In Sierra Nevada forests, shrubs are considered strong soil moisture competitors with regenerating trees, reducing seedling establishment, and
slowing growth. Recent studies, however, suggest that in some circumstances shrubs can facilitate tree establishment and growth by modifying
harsh microclimate conditions; increasing acquisition of water, carbon, and/or nutrients via shared mycorrhizal...
In Sierra Nevada forests, shrubs are considered strong soil moisture competitors with regenerating trees, reducing seedling establishment, and
slowing growth. Recent studies, however, suggest that in some circumstances shrubs can facilitate tree establishment and growth by modifying
harsh microclimate conditions; increasing acquisition of water, carbon, and/or nutrients via shared mycorrhizal...
Nitrogen is a limiting resource in many temperate forests and nitrogen-fixing plants are usually limited to the early
stages of post-disturbance succession. In fire-dependent Sierra Nevada forests, however, Ceanothus cordulatus is
relatively abundant even in old-growth forest conditions which are at least partly maintained by fire.We conducted
a field experiment...
Nitrogen is a limiting resource in many temperate forests and nitrogen-fixing plants are usually limited to the early stages of post-disturbance succession. In fire-dependent Sierra Nevada forests, however, Ceanothus cordulatus is relatively abundant even in old-growth forest conditions which are at least partly maintained by fire. We conducted a field...
Many indicators and criteria have been proposed to assess the sustainable management of
forests but their scientific validity remains uncertain. Because the effects of forest disturbances
(such as logging) are often specific to particular species, sites, landscapes, regions
and forest types, management ‘‘shortcuts’’ such as indicator species, focal species and...
The management of fire-prone forests is one of the most controversial natural resource issues in the US today,
particularly in the west of the country. Although vegetation and wildlife in these forests are adapted to fire, the
historical range of fire frequency and severity was huge. When fire regimes are...
The use of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in ecological studies is increasingly common, but evaluations of their performance and range of application in the field are still emerging. Here, we compare habitat unit–scale abundance estimates of PIT-tagged juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch and steelhead O. mykiss derived from multiple-pass...
Fire performs many beneficial ecosystem functions in dry forests and rangelands across much
of North America. In the last century, however, the role of fire has been dramatically altered by numerous
anthropogenic factors acting as root causes of the current fire crisis, including widespread logging, road
building, fire suppression, habitat...
Frankia strains symbiotic with Ceanothus present an interesting opportunity to study the patterns and causes of Frankia diversity and distribution within a particular host infectivity group. We intensively sampled Frankia from nodules on Ceanothus plants along an elevational gradient in the southern Sierra Nevada of California, and we also collected...
At global and regional scales, tree mortality rates are positively correlated with forest net primary productivity (NPP). Yet causes of the correlation are unknown, in spite of potentially profound implications for our understanding of environmental controls of forest structure and dynamics and, more generally, our understanding of broad-scale environmental controls...