Strategic planning for forests subjected to multiple uses is important for management that sustains and balances these many uses. In the wildland urban interface where forests are in the backyards of members of the public who avidly recreate in them, it is also important to include the community in the...
Emissions largely associated with the combustion of fossil fuels and agriculture has caused elevated atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) throughout much of the developed world. Increased atmospheric deposition of N and S can lead to soil and surface water acidification and affect forest soil nutrient supply. The...
Understanding the causal links between riparian forests, streams, and salmonids is important to help understand the likely effects of forest management practices. Previous studies have identified three major causal pathways (Instream Cover, Light, and Hydrology) through which riparian forests influence streams, and ultimately stream fishes. To evaluate the potential importance...
Despite its importance to biodiversity and ecosystem function, patterns and drivers of regional scale variation in forest structure and development are poorly understood. We characterize structural variation, create a hierarchical classification of forest structure, and develop an empirically based framework for conceptualizing structural development from 11,091 plots across 25 million...
In the Pacific Northwest, multiple studies have found negative effects of
timber harvest on stream amphibians, but the results have been highly variable and
region-specific. In this collection of studies, I examined the short term effect of timber
harvest using a field study, and used lab work to examine a...
Disturbances and their interactions play major roles in sagebrush (Artemisia spp. L.) community dynamics. Although impacts of some disturbances, most notably fire, have been quantified at the landscape level, some have been ignored and rarely are interactions between disturbances evaluated. We developed conceptual state-and-transition models for each of two broad...
There are currently more than 580 natural areas in Oregon and Washington managed by 20 federal, state, local, and private agencies and organizations. The natural areas network is unparalleled in its representation of diverse ecosystems found in the region and may be an excellent collection of sites for monitoring long-term...
For centuries in what is now southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, nomadic, Maasai livestock herders have coexisted with vast populations of wildlife. Today, both wildlife and the Maasai herding lifestyle, a vital component of Maasai culture, are threatened by changes to the landscape and losses in mobility, including the policy...
River ecosystems throughout the arid southwestern U.S. are imperiled. Water management infrastructure, climate change, unsustainable water use, and political conflict harm the region's aquatic and riparian ecosystems. This case study surveys one such desert river, an endemic fish species, and conservation efforts in southwestern Utah. The analysis focuses on the...
Future scenarios of global climate change rely on large-scale climate envelope models that do not account for local climatic conditions to which organisms most closely respond. Shifts in species distributions and phenology driven by climate change are well-documented, yet we lack a strong understanding of how climate change will influence...