leaf bases. Because the space for the young to develop is finite, laying too many eggs could cause reproductive failure and too few eggs would be suboptimal. We hypothesized that the female laying eggs should be able to evaluate the stem and …

Managing The Legacy Of Historical Land Use In Central Appalachia: Soil Health, Carbon Storage, And Restoration Across Disturbed Ecosystems, Kyra R. Dukich

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Historical mining, intensive timber harvesting, agriculture, and atmospheric acid deposition have left lasting impacts on soil health throughout the Central Appalachian region, reducing soil productivity, carbon storage, and ecosystem resilience. This thesis evaluated restoration strategies across two long-term research systems in West Virginia to determine how land-use history and soil amendments influence soil health, carbon dynamics, and ecosystem recovery. The first study examined reclaimed mine lands and marginal agricultural soils planted with switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) or willow (Salix spp.) and treated with biochar or inorganic fertilizer. Soil greenhouse gas production, aggregate stability, total soil C:N, pH, and soil organic matter …

Utilizing Plethodontid Occupancy To Assess Initial Ecosystem Responses To Invasive Plant Control Treatment In The Central Hardwoods, Maree Guinevere Dieterich

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Invasive plants are a growing concern for land managers, impacting ecosystem resilience and outcompeting native vegetation. To combat this, invasive plant control treatments can assist in reducing the impacts and spread of damaging, non-native plant species. However, intensive treatments completed at large scales have the potential to negatively impact ecosystem services as well. To monitor these impacts, I utilized a well-known indicator in the Central Applachian region, Plethodontid salamanders, to assess impacts of invasive plant control treatments in the Central Hardwood forests. I completed 12 visual samples across 60 sites in West Virginia, USA during Spring and Fall of 2025 …

Plant Invasion Patterns In Understory And Soil Microbial Communities Of North Central West Virginia Mixed Hardwood Forests, Isabelle Marie Uganski

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Invasive plants alter forest ecosystems by reducing species richness, habitat heterogeneity, and nutrient cycling as they rapidly displace native plants. Invasive plant composition can influence soil health through altering soil microbial associations and communities. By studying the mechanisms in which invasives alter above- and below-ground communities, we can better understand whole-ecosystem impacts and inform management decisions. This study examined the relationships between co-occurring invasion on above and belowground communities of mixed hardwood forests of north central West Virginia. Despite distinctive associations with aboveground characteristics (native diversity, native tree regeneration, and leaf litter density) we detected limited changes to soil microbial …

Assessing Decision Making Of United States Arboreta: A Survey Of The Main Drivers Behind New Planting Selections, Sophia Reavley

Theses and Dissertations

When an arboretum needs to replace fallen specimens, what are they looking for in the new plant that will be added to the collection? Arboreta are locations where trees and shrubs can be studied in an area where the public can also enjoy them. This study looks to see what aspects of scientific value (conservation status, diversification, ornamental value, etc.) and what external factors (budgets, public opinion, research articles, etc.) of new species selections become the main driver in decision making. An anonymous online survey was used to collect data from arboreta and botanical gardens of the United States that …

Evaluating Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities In Streamside Management Zones In Private, Working Forests, Haley Vaglienti

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Forestry operations can alter riparian vegetation and increase sediment and nutrient inputs to streams, affecting water quality and aquatic biota. Forestry best management practices (BMPs) including streamside management zones (SMZs) are designed to mitigate those effects by reducing sediment delivery and moderating temperature, flow, and nutrient regimes. We assessed ecological integrity at 24 intermittent stream sites with SMZs in private, working forests across the Piedmont and Southeastern plains of Georgia. At each site, we conducted physical habitat evaluations and characterized benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages. Sites represented a gradient of habitat conditions, SMZ widths, and pine stand ages, allowing for comparisons of …

Factors Influencing Tree Vigor And Structural Failure Along Powerline Corridors In Northern California: A Multi-Species Analysis, David Justin Dorval

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Tree failures (e.g., stem breakage, uprooting, or branch drop) can pose significant risks to public safety, particularly along powerline corridors for the risk of power outages and wildfire ignitions. In California, tree-related powerline failures have led to severe ecological and human costs in recent years. Despite extensive research on tree failure in urban environments and post-disturbance contexts, comparatively little empirical work has examined where powerlines intersect largely unmanaged stands. This study evaluates tree failure trends across multiple forest types in Northern California by examining how tree-level characteristics influence recent growth and failure occurrence in regionally dominant tree species. Specifically, the …

Baker Cypress (Hesperocyparis Bakeri) In A Changing Fire Landscape: Characterizing Fire Refugia And Guiding Post-Fire Reforestation, Olivia Lorraine Moskowitz

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Increasing wildfire frequency threatens serotinous, fire-obligate species that depend on sufficient fire-free intervals to develop seed banks for reproduction. These species require fire intense enough to trigger seed release and create favorable substrate and light levels for regeneration, yet consecutive fires that reburn populations before they reach maturity can cause local population contraction or extirpation. Understanding the environmental drivers of natural regeneration and mature tree survival, as well as when and how active reforestation should supplement natural recovery, is critical for managing fire-adapted species under altered fire regimes.

This thesis uses Baker cypress (Hesperocyparis bakeri [Jeps.] Bartel), a rare …

Forest Management Options For The Wildland Urban Interface: Comparative Analysis Of Stand Development, Economics, And Forest Carbon Over 100 Years In Sierra Nevada Ponderosa Pine, Kassandra A. Mcdaniel

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis presents a simulation study of various forest stand treatments and their long-term effects on ponderosa pine-dominated forests in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range of the western USA. The goal was to create recommendations for forest management in the wildland urban interface (WUI) of the Tahoe National Forest and other locations with similar conditions. This study simulates current United States Forest Service (USFS) - Truckee Ranger District silvicultural treatment alternatives repeated over a 100-year period using the USFS Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS). Proposed treatment alternatives include restoration, resilience, transition, conservation, and no management. Treatments are to be compared in …

Regeneration And Fuel Loading With Varying Overstory Retention In Redwood Stands 10 Years After Transformation To Multiaged Management, Jud Fisher

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Forest managers using retention forestry in western forests need information on regeneration dynamics and fuel development to design stands that are both productive and fire resilient. This study analyzes 10-year remeasurement data from the Redwood Multiaged Experiment in Jackson Demonstration State Forest, California, comparing regeneration and fuel responses across group selection (GS), aggregated (HA), and dispersed (LD, HD) retention treatments. Target relative density (RD) of the residual stand was zero in GS, 13% in LD, and 21% in HA and HD. Measurements included sprout growth and size of redwood and tanoak, seedling and sprout density, and surface fuel loading.

Redwood …

The Conservation Value Of Silvicultural Systems For Breeding And Post-Fledging Bird Communities In Northeastern North America, Christopher Andrew Liazos

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Forest bird community decline in the eastern United States is partly due to the lack of early-and-late-successional forests stemming from historic land use. Silviculture can create underrepresented forest age classes and structures to support avian communities during the breeding and post-fledging periods. In southwestern New Hampshire, we conducted a case study evaluating avian conservation value indices across silvicultural systems. Our goal was to observe how avian conservation value indexes and abundance differed between recently managed and unmanaged stands. We surveyed 215 breeding and 118 post-fledging points across 22 sites using point counts and vegetation surveys. Conservation values in the breeding …

Urban Trees In The Urban Hydrology Cycle, Jorge R. Vera

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In urban forestry, trees provide numerous economic, ecological, and aesthetic benefits to the surrounding community. One of their key roles is intercepting stormwater runoff, reducing flooding risk, and improving water quality. Chapter 1 of this thesis characterized the ecological and economic contributions of urban trees on the Marshall University campus and provides guidance on their management and conservation in the future. Chapter 2 examined how urban tree species modify the urban hydrology cycle by altering the volume and timing of precipitation delivery. In Chapter 1, we inventoried 114 acres of Marshall University's main campus in Huntington, WV, from June 28 …

Following The Water: Tree Water Sources In Coastal Northern California Forests, Kaitlyn Briggs

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Increasing drought intensity and declining summer water availability in Mediterranean- climate forests raise concerns about forest resilience and streamflow persistence. This study evaluated how tree water sources vary with hillslope position, season, species, and watershed context across three coastal northern California forests. Stable isotopes of hydrogen (δD) and oxygen (δ18O), soil moisture time series, linear mixed-effects models, and site-specific Bayesian mixing models (MixSIAR) were used to estimate proportional contributions of shallow soil, deep soil, stream-associated, and fog water to tree xylem water. Across sites, xylem water isotopic signatures overlapped primarily with soil water, indicating dominant reliance on subsurface sources, while …

Early Successional Response To Stream Daylighting In Redwood National And State Parks, Orick, California, Rylee Rawson

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

In-channel stream restoration projects can act as both disturbance and recovery mechanisms, disrupting existing conditions to reestablish the hydrologic and ecological processes that sustain stream ecosystems. These interventions initiate successional trajectories in which channel form and biological communities reorganize over time. In Redwood National and State Parks (California, USA), the Redwoods Rising initiative restores buried headwater channels by recontouring legacy logging roads and daylighting streams buried by Humboldt crossings. Using the National Park Service Klamath Network wadable stream monitoring protocol, I evaluated nine restored reaches spanning one to five years post-restoration, alongside old-growth reference reaches and available pre-treatment data. I …

Long-Term Relationships Between Tree Growth And Climate In The Trinity Alps Wilderness, Klamath Mountains, California, Usa, Emma R. Knepp

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The Trinity Alps Wilderness is a unique setting for evaluating late-Holocene climate variability because former glaciers occupied comparatively low elevations in a region influenced by both coastal and interior climate patterns. Tree-ring chronologies were developed from four conifer species—Shasta red fir (Abies magnifica var. shastensis), western white pine (Pinus monticola), Brewer’s spruce (Picea breweriana), and mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana)—sampled at high elevations (1950 - 2300 m) near Emerald and Grizzly Lakes in the Trinity Alps Wilderness in northern California. The final chronologies included 12 Shasta red fir trees, 12 western white pine …

Government Agencies In The United States Are Obstructing Native Species Restoration, Creating Regulatory Pits For Wildlife, Jeremy T. Bruskotter, L. Mark Elbroch, John Vucetich

Michigan Tech Publications

No abstract provided.

Real-Time Immersive Wildfire Simulation: A Game Engine Approach, Jake Bova

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wildfires are growing in frequency, size, and severity, placing escalating demands on firefighting resources and putting lives, property, and ecosystems at risk. Accurate prediction of fire behavior is critical to suppression planning, evacuation decisions, and firefighter training, yet the operational models that fire managers rely upon face a persistent tradeoff. High-fidelity physics-based models capture fire–atmosphere interactions faithfully but are computationally expensive, often running far slower than real time on CPU hardware, while faster empirical models sacrifice the dynamic coupling between a fire and the wind field it generates. Furthermore, most existing tools produce abstract, two-dimensional outputs that offer limited visual …

Relational Approaches To Fire Resilience: Designing A Living Shaded Fuel Break With Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Natalee Nicole Lopes

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Escalating wildfire severity across California reflects not only changing climatic conditions but also the cumulative impacts of colonial land management systems that have disrupted Indigenous fire stewardship and altered forest structure and function. This project examines how wildfire mitigation infrastructure, specifically linear fuel treatments, such as fuel breaks, can be reimagined through Indigenous relational frameworks of care-based land stewardship. Grounded in Happy Camp (Athithúfvuunupma), California, within the ancestral homelands of the Karuk Tribe along the mid-Klamath River, this research is carried out in collaboration with Karuk knowledge holders, centering Indigenous knowledge systems and priorities.

Using a mixed-methods approach that integrates …